If I were to ask you what your favourite dance labels are right now, I
wouldn't be too surprised if you mentioned LA's Fade To Mind and
London's Night Slugs; two closely-related club imprints who have been
setting the bar very high as a network of DJs throwing some of the best
parties on the planet.
Now, you can add Mind To Mind to that list too. Mind To Mind is a new
Fade To Mind offshoot, which - as label boss Kingdom and producers
MikeQ and DJ Sliink explain - is influenced by Night Slugs' Club
Constructions, yet with its own, unique outlook.
THUMP: What made you want to start Mind To Mind?
Kingdom: Will and I who run Fade To Mind had been
thinking a lot about what is at the core of what we do; what would be a
category of music that our artists generate that doesn't get released,
or that doesn't make it onto EPs usually. We came to see that a lot of
that stuff is casual collaborations, and improvised music that our
artists make together, so our concept was to create a release series
that is specifically for collaborations.
Those collaborations can be one off - like, if I happen to be in
London for a few nights, and I make a couple of tracks with Bok Bok, or
whatever the case may be. It's basically to have a space where people
can make tracks together without having to form "a band", or have to say
"We're a duo, we're now called this".
Will Mind To Mind have a similar club-based/DJ tools approach as Night Slugs' Club Constructions series?
Kingdom: Mind to Mind is only really comparable to
Club Constructions in the way that they are both side releases.
Sonically, we're hoping to push an entirely different direction -
although, these tracks on the release from Mike and Sliink are very
rhythm-based and drum heavy, like Club Constructions. But, in general,
this stuff is going to be very free-form. Some stuff will have no drums.
We are keeping it really open format, though. We don't want it to be
just club music. It can be more experimental forms too. Also, you can't
really know what to expect based on who is collaborating. Massacooraman
and L-Vis 1990 have been making a lot of tracks together, and those are
kinda of grimey, but also quite sparse and a-rhythmic. Very creepy,
industrial, dark stuff.
Mike and Sliink, how did you guys meet? Did you know each other before Mind To Mind?
MikeQ: Sliink and I met online first. I already knew
of him and his music being from New Jersey. I always played his music
when I played here in the past, and we had a few gigs together.
DJ Sliink: I met Mike from this video interview and
mix session program in NYC called Noise212 with JP Solis. Mike did his
slot before me, and I was on the next week. I pretty much saw he was
from Jersey and messaged him. Everything was pretty organic. The first
remix I did for him was the 'Ha Dub' remix on Fade To Mind.
How did you start producing music together?
DJ Sliink: After Mike and I met, we found out that
we lived around the corner from each other. We have a lot of tracks
together. We both really dig each other's style, and have a culture
behind what we do. I'm all for the culture.
MikeQ: Well for my debut EP I asked him to remix a
track, and then the Mind To Mind release idea didn't even come until
after we were done with the tracks. For this project, we were just
fucking around and had this idea to clash ballroom and Jersey club. We
passed tracks back and forth and met up a few times at my house, and
this release was born.
DJ Sliink: Mike and I both use Sony Acid Pro and FL
Studio. It's amazing that we use the same thing, as it makes the process
that much easier. We would email demos over and review them, and see
what might work in the club. When we both were home, that's when we
would grab some studio time.
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