Earth Trax: The Ransom Note Mix

Music

Today's Ransom Note Mix comes from Warsaw-based producer Bartosz Kruczyński, aka Earth Trax. Since debuting as The Phantom in 2010, he has released (and is set to release) on a range of labels including Growing Bin, Dopeness Galore, Phonica, Echovolt and Shall Not Fade. In particular, his Sax & Flute 12" on Rhythm Section was widely hailed as one of the finest house records of 2016.

He's been kind enough to record a Ransom Note Mix for us, and I don't think we're overselling it when we say it's one of the best mixes we've heard so far this year, shifting and cycling through moods yet remaining totally of a piece. House grooves to warm your heart and heal your soul. Listen to the mix and read a Q&A below:

Please introduce yourself… Who are you, where are you and what are you?

I live in Warsaw and record music under a bunch of different names – my real name Bartosz Kruczyński, Earth Trax, Ptaki etc.

What does your music sound like?

Melancholic.

Where was the mix recorded?

I recorded it at home in Warsaw with a very basic setup, turntables and a 2 channel mixer without any effects. It was raining heavily outside. The selection are records that were still in my bag after I played a b2b session with Jacek from Brutaż label/night last weekend.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

What would be your dream setting to record a mix?

I don't think I have a dream setting. I enjoy all kinds of locations. I really liked recording a session on a beach once though.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

It's probably Kamasutra's 'Running Away'. I used a different version of it in another mix lately.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

The KLF's Chill Out probably or The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One by Prodigy's Liam Howlett, which I just know by heart (although not sure if it's my favourite mix of all time). I remember buying the cassette when I was 12. Dirtchamber pretty much got me into mastermixes and cut up culture, which years later eventually resulted in forming Ptaki with my friend Jaromir. Chill Out got me into ambient.

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

I try not to fantasize that much about the past, but I wish I had experienced chill out rooms in the '90s.

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

Sweet and sour.

If it was an animal what would it be?

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

It's still the same! Two Technics and I still own my first mixer – Reloop, which is the worst.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

Both!

What were the first and last records you bought?

Can't remember the first record, but when it comes to cassettes it might have been Prodigy's Jilted or The Chemical Brothers' sophomore album when I was 10. Last one I bought last week is TSVI's Sacred Drums EP after hearing it twice within a month at local clubs.