Ana K Miller: The ‘Shine A Light On’ Mix

Her bookings reflect an ear finely tuned to the off-kilter: Trystero, former Gnod member Marlene Ribeiro, and a steady stream of artists that understand that the strange and the beautiful are often the same thing.

As a selector, Ana delves deep into wide-ranging terrain – from “melancholy seas to abstract distractions” as one of her Mutant Radio shows puts it. She’s a regular of Manchester’s ‘underground’, holding down sets at Mutations alongside industrial and post-punk heavyweights or supporting Legowelt at Body Heat.

This mix captures what makes Ana’s approach so compelling: a willingness to sit with sounds that don’t demand any immediate gratification. There’s psychedelia here, yes, but also electronica, post-punk, and everything in between.

Don’t follow that straight line kids, take that detour…

Who are you?
Ana K Miller

Where are you right now and how did you end up there?
I’m home in Levenshulme, Manchester, sat on the sofa, answering these questions. I got here on the 192 bus.

Monday morning: are you genuinely excited about your week or just pretending?
Excited – I like the freedom and occasional chaos of weekends but also I like the structure of weekdays where I do stuff that keeps me sane – work, meditative things, music, art.

Talk us through the mix – what headspace were you in when you made it?
A good headspace –  enjoying myself honing a long-existing interest in bringing different kinds of psychedelia into dance music – especially guitar-based music, which is often played in a different context than the club, but I find it really exciting when you hear guitars suddenly on the dancefloor. In general I like it when people move around genres and create more of a journey. I’m also really enjoying abstract spacious techno/electronica/etc at the moment which is mainly what you’ll hear in the second half of the mix.

I really like putting mixes together – starting off messing around with tunes I’m into, throwing them together without much thought, listening back and seeing what sounds exciting, building from there, repeating this until the final shape emerges. This is the same way I make a painting or a collage. I like it because the direction feels like it’s directed by the music/process in dialogue with my emotions and intuition as I listen to what’s unfolding. Accidents happen and create new directions.

If it were a meal, what would we be eating?
It would be a surprise 5 course meal that you have to eat in complete darkness so that you get to taste and smell everything fully, without preconception and with a slight sense of unease

What animal would this mix be?
An industrial alley cat enjoying the elements

Where should someone be when they listen to this? And what should they definitely not be doing?
In their favourite place not doing maths

What record do you own that you love but have absolutely no idea what to do with?

I have this ancient hovis bread acetate called the Bread Band, which is essentially a trippy hovis advert – it has a little 60s-style cover with a photo of the Bread Band that reminds me of an early Beatles cover and this funny “Hovis a la Bossanova” track which makes me laugh – the music is generic but I love the record because I just found it one day in my collection, I don’t know how it got there and it feels like a little piece of history, a weird little gem.

First record you ever bought versus the last one you bought – what does that say about you?
The first record I bought was Leila’s Like Weather which I still love – it’s such a deep and emotional album. The most recent two I bought together were Föllakzoid’s V and Anubian Lights The Eternal Sky.

I’m not sure? That I’ve always been into psychedelia? When I was first getting into music I was obsessed with electronica – all the amazing stuff coming out on Warp and Reflex and Planet Mu… oh and Detroit techno and digital hardcore… then I was branching out making my way round lots of genres especially funk, hip hop, rocksteady, blues, rockabilly, psychedelia from different parts of the world, industrial, wave – as long as it’s got a bit of an edge I’m quite open – I used to enjoy smashing everything together in quite a jarring way with the idea that when you play different styles of music next to each other they shine out more and don’t get lost in sameness – I think these days I’ve calmed down but there is still the echo of this … I got really into guitarry psych for a while and was wondering why it’s often kept separate from electronic trippy music which led to this interest in blending everything together into a cosmic industrial abstract swirl.

What’s coming up that you’re actually excited about?
Me and my friend Christos have recently started putting on parties in Manchester [look out for the ‘Off Symmetry’ parties in and around Manchester and our mix series on Mutant radio where you will hear lots of amazing artists], our idea is to bring artists and music styles to Manchester that don’t really get much play here.
I’m very excited about our next gig – we’re bringing one of my favourite bands – Kulku – to Manchester in April which I’m very happy about – they are the most exciting live act ever – If you happen to be near Manchester on Easter Thursday (2^nd April) you should come. You won’t be disappointed.

What does Symmetry mean to you?
Symmetry to me means repeating patterns, reflections, tessellations – I like the way that things in nature look and sound like each other – veins look like the branches of trees, your breath can sound and feel like a wave. I love the way that repetitions in music can take you into a trance, but this is also more interesting and emotional when it’s off-kilter and takes you somewhere unexpected. This is why I add “Off” to Symmetry.

Check out Ana K Miller on SoundCloud or Instagram.

Tracklist:

Nathan Dawidowicz – Deep Fluff (feat. Leo Börger)
Sula Bassana & The Nasoni Pop Art Experimental Band – Emmerting Spring
銀色の波 – Whispers Of Chikurin
Nidiot – World of Nids
Jimi Tenor Band – Shine All Night (feat. Florence Adooni)
TINA – Vacation
Minami Deutsch – Can’t Get There (Jamie Paton Remix)
Teledubgnosis – Echolocation
Hawkwind – Electric Tepee
Kris Baha – You Told Yourself This Would Get Worse
Anatolian Weapons – Process (Original)
Coil – Protection III
Maart – Noma
Sinusoidal – Half Closed Eyes
Sula Bassana – Stella Star
U-Ziq – Melancho
Mr TC & Lo Kindre – The Waving Bridge
The Soft Moon – Black
Davy Kehoe – The Pilot (Part 1)
Mr TC – Zeuglodon
Pancho Piedra – Servio
Dr. Strange – Tripode de Diode (Pt1 & Pt2)
Blurred Boy – No Time For Tears
Moody Boyz – Destination Africa (Electric Forest Version)
Khidja – Never Seen The Dunes
Identified Patient & Sophie du Palais – Peaceful Panic
Autumns – Cruising (Black Bones & Autumns)
Cabaret Nocturne – Voodoo Spunk (Original Mix)
KOB 101 – Beat Depressed
Zaliva-D – Long Journey
O Yuki Conjugate – The Chasmic
Abdulla Rashim – Path Inwards
Azu Tiwaline – Ethereal Tribes
Hawkwind – Death of War
Black Merlin – Stalky Tarkovsky
Von Grall – Vanquish the Disparities
Acronym – River Red Gum
Azu Tiwaline & Al Wootton – Nine Points
Tres Demented – Demented (Or Just Crazy) (Original Version)
Tres Demented – Brainfreeze (Carl Craig ‘Sessions’ Mix)
Death in Vegas – Arise
Dalo – Woodpecker
Von Deyen / Schütz – Valley Of The Monsters