dné – The Monday Is OK Mix

Please introduce yourself…
Who are you:
My name is Ondřej, I make music as dné

Where are you:
In Prague

What are you:

Musician

Tell us about the Monday mixtape you’ve put together for us.

It’s a pure ambient one, nice and soft with couple of experimental lefturns and no sad undertones.

If it were to be drawn what would it look like?

Probably a dam. Calm body of water and some cool concrete constructions around it.

If it were a food what would it be? 

Mango salad.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?
Next to that aforementioned dam, just looking at the water.

What should we be wearing?

What you want. Just be prepared that nights can get chilly.

Where was it recorded?

In Dejvice hood.

Do you like or dislike Mondays?

There is not much difference for me between weekends and weekdays. I like every day.

Who got you hooked on electronic music?

Probably some music blogs in 2004.

Who would you say are your biggest influences and what are you hoping to achieve with your music?

For the new album, I drew inspiration from many artists. Some might have manifested only for like 30 seconds on the record though. I wanted to have a live tuba because of my love for Field of Reeds album by These New Puritans. I wanted to have more guitar-focused tracks because of my love for Alex G. Later I realized I hear a lot of Adam’s Song by Blink-182 in my guitar playing. I also wanted to make ambient droney tracks inspired by Japanese ambient scene from around the 2010s. All time inspirations being Shlohmo for beats and Toro y Moi for production and sound design.
And for the second question, with my music I hope to achieve comfy basic living for me with some adventures around it.

What were your original aspirations as musicians and how do you think you’re shaping up?

When I was 18-20 I had a band with my childhood best friend, I played drums, he played keys and there were two other dudes playing guitar and bass. We had soundchecks at our family house in a village close to Plzeň which is 100km from Prague. I remember us saying that it would be cool to have gigs in Prague, Berlin and London. We broke up before having any gigs but after that I started to make my own music and later ended up playing in those cities. That was nice.

Some self-help questions for a Monday:
Am I excited to dive into the challenges that I have lined up for the week?

Not always but I like the feeling when crossing them off the list. When I don’t wanna do something I think of happy me in the future who already did it

Am I looking forward to engaging with the people I am meeting or working with?

Yeah I like emails honestly.

Am I going to my dream job?

Yes, I just make music and do some audio work here and there. All at home.

Am I being compensated fairly for the value I bring to my job?

Yesss cash money bby

Do I feel energised, rested, and confident?

Rarely, often and appropriately.

Your doctor says you need more exercise….what do you take up for exercise?

Laying on the back and moving legs as if I was on a bicycle.

If you were trapped on a desert island with one other person, who would you choose? How long would it be before you eat them?

Probably one of my bffs. And I would never eat them, I don’t hang on to life, I am ok with death. Much better if they eat me, I want them to live.

If you could travel in time…where in time would you go? Why? 

Definitely the future. I wanna see all the new stuff.

What was the first electronic record you heard and how did it make you feel?

I remember hearing Handwriting by Khonnor in 2004 and having it a tremendous impact on me. His work with white noise felt so new and cool to me.

How does your brain work when making music? How does it work when you aren’t?

When it works, time flies and when I struggle, time slows down. When I don’t make music I am thinking that at some point I should.

What were the first and last records you bought?
First don’t remember but the last were songs ‘In My Head’ and ‘Any Time Of Day’ by The Lemon Twigs off their Bandcamp. Such tunes.

What are you obsessed with at the moment?

Looking for places with a body of water on Google Maps.

What’s your answer to everything?

Nothing much but what about you?

Anything else we need to discuss.

The tracklist:

2003 Toyota Corolla – 2004 Toyota Corolla
Green-House – Parlor Palm
Falls – Array
Elysia Crampton – Grove (feat Embaci)
Hudson Mohawke – Ingle Nook Slumber
J.R.B. – Disinfectant Bath
7038634357 – Back Yard
Galen Tipton – Tadpoles Lullaby
500 – Halcyon
Whitearmor & Gud – Frutta e Verdura
Hiroshi Yoshimura – Teevee
H.Takahashi – Lost
Ronnie P – Meloncan Outro
Florist – Instrumental 3
Terekke – Ambien
Ki Oni – Dream World
dné – Thanks For Getting Me Home
Charles.A.D. – レインボスノウ
Yuichiro Fujimoto – Puddle
Opitope & Asuna – The Lake Was Opened When Came Out of the Grove at the Dawn
Alex G – Big Fish

Basic Living is out now on Platoon. Order Here