Jozef K – Show Me The Acid Mix

A whole sub genre that can be pigeon holed to one precise sound from a certain piece of hardware is something that amazes me and was in the inspiration behind this podcast. This mix consists solely of tracks containing the infamous Roland TB-303 sound and the selection was put together after years of enjoying acid house and is my humble way of paying homage to something that has inspired generations and continues to do so!

The tracks selected for this podcast show that acid house still continues to be made (see years of release on tracklist). Tin Man is the epitome of the contemporary acid sound; and for this reason his name appears on 4 of the 11 records chosen! To me he is the absolute don, using the original hardware to produce vintage sounding acid house. He brought his 303 when he played for my party, Continue and despite causing a complete dancefloor storm, a subliminal wave of rave nostalgia also poured from the speakers…
Long live the 303, acid house forever! Jozef K 2012

We heard a Jozef K mix a while back and rather liked it… so we asked him to put us a mix together for R$N. This is what he came back with. A modern take on the classic acid… you know we love a bit of acid round these parts. 

Plus we had a little ching wag with what he's about.

And what about your own style as a DJ? We have seen you’re a big fan of crate-digging – just how far do you dig?
I try my best to veer away from the beaten track when it comes to track selection for gigs. If I hear someone playing a tune out that I’ve got, it always puts me off playing it next time – I always end up skipping it out! There are that many tracks out there it just seems a bit lazy to be playing the same records as everyone else. I just feel better playing a tune I know (well hope) that no-one has got…
However I do feel gutted though when I am playing to my knowledge what is a proper underground track, and someone comes up to me saying the name of it; ‘yeah man can’t believe you are playing this I had it for ages!’ I always reply like ‘yeah tune innit mate!’ Secretly I am mortified and thinking ‘oh for fuck’s sake!’
I also think it’s even more important to play more obscure music in a city that is as teeming with DJs such as Manchester; it’s better to develop a unique vibe. It’s weird though, I will still play tunes that people know the producers of or whatever, or drop a classic in the middle of a set but I just like to not play what is expected of me. It’s kind of hard to explain, I know what I mean at least!

 Your travels have seen you take in Croatia’s Dimensions festival, Berlin and Ibiza, as well as playing at Sankeys most weekends, and there’s a slew or remixes and productions coming through. This year feels like your biggest so far? Where do you want to be in 5 years?
Yes been a busy year definitely, have been really enjoying it so far! In 5 years I would like to be playing internationally every weekend, and either have my own label or be signed to an already established one with a regular release output. I would definitely still like to have my Sankeys residency in 5 years time and work it in around other gigs. I think it would be cool to still be a part of it, it is part of me now and I couldn’t really imagine life without playing here at least once a month!

You founded and promote Continue, Sankeys’ wildly successful in-house party which has taken Manchester by storm in the last 18 months. Where did the inspiration for this come from, and how do you see Continue evolving?
The inspiration was seeing other people putting on wicked nights with DJs I loved so I thought fuck it, why not do it myself! The success I am happy with but it was kind of unintentional! Obviously we (the guys I do Continue with now) didn’t want the parties to be empty, but it was always booked with a music first attitude. I think maybe this has helped in the long term as people trust the brand now. In terms of evolving I think we will keep booking the fresh shit from all genres!!! To be honest will also book some old, some kind of old and some kind of new, basically as long as it’s good we will book it.
The best thing about Continue is the crowd it attracts, who are all properly into their music… this makes me happy!

How do you find technology influences music – or it the other way around? Are you a believer of the digital age?
I am not one of these people who instantly deem everyone who uses a laptop to DJ are not good DJs. I don’t use a laptop to DJ, never have, but I have never looked down on someone that does. People who moan about this really piss me off! A lot of people think that because they play vinyl this gives them a God-given right to be dismissive of others and it’s just wanker behaviour if you ask me. I think these people need something to moan about, and it is just a superiority thing allowing them to look down on others. I appreciate that vinyl DJing is technically more difficult than using a laptop, but this doesn’t mean that it is a better format!

If you play mint tunes at the right time then that’s all that matters, it doesn’t matter whether it is off vinyl, cassette, CD, laptop or whatever. At most parties realistically about 5-10% of the crowd can actually hear the sound difference (and a few more who pretend they can).

That said, there is something more poetic about vinyl, I do always love it when DJs play records! But it is just not the be all and end all for me, that’s what my point is here. Embrace technology, dismiss it, do whatever the fuck you want as long – as you are playing good music.

Do you think it’s possible to perform the “perfect set,” or is striving to do so what makes a great DJ?
Yeah… just watch Dixon haha!

What inspires you away from the dance floor?
Kurt Cobain!!!
Amazes me how someone can have so much passion, Nirvana live at Reading ’92 is one of my favourite live performances ever.

Name the best bar, restaurant and record shop in Manchester?
Temple, Smoak, Eastern Bloc…

And lastly, what else is coming up for you?
More DJ gigs! And the 2 EPs that I have been working on for 6 months, had some great feedback from the few people I have shown bits to so far, hopefully will get signed to a decent label! 

Check his mix here and there's a download link below it too.

Download from here.

Check Jozef’s Soundcloud for more here.