Shine A Light On... Murphy (Six Axle)

Music

Describing themselves as an "Independent Music Blog & Triple Threat DJ Collective", Six Axle are certainly not afraid to show their creative side, as well as a healthy dose of versatility. With an excellent podcast series well underway, we thought it high time we asked them onto the good ship R$N to launch our new Shine A Light On… mix series, MURPHY duly obliged. But that's enough of an introduction from us, we'll let MURPHY do the talking;

"Mostly it's all vinyl apart from a few digital tracks on CD-r that Phil South and Lobster Theremin sent us as well as one or two tunes I've never got round to getting a hard copy of. I called it 'Tropical Heatwave Mix' but it doesn't have to stay called that!"

Sorry Olly it didn't… you launched a whole new series instead!

We asked Olly a few questions about himself, the mix and music in general to help get a bit of a better feel for what Six Axle are all about;

Please introduce yourself…

Who are you:

Founder of Six Axle. ¼ of the current writing team. ⅓ of the Six Axle DJ hit squad.

Where are you:

London.

What are you:

A human made of 99% Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and about 0.85% potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium.

Where was the mix recorded?

In the Six Axle bunker.

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

Poolside with a load of mates. Not too many but enough to reach critical party mass.

What should we be wearing?

Swimming shorts or bikinis. Hawaiian shirts. Cream linen trousers. Whatever’s comfortable.

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format.

Location/ An industrial conversion, open plan apartment on the top floor of a tall building overlooking London. Minimum decor, big glass windows, fridge full of juice.

System/ David Mancuso’s system from the loft.

Format/ 3 Technics 1210s, some kind of classy rotary mixer, an external effects unit with good filters and delay, a CDJ or two, a Boss VT-1 Voice Transformer and mic to go with it.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

It’s hard to choose because every one has been a favourite of the moment at one point or another. Right now I’d probably have to go with the J.Rocc Re-edit of Myron & E at the end or the DJ Harvey Macho edit that’s somewhere in the middle.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

I always go back to Tevo Howard’s Fact Mix (no. 225). Other than that I’d have to say Lerosa and Rio Padice’s respective Six Axle mixes are joint top favourites. The former for the insane italo selections, the latter for the strong jazz/funk vibes.

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

I’d pick David Mancuso, more because I’d love to play some records through the sound system that he had at The Loft rather than any great desire to go back to back with him as a selector.

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

The first setup I had was the cheapest Numark 2 decks and a mixer package that was available at the time. Now I’ve got a pair of Technics 1210’s, Ortofon concord carts and a Korg Zero 4 mixer. All that runs to a Cambridge audio hi-fi amp and out of two wooden hi-fi speakers. I have no idea who made the speakers but the sound is tight.

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

Neither; it’s what’s in-between that counts.

What were the first and last records you bought?

I can’t remember what the first record I bought was. The first Cd I had was a 60’s soul compilation though. The last record I bought was the reissue of Larry Heard’s Alien Lp that came out this year. Definitely one of my favourite albums from the guy.

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

No idea! Barbecue?

If it was an animal what would it be?

No clue. Hummingbirds?

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything…

The FaltyDL remix of Assimilated by Anthony Shake Shakir. It’s not strictly impossible, just tricky, especially if you’re not familiar with it. It’s actually pretty funny trying to watch someone else mix out of it after you’ve put it on.