MUNK Pumped Up Adriatica - THE RANSOM NOTE MIX

Music

Electric Elephant draws near… and with it comes Adriatica mixes. The first one is courtesy of the great Gomma label head Munk… pumped up

There's a full interview below… let's get this on first though:

Download here:

Please introduce yourself…

Who are you:

Munk… AKA Mathias Modica

Where are you:

On the plane to Florence, Italy for a DJ gig tonite.

What are you:

I do music under the nemae of MUNK and run the freestyle electronic label GOMMA and house sublabel Toy Tonics with my friends. I live in Berlin.

Adriatica is the new Balearia discuss.

You might be right … for having a good summer party vibe you need:
Sun, water, food and not expensive living situation… so you got it all there…

Gomma has always embraced a hugely diverse spectrum of music. Essentially the premise of the Balearic sound. Not to put a label on it but is Balearia alive and well in Germany?

Free style DJing or balearic DJing has been huge in the south of germany since forever. While in the north techno, minimal and other more 'one dimensional' styles became big in the 90's. In Munich there is always was a more soulfull experimental, wide range of mixing of style; labels and artists like DJ Hell, Michael Reinboth and Compost Records, Funkstorung, Zombie Nation were technoid artists with a much wider music culture. But the fact that balearic DJs like Beppe Loda, Baldelli, James Lavelle, Gilles Peterson, DJ Kaos and Psychonauts have been DJing a lot in Munich since the mid 90s created an audience that expects much more from a DJ then playing the same music at 4 a.m that u played at 11 p.m.

We at Gomma come from record collecting and music studyng. Most Gomma artists have a background as musicians, instrumentalists, music students etc.. so we always want to try to make original, individualistic, music instead of copying a sound trend of the day or repeating ourselves constantly. That might me a Balearic approach – for us it is simply necessary for not getting bored.. 🙂

Talk us through your Elephantine mix you've done for us and EE.

It includes 50% new more house techno inspred music and the rest is music that falls out of categories… I always try to start a mix quite concrete, with music that easier to 'understand' and then the travel departs and you don't know where it goes…

Have you been to Electric Elephant before and are you aware of the heavy Adriatica that awaits you?

I heard about it. It's a big honour to play there.

Where was the mix recorded?

At home in Berlin, Kruezburg.

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

Naked in a couple, under a palm tree, with a moscow mule or daiquiri in your hands.

What should we be wearing?

You'd be naked of course..

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

On the beach….vinyl… i don't care about soundsystem – this is much overrated. A good DJ with a band soundsystem will be 1000 times better then a boring DJ with a good soundsystem

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

The Public Possession stuff from my homies and former Gomma employers in Munich is quit a bomb, isnt it?

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

The early Baldelli tapes that my big brother used to buy at Bladelli Gig in Munich in the 90s changed my life (and still are fresher then every RA podcast of today…)

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

In 2002 we did a compilation called ANTI NY. It featured unknown music that used to be played in NYC alternative clubs in the 80's.

Kong, Vivian Goldman etc.. (that compilation was long before UK labels like Soul Jazz or Rough Trade made similar stuff).

I met some guys from NY who used to DJ at Mudd Club and Dancetria in those times. Their approch was much more musically intersting that usual way a DJ tryies to play music 'that can be easily danced to;. These people would have been fun DJing together back in the days – when audiences were much more open to listening to different music in a DJ set.

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

2 turntables and a mic. Now: 2 turntables + 2 cd players.

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

Uhhhhhh! Good question. As my absolute and only DJ target is to create as much couples as possible for the night, it must be the ending track.

What were the first and last records you bought?

First : I think it was The Police – Every Breath You Take. pr spilff 511111.

Last: Dimtri Shostakovich orchestral music. Yesterday 2nd hand.

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

Fresh Annanas

If it was an animal what would it be?

Hot dog

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

haha.. half of my collection is consiting of 60ies Hard Bob, Contempoaryr classical music and south american stuff.. all of this is impossible to mix.. and not made for it. MIXING IS OVERRATED by the way. ITS ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC. In 2014 everybody can mix with fucking Traktor.. so its about the tracks again.