Phonica Records

Off The Record this month takes a dive into the mind of Chicago artist and musician Beau Wanzer.

Wanzer is commonly known for records on Ron Morelli's L.I.E.S. imprint as well as working with labels like Brew, L.A. Club Resource, iDEAL, Natural Sciences, and Nation. His in touch ear with industrial, electro and experimental music has seen him work alongside the likes Traxx and Steve Summers as the excellent Mutant Beat Dance, Dan Jugle as the head banging Juzer and more recently De-Bons-en-Pierre with Maoupa Mazzocchetti.

For this mix Wanzer goes no holds bared into the world of tape culture with noisey and hissing electro and synth tunes as well as some chuggy industrial moments. We had a quick chat with Beau about the mix and what he has coming up!

Xi'an-born and Toronto-based producer, pianist, and DJ Ciel steps up for the next Phonica Mix with a slow building club room warm up. With a selection of deep and chugging bass, house and techno this is a mix that equally see itself lending its ears to the home listener as well as the club dancefloor frequenters. Its this diverse sound that has seen Ciel take the helms of some of the greatest clubs, festivals, radio shows and podcasts as well as releasing solid records on labels like Mister Saturday Night, Peach Discs, Coastal Haze and more her sound is truly solidified through these outputs. We are delighted to have Ciel join us ahead of some of her amazing shows this year like Kala Festival & Multi Multi(Where we will also be hosting a 20 Years Of Phonica Stage). We had a chat with Ciel about the mix and about some of the releases she has coming up.

40 mixes in and the Off The Record series has seen a wide spanning in range of artists and styles. Its dug deep into DJ's record bags and has let us hear some of their holiest gems. Our 40th mix comes from one of the most solid selectors Amsterdam has to offer; Olf van Elden aka Interstellar Funk.

Having started off working at the Dutch institution that is Rush Hour Records as a label manager and playing sets year in and year out at the monumental Dekmantel, Interstellar Funk has taken himself worldwide as well as releasing records on labels like L.I.E.S, Berceuse Heroique, Rush Hour, Dekmantel along with his own Artificial Dance label. A label he has run with a keen ear since 2017 releasing artists like Genetic Factor, June, Black Merlin and more.

For Off The Record 40 Interstellar Funk takes us in the realms of home and club listening with a well crafted mix that builds and warms us into the floor beautifully. We had a chat with the artist about the mix and about what he has going on:

One of the true pioneers of live disco and dance music in Britain over the last 15 years gets its grips into our mix series. Off the back of their excellently selected curation 12" series on 2020 vision and the banger filled remix series(featuring Gerd Janson, DJ Nature and more) of their seminal "Age Of Ego" album from back in 2019 it has proved that Crazy P show no signs of slowing down. We had a chat with the band about the mix and and what they have been up to lately:

One of Dublin's most regarded heads takes the reigns for our 39th Off The Record mix. Nevan Jio over the years has found himself in many aspects of Ireland's striving underground scene, mostly Dublin, where he helms the ones and twos nearly every weekend in the cities hot spots the likes of Tengu, Wigwam, Izakaya and more. He has also found himself abroad on many occasions most noticeably opening the year supporting don Ben UFO in The Cause's new beloved DIY warehouse venue alongside EMA. Nevan has also applied his experience of working in All City records and collecting records in general to go on to running label's like Pear (With fellow Dublin wiz Fio Fa)which saw an array of house, breaks and tech house from names like Regularfantasy, New Members, Fio Fa and Big Miz as well as more recently the Irish club focused reissue label Aris which has so far seen classics take new light from Fish Go Deep, Bumble and Rob Rowland.

For this mix Nevan has given us a vast genre spanning call card of a mix that shows the selectors diversity and range showcasing some home listening dashed with the club in mind and well into the afters for a few White Claws! We have a quick chat with Nevan to hear about the concept behind the mix and what he has coming up:

One of our longest serving staff members @AlexEgan serves up the 13th mix in our Friends & Family series. The set features 60 tracks across 4+ hours and is the first to be filmed live.

Alex currently works part-time behind the scenes on Phonica’s labels and full-time in production for @Ninja-Tune. He also runs a handful of his own labels including @U-t-t-e-r.

This mix has been a very, very long time coming…!

Interview, tracklist and video of the entire set: http://offtherecord.net/phonica-friends-family-mix-series-13alex-egan/

Raised in South-East London, relocating to Bath since(spending days between there and Berlin) Niks Delanancy aka NIKS has become one of the prominent names in the UK club scene today. She is also the founder of Black Artist Data base which is the platform she created to promote Black Artists around the world. Now working on the next stage of B.A.D.’s evolution. The label will be launching to accompany the existing platform, releasing music that aligns with its mission. NIKS will be managing the label as well as acting as A&R. Being raised with a father who was a guitarist in a band and her brother who was an avid music collector in the heyday of London’s garage movement, NIKS has been surrounded with a musical ear all of her life. With an ear that touches from classic deep house to the driving percussive UK stylings of Hessle Audio it doesn't take long to figure out how NIKS' diverse pallet has seen her play clubs all over the world and helped the artist bag a nomination for "Breakthrough DJ of the year" at the Mixmag awards last year as well as seen her knock out mixes for Resident Advisor and The Warehouse Project to name but a few, it's this diversity we see in this club ready mix for Phonica 105. We have a quick chat with NIKS about the mix, B.A.D and what they have coming up:

A Psychic Yes is the alias of British, Berlin based artist, carpenter and DJ, Timothy Crombie. Timothy has released records on some of the most interesting and out there labels at the moment, most recently Nummer's self titled imprint and the ever impressive, ear to the ground; Kalahari Oyster Cult. His music touches off blends of percussive UK techno stylings with a nod to DIY bleep and yet has an air of leftfield ambient if that makes any sense? Either way, its with these stylings too that Timothy constructs sets, be it live or DJ, with these inspirations in mind and takes Off The Record 38 into similar patterns.

Cacophony is by definition a collision of multiple sounds in discordance. Sounds that shouldn't go together basically. Bogotá, Colombia’s Felipe Gordon does this, but in euphony(bringing pleasure to ones ear)! Spreading himself blissfully across jazzy, disco, funky and soulful elements he pours this concoction into his cluby productions and sets which has now given him international recognition. Having put out forty plus 12" releases and an album since 2014, including his brilliant "Timeless EP" on our Karakul subsidiary, he has found himself on labels like Shall Not Fade, Razor'N'Tape, Toytonics and some of the most long standing greats more recently like Nervous records. For Phonica mix 104 Felipe walks us through what for him brings musicality into electronic music, what live elements bring humanity into our dance floors. We have a quick chat about more on this subject below and see what else the Colombian artist has up his sleeve.

Butter Sessions is one of those labels that can go absolutely anywhere and still make sense because theres an element that tags it down to the ears of Sleep D aka Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos. The two label heads behind the absolutely iconic institution straight outta Melbourne, Australia have worked with aritsts like Roza Terenzi, D.Tiffany, Tornado Wallace, Yuzo Iwata and more creating a platform for upcoming and solidly established artists to broaden their sound and explore into the unknown. Like the artists they represent Sleep D as DJ's and producers have touched all sides of the club and eclectic spectrum having dropped many anthem filled 12's(including a very solid LP on Anthony Naples' Incienso) as well as experimental outings on labels like Play On Records.

For Off The Record #37 Syawish and Kikos have dropped us straight into the elements of the main room. A smoke machine filled warehouse of house, techno, bass and percussive club rolling excursions. Strap yourself in(or don't?).

We had a quick chat with Sleep D about the mix, the Melbourne scene and Butter Sessions and more!