Deeprhythms

Prague-based dMIT.RY steps in for the 97th deeprhythms guest mix. The Prague-based DJ, label owner and radio host is best known for his bi-monthly spot on Rinse France and of course his label/discovery platform Neo Violence. 

Hi there, how’s things? Can you introduce yourself briefly to DR listeners?

Hi, Timo and the readers! Pleasure to chat with you.

Well, I was born in Engels (Russia) in ‘85, but my family moved to Prague in ‘94 and I have been living here since then. I work in IT as a QA lead/tester and testing is basically my profession since I left uni many years ago. 

But what I do for an even longer period of my life is clubbing which I do since 2000 and the situation we have here in 2020 is the most unique experience from that perspective. I was never imagining anything like that. 

Clubs are like a second home to me, so I am very curious what will come next after all this got sorted out somehow.

There was a short period of time when me and my friends got together and built a simple studio to gather, play around and try to produce some of our own music. But I quickly realized this is not my thing. I like to discover music instead of creating my own, and I like to present it. 

With that in mind, my label Neo Violence is currently on pause, same as the club life is, as me personally, I don’t feel the drive to release music for dancefloors while dancefloors are closed. But at the same time I’m still buying records like there is no tomorrow 😀

So, DJ-vise I still do my regular bi-monthly shows on Rinse France, joining local on-line streams and thinking about possible future scenarios.

Recently I’ve joined a collective where we try to come up with a plan and ideas, how to put Czech Republic on the music map, so to say. It’s a long shot, I will see how that will develop.

I am also playing with an idea of jumping on the Soundcloud Premieres bandwagon. Seems like people are still looking for new outlets to present their upcoming releases this way and I keep receiving a number of requests like that even though I have never done that. Keep an eye on Neo Violence SC & FB as I might announce some kind of a trial month to see what the actual interest might be once it is official. Feel free to contact me already if you are interested in premiering with NV 😉

What’s been keeping you busy of late?

In general, not much to be honest. I finally got used to working from home, so coming back to the office (if required again) will be a challenge 🙂 I also enjoy gaming quite a bit and there’s basically two games occupying a lot of my free time – Cyberpunk 2077 & Destiny 2. 

And of course my partner in life, Bara, with whom we will have our 9th anniversary soon and Anthony, our cat. I also got myself a new winter lockdown hobby which is building Gundam/Gunpla model kits.

To be honest, I haven’t felt so relaxed in years. But as soon as we get to some sort of “normal” and into clubs, I am ready to roll!

What drove you to electronic music in the first place?

Nobody in my family was into music actually. So, the first moments I started to actually enjoy listening to music was around the age of 12. It was just regular commercial radio/TV music. I used to own albums from the likes of Scooter or Aiffel 65 for instance 🙂 I knew projects/bands like The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld and such, but in that time they were just bands to me without any background or culture behind them. 

One evening, when I was 13, I was listening to a local dance music radio and there was an advert for something I didn’t really understand what it was – a release of a mixed CD by some DJ. I had some sort of idea what a DJ is back then, but it wasn’t important to me at all. 

BUT, the music in the background was really interesting. It was dance music, but sounded very different. The next day after school I immediately went to a little local book & music in a living district of Prague we used to live back then and asked for that CD. I asked the lady behind the counter if I may listen to it, she put the CD into the player, gave me the cover, and I hit play. This was basically a life changing moment for me and can go for hours talking about what was going on after that, but in short words – a whole new world opened to me that day.

Name a few records or songs that had a big impact on you in your early days and why?

I wouldn’t say there were some specific songs that had an impact on me in terms of my music drive through life, but as I’ve said earlier, there was this mix that completely changed everything for me and still is an essential part of my music journey. Lots of the tracks in this mix still sound great.

Since that moment I tend to categorize my music journey by genres. It’s also important to notice that mixes played a crucial part in all this, because I wasn’t listening to albums at all for a very, very long time. I was saving money to buy official mixed cassettes & CDs until the internet became a common thing and we were suddenly able to download lots of mixes from the endless number of DJs around the globe.

Anyway, techno became a very big thing to me shortly after. I loved the Birmingham industrial take; swedish cold and almost metallic sound; percussive funky techno; slovakian heavy broken rhythms…I started clubbing in the same time and the biggest anthem of those years is obvious to me:

After that the big wave of minimal-techno took over and I wasn’t into that at all. But there was this really fun thing going on called electroclash and I got hooked on that for a few years. Hard to pick the anthem there as I have so many favs from that era, but let’s go with:

And the last period before I got into DJing (or actually, to be prices, I started during that time) was, love it or hate it – nu-rave or indie-disco. And here it is the same as with electroclash, too many big tracks that got me so hooked. But probably the biggest one was:

What about DJ’ing, and how did you get started?

So, it was 2006, I had my MySpace profile, following my favourite DJs, producers, labels, promoters, crews and so on. I had this huge list of bookmarked blogs and websites and was regularly checking to hear the hottest stuff. And every week I composed a MySpace bulletin with my best findings and shared it within my “network”. It was pretty popular I would say, but nothing significant. 

Nevertheless, I got a message one day from a promoter in Vienna offering me a gig. I had to refuse, because at the time I was not even thinking about becoming a DJ. I was just enjoying going to parties, dressing up, dancing (strictly no drugs and excessive drinking). 

During that time I also met a canadian guy, who was working here at that time, and he was doing his own small indie-disco parties which I was attending. We quickly became good friends and he, together with a bunch of other people told me that I consider trying DJing, that I might be good at it as I clearly had a very good overview and music taste. That still didn’t convince me. One day he told me that something happened with a warm-up DJ and if I want to come over and just play some tracks even without mixing. I took it as a challenge, got onto the computer and started searching. I knew there already were dj-ing softwares and I had a demo version of early Traktor on CD that was part of a magazine. So, I played around with it for a week or so, created a sort of playlist and went to the club. 

I played my “set”, I actually can’t remember if there were any people for it, but Damien, the friend-organizer, said it was decent for the first ever set. He then started to book me more and I was learning Traktor more, bought a cheap midi-controller…it is a pretty long story and rocky development after that 🙂

Do you have any memorable experiences to share from your early days as a DJ?

For example that very first gig. So, you have to realize in that year, computer DJing was a very new thing. There was Final Scratch as a full DVS, but it was very expensive and you needed turntables too. Our family was very poor back then due to several reasons, so this was not an option to even think about. In Prague there was a DJ school, but also expensive for my budget. So I was using the cracked version of Traktor for the first year or so. But the memorable thing was actually that I didn’t even have a notebook, only the PC! I had to carry the whole PC into the DJ booth, with a monitor, keyboard, mouse… the staff in the club looked very confused. And visitor and my next gigs too as they were not sure what the hell am I doing there 😀

Later on, as Traktor got more and more popular and midi-controllers started to become more advanced, I was one of the first owners of Native Instruments X1 controller which was quite a game changer for me back then. It was still before people started hating on sync functions that today even the biggest DJs use on the C/X-DJs. So, people were actually coming to my gigs to see how I use it, they were asking for lessons from me. That was a really exciting part as I remember it.

Of course, there were bad parts too. Like the one in Poland, when the promoter disappeared in the middle of the night, club closed and had no place to stay at 1AM and didn’t know anyone, so ended up “sleeping” in a car with two stranges from the club who were too drunk to drive home, which was outside of town.

Later on other memorable moments were those, when I got to the point to share decks with a few local legendary DJs, whom I used to dance to when I was a teenager. That made me more nervous than switching decks with any of the high-tier international DJs.

You are an avid vinyl fan and record collector. Tell us a little about your collection and how you go about finding records to buy?

I got into vinyl not that long ago actually. It’s been only 6 years since my very first vinyl purchase. But, yeah, I gotta admit I got hooked. https://soundcloud.com/neoviolence/sets/neo-violence-dj-station, and I still am, even though it might not look like it from my sets that are mostly vinyl-only (if the situation allows that, which is not always the case).

I very, very rarely buy second-hand records and I am strongly against so-called Discogs sharks. So, I only buy new records and represses which also serves a way to pay back and support those labels and artists who actually put the work into releasing new music rather than resellers who artificially boost prices.

I currently have around 1600 records and I try to slow down as there are no gigs, but it is not working out as I would like to 🙂 

And as for my digging routine – it is a mix of social networks, digital promos and notifications from stores where I tend to meticulously follow labels and names of those that interest me. I also have to admit that I usually don’t enjoy digging through records in the actual stores, but I enjoy hanging around and in them. 

In Prague I have this Facebook group where people announce that they are planning to order records from this or that store, so others can join in so they can save on shipping costs for example. That group also played a role in the forming of a small record store where we can send our pre-orders directly from distributions and then pick up those records which is beneficial for both sides – DJs get what they want and the shop knows exactly what to order while adding more on top for the diggers.

How has your collection expanded over the years – is your approach systematic or organic?

I would say it is mainly systematic but is also organically changing through time as music develops together with my own taste.

When you select records for your set, what’s your approach like?

I am a type of DJ who analyzes the type of the event, club and the DJs before and after and then tries to combine it all together. I don’t like when a DJ comes in and goes on without paying attention to what was happening before and what will be after. 

I am also my own best critic, so even though I follow the crowd, I am not the crowd-pleaser and try to break expectations, but within certain limits…if that makes any sense.

It is much easier for me to prepare a bag of records or two than a flash-drive.

Do you have any good stories to share about the live shows or DJ’ing?

Apart from those I’ve already mentioned in the memorable question…nothing really exceptional I would say. I mean, I can go on about some of the b2b sets where it just clicked and the two of us were like one. Or when people start to really go crazy during your set. 

But I think these moments are so personal, that it is hard to describe the feeling in words… we all know how it feels when it happens on any level or profession after all.

I have few funny but embarrassing stories though, but I’d rather not talk about those 😀

Actually, now I remembered one. Once I had this gig at a lovely place in Prague called Wildt and I was playing this record, not sure with track exactly, and this guy comes to me and asks what is it playing. I’m giving him the cover to look at and he asks if he can make a call and then he will give it back to me. He comes back after a few mins and tells me that he was on a phone with his mom and that the lyrics on that track are from a village next to where his mom used to live and that those lyrics are evil and that I should be careful when playing it. I don’t know if that is true or not and wasn’t able to verify any of that. But so far so good.

Name three to five secret weapons that you almost every time carry in your bag?

To be honest, I never pack a single same record from gig to gig. So this does not exist to me. I guess this has a lot to do with the fact that often one night I play a house set and the other can be electro, or ambient… 

I play a lot of styles and so are my gigs and I don’t want to be remembered for dropping this or that record all the time 🙂

I just need to ask, how’s your vinyl record collection organised? 

Hah, classic DJ topic here. Most of the records are organised by sound/genre/vibe and not following any new-to-old order. Then I have certain labels from which I own a significant number of records and these I tend to bulk together in one place. That’s it.

Name five tracks or releases that are currently on heavy rotation?

Simon Moncler ‎– Data Streams EP

Dawl – Born Abstract (2020, Vinyl)

DJ WEB – Traditions 16 (Vinyl)

Pawel’s Bar – Cantina (2020, Vinyl)

Bourbonese Qualk – Preparing For Power (2020, Vinyl)

Who are the local artists and DJ’s you think deserve more attention than they get currently?

This is a really complicated and touchy topic. The way the media operate and how PR works, the attention becomes very much artificial I would say. And artificial attention is not deserved, it is paid for. I am certainly standing behind all the names who have appeared on Neo Violence so far and some have already built a solid international name, which I am very happy about.

Apart from those I would like to mention a few local names – Exhausted Modern, Sasha Nevolin, Kletis, Silhouette / Visions of 1992, Nathan Solo… the list can go on. Unfortunately, not many female producers here that fall into my musical spectrum, but I can include few DJs – Eva Porating, Theya, Brigitte Noir, Marie Pravda, Teresi or Dash to name a few.

If you are curious, you can check my Crack Mag mix from earlier this year which is focused on local producers and labels.

Tell us about your show on Rinse France?

I’ve been doing Neo Violence radio shows for 7 years now actually. Most of them can be found in this Mixcloud playlist:

I went through a number of different local DIY stations to bigger ones. Currently it is a bi-monthly show on Rinse France where initially I was inviting international DJs who I also hosted on my events. But currently this has changed and will focus on introducing locals in a form of guest mixes. Those are pre-recorded in Prague at my place.

Apart from that I’m also part of local Radio Punctum crew, which is now in a sort of transitioning phase, so is not broadcasting regularly.

Both are dedicated mainly to new records and promos from my end.

How did you get started and how has the show evolved?

Those 7 years ago I messaged a few stations in Prague, on-line and FM to see if there could be a space for me. No response. 

So I ended up in this studio/radio above Cross Club called Radio23. Later on I got a spot on Radar Radio before it shut down. Shortly after Radio Punctum got created in Prague and I was invited to be a part of it with my show, but also as a sort of advisor. 

Then I had a gig in Strasbourg, spent a few days in Paris after that and was lucky enough to get a spot on Rinse France. After my set there we agreed to have the Neo Violence show there bi-monthly.

Apart from that there hasn’t been much of an evolution going on there apart from changing stations and focusing on locals recently. There is no speaking. Although last year me and my friend Jirka (aka Ultrafino/Darryl Baalki) did a first episode of a talk-show on Punctum (the topic was “Clubs vs Covid”) and had plans to do more, but the ongoing situation slowed it down drastically. But I hope we will get back to it as we have some really exciting topics in our heads.

Neo Violence is your label – tell us about your vision for the label and what’s in the pipeline?

As I briefly mentioned earlier, Neo Violence was not a music label since launch. It was a party and music sharing facebook page and evolved from there. Now it is a project covering all sorts of my music ralter activities, including releasing music. 

I am mainly giving a platform to new producers who are on the same wave as me and are ok keeping things a bit low-key as I am not a fan of big paid promo campaigns which are also very often unreasonably overpriced. 

I listen to all the demos I receive and reply to all of those that are relevant. I am trying to be as transparent as possible with everyone involved from the start and not setting any high expectations. 

I am also strongly against on-demand streaming platforms like Spotify and such, so you won’t find NV releases there from our side. But there are few exceptions, because certain artists wanted to have their release there after some time has passed since the release, so they published it there themselves (after I agreed with it) and are keeping all the streaming profit from it.

The vision stays the same, although all planned releases are postponed until dancefloors are back.

Pick one release out of the catalogue and tell us a story behind it, please?

Hmmm, there are no particularly interesting stories behind any of those, not that I am aware of 🙂 But without mentioning any of the releases, what I still find fascinating to this day is that certain releases gain significant traction on Soundcloud till this day, while sales-vise it is an opposite. I guess what I wanted to say by this is – don’t get fooled by the number of plays, folks!

Where do you find the music and the artists for the label? 

When I was beginning with releasing music, I was pretty active messaging different producers on Soundcloud whom I discovered for example in different forums or FB groups or randomly bumped into on SC related section. 

Now I mostly rely on demos that I receive, because it seems like it is more likely that new producers will find a label they feel related to rather than a label unexpectedly coming across a very unknown producer. But I don’t want to sound like I am not looking around me anymore, I certainly do all the time.

What has been the most rewarding part of running the label?

Certainly seeing some of those names gaining momentum and developing their careers. I’m not saying it was a work of my label, but just being this one point on their journey feels good.

What’s interesting is that more people know me and my label outside of Czech Republic, which also feels rewarding.

What’s your take on the current state of electronic music?

I am naturally very sceptic about many things. So my take is not overly positive. And especially after seeing what a mess 2020 has brought onto the plate I really don’t know what to expect. 

The only thing I am certain about is that art (including music) will survive, it may become smaller and less profitable (for those who care) as it usually does in the time of crisis, but when the time is right again, it will rise & shine and maybe even some ideological breakthrough shift will finally happen.

Let’s talk about Prague – what’s the scene like there?.

We do have a very strong and big drum’n’bass scene and there are some internationally established names coming from it, but this scene here is a totally different world living its own life.

Apart from that it is not very different from any other major city around Europe, it is just smaller as Prague is small too when compared to cities like London, Berlin, Paris and such.

Can you name a few local acts, events or locations that should be on people’s radar?

Must visit places in Prague for electronic music enthusiasts like myself should be (although it is hard to say which of those will remain opened):

Clubs & DJ bars – Ankali, Wildt, Groove Bar, Fuchs2/Bike_Jesus, Altenburg, Luft, Punctum, Vlkova26, Chapeau Rouge, Underdogs, Cross Club, Roxy (although, in all cases I would recommend to check the programming for the exact day/night so you don’t end up listening to something you might not enjoy. Sounds obvious, I know, but some people just don’t do that and then complain).

Vinyl & gear shops – Luft, Garage Store, Graffneck (Letna), Noise.Kitchen, Phono.cz, Gram Records, Yuku

For anything else feel free to contact me anywhere when visiting Prague. I like meeting new people and showing them around.

So the mix, can you tell us a little something about that? 

I know both of us have a very similar taste in club music as I saw from your mixes, (Timo’s note: that b2b set has to happen at some point… ) so for this reason I’ve chosen to take a different path and focus on a new type of sound I’ve been enjoying a lot recently. 

I don’t have a name for it (I love to give names to all the genres, cause genres do matter imo), but it’s like a mix of really punchy, bleepy tech-house infused with electro, acid & new-beat. Because there’s no clubbing, I have all this accumulated DJ energy and I kinda let it all out in this mix…although, there’s a lot of that energy still left inside.

I wanted to include some unreleased and promo tracks too, but I have so many new records laying around and waiting to be played that I ended up using those mostly.

But in general it’s still my classic “not-sticking-to-one-vibe-for-too-long”-style mix 🙂

Many thanks, anything else?

Stay strong, don’t fall into the conspiracy rabbit hole, and hopefully see you soon on the dancefloor!

Playlist

Johnny Hunter – Likkle More [Parasol Culture]

Frankel & Harper – Crouching Tiger (LEON Remix) [Council Work]

Jorge Gamarra – Insect Politics [Coming From…Returning To…]
Two Face U – Redbooth [SUR]

Client_03 – Love And Or Hate Trigger [Astrophonica]

Prince De Takicardie – Acid Track’s [Lumbago]

Δ – CФЯФИΔViRUS [EXARDE]

D.A.B – Rectro [Tribe]

Tonnovelle – Mind Blending Chemical [Better Sound]

Steve Marie – Ho! [Philoxenia]

Transparent Sound – Remanisance (Remix) [Transparent Sound]

Corp – Alarm State [Unusual Systems]

DJ Web – The Secret Of Endenecroism [Libertine]

Steve Angstrom – Star Billiard [Sleepers]

Sonic System – Operation Desert Storm [BOY/Mecanica]

Download this mix

DJ profile

dMIT.RY

Full profile