This week’s interview comes from AKASE aka. Midland & Robbie Redway.
Selector AfterDark – AKASE by The Selector on Mixcloud
Introduce yourself and tell us about the part of the UK you’re from?
We are a duo called AKASE, both living in London. Our names are Harry and Robbie and we’ve been making music together for about 3 years on and off.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on recently?
We have an album coming out early next year, which has taken a while to put together, as albums do. So far we have two singles out called ‘Rust’ and ‘Murmur’ and have recently put out a cover of The War On Drugs’ track ‘Under The Pressure’. We’re trying to really refine our live show now and make sure it’s ready to take on the road next year.
And can you talk us through the mix?
As a starting point, we made a long playlist of things we liked at that moment, thought about which tracks fitted together and how we could transition through different tempos and feels. It starts and ends with two beautiful piano-lead tracks, which gives it a kind of circular feel. There’s some friends’ music represented in there as well as some very established artists like Roisin Murphy. That’s often what’s nice about doing a mix; it gives every track a level playing field to stand up next to one another.
Nice, talk us through the British music featured in this mix? Which British artists are you most excited about?
So there’s Roscius who creates an improvised live show using a loop pedal and loads of world percussion, as well as being a very talented, unique producer. He’s actually French but has lived in London for a while now. Medlar is in there, a young producer from South London who is doing some really cool things, same with FYI Chris, who actually run our local record shop, Rye Wax in Peckham. Gwilym Gold, who recently released a beautiful album that hasn’t quite had the recognition it deserves, in my opinion. He is an amazing pianist and great songwriter. There’s also Romare and Fort Romeau, also from London I believe, doing great things at the moment, and the opening track is by Max Cooper and Tom Hodge. Max Cooper is an inspiring guy who designed this incredible 4D live show recently, as well as really pushing boundaries with his production. Rival Consoles has just released a fantastic album on the Erased Tapes label and the remix of his track is by Vessels, a band I used to share a studio space with up in Leeds. That’s just in this mix, we could waffle on about artists we’re excited about for a much more extended length of time!
Cool, tell us about some of your British musical Heroes and influences in general?
There are so many to choose from, but I think one of most important and influential British DJ’s has to be Andrew Weatherall. His influence goes far beyond the dancefloor having worked with and produced Screamadelica by Primal Scream and his production work as Two Lone Swordsmen with Keith Tenniswood aka Radioactive man. As a DJ his sets are measured, and totally entrancing, building to climaxes gradually rather than suddenly. It’s a skill very few have.
Great and what’s on the cards in the immediate future?
So the album is being released on K7! Records in early 2016, it’s called ‘Graspers’, and we’re very excited to finally have it out there. There’ll be a few shows in Europe around the time of it being released and then hopefully load more shows later in the year. We’re just taking it one step at a time really.
And finally, where is the best place in the world you have performed and why?
NYC Downlow, Sunday Night, Glastonbury Festival.