Parisian artist Dang-Khoa Chau, better known as D.K., joins us for the 22nd edition of the Off The Record Mix Series.
As a producer, D.K. has been known to dabble in many different electronic genres, from dancefloor-focused ceiling slappers to deeply atmospheric deck-chair tappers.
His musical treasures have been released via such labels as Good Morning Tapes, Antinote, Melody As Truth, Second Circle, and 12th Isle in recent years – all of which have been in high demand here at Phonica.
Off the back of his latest EP on Good Morning Tapes, as well as the news of an eagerly-awaited repress of his phenomenal ‘Live At The Edge’ LP, we reached out to Dang-Khoa to see if he would be interested in contributing towards our Off The Record Mix Series. The result is a mystifying, hour-long journey through things tribal, ambient and electronic. Enjoy!
Hi Dang-Khoa, thanks for joining us! Can you tell us about your recording and what the idea was behind it…
Hey, thanks for having me. It’s a selection of tracks that i’ve been listening to at home lately, and also inspired by my own productions, from ambient, tribal, to more contemporary stuff and unreleased material.
Could you tell us a little bit about your background, perhaps where you grew up and what first got you interested in music?
I grew up in Brittany in a city called Rennes. Music got me when i was very young, i started violin at the age of 6, for several years, at Rennes’ Music Conservatory. During my teenage years, i was listening to a lot of hip hop and collecting records, which led me into turntablism. My interest in Electronic music came a bit later, in the early 2000s I guess. I was part of a Dj collective, we were organizing and promoting parties in different clubs and bars in the city.
For anyone that isn’t already aware of your musical style, how would you describe it?
Hmmm… Shamanic healing music ?!
What else can we look forward to seeing and hearing from you in 2021?
The vinyl edition of « Eighteen Movement », originally self-released in may 2020. It’s a collection of live recordings between 2017 -2019 and it will be released next month on Abstrakce Records. I’m also working on the first release of my own label, due in September. More info soon :).
What would you say are some of your all-time favourite record labels?
Staalplaat, as I’m a huge fan of Muslimgauze, O yuki Conjugate, Randy Greif…
Vanity records, showcased to me the most interesting music from the Japanese underground scene, since 1978. On-U sound, Adrian sherwood brought a totally new vision and approach in the sound of experimental reggae and dub music. DMZ, it might not be a direct influence on my music but i kept listening to some of those dubstep releases throughout the years.
What’s your preferred method for finding new music – do you still enjoy digging around in record shops (when they are open!) or do you prefer to findmusic online?
For a few years, I’ve kept finding new music on discogs or online. I like to take time to listen to a record, it’s important for me to know if I really want it on wax and if i will listen to it years later. But I still enjoy digging around record shops from time to time, especially when I’m travelling and find some music to listen to at home.
And what about these crazy lockdown times we’re facing today. What’s been keeping you going through it all?
It’s difficult to stay in your own city for so long, i miss travelling and visit my friends overseas but besides that, it doesn’t really affect my daily routine as I don’t, usually, go out so much. Most of the time, I’m in the studio producing music. I like the fact that i’m not in a rush to release some material and enjoying taking time to experiment a lot of different things, doing some research and dig deeper into the music style that I want to propose.
Thanks, Dang-Khoa!
