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 artists 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 power house, techno, bass and percussive club rolling excursions. Strap yourself in(or don’t?), its gonna be a big one.
We had a quick chat with Sleep D about the mix, the Melbourne scene and Butter Sessions and more!
Hey, thanks for joining us! Can you tell us about your mix and what the idea behind it was?
Thanks for inviting us! This mix is pretty much the vibe we were playing over the past couple of months in Australia and Asia, we wanted to capture that feeling and share it with you.
Can you tell us a bit about how you usually approach recording a mix or a set?
We have a chat about which direction, mood or vibe we want to take the mix in, then spend a day or two compiling our own playlists to show each other and listen to.
When we’re traveling we enjoy diggin’ at the local stores, especially for listening music, not so much dance music… and that’s mostly supplemented by digital digs on Bandcamp, Hardwax and Beatport or any website that’s selling what we want. A lot of the time we find a label or artist we like and plough through their back catalog and enter the rabbit hole, that leads to other producers and label discoveries and so on.
For people who have never been, how would you describe the scene in Melbourne?
It’s a healthy and diverse scene that’s grown a lot in the past 10 years and is still developing. World class DJ’s, live artists, visual artists, dancers a plenty. We’ve been lucky to have come into the scene during a time when it was growing so we’ve been able to experience it from different angles and periods. There’s something for everyone and everyone’s welcome.
What do you both have up your sleeve for 2023?
We’re very excited to have a new album out in the middle of the year via our label Butter Sessions! In March we’ll be touring Australia performing our own live score of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth with friends Hektor and RBI. We’ll also be touring the Americas in May and Europe in June / July…see you there?!
Thanks Sleep D!! 🙂
