Next up on the Phonica mix series we head out West, State side all the way to Washington DC to hook up with James Bangura.
James or by his real name Timothy has dropped some extremely interesting heat as of late on labels like !K7, Incienso and World Building to name a few. With a musical style that mashes inspirations from stems of US house and UK broken up beats and techno leaning sounds it goes without saying that Bangura’s sound is one of the most unique out there in the current club circuit.
Off the back of a recent trip around the UK and Europe we hooked up with James and got him to lay a mix down for us that is very much in itself inspired by his trip to the UK. Featuring a mesh of 2-step, broken beat, jazz influences and moulded together with a refreshing house and bass sound we are very excited to welcome to Phonica mix 108; James Bangura.
We had a chat with Bangura about his trip, his mix and about what he’s got going on.
Hey, thanks for joining us Timothy! Can you tell us about your mix and what the idea behind
it was?
London really inspired me with this one. I decided to dedicate the mix to West London and
the broken beat sound and culture that came to fruition there.
Can you tell us a bit about how you usually approach recording a mix or a set?
I really think about energy and how it fluctuates through a mix. This one was a bit
challenging and did a lot of takes for this one because I wanted to get the energy right.
What are your preferred methods for finding new music—do you still enjoy digging around
in dusty crates, or do you prefer to buy online?
I still really like finding new tracks through friends and going to shops. Buying music online
is for sure more convenient but there’s something special about finding a cut in the shop or
discovering something through your homies.
On the production side of things, how would you describe your sound to people who have not
listened to you before?
Constantly changing, emotional, multi-faceted.
You just traveled over to Europe recently for a few gigs and I was lucky enough to catch you
for a pint! How do you think the scenes from the US and Europe differ these days? Do you
feel like they move at different paces?
Europe and the States are two different beasts. You have on one hand a scene that is starting
to embrace underground sounds more and on the other hand, the underground IS the
standard. I definitely developed an appreciation for the scene in the UK for sure. It felt like a
live wire but in a good way. Unlike in the states, the infrastructure for dance music in the UK
and Europe can very much stand on its own. However, I will say the dance infrastructure in
the states is growing at a steady pace and I’m excited to see what it will look like in a few
years.
Is there any DJ’s or producers that you have met that you would like to play with or work on
music with over here?
Oh man, there are so many haha. I think a highlight for me was sitting down with the artist
“Dauwd” whose work I’ve followed for quite some time. We had the opportunity to sit in his
studio in Berlin and flesh out some ideas which was cool. So I think finishing up those ideas
would be dope.
Finally, what do you both have up your sleeve for 2023?
Well, releasing BRC Vol 3 in late summer and finishing up a few solo projects coming out this
year as well.
Thanks Timothy!
Tracklist:
Kesswa – Open(Reprise)
Shigeto- Detroit (Part II)
Trevor Loveys – Sambooka (Original Mix)
EVM128 – UK Brukers
Neue Grafik – Sorcier
Kenny Dope – The Illout (Main Mix)
Piers Kirwan – Red Dead
Karizma – Twyst This
Duke Hugh – Believe
EVM128 – Bun Dat
Szajna – Wriggle Shuffle
Surprise Chef – Crayfish Caper (Nuyorican Broken Mix)
Jonny Faith – Rare Move
Close Counters – Get Down! (Extended Mix)
Kesswa – Contemplate
Teebs – Shell
