Kassian: The ‘Shine A Light On’ Mix

The launch of their label, Faux Poly, was a catalyst for the new direction. Starting as a space for their own releases, they’re now welcoming new artists to the label, the first being London-based DJ Jay Carder and her debut EP Entropy, which we premiered a track from recently. When they’re not running the label, gigging or readying their own releases,  Joe and Warren run their own East London-based studio, 38east Studios, which offers a fully equipped space for producers to come and make music.

Following a healthy string of gigs across the UK and Europe, including debuts at Panorama Bar, HOR and Radio Radio, and ahead of a jam-packed release schedule next year, Kassian treat us to a mix of bass heavy grooves, melodic techno and hypnotic broken rhythms.

Please introduce yourself… Who are you, where are you and what are you

Hi, we’re Kassian, two producers based in London currently sitting in our studio 38East recording our Ransom Note mix and writing this interview.

What does your music sound like? Can you draw what you think it sounds like for us (an image from the old internet is acceptable)?

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

Train journey or maybe a car journey.

What should we be wearing?

Something comfortable.

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?

Something like Warehouse Project or Dekmantel’s UFO stage. Somewhere big where you can really feel the size of the space and mix slowly.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Skudge is one of our all time favourite producers and he’s remixed Off World Vehicles for us, so we had to include it in the mix!

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

We’re big fans of some of the older archives on NTS and there some really great live recorded sets from Corisca Studios, notably Trouble Vision, some golden Gilles Peterson shows through the past 20 years and also lots of nostalgia wrapped up in the Essential Mixes whilst we were growing up. Can’t really pick a specific one.

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

Started out with CDJ400s and a mixer that had a Kaoss pad on it, can’t get any better than that. Now we’re just using an RX2 in our studio.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

For us, the start really sets the pace, in this mix it really opens up the possibilities and captures your attention. We don’t plan our mixes so the opener is important for both of us to set the tone.

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

Something savory perhaps a starter but nothing too sweet.

If it was an animal what would it be?

A whale – deep, big and full of nice reverb.

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything?

Eddy Grant – Time Warp from 1982, although I think we’ve got the hang of it now.

Upcoming in the world of …

We just signed our first artist to Faux Poly by the name of Jay Carder who has been using our studio for a few years. We’ve had the pleasure of watching her refine her sound over that time to a point where we couldn’t refuse the chance to put out her music as it fits our label so well. We’re really happy to finally share this EP with the world, and of course a big thanks to Ransom Note for the premiere of ‘Reverse Disorder’.

We’ve got a few more shows lined up for the end of the year, Watergate in Berlin will be a real highlight.

Anything else we need to discuss?

We are in the early stages of curating a remix VA for the label but that’s a conversation for a later date. We hope you like the mix.