Mystery Tiime’s ‘New Wave’ Ransom Note Mix

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Music

From jungle pioneer to hip-hop cult figure to dancefloor alchemist, Ayman Rostom certainly wears a lot of musical hats with his aliases The Maghreban, Doctor Zygote, and part of Strange U. This time, his outing is a deeply personal new project comes under the alias Mystery Tiime.

With latest album, ‘Maudlin Tales of Grief and Love, ‘ he examines lo-fi dance, post-punk, and new wave. “It’s hefty in places, tender in others, with surface noise folded in,” he says of his sound, which draws from influences like Jah Wobble and The Creatures. The album draws on his experiences with addiction, fatherhood, and grief. Also, for the first time, it features Rostom on vocals. Initially intended for others to sing on them, the songs took on new meaning when he decided to use his own voice and embraced his own imperfections.

Rostom’s creative process is sequential but scattered, “whizzing about” as he works in his converted garage studio in Forest Hill. With all that hyperbole in mind we asked him to put together a New Wave mix, recorded with the same spirit of experimentation for the album. Anchored by favourites like Richard H. Kirk’s Force of Habit, it’s best experienced, he suggests, in the car, where it can unfold.

Looking ahead, Mystery Tiime will debut live at The Grace in Highbury this November, with more remixes and even a dub reinterpretation of the album on the horizon.

Listen below and read the full interview with Rostom below:

Ransom Note · Mystery Tiime – The ‘Alternate Currents’ Ransom Note Mix

Please introduce yourself…

Who are you

My name is Ayman. I make music as Mystery Tiime, The Maghreban, Doctor Zygote, Strange U.

Where are you

I am in Wivenhoe, Essex.

And what are you

I am a miscreant.

What does your music sound like?

It sounds hefty, some of it. Some is a bit more tender. I think, because it’s a lot made up from little bits of other records, it has surface noise kind of folded in. “texture”. Its pared back. Economical. Unembellished.

How does your brain work when making music? how does it work when you aren’t?

It goes in sequence. I do the next thing and the next thing. It wizzes about. Sometimes it gets stuck and agonises. When I’m not, its a lot slower. I have some white matter loss, probably from eating badly. Maybe its slowing down. Its not as fun.

What was the first electronic record you heard and how did it make you feel?

I don’t know, really. It would have been something 80s pop, and I can’t remember how I felt. It would have been in the early 80s, maybe Gary Numan or Soft Cell or something like this. I can remember the first few dance music records I actively listened to: tunes like Set Up System—Fairy Dust, T99—Anaesthasia, and Altern 8—Vertigo EP. Those records made me blow my top. It’s a new world.

Where was the mix recorded?

In a converted garage in Forest Hill.

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

In the car.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Richard H. Kirk – Force of Habit

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

Coldcut – Journeys by DJ

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

I’d go back to age 15, people coming round and having a mix with them, when it was new. Whatever random dudes those were that taught me stuff. Because it was really fresh and exciting to me. One of my brother’s friends comes to mind, he showed me a couple of things. Adam Skinner. James Dean. Friendly competition.

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

2 1210s and some HW international mixer that seemed like it was 19 inches wide and had handles at either end. It probably wasn’t quite that wide. It’s the same decks now, some CDJ800s and a DJM750.

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

I think the one you start on is. I’ve emptied a couple of floors with unconsidered palate cleansers.

What were the first and last records you bought?

The last one was some Klaus Wunderlich organ record that I bought to sample. The first was probably a Belinda Carlisle 45. Not much of a levelling up in that interim.

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

I’ve got a few Anthony Braxton records. Some of those are a bit left, I don’t think those would work. And some of the 1960s music concrete ones.

If you could travel in time…where in time would you go? why?

I would go to 1965 I think. I mean there are a few eras I could jump to, based on whatever old music I am venerating that week. I am assuming I could bring stuff back from that time. I’d hoover up a lot of first wave jazz ska 45s and blue note records. Also I would get a load of boomer rock records to bring back but that would mostly be purely mercenary.

Upcoming in the world of…

Mystery Tiime Live happens at The Grace in Highbury on the 28th November, with Trevor Jackson supporting. This is going to be fun.

I am prepping a single for the new year, and some more mixes of the tracks. Also there is talk about “Maudlin Tales of Grief in Dub”.

Album order link: Music | mysterytiime