Out Of Context _ Interview With Lag

Well.. I hope you do make the time, as your ‘Applied Mechanics’ release on Singularity was really great. Would you mind talking about how that came about? You were obviously aware of the label.. It’s great, isn’t it?

Thanks! Steve is a legend. The reason I really respect him is because he speaks his mind. He has helped me a lot by saying “this is shit”. Really. It means so much when you are a producer. You keep sending stuff to people who are afraid of stepping on someone’s foot and everyone is going “great stuff” while it is, in fact, shit. I mean I don’t listen blindly to anyone, but advice and feedback that

Steve’s advice over the years has proved to be very valuable. When he showed interest in some of my tracks I was really excited, because there is nothing more pleasant than cooperating with people you respect and enjoy being around. Steve is uncompromising both with his music and with his label, so it is a pleasure to be on board.

Yeah.. he’s a good guy. Have you got plans to follow it up soon? What’s in the pipeline release wise?

I’ve got a vinyl release coming up on a new label. This is going to feature two of my tracks (one of which is the “Sama Doma” track that Surgi keeps playing), along with two remixes (one of which is by Forward Strategy Group and is featured in the subsekt mix I did). That should be coming out after the Summer. After that – who knows? I was confiding with a friend about starting a new label, but we shall see. I don’t want to do anything half-arsedly,  and I don’t want to find myself again in a trap which makes me think of what I should make, instead of making what I feel like making.

Funny, that’s exactly what I was going to ask you next. There looks to be a good size crew of people from Serbia making music. The lads in Ontal, Xavi, dOts, Scalameriya, Subotic, MKDSL, Alavux etc.. Do you all know eachother? Would there be an opportunity for you to join forces in terms of a label / club / festival / tour etc..?

Yeah, of course. Xavi is sort of my techno BFF as we go back a long way. Scalameriya is a rising techno star, as well as the Ontal boys. Subotić is a very varied producer who makes music from the heart, something that could also be said about Nino Šebelić. MKDSL is a great producer and DJ who does some serious music, as well as some fucked up full-retard stuff (the last track I really liked from him has lyrics which repeatedly go “return my mothers jewelry”). Alavux’s production has a very unique style to it, and I especially love his dirtier output (like “Extended Mind”). d0ts is Croatian and a very talented DJ, same as Man From The Lab (a great DJ from the Machine Whisper crew). There is also a number of good producers hidden around, some of which are Pod Room, Oetam, Hadji etc. We all keep in touch and occasionally meet for some partying or chilling around.

I saw that set on your Soundcloud page from Tresor. Do you get to play out much?

I used to play a lot and then I became picky. I’ve had one too many lousy gig and I felt that my love for the whole thing was diminishing with every performance ending with me thinking to myself “why did I do this?”. I really enjoy damp, dark basements over any fancy club, but damp, dark basements tend to contain faulty equipment and shady promoters. Right now I’m just aiming at whatever is guaranteed not to make me anxious or regretful.

Well, we’re nearing the end now. Just wanted to say thanks for the mix. Would you mind telling us about how you approached it & maybe about why you chose some of the tracks on it?

I hate doing mixes. I really do. I always struggle to find something I am pleased with. I already talked about club music vs. home listening music and it makes it very hard for me to find a balance. If I do a mix which represents what I sound like in a club then it is out of context when played at home or on an mp3 player, but if I do something which is for home listening – it is not what I would be playing at the club.

This mix I started banging, but then chilled a bit in the second half with the occasional deep track and slower transitions. I actually did two more before this one, completely different tracklist and vibe, and this is the one I am least displeased with. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to have the opportunity to do this as I look back onto every mix I’ve made with a smile on my face. The difficulty of the process provides a memorable experience most often defined by a train of thought which helps me understand music and the art of DJing a little better.

As for playing music in general – I have a system of determining what goes where and when, based on what the previous track’s strengths are, and what are it’s weakness. I try and compliment the currently played track with the one I’m trying to mix in to keep the flow and energy flowing. I also never plan (whenever I did the mix turned out poo as I didn’t react to the crowd), and even while predicting what my following tracks will be I don’t go further than four tracks. I do have some safe combos I like to use (for example I used to love playing Reeko’s “A Bad Day” with Regis’ remix of Makaton’s “Weakness” so that the melody of the second one comes in just as the buildup of the first one ends) and once I’ve played them enough times, either privately or publicly, I just stop doing it. I also tend to occasionally pop in electro and dubstep in my sets, but subsekt is a techno community so I refrained from going there. I play hits quite often while Djing in clubs (stuff like DJ Funk – Run, Joey Beltram – Aumento, Kevin Saunderson – Bassline [Ben Sims Remix] etc.), but I guess people have heard ‘em enough times already that I don’t have to poke eyes by playing them in a downloadable set. This mix it is basically raw, juicy, pure techno, done on two decks, a mixer and Serato.

Deadly! I can’t wait to hear it now. Ok, so that’s us then. I’ve been doing these quickfire questions recently to finish interviews.. so lets go, haha..

Shoot!

Whats in your pockets right now?

Lint.

Last time you felt stupid?

I said some shit about a person who was in the next room and I didn’t know it. Always makes me want to have an IRL quicksave.

Never go to..

A record store without any money. Or with a lot of money.

Whats the worst trick that you have ever played on someone?

There was one really silly dude who joined our class in the fourth grade. My friend and I took em out in the first few weeks and to show him around the city. It is silly, but still gives me the giggles when I remember it. I had my hair oiled up and combed backwards, drew a huge mole on my face, got into a suit and took the guy to a tavern with live gypsy music. Then told him a story how I invested money into restoring some art piece which was hanging on a nearby wall and that is why we always have a reserved spot. He believed every word we said, and everything we told him was untrue. I don’t know how much he figured out by now, but I’m convinced he at least figured out we weren’t gay.

An album from your teens that you still listen to?

Pulp Fiction OST. Surf Rider is the reason I want to learn to play the sax one day.

Has anything ever made you want to walk out of a job?

I worked at a radio station. The sound for dividing different topics during the news was disharmonious with the music that accompanied the news. I suggest adjusting it so it doesn’t sound as horrible. “It’s fine” is the answer I got. You are a radio station, sound is your only tool. “It’s fine”. Grr, I still get agitated when I think about it.

A tune to melt faces and minds?

Acid Jacks – Gangster Script (Kanji Kinetic Remix)

Excellent! Great chatting to you! Appreciate your time and I’m sure we’ll see eachother on the forums soon..

Thanks for having me, it was a pleasure. See you on subsekt!

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