feeder insider w/ Mihigh [en]

[citește în RO]

Ever since 2007, DJ and producer Mihigh has been a resident of Midi Club in Cluj. Sharing the decks with names like tINI, Ricardo Villalobos, Arpiar, Zip or Marco Carola, and being a part of the Sunrise family as well, he is playing his atmospheric, full of vibe sets at some of the most interesting events going down in Romania. If you are not planning to visit Cluj, Sunwaves 17 will be a good chance to check out Mihigh. Midi Records România, his label, is a personal approach in music selection, soulful and uncompromising, and since we enjoyed MR001, we asked Mihigh what we’d be hearing on the next release, MRR002, scheduled for May.

Thoughts about music, friends and what matters most accompany the 2 hour-long recording from tINI and Mihigh’s party at Club Midi on the 3^rd of April 2015, an exceptional set now available for listening as part of the feeder sound series: feeder sound 26 mixed by Mihigh [Midi Records].

The night kicks in… at the first break.
I’ve never complained about too much… Seinfeld.
The sounds of nature are… mysterious.
I collect… happy mornings.
If my music was to have a colour spectrum, it would contain… black and red.
In Cluj you should see… „Bogdan Berbecariu Studio of Architecture and Design”.
Romanian electronic music is appreciated for it’s… finesse.
A track I can’t get out of my head these days … David Lynch – Bad The John Boy
A vinyl I would be happy to have is sold-out … [a:rpia:r01]
Three artists you would like to hear… Blixa Bargeld, Bjork, Massive Attack.

Cristina P: Hello, Mihigh, we are happy to talk a bit about music with you. When and how did you realize this is what you want to do?

Mihigh: Hello Cristina, it’s a topic which also brings me pleasure, so the joy is mutual. Not sure exactly when that took place, probably in 2002 when I was dancing in the front rows J You never know with music, it just happens suddenly, after you’ve collected some knowledge about it and especially feelings.

Afterwards, it depends how much time and soul you put into what you are doing…and as time goes by you realise there is „no way back”

C: I would like you to tell us more about what your record label, Midi Records, has in store for us. Primu EP [MRR001] uncovers a curated selection of quality Romanian music. In May we are going to listen to MRR002, what kind of atmosphere should we prepare ourselves for? Which artists is Midi showcasing in the next release?

M: I don’t have a set plan with Midi Records. The label is meant to be our legacy, not a means to gain exposure. On MRR001 we were 5 artists, close friends, and the tracks got selected without planning beforehand. That’s how it went, birds of a feather flock together.

MRR002 will be an EP featuring 2 tracks from our friend, g76. He is an artist we considered special, irrespective of any sort of hype. The selected tunes have a distinctive sound and you will all be able to listen to them soon.

C: Indigen, your track together with Arapu on the Primu EP [MRR001] is the only collaboration on that 12” which also sets the debut of the label, a track set to make us dance. Again together with Arapu in 2013 you released Obscurantism EP, you first release on vinyl, featured at the renowned Body Parts Records. How will this collaboration continue and what are the plans you guys have for the future?

M: Arapu is a dear friend of mine and I believe we will be making music for a long time. The BodyParts EP came after sending the project back and forth between us, from Cluj to Bucharest and back. We did another couple of tracks together when we saw each other last time in Cluj, which we of course did not manage to finish, so we have our work to do, we will see how and when we meet.

C: We can’t really have this discussion without referring a little to a super-special place, the club wearing the name of the label you launched in 2014. Your relationship with Midi starts in 2007, as a resident and you’ve been part of the lineups since. One of the best clubs in the world according to DJ Mag 100 Top Club and coming 4th based on the feedbacks from the feeder readers. I know that the audio system is flawless – what other reasons gave Midi such a good stand, so fast, when it comes to the preferences of artists and their audiences?

M: Attention to details.

C: We share the same curiosity and anticipation when thinking about the news that soon we will be listening to a remix you made for a track by Takashi Himeoka, a producer and DJ from Tokyo, with whose sound was brought to our attention through his remix done on the Introspectie EP signed by Ada Kaleh. What can you tell us about this upcoming release?

M: Takashi asked me if I wanted to make a remix to a track which I was already playing at the club, it all came naturally. The vinyl will be released this year at ANY-1 Records, I can’t give you any more details because I don’t have more. I’m pleased with the remix, it’s a very personal interpretation of his track and most of all I feel joy for this overseas collaboration.

„Music connects people”, it’s true

C: Let us head back to Midi Records Romania, what’s the direction or, on the contrary, what do you try to avoid in the future Midi releases? Are you getting any demos?

M: Let me start with the demos, I am always open to new music, however at the same time I am not looking for music to push it through the label. The label is done for people to understand your vision on music. It is something very personal. If you take 4 tracks and give these to 4 individuals each will select another track and neither will like any of them although they’re all good. Each prefers something else, there’s a lot of music, so the label is a way through which people discover what it is that you find interesting and what you choose to keep over the years. Records stay for decades in collectors’ homes, vinyl has soul and each time you listen to it, it delivers the same emotion. You look at an object and it conjures up different periods or events in your life. It is something unique.

Everything is done with soul if you want results and to the soul you cannot lie 😉 There is no space for compromises.

So this is the reason why I don’t look for demos for the label, from my perspective something is missing until you get to know that person personally.

C: We are curious, how did you first find out about feeder.ro?

M: I read the interview done with Lilith.

C: What are you planning for Sunwaves 17? Where will we listen to you next?

M: I am not preparing something specific for Sunwaves, every time I left the house thinking I would be playing this and that, I ended up playing something completely different and it came out perfectly.

That place inspires you in a certain way, he that reckons without his host must reckon twice. It’s intense, can’t wait.

Thank you!

I thank you guys too!