Kashawar: Discovery Channel
Kashawar may enjoy walking his dog in the forest, skating with his mates, or working as a graphic designer, but his biggest passions lie in the art of mixing and music discovery. His collection stems from his formative years, owing in part to the influences of his older DJ brother. Kashawar has played around Europe and the US. Even if he thinks of himself as more a DJ than producer, he’s released a handful of productions on labels such as Partisan, Fakedtunes, O300f, Project London Records, BodyParts, Gua Limited, Mosaic, Autoreply and Apparel Music, and his own Black Puddle Productions. We catch up with him to see what he's been up to, his latest thoughts on djing and producing, digging and Discogs, while he shares a new mix for the mag!
Hi Kashawar! How’s it going. Where are you based?
I live in a small and quiet countryside town in middle Germany.
Most DJs feel the need to move to the club metropolises like Berlin or London – what are the benefits of living in the countryside for you?
It can be boring here in the weekends if you feel to go out and listen to music, there’s no club culture here. But on the other side I also like the peace here and enjoy living close to nature. I can focus on digging music or producing and if I need a break, I can take my dog and go for a walk in the forest by my house.
And find ingredients for home-cooked dinners?... to what extent do you find that your environment influences your music?
It always depends on my mood, which can be influenced by the most simple of factors – the environment, the time of year, the weather. There are days that I wake up and I have the urge to play some records out loud - mostly in the Summer when you get out of bed full of energy and you’re looking forward to a nice sunny day.
You've been a skater since childhood. A lot of parallel can be drawn with dance music culture don’t you think?
Skaters are free spirits - individualists who drive against the mainstream pursuing their own life philosophies, to be honest that’s a great common ground with dance music culture.
Let's talk about what happens when you're indoors. What are you working on right now?
I took a little break on the production side after I put out Resonate (Partisan). I’d say that I’m slowly getting back to work on new tunes. But I’m still a little slow in the studio… I prefer the digging and DJing, it’s more fun to me. I’m focusing to fill my record bag with nice tunes. I don’t see myself as a producer.
Do you think it has an impact on you getting booked?
Yes it does – today you always have to have fresh output to stay on the radar... I always had more requests (and attention) after a release... but I don't like to release in order to get booked. A release has nothing to do with a DJ set... a good producer can be a bad DJ, a good DJ can be a bad producer and vice versa. I see myself as a DJ.
But you must enjoy to some extent the production side?
When I'm in the mood, yes. But that happens a few times a year - I have short periods when I feel the inspiration to do something. I do it then it’s finished, but I’m not sitting down every day in the studio to work on new sounds…
What was your inspiration for the Resonate album?
It is inspired by the 90's rave music - a mix of acid techno, trance, electro breaks and ambient.
Are those the electronic genres that appeal to you the most?
Taste matures and changes constantly with time. I often sway between genres, sometimes it's more house and groove, sometimes it's more energetic and dark techno rhythms, but I’m open to the whole spectrum of electronic music.
How did the collaboration with Partisan come about?
I was in touch with Anthea for a few years already, and had always shared my productions with her. She liked to play my tracks. We’ve become friends. It felt right to release on her label - I want to work with people that I respect and with who I have a close relationship.
Is there a record that you bought a long time ago or an artist that you’d consider particularly relevant to you today?
When I started buying records, I bought many records from Steve Bug or John Tejada, which I still play today. But I see records today from a very different angle - before it was the warm deep house elements that I liked, today it’s the experimental complex parts, which would have been too strange for my feeling in the past.
I follow new releases too, there’s a constant evolution of interesting artists and labels, the scene never sleeps, it's bringing up new stuff all the time.
Kashawar - Discovery Channel
Cover Image by Lisa Heilmann
Edited by Kajol Shah