this month’s colectivo futurecast installment is a very special one, as it features a recording by one of our most avid collaborators and supporters. originally from colombia, but currently based in valencia, alexis has been following our footsteps from the early colectivo days. to call him a DJ would be inaccurate, in our mind he’s more of a sound researcher and connoisseur. for this occasion, he’s prepared a 70-minute selection of proper electro (the detroit kind) that features both old and new cuts with a clear inclination for what they call bass musics. check out the tracklist and the set after the jump…
we’re back with the twenty-third installment of the colectivo futurecast with barcelona, spain resident alfonso. as founding member of the monkey bar event promoter, alfonso and his crew have been striving to bring the most avant-garde house and techno acts to the catalonian capital; check out some of their past events here. he’s also label owner of clock, a soon to be vinyl label focusing on the deeper side of forward-thinking house musics. as a DJ, alfonso is an adamant vinyl lover with a soft spot for detroit and chicago inspired house. this mix is the perfect companion for a warm, slow, summery day.
At home, with a pair of technics, an Xone mixer, and half a liter of beer.
* tell us about your first step in music, both as a DJ and a producer.
My first steps in production didn’t happen until quite recently. I have always played around with production software, but it wasn’t until 3 years ago that I started taking it as a serious venture. However, I was always convinced of dedicating myself to music one way or another. The DJing side started coming together little by little; when I was younger, I was messing about with a friend’s turntables. Later on I was able to save up and buy my own. During that time frame the popular sound in Andalucia was breakbeats, so I went in that direction until I went to Oh Marbella where house and techno parties were going on. After that I really haven’t stopped listening to electronic music and I’ve been focused on constantly learning and discovering new things.
* what can you tell us about The Monkey Bar? how did it begin, who’s involved and what’s the concept behind the project?
Well The Monkey Bar is basically an electronic music events promoter from Barcelona. It was born in March 2010. About a year and a half ago I met Daniel Resende and we started discussing the idea of throwing a party with the music that we loved. It took us one afternoon to put everything together and we started working towards our first event. There was another friend involved initially, Pablo, but he later left the project after helping us put it all together.
The initial concept was to throw day parties, because we thought Barcelona was lacking in that area, which we really love of course. We’ve also done some night events, but generally we try to being in the afternoon. The first party was done at Becool with Deetron and it was a success; it really pushed us to do a second one. After that we put together several dates throughout the year and we have witnessed how things have been evolving gradually. Initially the only legal way of doing parties was in a club setting, but we realized we had to step way from that to find what we were after.
Last year in September we put together a party called “Jurassic Park” at El Mirabé, during Barcelona’s annual festivities. It was then that we started doing things outside of clubs more often. Mainly due to the fact that we noticed how people were having much more fun, and honestly we were too!
Nowadays we are lucky enough to have a group of friends that believe in this project as much as Daniel and I do, we are really more like a family, one which I’m really happy to be a part of.
* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your top three favorite albums ever?
It depends on the day. Generally I don’t listen to the same thing all day, I play things based on my current mood. Just to name a few, I tend to listen to Massive Attack, Portishead, Sade, Gil Scott-Heron, 90s hip-hop, funk & soul, Herbie Hancock, Bonobo, Kid Loco, Saint Germain, etc.
Not sure if I could give you an absolute list of favorites, but 3 albums I really like are Dummy by Portishead (listen), Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron, and 36 Chambers by Wu-Tang Clan (listen).
* what is your favorite thing about living in Barcelona?
Simply put, the sea and the weather. I would find it difficult to live in a city without the sea, so I’d say that’s the main reason why I love it here. Even though I might not see it as often as I would like to.
* what can we expect from yourself, your productions, and The Monkey Bar events in the future?
Generally speaking, I hope many things can happen in the near future. I’m honestly inspired with everything that’s going on right now and that’s really important in order to carry on doing things. Right now I’m really focused on music production, because for the past year and a half I haven’t had much time due to The Monkey Bar events, so I’m really happy to dedicate more time to it.
I’m currently finishing a track for a Danish label called Relux Underground. It will be part of a digital compilation which includes a track by David Alvarado. I’m also working on finishing other tracks more focused towards vinyl labels, as well as putting time on my own label, Clock, which is primed for vinyl releases in the future, hopefully as soon as beginning of next year.
Regarding The Monkey Bar, this year we have a couple of smaller but really interesting parties which we’ll announce soon. Next March we’ll have our 2nd anniversary, and that’s something we can’t wait to reveal!
moving on with the next episode of the colectivo futurecast we have a very cool mixtape by madrid-based, IDM producer christian del moral aka adapt. with a couple of releases on spanish netlabels, such as miga and ltw, christian has been carefully developing his sound to become one of spain’s promising artists. a creative soul from a tender age, he also makes rad illustrations to go along with his sound-design skills. in this IDM-centric mixtape, christian showcases some of his current and past favorites, alongside his own productions. it’s a perfect listen to cool down after a warm day. read our interview with adapt and listen to his colectivo futurecast below…
I spent a couple of days trying to figure out how to approach the podcast you’d requested, until suddenly it got clouded and started raining one afternoon. this got me inspired and I started recording the set without thinking about genres or adjusting to a particular sound. the pieces started falling together along with the rain and some other things that were influencing me in those days.
* how did your first steps in music production come about? how have your productions evolved from the beginning up to present day?
Ever since I can remember, from the moment I heard the first chords as a child, I wanted to make my own songs. Unfortunately, it has taken me quite a few years of listening and listening to all sorts of music, to finally arrive, self-sufficiently, to what I consider is the doorstep of music creation.
Regarding my evolution, I would probably highlight the mixdown techniques. I think it’s an area where all producers slowly keep getting better. Quite possibly, this evolution, is what makes my harmonies and ambiences become looser and more present than before.
* are you involved in any other creative projects aside from music production? we’ve notice you also have some illustrations on your site, is that something you would like to focus on in the future?
I try to focus on sound design as my profession. Mi illustrations are synonym with not being inspired musically at the time; I tend to easily move the sequencer aside if something is bothering me or if my creativity is frozen. that’s when I try to use my time to illustrate, since it’s an activity that I always enjoyed. In terms of focusing it as a professional endeavor, I’ll leave that in the hands of anyone who would like to propose an interesting project.
* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your three favorite albums?
At the moment I can’t stop listening to “House of Balloons” by The Weeknd, an artist that quite simply fascinates me. Other things I’m hooked on this month are Phoenecia, Downliners Sekt, Frank Ocean, Ametsub, Crisopa, and a greatest hits album from Camarón de la Isla.
I probably couldn’t say which are my three favorite albums, but without thinking too much about it, these are the ones that come to mind:
- Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
- Arovane & Phonem – aer (valid)
- Boards Of Canada – boc maxima
* what do you enjoy the most about living in Madrid?
The countless creative hours spent at threefishestudiolab, despite the fact that this infernal summer might try to stop me.
*what does the future have in store for your productions and other projects?
Currently, I’m focusing on finishing the tracks that will become part of my new record on a label from Barcelona. As far as other projects go, I’d like to mention the one I’m about to finish with one of the best electronic music artist’s this country has to offer, Rec_Overflow. It will be something cold, melodic, and in my opinion fresh and very current sounding. We’ll also start preparing a live set with lots of fog, lettuce and fireworks!
take us with you!
