a kaleidoscopiC JOURNEY OF LAID-BACK EXOTICA TO EASE INTO THE NEW DECADE.

One of Australia’s most adept turntablists, Brisbane selector Sampology kicks off 2020 with a superb all vinyl mix of rare gems from Brazil, Bali, UK, Europe and Australia.

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Can you tell us a bit about your journey into electronic music and DJing? As a teenager I’d scour the internet for ‘Breezeblock’ or Essential mixes from the UK. I’d also read record reviews on Turntable Lab and other online sites and buy vinyl both from those stores as well as Rockinghorse and Butterbeats in Brisbane, which I eventually worked at. At 17 I started playing in venues and clubs in around town which was my first exposure to both the electronic and hip-hop scenes.

How did you decide to approach your mix? I took the mix as an opportunity to showcase slower more soothing music but still maintain a lot of colour and excitement. I didn’t want to do a mix of only old music or all new tracks, but have an interesting flow between different decades and genres. There’s music from Brazil, Bali, UK & Europe, Australia including Air Space Arc, Clever Austin+ a Julien Dyne rework of an African Vibration song.

Finding the right order and transition points and songs with the same pitch takes a little trial and error, but I really enjoy that compiling process. It’s really just pulling records out from my shelves in my music room and re listening again because my brain isn’t necessarily used to locating the slower track which might be album cuts or b sides.

Are there any particularly special tracks or moments in there for you? I included a song from an album I picked up in Germany at the start of the year, ‘Twilight Of Bali’ a re-issue of a rare 1979 album of Indonesian folk songs re interpreted in a really interesting soul, funk, exotica kind of vibe. I marked a couple of the other tracks from it I’m going to play at my next ‘Natural Selections’ Party in Brisbane.

You’re known for your eclectic taste in music. As a DJ, do you find that your broad palette makes it more of a challenge behind the decks, or does it simply suit and/or inform your style? At this point it’s what feels the best for me, and it helps feed back into my own releases by finding inspiration in a broader range of sources. The challenging part I guess is tempo riding and beatmixing non-quantised music where the drummer is speeding up or slowing down, or going from bass heavy modern production to 70s productions without losing momentum on the dance floor. I think it makes for a more dynamic flowing journey through a set though and means you really have to know your records. I’ve moved through different styles of music and DJing through the years and I have enjoyed adding it all together.

Can you tell us a bit about your new project Middle Name Dance Band – the concept behind it and what your vision is for the future? It was actually meant to be a one off 4 track EP collaboration with Sam Maguire (Bass), Megan Christensen (Keys) & myself  but turned into us playing a bunch of shows as MNDB in 2019 & recording a second EP due for early 2020 release. In the process of us playing Sam & Megan have gotten together and are now engaged! So the next EP is pretty romantic.

Personally I love that the project has happened because I had a desire to put out music from Brisbane on my own Middle Name Records imprint, so releasing and pressing to vinyl with some beautiful artwork from my mum was a cool little achievement.

Name your all time favourite ambient/downbeat/electronica/experimental track or album. Art Of Noise - ‘Moments In Love’

You can check out the tracklist for Sam’s mix over at SoundCloud.