LOIF
How have you been doing? What have you been working on? And what's been inspiring you lately?
I'm not too bad! Been spending a lot of time hibernating at home recently working on some upcoming music projects I'm excited to announce soon as well as tracks for some compilations and a couple EPs to be announced in the future.
I've been super inspired by all the crazy talent coming out of Naarm/Melbourne recently, really cool to see so many peers and friends killing it in all areas of the music industry! Also shout out to Maara who just released a super insane EP on NAFF. Highly recommend checking her out if you haven't already!
LOIF shot by Floss Dogg
Underground operator LOIF is a top draft pick among a swath of Melbourne heads, due in part to his phenomenal self-released productions, as well as his hi-octane-fun and much lauded DJ sets.
LOIF brings an ambitious, meticulous mix, teeming with layers of experimental textures and bleeps n' bloops aplenty.
Tell us about the mix.
For this mix I tried to hone in on a specific sound that I've been really into of late. I'd characterise a lot of it as bleepy minimal IDM but it traverses through a few different styles. A lot of this mix is inspired by Bauri who's an amazing Swedish producer I've been listening to non-stop over the past year. Glitch/experimental artists such as Frank Bretschneider, Ryoji Ikeda and Richard Devine were also a big inspo for me, their tracks pop up quite often throughout the mix.
I also used a lot of music from friends old and new, including forthcoming/newly released tracks from Cypha, Maara, Roza Terenzi, Amuwa, OK EG, Upsammy and Third Space - all of which are amazing! Also have to mention Vinetar by Bauri, which is the second last track and is soooo beautiful :')
This is my fourth time in a row making a mix on Ableton, an approach I adopted last year when I fractured my wrist during lockdown. I try to use the computer to my advantage so rather than having to focus on beat matching as in a traditional DJ mix, I instead try to layer lots of tracks in interesting ways. I find with this approach you can make an entire mix flow almost completely seamlessly and you can be super detailed with transitions and eq-ing as well. I also use a fair amount of reverbs, delays and other effects as well as adding little samples such as rises in transitions. The process ends up being quite similar to making a super long song in a lot of ways. It's definitely been a fun change-up but I often spend ages making minute changes to everything so it can be a pretty exhausting process.
What's your best dance floor memory?
I have a few! Seeing Dozzy play an all-vinyl dubstep set at Labyrinth a few years back was definitely a mind-blow moment for me. Every time Moopie played at Inner Varnika (but that's kind of a redundant statement lol). Probably my personal favourite though was Milly and Penny playing one of my tracks at Hopkins Creek in 2019, I still have the video of it on my phone which I occasionally refer to when I need a pick-me-up :')
Who are the artists you most want to see play now that dancefloors are opening back up, and at what clubs/festivals?
Too many to name! Tangerine, Dregs, OK EG, Millu, Pjenne and Ménage all come to mind but there's so many incredible DJs and live acts playing around Naarm at the moment, so exciting to see! I'm mainly missing festivals these days, would give anything to be back at Hopkins Creek this year <3
"This mix is dedicated to..."
Myself and everyone else in the world.
"I've been super inspired by all the crazy talent coming out of Naarm/Melbourne recently, really cool to see so many peers and friends killing it in all areas of the music industry!"
"I try to use the computer to my advantage so rather than having to focus on beat matching as in a traditional DJ mix, I instead try to layer lots of tracks in interesting ways... The process ends up being quite similar to making a super long song in a lot of ways."
