Ground16 Mixx
Swiss Producer and DJ Ground16 is up next for #25 of our Tapes series. With releases on labels such as Juicy Traxxx, Gestalt Records and Neo Violence and DJ sets at Paloma Bar and HÖR Berlin, the DJ/Producer is fine-tuning his sound, finding inspiration in a wide range of musical genres such as techno, Detroit house, disco and jazz, as well as funk, lo-fi, hip hop, and electro.
His knowledge and passion for music are expressed in his unique productions and eclectic DJ sets. Ground16 also hosts a monthly radio show on the Swiss community radio Loose Antenna, where he explores Soul, Jazz or Funk music.
Tracklist
Love Root - Hold Me Right (Hold Me Right Mix)
Cinthie - Flashback
Nico Lahs - Journey To The Middle East
Soulphiction - Traffic Lights
Marshall Jefferson - Step by Step (Ron Trent Remix)
Westcoast Goddess - Like I Want U
Aleqs Notal - How Soon For What
Dego - What’s An inferiority Complex
Chez N Trent - The Choice
Zepherin Saint - Escape
Ron Trent - The Medi
E.B.E. - Patient
Ground16 - Never Mentioned Love
Janeret - Reminiscence
Mr. Ho - Fishtank Race
DJ Steaw - Dancin
Sweely - Underwater Adrenalinn
Hi David! Hope you’re good and thanks so much for joining us! Can you let us know a bit about the mix? What’s your fav tracks from it?
Hey there! Thanks for having me. I love your work and I’m really glad to have made this mix for you. I wanted to make it soulful and deep. I played something like half digital and half vinyl. I really dig ‘Like I Want U’ from Westcoast Goddess; those Marvin Gaye vocals snippets are dope. It was released on Infinite Pleasure – a great label. The ‘Step By Step’ remix from Ron Trent is also crazy… In the same vein, there’s ‘Escape’ from Zepherin Saint: it doesn’t get deeper than that. Finally, I played an upcoming track of mine, ‘Never Mentioned Love’, which will be released on Sofa Movements later this year, on vinyl. Hope you liked the selection :)
I’ve never been to Switzerland, is there a big dance music scenes over there? How did you get into it all?
Switzerland doesn’t have the biggest club scene, but there are definitely are some nice places. I’d say the scene is quite heterogeneous, depending on which part of Switzerland you live in. I’m from the French-speaking part, and I sure enjoyed a lot of nights here. How did I get into the scene? Tough question… I’d say my older brother - who used to DJ when I was a kid (as he’s 9 years older than me) - was probably the first one who made me listen to electronic music. The rest is a mystery… Haha, I guess it was just ‘naturally’ done. Probably a succession of unconscious choices determined by my social environment!
Could you let us know about some of the best clubs in the country!? If you were planning to head somewhere with your mates for a weekend, where would you pick and what nights would you go to? [totally making you plan a trip for me here but why not !!!]
Haha well if you come, let me know. It would be fun to hang out and I can definitely show you some stuff out here!
My fav events/clubs are the following: Montreux Jazz Festival, Cully Jazz Festival, Electrosanne (Festival), Le Bourg (Lausanne), RKC (Vevey), Zukunft (Zurich), Motel Campo (Geneva), L’Usine (Geneva), Folklor (Lausanne), Elysia (Basel).
You probably know the Montreux Jazz Festival, where massive names played (Quincy Jones, David Bowie, Miles Davis, Wu-Tang Clan, Prince, Marvin Gaye, Khruangbin), but also great nowadays DJs (Sweely, Hunee, Call Super, Floating Points, Ben UFO, Jayda G, and many others I can’t remember right now haha). And yeah all the other places I mentioned are defo worth it! Most of the time, great atmosphere and music.
Loved your set on HOR! I hear the people that run it are absolute legends. How did the set come about? The space looks awesome, what was it like to play in there!?
Cheers mate! Well, it first started with a message from Neo Violence’s boss Dmitrij from Prague (I released an EP on his label in 2019). He asked Lostlojic, Jonbjorn, Paradiso Rhythm and me to play a set at HÖR and then to DJ all night long at Paloma Bar. HÖR’s team was lovely and professional. I was a bit nervous at first but then I really had a great time. There’s a tiny room behind where you can chill. HÖR was perfect for Paloma’s night warmup! I like the way they promote upcoming artists from almost everywhere. And yeah actually it happened during the weekend just before the lockdown. So it’s my latest gig since then… Can’t wait to play records to a crowd again!
I loved your latest release on Lo Fidelity. Nacthbreaker is also such a G, funny as ffkkk guy. Love him. What’s the set up you have for writing tunes? Was it a lockdown record?
I still have to meet Maurits in real life but yeah, seems like a great guy! Humble and all. All the people from the Lo Fidelity crew are really nice. I might go to Rotterdam soon ;). My setup is pretty basic: a computer, a midi keyboard and Logic Pro. I rarely use hardware because I’m more comfortable with software. ‘Air’ was the only track I made during Lockdown! The rest was made a bit before. Pretty happy about it anyway. Big up to Lorenzo for believing in my music!
Best record of 2021 so far?!
Tough question as well! Let’s pick this one: ‘Algorythms EP’ from Tim Jackiw, on Physical Education. Banging stuff. And one for non-club music heads: ‘Bring Backs’ album from Alfa Mist.
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Interview by @armand.origins