Hitting up Tapes #38 we welcome Mother Earth! Bella and Suz are the creators of Mother Earth Sounds, an event and podcast series aimed at promoting gender equality in electronic music whilst having a little bit of fun along the way. They started back in 2019 and have grown an organic following since then, playing alongside some of their favourite artists in the scene including Truly Madly, Gene on Earth, Hamish and Toby, Dan Shake among others. 

This mix is inspired by the sound of summer 2021. After 6 months of festivals, gigs and parties starting up again they've put together the sounds that remind them of a summer they will certainly never forget. Enjoy!

Tracklist

Code - Parsifal (Ambient Dub) 
Valerie Etienne - Kikumoto (Instrumental)
Lucho - Space Tunic
Color of Music - Make U Mine 
Jad & The - Transorbital Express 
3 in Key - Untitled 
C3 - Trance Mix 
James Andrew - Source of Sound
Vernon Douglas Meets Tyler Lewis - Right Right 
Rhythm invention - Cant Take It 
Casey Tucker - Identity
Wil do - Strings of Dawn
George Feely - Eastern Lilly 
Jhobei - Suprise Suprise
Soofle - Happy Cycle

Hi Bella & Suz! Thanks so much for joining us on the Tapes, really really excited for this one! Loving listening to this! Can you let me know a bit about the mix, what are your favourite tunes in it and where were you when you mixed it?

Bella: Of course. This mix was inspired by our summer really, we had so many fun things we were lucky enough to do (highlights being our friend’s private party down in Wales and of course Dimensions) and there was so much music that we experienced in those moments that made it a summer to remember and really inspired us both. We were actually talking the other day about the amount of records and new sounds we have found/bought since getting back from Dimensions. This mix definitely tried to capture that and include some more chilled breaky elements whilst also rolling through to parts that make you want to get up and dance. Oh and we recorded this at Suzie’s flat, whilst drinking tea and hot chocolate…really wild! Thinking about my favourite track in the mix…it’s got to be Wil Do - Strings of Dawn, I absolutely loved it the minute I heard it. I feel it’s definitely a popular one (and if you haven’t heard it before, thank me later) and understandably - It’s got so many different elements to it, and the build at the beginning always gets me and just makes me want to dance no matter where I am.

Suz: I think my favourite tune in the mix has to be Identity by Casey Tucker, it's slightly different from the kind of tracks we tend to put in our mixes or play out, but I've been looking for an excuse to play it for a while. I think it's so perfectly placed in this mix. We wanted a track that would transition us back out of a segment in our mix where we start to go a bit darker and heavier, and I think the melodic and soft trance synths and pads in it along with the punchy acid bassline make it a perfect transition track - whenever I listen to it, it instantly brings up my mood and I hope it reflects that in the mix as well.

I've noticed you playing at some awesome parties and lineups, not only are your tunes but your outfit goals are always on point (the picture in the mix donnnn't lie!), is there a set of yours that you can pick out as a fav so far?

Bella: Yes! We have been very lucky and are both super humbled to have been asked to play at some of the parties we have so far, and along side artists we have loved for years. More to come and be announced soon and we couldn’t be more excited! Favourite set is a tough one - but if I had to choose would be either one we played down in Wales this summer, where we are the picture for this mix as colourful as ever, or the second time we played at night tales after Truly Madly - was a serious vibe!

Suz: I think I'd have to agree with Bella on favourite sets, playing at Night Tales after Truly Madly was pretty special as we got to close the terrace on a Saturday, the crowd were great, super energetic and up for it so the whole vibe from start to finish was awesome. Oh and yes, we certainly love a bit of fashion & fancy dress…

Finding that perfect person to share the booth and share the vibe is pretty rare! I always remember some of my favourite sets when we were doing Origins. How did you both meet and bring the project together? Did mixing together come easily? I know you started a mix series too that has some great artists on also :)

Bella: This is something we get asked a lot about how we started Mother Earth/met/started playing together. We knew each other from school and actually didn’t really know each other that well…but we went out to a club in our home town one night together with some of our friends from home, and the rest is history. We are now inseparable so in that sense it’s amazing because we just constantly have fun and share something we both love so much together. Suz actually started djing when she was 16 and I used to just send her music to play out but she eventually told me I was being silly not learning myself so I started when I moved to London in 2018 and haven’t looked back since!

Suz: We came up with Mother Earth at a New Year's Eve party in 2018, it's fair to say we were quite intoxicated at the time (lol) but we were dancing to one of our favourite records (Mother Earth - Cultured Pearls Hoff's House Edit) and decided that it would be a great name for a cafe that sold records, played tunes and promoted female DJs coming down to play. Alas, we're still not quite at that north star yet, but we did decide that we would follow through with at least half of that dream and start up a podcast and event series that would showcase some of the great female DJs out there doing their thing. We started DJing together in April after that New Year, started the podcast series and hosting events and have never really looked back. I don't think either of us ever imagined we would have got some of the amazing opportunities we have had over the past 2 years, but we're loving every moment of it and can't wait to continue doing what we're doing, and hopefully encourage other ladies to step out their comfort zones too.

Some quick-fire Qs! Who is the crate digger and who's the party starter?!

Bella: I would say Suz has been the crate-digger for longer and definitely has more records but it’s probably equal in terms of digging now, we are constantly sending each other the new music we have found.

Suz: Party starter… I think we are both as bad (or good…) as each other haha!

Who always has the bigger tune ready!?

Bella: (Laughs) Going to have to give this one to Suz, she has a lot of heavy hitters and I can always tell when she gets a certain level of excitement and is going to bring one out.

Fave club played so far?

Bella: Definitely Hoppetosse in Berlin for both of us I think.. No brainer!

Thanks so much for joining us!

Interview by: @armand.origins

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