- Essen's young hope turns in a stellar house set for his week's RA podcast.
- Essen's Manuel Tur is the definition of a wunderkind. After starting to listen to electronic music at a young age, he stuck his head into the production game at the ripe age of 16, and hasn't looked back since—releasing records under his own name, Arcade Mode, Blackbird, Jermaine Jones, Tweeq and as part of Knabberbox, Dplay, Ribn and Ufoboys. To put it bluntly, the kid has had a lot of practice in a very short time.
He puts it to good use on his forthcoming debut album for Freerange, 0201, which takes advantage of the LP format by cobbling together a collection of tracks that complement one another beautifully. It's a cliché, but it's most assuredly an album—not a rushed status report of where Tur is at in 2009.
Consider his RA podcast the same. Tur downplays the mix by saying it's simply what he's been digging of late—and what you might be able to expect from his set at the RA by day Sonar party coming up later this week. But we know better. Tur has crafted a beautiful set that takes in deep house, techno and a couple of nice surprises along the way.
What have you been working on recently?
As of late, I've been promoting my album 0201 which will be released on Freerange on June 22nd, as well as working on a new live project with Langenberg, called Ribn. Our first two 12-inches for Millions Of Moments and Styrax Leaves will be followed by EPs on Mule Electronic, Ovum and the first release on Mild Pitch, which is the new label Dplay, Langenberg and I have been preparing for launch in autumn. We've also been promoting our regular "Slow Club" nights in our hometown Essen.
How and where was the mix recorded?
Since I've never been too much into getting hold of the latest DJ technology, the mix was made at home with two dusty turntables, a half-decent mixer I had to borrow from Dplay and a plastic CD player from Planet Love, overall recorded with a Microtrack II.
Can you tell us a little about the mix?
With the RA podcasts having become such a big thing with thousands of people listening, commenting, cheering and slagging off I thought I'd try to avoid the pressure of creating anything too special and simply play some of the tracks I've been enjoying in my dj sets lately; some new, some old—just a compilation of moods, simple as that.
Have you always been a DJ or did you start off as just a producer?
Actually, I've bought and mixed records at home before getting into the production thing but I never really intended to do this professionally and in front of an audience. I'm definitely more into producing music, though collecting records is a big passion of mine and mixing them good fun.
Have your production methods changed much in the last seven years?
I'm always eager to try out new methods or combine them so I never really stick to one method or the same equipment and set-up for too long. I still regard myself as "in education," so there is still a lot to learn and find out.
What are you up to next?
I'm now focusing on our new label Mild Pitch, as well as completing new Ribn tracks and remixes plus more co-production work for Dplay in the near future. And of course I'll have to work on new Manuel Tur material to follow the album after summer.