- The Tunisian-Cambodian producer shows off the clubbier side of her deep, meditative rhythms.
- Back in the day, drums were used as signals for festivities and war because their sounds travelled the furthest. Azu Tiwaline has long understood that. A master in the dark arts of percussion, she makes deep and profound percussive music that seems to communicate forgotten rituals from centuries past. Her sound is dense, as if pulled from the depths of the Sahara desert in Tunisia, yet still feels spacious thanks to polyrhythmic contortions and sparse, elegant melodies.
Her productions largely fall into the confines of percussive techno, but unlike the genre's springier variants, her dubby textures and psychedelic rhythms command seriousness and move with immensity. Her Livity Sound debut, the Magnetic Service EP from 2020, which connected Amazigh music with dub and techno, is a masterclass in restraint and hypnosis. Her latest release, The Fifth Dream, continues to showcase her skills in balancing light and dark tones using field recordings from her home in Tunisia's El Djerid desert, minimal ambient techno and haunting notes.
Mirroring her discography, this RA Podcast features plenty of twisted rhythms, trippy techno and straightforward club cuts. Created for movement rather than hypnosis, these selections show off a different side of her drum palette—perky breaks and syncopated kicks—wrapped in her usual weighty atmospheres.
What have you been up to recently?
I've been so lucky and busy with travelling all around the world for lovely people and shows. I'm feeling so grateful everyday to be invited to so many places.
I also just released my new album, The Fifth Dream, on my fam label I.O.T records and I'm really excited to reveal it to the world. Making an album is always such a special step in a musician's life. Really intense and unsettling at the same time.
How and where was the mix recorded, and can you tell us the idea behind the mix?
Touring life = no time for nothing :) I recorded this mix yesterday in a big rush, just after landing in Mexico City (for a live show with DJ Plead). The idea behind this one was clearly to exorcise some really tough emotions inside me with only killer tracks for a hot dancefloor. Generally, I don't make this kind of selection for a podcast. But I hate routine and habits.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
Sustain-Release festival in NY and Freerotation in the UK. It's incredible because these festivals are really small intimate ones, with not a lot of people, but it seems that everyone all over the world connected to this scene is there. I met so many people in different countries, cities, who saw me playing in these festivals, and then came to share a few moments with me. It's the same with promoters. The music programming and the vibes are amazing in these both festivals and I feel very grateful to have had the incredible opportunity to be invited.
How do you incorporate field recordings from Tunisia—and other aspects of your identity—into your music itself?
It's a super natural and easy process. Fields recordings from Tunisia are, in fact, mostly recorded from my little palmtree and the village next to my home in the South Tunisian desert. They are just a part of my daily sound environment which I love to incorporate in the music I make in this special place. The desert vibe is so inspiring to me and my creative process and these natural sounds are part of it.
I have a super "multiple" identity. I'm half Tunisian, half Cambodian, raised in Ivory Coast and born in France.... I'm just doing my things naturally. I'm influenced by so many different cultures and everything is resonating in my blood and my heart at every second.
Your work is very informed by your heritage and background. Does this inform your DJing as well?
All the music I'm listening to, enjoying, making and playing has always had the same vibe. I love to ride between traditional and modern stuff and try to build some bridges into different styles. The deep link is always a sort of trance-state research, with a lot of tribal elements inside in the middle of a strange and mysterious sound landscape.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
There are sadly so many causes we would need to pay more attention to... For my part, I'm just trying to act on an individual level, that is, trying to help people I know who need support, hope. I'm just trying to help this person that I can see on the street every day. My neighbour who needs me to help him do some paperwork... This NGO in my village which acts for the preservation of palm trees.... I think that by acting on an individual level, the sum of all these actions can help the world be a better place. But given current events, it may seem trivial, I know. But what else can I actually do? Demonstrating in the street and organising petitions is a strong and necessary militant act, for example. But I am a very solitary person, who lives as a recluse far from the world in the Sahara. So I act for the people around me who are in need.
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
In one month, I'm going back home after eight months of touring. I cannot wait to be back in my paradise, taking the time to live, do nothing, resting, chilling and finally getting back in the studio to produce new music. It's impossible for me to produce when I'm always on the road. And I miss it so much.
TracklistAzu Tiwaline + Secret Collab - The Pitch (Unreleased)
ORBE - Abnormal Silence (Ellum Black)
DJ JM - Abnormal (Nervous Horizon)
Konduku - Yakamoz (Bitta Records)
Second Skin - Bare Hands (Blueprint Records)
Tsepo - Perc Track (Intercept Records)
Azu Tiwaline - Mei Long (I.O.T records)
Mosca - Abeng (Rent)
Clotur - Filters of Perception (Warok)
Cocktail Party Effect - Fixing the Roof (Nervous Horizon)
Alan Johnson - Portal (YUKU)
Mani Festo - Plunk (Dance Trax)
Etch - Fear Of An Acid Planet / Justin Jay Remix (Bangers Only)
Mor Elian - Double Dip (Fever AM)
Acid Arab - Leila - KiNK Remix (Crammed Discs/Shelter Studio)
Siu Mata - Ilayaraja - Amman Kovil (Wajang)