Hi Mika! What brought you to Belgium? And how did you end up at The Word Radio?

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI\nmoved to Belgium five years ago to finish my masters in sculpture at La Cambre,\nalthough this was just an excuse to move to Brussels. One of my earliest\nmemories of this city was Bozar\nElectronic’s 2015 festival. This was my first experience with the local\nnightlife scene and even though it’s not a venue I would normally hang out, I\nwas having a party in an open exhibition space, forgetting all the conventions\nthis institution normally represents.

As a Parisian, how do you experience the Belgian music and nightlife scene?

As an eternal nightlife kid, I’ve spent a lot of time hanging out in Paris’ various hangout spots. So to me, the Brussels nightlife scene felt completely new. The real charm of the local artistic scene is its authenticity: alternative and underground venues remain authentic, keeping its regulars attached to something they like, being genuinely creative without falling into expected hype.

Many say the online radio landscape is saturated. With the rise of stations like NTS, Red Light Radio or Kiosk Radio, we can see why. What makes The Word Radio unique?

Due to the internet, I feel that the cultural landscape is saturated in general. Back in the days, certain media platforms, especially print, determined which scenes people followed. Nowadays, it’s up to us to educate ourselves by choosing the media we feel related to. I also think that there are two types of web radios that can be complementary. Radios like Red Light, The Lot or Kiosk operate as a window front, showcasing continuous live streams and offering a way to greatly promote on the act and moment of the performance. Meanwhile, ‘community radios’ like LYL in France, Dublab in Spain or NTS in the UK are based on a network, a common field where, as a listener, you can pick what interests you most. Therefore, it’s not so much about the live moment as it is about the narrative and story behind every podcast. The Word started as a free cultural magazine 10 years ago and it launched its radio last year in order to highlight the Belgian music scene. Each of our 100 monthly residents nourishes a show centred around a topic, story or atmosphere. It’s a place of experimentation where they can do live performances and collaborate with visual artists as well. Because of The Word’s editorial nature, we also organise events and work with institutions like Wiels, De Singel or CIVA. Since the paper magazine chapter is over, the radio now tends to become a digital cultural platform of its own.

Your own radio show is called Waking Life. Is that a reference to the 2001 animation film? What’s the mission of this show?

Yes, this show is a reference to the animation that movie by Richard Linklater. In my mixes, as in my installations, altered waking states are a big inspiration. It’s all about creating oneiric landscapes with abstract narrations that can shoot in our imagination dealing with the difficulty of being tied up to reality, as well as the risk of living an ethereal existence. One quote from the movie I really like is, \"the worst mistake that you can make is to think that you’re alive, when really you’re asleep in life’s waiting room\".

DJing, producing, video, sculpture, visual art: you’re basically an artistic centipede. Do you feel like using different ways of expression makes it easier to articulate your message?

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn an\nage where artists are becoming more multidisciplinary, the different mediums\nbecome infinite ways to materialize ideas. As images and narratives are always\nlinked in my creations, the choice of materializing them depends on which\nsenses I want to trigger. My video, sculpture and sound practices have merged\nspontaneously. Maybe because, whether by listening to music or playing it, I\noften see forms and colours moving through space. These are synesthetic\nsensations. I compose my music in the same way as I create my installations, by\nsketching lines, forms and textures moving as narratives.

In general, my work is based on unconscious and altered states. But in my opinion, illustrating the sound with visuals can spoil the experience sometimes. That’s why I only use light and abstract images in order to keep the visuals as physical as the music itself. Also, what I find most interesting about working with light is that it’s intangible. And so ‘reflection’ is essential, but the most important thing is the space in-between: time and energy. It’s also a way for space to become a sort of container of light. When I present my installations in a gallery or mix a DJ-set in a club, I want to immerse bodies and trigger physical sensations. However, my radio shows or electro-acoustic productions are lingering soundscapes with abstract narrations that the listener can use to feed his own imaginary space.

You travel around a lot for your art and DJ-sets. What have been the most memorable touring experiences for you this past year?

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMy\nmost memorable experience was performing at Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Festival, mostly in terms of the general musical and\nhuman interactions. Despite the external image and the hype this festival\nreceived, what was most striking was seeing African youth and local artists meet\nup and dance together. And I mean really dancing!\nNyege Nyege is doing great things for the East African music community,\ntrying to offer real music experiences. I got quite upset when I saw a certain French media\nplatform publish headline stating that “a local DJ was killed because the\npublic didn’t like his music”. This was a copy-paste story lifted from a\nUgandan newspaper without taking into consideration the fact that the government’s\nstance towards nightlife is condemning to say the least.

You’re also part of the SHAPE platform. Could you describe what that is exactly and what it did for you?

Yes, I was part of SHAPE’s 2018 selection of artists. Every year, SHAPE selects 48 musicians, DJs, audio-visual and sound artists - made up equally of men and women - and offers them opportunities to perform around Europe. It’s thanks to SHAPE that I was able to play at TodaysArt, Sonica and Schiev. The project has been extended till 2021 and you can apply for it every year. It has been a wonderful experience of travel, visit unconventional festivals and interacting with brilliant artists.

Are there Belgian DJ’s or artists you think should get more attention? If so, why and why?

So many great artists and musicians to focus on these days... The Belgian music scene has always been effervescent but it’s on going increasingly well because of resonant record labels like Ekster, VastesChoses, Stroom. I’m also starting the co-curation of a project with the Air Texture and Kompakt record labels. We’ll select some favourite Belgian producers to make a track for a charity compilation. All the proceeds from the release will go towards a local human rights charity (more info soon). Meanwhile, you can listen to The Word Radio to discover some of them.

Find Mika Oki's work on her website or check her out on Soundcloud. Follow The Word on their fanpage or visit their webpage to have a listen at Brussels’ current underground scene. On Friday June 28 and Saturday June 29, The Word will host a stage on Festival Kanal at Centre Pompidou in Brussels. Mika will play a live set as Tucuxi alongside Basses Terres at Festival Kanal on the first day. More info here and here.

Some have already obtained small successes, spending years in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to shine and others have barely left their bedroom studios. Some aim for headlining festival stages, others aim for nothing in particular – but all of them have developed a sound with the potential to turn heads. With this feature we shine a light on some of the most interesting new musical talents our tiny country has to offer.

For the Antwerp-born Angela aka Miss Angel, things have been going incredibly fast. About 9 months ago, she was doing slam poetry shows across town, but little did we know she was working hard on her rap career behind closed curtains. After the drop of her three first singles (‘Ghetto Superstar’, 'Money Making Mami' and ‘All Of The Shmoke’) and a couple of live shows, she was invited by Zwangere Guy to perform as his support act in front of a sold out Ancienne Belgiques. She must have impressed a couple of bookers over there, because she’s on the bill of an impressive list of grade-A festivals like Rock Werchter, Dour Festival, Pukkelpop and Couleur Café. Now that her debut EP ‘Ghetto Mami Vol. 1’ is out there, nothing seems to be able to stop Miss Angel. Seems like we were lucky to even get this talent in front of our lens for a quick interview. 

You just dropped your debut EP ‘Ghetto Mami Vol. 1’. How does it feel to have it out there?

People have been really positive, so I can’t complain! Most people in my circles know me as a dancer, so not everyone believed I was serious about making music. With this EP, I wanted to show everyone who I was: a ghetto mami who likes to rap (laughs). There’s not really a central message in there. It’s ‘Angela in a tape’, with all sorts of different vibes and moods. Basically, it’s all me in 5 songs.

So, are you a dancer as well?

Originally I am one, yes. That’s why I would call myself an artist, rather than just a rapper. Unfortunately, I have to keep dancing on hold for the moment, but that’s where it all started for me when I was around 9 years old. It helped me to understand rhythm, so I’m always on beat. Maybe it makes me hear things in a different perspective sometimes. That’s why dancing helped me a lot throughout my life.

So did dancing help you realize you wanted to become a rapper?

Well, I never really wanted to become one; it\njust happened. I have always been listening and dancing to hip hop and rap,\nespecially the female MC’s. This inspired me to write, so me and a couple of\nfriends founded a little slam poetry group called Female Takeover, which contained all sorts of different artists.\nSeeing other people standing in front of the mic, using their voice… I wanted\nto do the same. Slowly I was doing open mics here and there; and there was this\none time I was put on a real stage. No music, just acapella, but people loved\nit. That’s when I knew: I’ll give this rap thing a shot. Next thing I’m looking\nfor beats, and contacting producers all over the place. It took a while for me\nto take this step, because there are not a lot of female rappers in Antwerp. It\ndidn’t take long before my first real rap song, ‘Ghetto Superstar’, was made.\nWhen the music videos for ‘All of the Shmoke’ and ‘Like That’ (featuring Blu Samu and KRANKk) dropped, that was when things really started taking off. I\nwas finally making music as a ‘rapper rapper’.

What’s your relation with the music scene here in Antwerp?

That’s a hard question, because I think people out here still don’t really acknowledge the fact that I make music and do shows. It’s a hard city for someone who wants to break through, because it can feel like people don’t really work together or appreciate each other enough. Of course you have the pioneers who are doing their thing, but it's challenging.

Is it that bad?

Yeah. I don’t know why that’s the case. It’s painful to feel this way, because when I go to Brussels, it’s clear they love me. Out there, they come to my shows, they support me, they show me love… It has been like this for years. At least, now it feels like more artists are coming up, so we’re trying our best. Maybe one day we’ll all get the love we all deserve out here.

Would you consider moving elsewhere then?

Brussels sounds tempting, but I don’t know if I would take my chances elsewhere. Part of me still wants to shake things up around here. It’s our duty. Antwerp is where I’m from, so not wanting to leave is understandable, right? At least I want to be able to have made a real impact before I move to another place.

Now that you’re out there, are there things that come with this relative fame that have surprised you?

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYes! You know how they say that people around\nyou who have never paid attention suddenly become your ‘best friend’ once you\nhave a video out? That really happens! I thought it was an exaggeration, but\nit’s not. Clout chasers, that’s how\nyou call it, right? When you’re doing good, that’s when they say “I’m proud of\nyou” or “we should hang out again”. When I was a dancer, people didn’t send me\nmessages like that! It’s mad, because I really seem to have many folks like\nthat; and I didn’t expect it.

What does Miss Angel sound like on a stage, compared to your recorded music?

I consider myself an MC, a spitter. When you hear songs like ‘Oh My Dayz’ or ‘Bassdrum’, you can hear what I’m talking about. Now just imagine that kind of energy on stage; I go absolutely crazy. I just enjoy myself, I laugh with the audience, I make jokes, … It’s just one big party, for sure.

So what’s the game plan from here?

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIt’s festival season and I’m ready for it. Rock\nWerchter, Dour, Couleur Café, Pukkelpop, Fire Is Gold, Lokerse Feesten: it’s all happening. There are some\nsmaller shows sprinkled in here and there. Other than that, I’m already in the\nstudio cooking up something new for you guys.

Never wanna miss another beat? Follow Miss Angel on Facebook, Spotify and Instagram.

If you are kind of a music lover, chances are this happened to you too: you put a 45 rpm record on your turntable while it’s still playing at 33 rpm. The effect might eventually add an extra dimension to your record or it might sound like a huge monster is trying to break out of your speakers. It’s a technique that is as old as turntables are, but some DJ’s have refined it and made it their trademark. Meet DJ Athome (Maurizio for his friends) and Hugosan (or Ugo) - together they are better known as Front de Cadeaux. They met in 2006 through a gay website for bears (a subculture of large and hairy men within the gay community, ed.). In that period, Ugo organized the Subwoofer techno parties for bears in Rome as a counter reaction to the dominant gay culture. Maurizio was part of the Brussels PNEU label and started the weekly 'Brussels Alternative Show' on Radio Panik in 1996. Ugo wanted to invite Felix Kubin to one of his parties, Maurizio had just collaborated with him and so they got talking, became friends and started playing at each other's parties. However, a few more years would go by before Front de Cadeaux was born.

Maurizio: “When Ugo visited me in Brussels, we regularly spent the entire night listening to 45 rpm records at 33 rpm. I have a lot of new beat, acid, breakbeat and techno records from the early 90’s and we were always very curious about how these records sound when you play them on a slower speed than intended. It was an interesting experiment for mixing too: the lower speed gives you extra time and options. These nocturnal listening sessions formed the basis for this technique that was later called 'supreme rallentato”.

Ugo: “I have always been into hip hop, funk, dub and black music. Around 2000, when a lot of my friends from the techno scene stopped DJing and gave me their records, the music was way too fast for me. I think that music sounds much better at 33 rpm.\"

Both Ugo and Maurizio have Italian roots. When one of their Italian friends asked to play a Front 242 song and pronounced the classic Belgian EBM group as 'Front de Cadeaux', Maurizio thought it was so funny that the name stuck. In 2013, after several nightly sessions, they decided to raise their experiment to a higher level. When they started looking for a name for their project, Maurizio didn't have to think twice: Front de Cadeaux was born. Besides their DJ sets, they released their first two EP's in 2014 and 2015 on the Roccodisco label by Hugosan and Rodion. In the ensuing years, a number of releases followed slowly, whereby they further refined their signature sound. In 2018, 'Supreme Rallentato Volume 1' followed.

What exactly does 'supreme rallentato' mean?

Maurizio: “In the 70’s, popcorn DJ’s were already playing soul records at 33 rpm instead of 45; new beat was created in the 80’s by applying the same technique to coldwave and EBM. We didn't reinvent the wheel. It is not a trend nor is it a gag. The technique ensures that you experience the music differently: deeper and more sensual. It becomes easier to dance to and there is more sensuality on the dancefloor. In the beginning of our sets, confusion usually reigns the dancefloor. The audience is not always sure what’s happening. We often get the reaction from people that they feel like they are on drugs (when we aren’t). It's like you're dancing to slow motion music in realtime. Do you know the feeling when you walk on an escalator that doesn't move? That’s how it feels. Once the audience gets used to it, they like it. It’s only the music that counts; who cares if the tempo is fast or slow, or if the DJ plays with vinyl or digital files?”

Ugo: Sometimes it feels like an unwritten rule applies in many clubs or festivals: the higher the bpm, the better. We couldn’t disagree more. Many promoters and DJ’s say we’re crazy when we start our set at 98 BPM at 3 AM. For us, the pace is just a side issue; it's the groove that counts. Our sets are a counter reaction to what we call this 'peak time BPM fascism'. This unwritten rule does not only apply in clubs; you can also find it in the online music shops. We think it is absurd to buy music on web shops based on the number of beats per minute, regardless of artist or label”.

Are certain genres better suited for the 'supreme rallentato' technique than others?

Maurizio: “Based on our experience, there are two factors that make music suitable for this technique. First and foremost, we use music that was produced before the turn of the century. Until then, most breakbeat, beat, acid and techno was analog. If you slow it down, you still have a very full sound. If you apply the technique to digital productions, you feel something is missing. Secondly, the quality of the vinyl pressing is important too; tracks covering an entire side on the record are better. The grooves are deeper and there’s more space, which results in a deeper and fuller sound”.

You have made a handful of EP's over the years. Do you have a fixed production workflow?

Maurizio: “As Ugo lives in Rome and I live in Brussels, it is not always obvious. We have no rules; everything is possible. Sometimes Ugo starts a track in his studio and sends it to me; sometimes vice versa. Or we work on a track at the same time, each from his own studio. We see each other at least once a month and we always try to free up some time to make music. Above all, we are very good friends.\"

Ugo: \"After a number of singles and EP's, we wanted to make a compilation of our edits. That resulted in ‘Supreme Rallentato Volume 1’. We just bundled the remixes we often used in our DJ-sets. It gives an insight in what the ideal dance floor tracks for us sound like. Sometimes people ask us where they can buy that record, upon which we have to answer that this record does not exist. It’s a modified version of an existing track we released digitally. We couldn't find a label for it, so we released it ourselves. Volume 2 has just been released now too”.

“The next step is a Supreme Rallentato vinyl series. We will select a number of tracks that we often play in our DJ sets and we will hide all the information of the original track. You can see it as an anti-capitalism statement. We don't have to make new music to express ourselves, everything has already been done. The majority of the records that we play aren't even worth a penny; they are for sale on Discogs for half a euro or less”.

In February, you released the single ‘We Slowly Rot’, accompanied by a manifesto. I quote: \"our sound is the sound of destruction, the sound of the process of rot”. Is that the ultimate description of your sound?

Maurizio: 'For us, the sound of destruction is the sound of records at the wrong speed. At the same time, we intend an epistemological rupture. It is important to break with certain accepted ideas in order to make progress. Nowadays, the DJ culture is mainly about music that has to be sold, which results in a huge overproduction. It has become impossible to listen to all the promos we receive. With that, there’s an excess of podcasts and DJ mixes. People no longer really listen: they scroll through a mix, listen for two minutes and then proceed to ask the DJ for track ID's (when you want to know the artist and song title of a certain track, ed.). It has all become very momentary. After our Boiler Room set last year, we received some bizarre reactions from people because Shazam could not tag our music. Since we play the records at the wrong speed, the algorithm does not recognize our music (laughs)”.

Ugo: “In the manifesto we state: “dance music was fun, dance music was new, dance music was high, dance music became a standard”. A lot of dance music today is characterized by a fixed formula, so everything sounds the same. This stands in sharp contrast with the early days, when freedom used to be the essence of dance music; everything was possible. We miss those times”.

Any more Front De Cadeaux releases planned for the near future?

Maurizio: “Our remix of Tapan's track 'Ghana' on the Malka Tuti label came out on vinyl in May. All the above mentioned releases are linked to our DJ-sets, so consider them as tools for the dance floor. After this, we want to devote more time working on our album. We already have a number of unfinished tracks, so by 2020 we should be able to release an album”.

“Besides Front De Cadeaux, we each have our side projects too. Ugo runs Tropicantesimo with a bunch of Roman friends, which is not only a monthly party at the Fanfulla cultural centre in Rome, but also a collective of singers, musicians and visual artists. He also runs the Pescheria studio, where he regularly hosts workshops, concerts and listening sessions. It’s a label as well: he just released a 7 inch by Torbido, which includes a Tropicantesimo remix”.

Supreme Rallentato Vol. 2 is out now (get it here). Follow Front De Cadeaux on Facebook to stay in the loop. Maurizio releases solo under the DJ Athome moniker. Just the other week, a new track of him was released on the Serenades compilation.

“Fooling you, it’s that trick of mine / Loving you, it’s my alibi”. The Ghent-based Tsar B clearly admits to being a little sneaky behind her boyfriend’s back in the lyrics of ‘Alibi’, the track featured in our newest See.Hear.Now live session. Since the drop of her debut album ‘The Games I Played’, the cheeky producer, violin player and vocalist has been appearing on many charts, playlists and magazine covers (like our very own Red Bull Elektropedia magazine in January).

On ‘Alibi’, the tsarina balances a catchy electronic beat with a layer of thoughtful verses. “I sometimes look for instruments that I play around with and after that I start to build a track by adding gibberish on top”, she says. “What I’ve learned over the years now is that this gibberish is often my subconsciousness. That’s where I often get my inspiration from”. With a tour in Brazil and lots of new material on the way, this won’t be the last we hear from this homegrown pop queen.

Follow Tsar B on Facebook, Spotify and Instagram to keep track of her latest adventures.

If you dig laid-back electronica and immersive soundscapes full of emotion, Oaktree would have been a great artist for you to follow. Luckily, the man behind the moniker has broken the year-long silence with a message we like to hear: a new album announcement. Apparently, this news was a package deal with a name-change. From now on, you can call the Antwerp-native by his given name. Curious to hear where your favourite Belgian ambient act has been all this time (tl;dr in an isolated cabin) or what he sounds like now? We asked the artist for an interview and we got an exclusive track premiere to go with it:

Hi Adriaan, why the name change?

I’ve always played with the idea to release under my given name, it feels more genuine. Even though I made this new record before that decision, the time felt right, maybe because I hadn’t put out new music in a long time. This new music may sound different from what I’ve made before too, I find that hard to judge on myself. For me, it’s all still pretty much up the same alley, a continuation of a path I'm exploring.

How does this chapter then differ from the previous one?

Throughout the last few years, I received commissions for theatre, performance arts, documentaries,... Making soundtracks for stuff like this really had an impact on me. It gave me time and an excuse to just focus on sound and vibe, and play with a different sense of structure and time. I was allowed to let a track evolve at its own pace, without having to rely on rhythms or big melodies.

So does that mean we can expect an ambient album?

I wouldn’t say it’s a calm background record (laughs). It’s anything but easy to digest chill out music. Even though there’s no focus on traditional song-writing structures, some parts are actually really busy. Like I said: it’s more about the creation of a certain atmosphere, rather than delivering a catchy hit. And that atmosphere isn’t always comforting, I like to put in some annoying sounds as well, so in that way, it’s definitely not ambient.

On which label can we expect the record to come out?

I’m releasing it myself. I’ve come to enjoy this freedom of doing everything myself, keeping things small, using my own name,... Of course I can imagine some labels I would love to work with. But creating my own platform feels good. Music, publications, artwork, etc. Whatever it may be. It gives me freedom to work on my own, and maybe other peoples unfiltered creations in this way. It entices me to be creative in different ways.

You have this very peculiar way of making music in total seclusion. Is this the only way you can focus?

I’m most productive when I’m in complete isolation. It’s hard to focus when I’m in the daily routine of living and working in Antwerp. Coming home from a day of work, or just having some appointments or social contacts; that makes it tough for me to get into the right flow. So for the new record, I’ve gone to a cabin in the faraway village of Erezée in the Ardennes. I went there 4 times for around 10 days. When I’m alone in a secluded place like this, I get into a different mindset and I become so much more productive. In this cabin, there are no phones, no internet, no luxury (there’s a wood stove to keep me warm however) and most importantly, no other people. Even the convenience store in the village is a 6 kilometre bicycle ride away. I spend those slow days over are with producing music, going on long walks in the forest, reading books, contemplating stuff, cooking, listening to other music, etc. I’ve learned that the mindset you make your music in is really important for the outcome. This simple cocoon life has made my music more spacious and it has allowed me to get inspired by the most mundane, simple things in life. Or at least, things we tend to consider as simple.

Why don’t you move to a quieter place than Antwerp then?

I’ve thought about that, but I can’t bring myself to completely retract from the social life I share with the people close around me. I think this whole thing is rather a question of discipline. As long as I’m able to zone out in the Ardennes every now and then, this formula works.

We’ve seen you on stage as Oaktree with a full live band (that even included a harp). What does the show look like now?

I am very proud of everything we did with the band, and I really enjoyed that, but it was time to explore different ways of performing this music on a stage. I just did some solo shows, which was quite scary, but the freedom was so exciting. That said, the try-outs also made me realise that I needed an additional drummer. So now I will start rehearsing with drums. I’m building everything from scratch, basically. A live show shouldn’t be a fixed outfit for me; it should be a continually evolving formation that’s open to change.

So the track you’re premiering with us lasts for a whopping 15 minutes. How come?

This track was born when I was making the soundtrack for a light installation with Thomas from Nacht Collectief. It found place on Antwerp’s Grote Markt. It’s divided into 3 different parts, which I’ve linked to the ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ (‘Tuin der Lusten’, red.) by Bosch. This painting gave me directions when I rediscovered the track last year and decided to finish and share it: it’s about the origin of humanity, the moment we lose ourselves in beauty and our downfall. Not the most light-hearted material for a song, I know (laughs).

So what’s going to happen with you in the coming months?

The album is done and should hit the internet after the summer. I’m currently working hard on the live shows, which will start as soon as the release drops. Before that happens I still have a documentary soundtrack and other music to work on.

Follow Adriaan de Roover on Soundcloud and Facebook to stay in the loop.