Scuba & DOMiNii are next up in our Magnetic Mix series. An early player in the UK dubstep scene, now based in Berlin, Scuba's music spans house, techno garage and more with five albums and a slew of other projects to his name. Scuba also runs the influential label Hotflush, which continues to pump out quality music each year. DOMiNii is a vocalist and producer from London.
Last week Scuba teamed up with vocalist/producer DOMiNii on a seven track project Diivorce that was a stark contrast from his previous work. It delved far more into indie, vocal productions, stepping away club-centered tracks and more into a world that can live well beyond his typical dark and late night venues. It is bright, different and a breath of fresh air from the pair. This is DOMiNii’s first official release, though he was an uncredited singer on Scuba’s “Forgive Me.”
To celebrate the new project, Scuba and DOMiNii dropped in for a mix that delves into the influences behind the project. We also asked him about how the project came together, including his slow-down from the breakneck pace of touring and how that impacted the music he had been making.
The tracklist is quite all over the place with tunes by the likes of Andy Stott, Oneohtrix Point Never, Mindspan, Edanticonf and Car Seat Headrest. This mix taps influences, genres and artists from around the world.
How did you and DOMiNii meet and decide to do a project together?
I stepped back from touring about three years ago, not completely but cut down my shows from about 100 per year to around 20, and one of the main aims of doing that was to give myself space to make music which would be totally unsuitable for my DJ set. I spent a lot of time working on a project with a female singer, which was a really useful and interesting process but ultimately didn't go anywhere, so I was on the lookout for someone to collaborate with.
I've not generally found collaboration easy over the years, for many reasons, but having learned so much about recording and vocals and working with singers, it's become a lot more natural for me. I heard some of DOMiNii's stuff and we just started writing together and it all came together quite intuitively. There's so much material that I've worked on in the last couple of years, there didn't feel like a coherent album there though. So Diivorce is really just a collection of tracks and we are working on a “proper” LP at the moment.
How did you pick the tracks in this mix?
We basically just picked a load of things that we felt influenced by, all the way from Yugoslavian pop to ambient. And then I tried to put some of the tracks together in a way that makes sense as a mix. Which I think it just about does!
Tracklist:
01. Edanticonf – There Was A Star In The Sky
02. Alex Petcu – Nagoya Marimbas
03. Radioactive Man – Hector's Blues
04. Adam Michalak – Sparkles
05. David Newman – J.D. Blows Up
06. Brian Baldauff – Canyon III
07. Denis & Denis – Dio Refrena
08. Mindspan – Snowflake
09. EQD – Equalized 111 04
10. Blood Orange – Sutphin Boulecard
11. Linea Aspera – Synapse
12. SASSY009 – Are You Still A Lover
13. Oneohtrix Point Never – Long Road Home
14. The Dust Brothers – Single Serving Jack
15. Janeret – Chōshinsei
16. Andy Stott – The Beginning
17. Baltra – Like A Butterfly
18. TML – Head Back (Vox)
19. Car Seat Headrest – There Must Be More Than Blood
