T Minus 90 with Amanda Brown
February 10, 2012 by Daniel Smith
You have been running the successful Not Not Fun label for years now. What was has been the main inspiration for you to branch off with 100% Silk?
Not Not Fun is so open and flexible to evolving, but there are some things that just do fall outside the parameters of what makes sense for that label. Friends of mine started to make music that I totally loved and connected with and believed in but was on a somewhat different trajectory than where NNF was at. I felt inspired to expand because it was music I wanted to support and be a part of. I've always loved dance music, it just wasn't something I was always able to experience firsthand - before it was more of a distant love affair.
Where do you see 100% Silk going?
I'm much more of the moment. There's never been a master plan. I just want to keep releasing what I find inspiring and what I believe is meaningful and will connect with the type of music listener that I relate to. I want SILK to go on as long as there's fantastic underground artists making soulful, personable, exciting dance music.
Have you noticed a difference in clientele with the two labels?
Absolutely. The difference between record collector and DJ, between cataloguer and dancer. There's been noisy psych cassette-loving people that got turned off the second they heard a beat. But there's also been people who've gotten in touch who love SILK, who've never even heard of Not Not Fun. And then of course there's been my favorites - the faithful omnivores, that can straddle both sides, see art in it all, and love hypnotic house as much as they love weirder NNF tape murk.
Your projects and releases have been shifting more and more towards dance music in recent years. What do you find appealling about it?
It's ecstatic, electric music. Dance has a lot more commonality with the fucked-up, DIY, free-form aesthetic mindset than has been fully explored so far. There seems like a lot of open spaces and hybrid styles that no ones really mastered yet. So much freedom, whereas so many other genres feel truly burnt out to me now. It's a loose template, full of beauty and melancholy and jubilance and exaltation. If you love deep music, there's room in yr heart for Dance.
What inspired this playlist and how were these tracks recorded?
I try to work off a vibe when I make personal mixes. These are some of my favorite tracks at the moment. Been loving and Dj'ing these whenever I can.
Your playlist for this mix is filled with classic house cuts. How do you feel about newer house productions? Do you feel like it is missing any elements that these olders one have?
New music is never MISSING anything that older music has. Let's stick up for contemporary music, after all we make it, there's no time machine, and no point in obsessing over the past. I love classic house as a sound, as an aesthetic, but these are modern takes made by modern musicians with a sideways bent of their own.
Do you have any upcoming releases planned for 100% Silk or Not Not Fun? Any tours or new projects you would like to share?
So much stuff, we're up to our haircuts. For SILK: Fort Romeau, Mi Ami, Polonaise, Body Double, Jonas Reinhardt, Roland Tings, LA Vampires. For Not Not Fun: Dylan Ettinger, Cruise Family, Cuticle, Russian Tsarlag. And we're coming to Europe! June 2012: Maria Minerva, Ital, Magic Touch, LA Vampires.
What are your top-five all time favorite tracks?
No way, can't do it. But here are my current favorite R n B tracks:
Janet Jackson - Got Til It's Gone
Portrait - Here We Go Again
Shanice - It's For You
Hi Five - I Like the Way
Cece Peniston - We Gotta a Love Thang
Tracklist
Neon Marshmallow Mix 004 - Amanda Brown
Original mix by Amanda Brown (Not Not Fun | 100% Silk)
Chrystal Waters - 100% Pure Love (Club Mix)
DJ 39s Rule - Work That Sucker (Club Mix)
Liquid City - Giving My All (Forgotten Gypsy Theme Mix)
Freestyle Orchestra - Don't Tell Me (Garage Dub)
SFV Acid - It's You
Octo Octa - Blush (House Mix)
Pariah - Orpheus
Legowelt - Saucolito Park
Polonaise - Untitled 2
