Mixmag Brazil Cover #62 CHRIS LAKE 2023

CHRIS

WORDS: MARLLON GAUCHE, ROCÍO FLORES | PHOTO: COREY WILSON

LAKE

DELVE INTO THE FASCINATING SONIC REALMS OF CHRIS LAKE

Hailing from South Korea, Shubostar has learned to gracefully ride the mighty wave of an ever-evolving underground scene. Her fondness for electric sounds and melodies is integrated by an accelerated shower of sonic meteors that shoot at high speed in terrain commanded by her ‘Cosmic Disco’ style, which was cemented in Italo disco with a wide variety of techno elements.

Dark, heavy bass and retro drums bring out the stellar contemporary sounds of electronic music. In September 2018, Shubostar took the bull by the horns by launching ‘UJU’ Records in collaboration with artist Daryung Kim, a platform designed to release her own singles and artists she admires.

Prolific British musician Chris Lake still taps into the same sense of curiosity and wonder that he did when he first found his creative process of making music at a young age. His discography is monumental and has become one of the leading lights in the contemporary house music scene.

Hi everyone and thank you for having me, it’s an absolute pleasure to be your next cover artist! 2022 was my most incredible year so far. I travelled to 23 countries for an overall of 52 cities, made a lot of new friends, ate delicious food from all over the world and had many good drinks.

I released 2 EPs on great label such as Permanent Vacation and my own uju Records, joining also 5 compilations with original tracks, several remixes and dj mixes for the likes of HOR, BBC Radio1 and Keinemusik to name a few. Beyond any expectation!!

Korea, Thailand, or even

México?

I started clubbing when I was 23. I know, it’s quite late, but everything then came very fast. It took me just 1 year to move from being a clubber to becoming a DJ... it was love at first sight! I can clearly say my experience with clubbing happened more as a DJ then as raver even if every now and then I still like after my sets to go on the other side and dance along the crowd :)

In the middle of last year, the production company delighted us again with ‘Orbit Drive-In EP’ presented on Jenifer Cardini’s label Permanent Vacation, this being a piece of four cosmic tracks that raise people’s consciousness towards colorful and surreal galaxies where the melody of their synthesizers and their disco touches invite us to spend a marathon dance session.

After so many years of hard work and countless tours around the world, Lake created Black Book Records, a label dedicated to supporting and nurturing the talent of a new generation of DJs and producers.

Can’t wait to show you more music coming out, and play more new cities in 2023 <3

Mixmag Brazil sat down with the brilliant selector and producer to catch up on the hottest news including the anticipated B2B with FISHER at Coachella Festival, where they will close the outdoor stage on the festival’s last day, among other topics.

Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and México are some places you visited this year. Would you dare to say that all of this cultural richness would inspire you in your coming releases?

Hi Chris! Thanks for having us. We can’t start talking about anything other than your return to Brazil for the second edition of NAFF, this time in two different locations! What’s on your mind (and in your heart) right now?

Circoloco DC10, Mayan Warrior (Burning Man), EDC México, Zamna Festival, and soon fabric in London are part of the magnificent spaces where their galactic style will be enjoyed by the audience. We entertain you no further and hope you enjoy this exclusive with Shubostar.

HeyShubo, we are so happyto welcome you to Mixmag Brazil cover. How has this 2022 been for you on personal and professional sides?

Additionally, this weekend Chris Lake returns to Brazil stronger than ever, since he will be showcasing two shows in two cities for the second edition of the ‘NAFF’ Festival created together with his partner in crime, FISHER. We are utterly sure that he will delight us with the most select of his music; including the track ‘Beggin’ (to be released April 21st) that he recently produced with Aluna or the new prominent VIP version of the track ‘Deceiver’ made with Green Velvet.

I’m definitely excited to return to Brazil. I had such a fun time visiting the country over the years. Brazil was a massive part of my early career; I always did various shows around the country at least twice a year. Then, when I moved to America, my trips became less frequent until probably around 2017, when I started returning a bit more.

Absolutely! In my opinion, art is the outcome of life experiences. That means you need input in order to have output. You can have several kinds of inputs as for example reading a book, watching a movie, meeting friends and so on. My biggest input is and will always be traveling! Seeing new cities, eating local food, meeting local people… it makes me feel I’m alive! Making music is for me living my present like doing yoga or meditation. Traveling trains me on how to live my present, and it gives me a lot of energy to make music!

‘Só Track Boa’ was one of the shows I did with FISHER in 2018. We both played solo shows on the main stage and after that, we went on a B2B on the Garden stage, where we played for hours; it was a pivotal moment for FISHER

Before you were booked to play all these gigs, were you, attendee, yourself? Could you share a crazy experience when you were a raver in

I want to share with you the story of my first rave in Korea: I was a kind of punk kid. When I was in high school, I used to listen to Korean indie punk. One day I went to a rock festival which was organised in a very big public swimming pool… and the dance floor was an half-filled pool! I was wearing jeans and really not ready for this, but my friends and I kept dancing 4/5 hours without stopping while soaking all our body. That was the moment when for the first time in my life I felt the word “freedom” all over my body!

and me. Our team gave us the idea that inspired us to believe in the magic we had in the B2B that we were doing together, and then we came up with all these plans and what we wanted to do. Ironically, one of the big things we planned to do after we finished our set at ‘Só Track Boa’ was to perform a headliner at Coachella, which we already announced a couple of months ago, and now we are going to be doing it next month. We are very excited about it. The plan was to close the outdoor stage on Sunday, which we will be doing, and we are thrilled.

How would you introduce your cosmic style to those who still do not know the power of your music?

Brazil is inspirational for me. I had so many great shows there and being able to pull off events like ‘NAFF’ with FISHER has been brilliant, I love doing that. It was such a shame that it became complicated to continue doing it through COVID, so we had a threeyear break, and now we are back to doing it properly. We are incredibly excited to do it!

Ahhh, great question! Basically, is a mix of disco with some more techno elements. 80s are my biggest inspiration with driving bass line you can also find on Italo disco and the kind of massive 80s gated snares, just with some techno/cosmic elements on top!

Still, Cosmic Disco itself has some history: the genre was born with the Italian legend Daniele Baldelli, he invented cosmic/afro music. The next wave came instead from the north, in

You know, we have great partners in Brazil. One of the things that we have been very particular about is that we wanted to find exciting venues; it was just about finding the

“Brazil is inspirational for me. I had so many great shows there and being able to put off events like ‘NAFF’ with FISHER has been brilliant, I love doing that.”

vibe and the right places that inspire us and make us want to go and throw an event there. Luckily, we could pull off three shows; we are happy to be out there and having a busy and exhausting weekend.

You’ve been in the scene for over 20 years... that’s a long time! You certainly underwent many transformations, so what motivates you the most to keep doing what you currently do?

Everything is driven by just making myself happy and fulfilling my creative process. I absolutely love making music, and I love making music to make people feel good. At the root of it, I make music to make myself feel good, that’s my main goal, and my second thought is to make other people feel the same.

I wake up daily and am excited about making myself first happy with the music. It sounds simple, I might sound stupid to many people, but I find it very effective, and when I get to perform for people and feel that that work is validated it’s unbelievably fulfilling;

that cycle keeps me going, and I just love it. I still feel the same way I did when I was a teenager, when I was making this music, it definitely keeps me young inside.

With your extensive career in the scene, this should help allow you to give opportunities to new artists, right? Much of this happens through Black Book Records, your label founded in 2017. How does curation work? Do you have a team to listen to the demos and decide what will be released?

Yes, it is funny you ask that! That’s a challenging part of running a label. Especially in 2023, this generation has many music producers; many people are making house music. I think there are a lot of producers enticed by labels like Black Book Records because the records we present do well, so I’m proud of how we make the records look with the art and the promotions. It entices a lot of people to be part of that. We get sent a lot of music, and it is pretty challenging to listen to everything, but we try. We tried to improve our methods and give our feedback to people when we listen to their music. It is a

lot of work; I need help to do it. I have less time to listen to demos, but I have great people working with me, helping me find the next releases and artists we want to support and help develop.

At the root of it, we want to help develop the next headliners. We want to be involved in developing artists that will continue to inspire the next generation and try to find artists that are approaching things differently and have the X Factor. It’s great to be involved in developing artists within the scene, watch their growth, and increase the excitement in the scene in general.

Several artists, who released on the label still had the opportunity to play with you in the “Block parties” of the label, right? Do you feel the vibe has changed from before the pandemic to now? Do you consider that the market is oversaturated?

The market has been saturated for a long time; it is pretty normal. But it really depends on how you want to look at it; there are so many people trying to make music, throwing

“‘Só Track Boa’ was one of the shows I did with FISHER in 2018. We both played the main stage and after that, a B2B on the Garden stage, it was a pivotal moment for FISHER and me.”

What kind of track would you have produced back then with having the technical knowledge of today?

Sometimes I listen to the tracks I made in the beginning of my career: very raw, unfinished, bad mixing... but all of them are very precious for me. I love every moment of my producer career even if in the early stages it sounded very rough. Every step of my path leaded me here so this is why I love every single track I did. In conclusion, I don’t think I would ever change something or go back to do something different!

my own label named “UJU”, which means space or cosmic in Korean. The same friend who gave me this brilliant suggestion made a logo for me and then I asked to a Korean painter friend of mine to do the artworks for the label.

Next big project for UJU includes the first label compilation where I plan to invite as contributors all the artists which influenced me and my style!

rock attitude, not strictly electronic. At this moment of my journey I met super talented singer Galera in Madrid during my tour and I loved his unique voice… asking him to feature this track was the natural consequence of it!

What can you tell us about your musical connection with the label of Jennifer Cardini, and what empowers you about her?

events, or doing a lot of things within the industry, yes, it can be problematic, but also it can be inspiring, because at the end of the day, the way of my team and I are not focused on what the masses are doing, we are focused on trying to figure it out how we can continually improve things and make things better, make things more exciting, doing block parties and finding unique venues - we go out of our way to find unique spaces, make something different from what other people do

You are also a label boss, ‘UJU’ records have become something significant for you and for all the artists that have released their art there. What can you tell us about its beginning, and what can we expect from it in the future?

I moved to Mexico and started to work very hard to produce my own music telling myself “if I can’t produce something good this time, I should quit being a musician”. Luckily something good came out and I am still here :)

What are the main points of the evolution of the brand so far?

My goal was to produce one track a day, then finally I started to create my own style. Finally, I had several demos I really liked and I sent them to many labels but 90% of them didn’t answer and the other 10% said they would have been able to release my music in 1/2 years. I absolutely didn’t want to wait that long! A good friend of mine then asked me “why don’t you open your own label?!” and I totally agreed with him! That’s the moment when I decided to start

Beyond the music, I’m incredibly proud of our art direction within Black Book Records, and It might be one of the strongest parts of the label. We put a lot of time and effort into trying to be innovative and inspiring. I feel like a good mark of how much you are inspiring people is by how much people copy you soon after, and we have been copied quite a lot which keeps us pivoting and keeps us changing and improving what we are doing, but I like

that, I like the fact that we are inspiring people and being copied, it just keeps us moving forward, so that’s nice.

After the success of your track ‘Jigsaw’ on Permanent Vacation, you came back with ‘Orbit Drive-In’ EP. What happened in your mind and body when crafting it? How does that influence your approach to creativity and innovation?

The title “Spiegel” comes from the main character of my favorite Japanese animation “Cowboy Bebop” named Spike Spiegel. After finishing this track, I wanted to make more tracks related to my favorite Japanese animations. When I was in high school, I used to spend more time with Japanese media than Korean media: Japanese animations, TV shows, music, movies. Therefore, that’s part of my roots!

On the events, we are constantly figuring out what events we can throw that best represent the label, it seems like a great time. We often have to go to the places and set up things from scratch, which is very challenging, but at the end of the day, we have been lucky to pull off great selling events that people love and are really excited about being repeated. We always try to evolve and do different things. A lot of the shows that we are going to be doing are going to be different from the previous ones. We are constantly trying to move forward.

How are the ideas for the merchandising part made? Do you collaborate more directly or indirectly in the pieces that are created?

There is also a collaborative effort, but it depends on the item. I am very particular about making good items that people can keep, last well, have good designs, and people would be proud to wear, that doesn’t feel like

Orbit Drive-In is a space station you can find in Cowboy Bebop. The strong driving bass line gave me the idea to use this name. The voice of “Nekono Uta” instead is taken it from the anime “Escaflowne”. There’s a song “Nekono Kimochi (Cat’s feeling)” by a cat girl-character and I loooved it! “Nekono Uta” translation means exactly Cat’s Song “Tiempo y Lugar” is also related to my youth. I used to be playing keyboards in a rock band and to reconnect with it I wanted to make some tracks with a

something you want to throw away after a single use; we are not interested in that, we want to do great items, and the last thing that we think about is profit, just like with everything because I believe if you end up doing good things, the rest of it works. That’s the approach that we take.

Across your recent shows, you value the conservation of the ocean, eradicating plastics from your events. Since when did this change happen or started to happen?

The first connection I had with Jennifer was through a remix I made for “Ghost Of Arms”, 2nd single of the great Curses’ album on Dischi Autunno. Jennifer then invited me for her takeover on Aire Libre for the International Women’s day last year. We’ve never met in person (yet!), I only saw her playing twice before we were in contact, once at ADE and the other one at Berghain, but I’m pretty sure we will meet very soon. I admire her a lot because she supports a lot of female artists and we need more of this in our scene. We’re also planning to make something happen soon on her labels so keep an eye on it!

What do you think is why the female presence has gained greater visibility and acceptance in genres such as indie dance, dark disco, and Italo?

That was honestly inspired by when I went to Burning Man. The foundations the ethos behind the event were unbelievably inspiring. For example, the attendees and their mental approach, not leaving any mark behind and trying not to be wasteful. I found it really inspiring, it just let me go away and look at various parts of my life and other people’s life, questioning what can be improved.

We’ve been always great, is just people started to pay attention to female artists these past few years. I should also say this: one of the reasons why we can see more female artists these days is because women’s rights have been raised through various movements and protests, making it a little easier for women to take on new challenges compared to before. I still see so many female friends which are

Unfortunately, in the world that we are living in, if you ask what can be improved, the answer will be absolutely everything. The job is enormous trying to figure out how we can

“It’s great to be involved in developing artists within the scene, watch their growth and increase the excitement in the scene in general.”

have a sustainable lifestyle without destroying the earth where we live, so it just drove me to start asking more and more questions. As my profile grew, I began to ask how I could use my profile or my leverage to encourage the people that I was working with on shows to try to employ better practices to improve events, to use fewer single-use plastic and things like this and trying to be more sustainable. I cannot say that I am an expert or that I know absolutely everything, but there is an interest that I want to improve. We should all strive to improve things to be sustainable.

Sustainability should not be a dirty word; sustainability should be exciting. At the end of the day, being sustainable means that humanity can be doing this forever, and that’s amazing because it is nice to think that events could be going on forever without destroying the planet. There is a lot of work to be done, and it is not easy. I do not want to demonize people for the practices that they are doing right now, it is more about trying to encourage people

to start with the most minor changes. I always travel with a bottle of water and refill them instead of buying a plastic bottle every time. Things like that really can make a difference.

At the beginning of your answer, we couldn’t help noticing that you were inspired by Burning Man, an event that started with a fantastic philosophy about living in a sustainable world where real money does not exist. Do you consider the central core of a celebration like this has lost its early values?

Absolutely, that is my perception. However, I cannot say I know it intimately because I have yet to back since I am never available when Burning Man is on. But it is definitely my perception. And, of course, money seems to change things, and when you have more people approaching the event with money bypassing some of the ethical foundations of what the event meant to be, it is problematic.

Speaking of concerts, in addition to ‘NAFF’ in Brazil a few days later, you go on stage at the giant Coachella with FISHER. What can

the public expect differently from this special gig?

Well, I met FISHER about eight years ago. When we met, we just simply connected; I am lucky to call him one of my best friends; he is a fantastic human, and it is impossible not to have fun when he is around.

We inspire each other musically; we share the same manager and have similar team members. So, it is really quite easy for us to pull off these events. Sometimes you can see in events that they put two DJs to perform together, and it can be a bit messy when they have different teams; getting everyone on the same page is difficult, but for FISHER and me it is really easy. Our friendship and musical connection can be felt when we perform together; we have so much fun. We also have friends and family with us when we are doing shows together; we don’t do it very frequently, but when we do it, we get everyone together and have a shit load of fun. One of the best ways to describe our B2B is having a party with our friends and inviting other people to join us, and that’s

“I like the fact that we are inspiring people and being copied, it just keeps us moving forward.”

what we feel a B2B is. We simply love it; we are very proud of what we have done.

also the start of the 2nd wave of pandemic so many gigs got cancelled, which leaded me to stay at home. I didn’t realize in that moment, but I was suffering with deep melancholia. I had no input and no energy at all. My Mexico tour was planned for January so no matter what, I had to finish before I leave. I forced myself, but I wasn’t happy with the result. Suddenly a friend visited me at my house and saw my project open on the laptop, then tried to add an element. From this little hint I was finally able to finish my project and it became my favorite remix!

Early March, you released a VIP version of the hit “Deceiver”, with Green Velvet, a track that was part of Black Book’s 50th release. What would you highlight about this new version?

It’s not a remix, but let’s talk about the collab with Biesman - working with Joris was very smooth and fast and of course fun! I just brought an arp, then he made a fat bass line which was immediately fitting on it. We were jamming without talking and found some more layers very naturally. After a short snack break, we almost finished track. It was very inspiring working with him. All came very fast and naturally!

During the pandemic, one of my other best friends, Chris Lorenzo called me up, and he said, “Chris, I’ve got one of these drive-in shows in California, and I really want you to do a VIP version of one of your tracks, anything for my set. I said, “Mate, I can’t be bothered with this, so no.”

What role does dig for music still play in your work as a DJ and producer?

meline of my SoundCloud. That’s why sometimes it takes a long time to check all after I come back from my tours. I don’t dig just to play music at my gigs, I do it also for various genres like ambient, old world music and so on. That’s how I started my mix series called “Cosmic Voyage”. It’s my pure passion. When I’m tired of listening to club tunes, when I feel lonely or melancholy, finding new tunes to record a new Cosmic Voyage mix cures me and my soul.

work into my next music. But people constantly asked me about the track, so I released it.

Any plans to release a full-length album?

What can you share about the lessons that personalities like Green Velvet have contributed to your musical vision?

Step by step! Of course, it’s on my list. But first, I want to settle down in my life. I’ve been always in different cities, moving from flat to flat and city to city very often. I want to find a house and settle down in order to also build my studio first. When I will have my set-up arranged, I will work on a full-length album with a variety of all my styles, that’s for sure!

It is impossible not to be inspired by Green Velvet, his discographies are unbelievable, and his relevance even today is impressive. He is exceptionally relevant to today’s youth; he is unique. I love him; his personality is infectious, and his musical contributions have been felt for generations. To say I’ve worked with him is a very proud moment.

people. Between Korean people it’s okay because we can see and recognize this without even talking, you don’t need to. For foreigners it’s instead hard to recognize this sometimes. Remember, when you see your Korean friends and you think they’re being too kind, think it twice and try to understand if they are just trying to be polite!

Finally, we always like to ask artists for any tips or messages to encourage those who are at the beginning of their careers, fighting for their space. What would you say to them?

Thanks for having me Mixmag Brazil! Can’t wait to visit more countries in South America and to play music and dance together with you guys! Follow SHUBOSTAR on:

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you need to find what makes you unique. That’s what you really need. It’s not trying to find the sound or imitating the person who is hot right now.

Instagram.com/ Facebook.com/ Soundcloud.com/ Twitter.com/

You just need to discover the part of your music that makes you exceptional. Don’t be shy to show that uniqueness; embrace it; it is the most powerful thing any artist has. Thanks!

When I feel a lack of ideas about making music, instead of taking a rest, I dig into new music. Some bass line or melody line or arpeggios always ends up inspiring me. It starts with trying to replicate that sound, but of course the result comes out very different and bring to life something brand new and original which is always the best.

Especially when we talk about DJing, digging is everything. I try to follow all the ti-

At the end of the call, about one hour later, I spent an hour trying to see if I could make something, and I made that version in an hour and sent it to him. He played it, and it had one of the best reactions all night. He had a copy of the track, I had a copy, and I gave one to FISHER. It was one of those tracks that had such a good reaction. In the beginning, I just wanted to keep it for myself. I told everyone I didn’t want to release it and kept it for my sets. I don’t know because, at that moment, I felt like the last few months, I was putting so much

To wrap up, what would be the first thing that came to your mind if I tell you about Latin America? And what is the most Korean thing about you?

And ahead, there’s the single ‘Beggin’ (to be released April 21st) in collaboration with Aluna, which we already had the chance to hear, and it’s amazing! Did you ever get together in the studio to create it?

Arroz con frijoles? Ahahah kidding! Beautiful nature, delicious food, very kind and friendly people, Spanish language. I’ve only been in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia so far, but I’ve always wanted to discover other countries too… Brazil is next on the list of course!

We had multiple sessions in the studio, creating all that music. I had not met Aluna before, and I’m really impressed with her; she is a fantastic artist; I’m so happy with the music we created together; it just feels different, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.

The most Korean thing about me is that I am over polite maybe. In our culture we respect each other even too much so sometimes we lose ourselves in order to take care of other

Follow CHRIS LAKE on:

Instagram.com/ChrisLake Facebook.com/ChrisLake Soundcloud.com/ChrisLake

Follow Black Book Records on: Instagram.com/BlackBookRecords

“I

met FISHER about eight years ago. When we met, we just simply connected; I am so lucky to call him one of my best friends.”

CHRIS

WORDS: MARLLON GAUCHE, ROCÍO FLORES | PHOTOS: COREY

LAKE

MERGULHE NO FASCINANTE REINO SONORO DE CHRIS LAKE

Hailing from South Korea, Shubostar has learned to gracefully ride the mighty wave of an ever-evolving underground scene. Her fondness for electric sounds and melodies is integrated by an accelerated shower of sonic meteors that shoot at high speed in terrain commanded by her ‘Cosmic Disco’ style, which was cemented in Italo disco with a wide variety of techno elements.

Dark, heavy bass and retro drums bring out the stellar contemporary sounds of electronic music. In September 2018, Shubostar took the bull by the horns by launching ‘UJU’ Records in collaboration with artist Daryung Kim, a platform designed to release her own singles and artists she admires.

O prolífico músico britânico Chris Lake ainda mantém o mesmo senso de curiosidade e fascínio que tinha quando descobriu seu processo criativo de fazer música em tenra idade. Sua discografia é monumental e atualmente é uma das principais referências na cena contemporânea da House Music.

Hi everyone and thank you for having me, it’s an absolute pleasure to be your next cover artist! 2022 was my most incredible year so far. I travelled to 23 countries for an overall of 52 cities, made a lot of new friends, ate delicious food from all over the world and had many good drinks.

I released 2 EPs on great label such as Permanent Vacation and my own uju Records, joining also 5 compilations with original tracks, several remixes and dj mixes for the likes of HOR, BBC Radio1 and Keinemusik to name a few. Beyond any expectation!!

Korea, Thailand, or even

México?

I started clubbing when I was 23. I know, it’s quite late, but everything then came very fast. It took me just 1 year to move from being a clubber to becoming a DJ... it was love at first sight! I can clearly say my experience with clubbing happened more as a DJ then as raver even if every now and then I still like after my sets to go on the other side and dance along the crowd :)

A Mixmag Brasil sentou-se com o brilhante DJ e produtor para dar aquela atualizada sobre as notícias mais quentes dele, incluindo o esperado B2B com FISHER no Festival Coachella, onde eles encerrarão o outdoor stage no último dia do evento, entre outros assuntos.

Can’t wait to show you more music coming out, and play more new cities in 2023 <3

Após tantos anos de trabalho duro e incontáveis turnês ao redor do mundo, Lake criou a Black Book Records, um selo dedicado a apoiar e nutrir talentos da nova geração de DJs e produtores.

In the middle of last year, the production company delighted us again with ‘Orbit Drive-In EP’ presented on Jenifer Cardini’s label Permanent Vacation, this being a piece of four cosmic tracks that raise people’s consciousness towards colorful and surreal galaxies where the melody of their synthesizers and their disco touches invite us to spend a marathon dance session.

Além disso, neste fim de semana Chris Lake retorna ao Brasil mais forte do que nunca, apresentando dois shows em duas cidades a segunda edição do ‘NAFF’ Festival, criado em conjunto com seu parceiro, FISHER

Circoloco DC10, Mayan Warrior (Burning Man), EDC México, Zamna Festival, and soon fabric in London are part of the magnificent spaces where their galactic style will be enjoyed by the audience. We entertain you no further and hope you enjoy this exclusive with Shubostar.

Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and México are some places you visited this year. Would you dare to say that all of this cultural richness would inspire you in your coming releases?

Olá Chris! Obrigado por nos receber. Não podemos começar a falar sobre outra coisa que não seja seu retorno ao Brasil para a segunda edição do NAFF, desta vez em dois locais diferentes! O que está em sua mente (e em seu coração) agora?

Absolutely! In my opinion, art is the outcome of life experiences. That means you need input in order to have output. You can have several kinds of inputs as for example reading a book, watching a movie, meeting friends and so on. My biggest input is and will always be traveling! Seeing new cities, eating local food, meeting local people… it makes me feel I’m alive! Making music is for me living my present like doing yoga or meditation. Traveling trains me on how to live my present, and it gives me a lot of energy to make music!

Eu estou definitivamente animado em retornar ao Brasil. Eu já me diverti muito visitando o país ao longo dos anos. O Brasil foi uma parte enorme do meu início de carreira; eu sempre fazia diversos shows pelo país pelo menos duas vezes por ano. Depois, quando me mudei para a América, minhas viagens se tornaram menos frequentes até provavelmente por volta de 2017, quando comecei a retornar um pouco mais.

HeyShubo, we are so happyto welcome you to Mixmag Brazil cover. How has this 2022 been for you on personal and professional sides?

Estamos completamente certos de que ele nos encantará com o melhor de sua música, incluindo a nova faixa ‘Beggin’ (a ser lançada em 21 de abril) que ele produziu recentemente com Aluna ou a nova e bombástica versão VIP da faixa ‘Deceiver’ feita com Green Velvet.

Before you were booked to play all these gigs, were you, attendee, yourself? Could you share a crazy experience when you were a raver in

‘Só Track Boa’ foi um dos shows que fiz com FISHER em 2018. Nós dois tocamos em shows solo no palco principal e depois disso, fizemos

I want to share with you the story of my first rave in Korea: I was a kind of punk kid. When I was in high school, I used to listen to Korean indie punk. One day I went to a rock festival which was organised in a very big public swimming pool… and the dance floor was an half-filled pool! I was wearing jeans and really not ready for this, but my friends and I kept dancing 4/5 hours without stopping while soaking all our body. That was the moment when for the first time in my life I felt the word “freedom” all over my body!

um B2B no palco Garden, onde tocamos por horas; foi um momento decisivo para FISHER e para mim. Nossa equipe nos deu a ideia que nos inspirou a acreditar na magia que tínhamos no B2B tocando juntos, e então criamos todos esses planos e o que queríamos fazer. Ironicamente, uma das grandes coisas que planejamos fazer depois de terminar nosso set na ‘Só Track Boa’ era se apresentar como headliner no Coachella, o que já anunciamos há alguns meses e agora faremos no mês que vem. Estamos muito animados com isso. O plano era fechar o palco externo no domingo, o que faremos, e estamos emocionados.

How would you introduce your cosmic style to those who still do not know the power of your music?

O Brasil é inspirador para mim. Eu fiz tantos shows incríveis aí e ser capaz de realizar eventos como ‘NAFF’ com FISHER tem sido incrível, amo fazer isso. Foi uma pena que foi complicado fazer eventos durante a COVID, então tivemos uma pausa de três anos mas agora estamos de volta fazendo acontecer. Estamos incrivelmente animados com isso! Você sabe, temos ótimos parceiros no Brasil.

Ahhh, great question! Basically, is a mix of disco with some more techno elements. 80s are my biggest inspiration with driving bass line you can also find on Italo disco and the kind of massive 80s gated snares, just with some techno/cosmic elements on top!

Still, Cosmic Disco itself has some history: the genre was born with the Italian legend Daniele Baldelli, he invented cosmic/afro music. The next wave came instead from the north, in

Uma das coisas que fomos muito específicos é que queríamos encontrar locais incríveis; tinha que encontrar a vibe e lugares que

“O Brasil é inspirador para mim. Eu fiz tantos shows incríveis no país e poder realizar eventos como ‘NAFF’ com FISHER tem sido incrível, amo fazer isso.”

inspirassem a gente e nos fizessem querer ir e realizar o evento. Felizmente, vamos realizar três shows; estamos felizes em marcar presença e passar um fim de semana agitado e exaustivo no Brasil.

Você está na cena há mais de 20 anos... isso é bastante tempo! Certamente passou por muitas transformações. O que mais te motiva a continuar fazendo o que faz?

Tudo é impulsionado apenas pelo fato de me fazer feliz e preencher meu processo criativo. Eu amo absolutamente fazer música e amo fazer música para fazer as pessoas se sentirem bem. Na raiz disso, faço música para me sentir bem, esse é o meu principal objetivo, e meu segundo pensamento é fazer as outras pessoas sentirem o mesmo.

Eu acordo todos os dias e estou animado em me fazer feliz primeiro com a música. Parece simples, eu posso parecer bobo para muitas pessoas, mas acho isso muito eficaz, e quando toco para as pessoas e sinto que esse trabalho é validado, é incrivelmente satisfatório; esse ciclo me mantém em

movimento e eu simplesmente amo. Ainda sinto a mesma coisa que sentia quando era adolescente e fazia música, isso definitivamente me mantém jovem por dentro.

Com sua extensa carreira na cena, isso deve permitir que você possa dar oportunidades a novos artistas, certo? Muito disso acontece por meio da Black Book Records, sua gravadora fundada em 2017. Como funciona a curadoria? Você tem uma equipe para ouvir as demos e decidir o que será lançado?

Sim, é engraçado você perguntar isso! Essa é uma parte desafiadora de administrar uma gravadora. Especialmente em 2023, esta geração tem muitos produtores musicais; muitas pessoas estão fazendo house music. Acho que muitos produtores se sentem atraídos por gravadoras como a Black Book Records porque os lançamentos que apresentamos têm bom desempenho, por isso tenho orgulho de como fazemos os lançamentos parecerem com a arte e as promos. Isso faz com que muitas pessoas queiram fazer parte disso. Recebemos muita música, e é bastante desafiador ouvir tudo, mas tentamos.

Tentamos melhorar nossos métodos e dar nosso feedback às pessoas quando ouvimos sua música. É muito trabalho; eu preciso de ajuda para fazê-lo. Tenho menos tempo para ouvir demos, mas tenho ótimas pessoas trabalhando comigo, me ajudando a encontrar os próximos lançamentos e artistas que queremos apoiar e ajudar a desenvolver.

No cerne disso, queremos ajudar a desenvolver os próximos headliners. Queremos estar envolvidos no desenvolvimento de artistas que continuarão a inspirar a próxima geração e tentar encontrar artistas que abordem as coisas de maneira diferente e tenham o Fator X. É ótimo estar envolvido no desenvolvimento de artistas dentro da cena, assistir ao crescimento deles e aumentar a empolgação na cena em geral.

Vários artistas que lançaram pelo selo ainda tiveram a oportunidade de tocar com você nas “Block parties” da gravadora, certo? Você sente que a vibe mudou desde antes da pandemia até agora? Você acha que o mercado está saturado?

O mercado está saturado há muito tempo; é

“Só Track Boa foi um dos shows que fiz com FISHER em 2018. Tocamos solo no main stage e depois B2B no palco Garden, onde tocamos por horas; foi um momento decisivo para FISHER e para mim.”

What kind of track would you have produced back then with having the technical knowledge of today?

Sometimes I listen to the tracks I made in the beginning of my career: very raw, unfinished, bad mixing... but all of them are very precious for me. I love every moment of my producer career even if in the early stages it sounded very rough. Every step of my path leaded me here so this is why I love every single track I did. In conclusion, I don’t think I would ever change something or go back to do something different!

bem normal. Mas realmente depende de como você quer olhar para a coisa; tem tantas gente tentando fazer música, promovendo eventos e fazendo muitas coisas dentro da indústria, sim, pode ser problemático, mas também pode ser inspirador, porque no fim das contas, minha equipe e eu não estamos focados no que as massas estão fazendo, estamos focados em tentar descobrir como podemos aprimorar continuamente as coisas e torná-las melhores, mais empolgantes, fazendo block parties e encontrando locais únicos - nos esforçamos para encontrar espaços diferentes, fazer algo diferente do que os outros fazem.

You are also a label boss, ‘UJU’ records have become something significant for you and for all the artists that have released their art there. What can you tell us about its beginning, and what can we expect from it in the future?

Quais são os principais pontos da evolução da marca até agora?

I moved to Mexico and started to work very hard to produce my own music telling myself “if I can’t produce something good this time, I should quit being a musician”. Luckily something good came out and I am still here :)

my own label named “UJU”, which means space or cosmic in Korean. The same friend who gave me this brilliant suggestion made a logo for me and then I asked to a Korean painter friend of mine to do the artworks for the label.

Nos eventos, estamos constantemente descobrindo quais eventos podemos realizar que melhor representem o selo, parece um ótimo momento. Muitas vezes temos que ir aos lugares e montar as coisas do zero, o que é muito desafiador, mas, no final, temos a sorte de realizar grandes eventos com muitas vendas, que as pessoas adoram e estão realmente animadas em acontecer de novo. Sempre tentamos evoluir e fazer coisas diferentes. Muitos dos shows que vamos fazer serão diferentes dos anteriores. Estamos constantemente tentando avançar.

rock attitude, not strictly electronic. At this moment of my journey I met super talented singer Galera in Madrid during my tour and I loved his unique voice… asking him to feature this track was the natural consequence of it!

essa mudança aconteceu ou começou a acontecer?

Next big project for UJU includes the first label compilation where I plan to invite as contributors all the artists which influenced me and my style!

After the success of your track ‘Jigsaw’ on Permanent Vacation, you came back with ‘Orbit Drive-In’ EP. What happened in your mind and body when crafting it? How does that influence your approach to creativity and innovation?

Como são criadas as ideias para o merchandising? Você colabora mais diretamente ou indiretamente nas peças que são criadas?

What can you tell us about your musical connection with the label of Jennifer Cardini, and what empowers you about her?

Para ser honesto, essa foi uma inspiração que tive quando eu fui ao Burning Man. As fundações e a ética por trás do evento eram incrivelmente inspiradoras. Por exemplo, os participantes e sua abordagem mental, não deixando marcas no local e buscando não serem desperdiçar as coisas. Eu achei isso muito inspirador, me permitiu olhar para várias partes da minha vida e da vida de outras pessoas, questionando o que poderia ser melhorado.

Além da música, estou incrivelmente orgulhoso da direção de arte dentro da Black Book Records, e pode ser uma das partes mais fortes do selo. Colocamos muito tempo e esforço em tentar ser inovadores e inspiradores. Sinto que um bom indicativo do quanto você anda inspirando as pessoas é quando outros copiam você, e nós já fomos muito copiados, o que nos mantém em constante mudança e melhorando o que fazemos, mas eu gosto disso, gosto do fato de que estamos inspirando pessoas e sendo copiados, isso nos mantém avançando, então é legal.

The title “Spiegel” comes from the main character of my favorite Japanese animation “Cowboy Bebop” named Spike Spiegel. After finishing this track, I wanted to make more tracks related to my favorite Japanese animations. When I was in high school, I used to spend more time with Japanese media than Korean media: Japanese animations, TV shows, music, movies. Therefore, that’s part of my roots!

My goal was to produce one track a day, then finally I started to create my own style. Finally, I had several demos I really liked and I sent them to many labels but 90% of them didn’t answer and the other 10% said they would have been able to release my music in 1/2 years. I absolutely didn’t want to wait that long! A good friend of mine then asked me “why don’t you open your own label?!” and I totally agreed with him! That’s the moment when I decided to start

Existe um esforço colaborativo, mas isso depende do item. Eu sou muito exigente em fazer bons itens que as pessoas possam guardar, que durem bem, tenham bons designs e as pessoas se orgulhem de usar, que não pareça algo que você queira jogar fora após o primeiro uso; não estamos interessados nisso, queremos fazer ótimos itens, e a última coisa que pensamos é o lucro, assim como em tudo, porque acredito que se você acabar fazendo coisas boas, o resto funciona. Essa é a abordagem que adotamos.

Orbit Drive-In is a space station you can find in Cowboy Bebop. The strong driving bass line gave me the idea to use this name. The voice of “Nekono Uta” instead is taken it from the anime “Escaflowne”. There’s a song “Nekono Kimochi (Cat’s feeling)” by a cat girl-character and I loooved it! “Nekono Uta” translation means exactly Cat’s Song “Tiempo y Lugar” is also related to my youth. I used to be playing keyboards in a rock band and to reconnect with it I wanted to make some tracks with a

Em seus shows recentes, você valoriza a conservação do oceano e a erradicação do plástico em seus eventos. Desde quando

The first connection I had with Jennifer was through a remix I made for “Ghost Of Arms”, 2nd single of the great Curses’ album on Dischi Autunno. Jennifer then invited me for her takeover on Aire Libre for the International Women’s day last year. We’ve never met in person (yet!), I only saw her playing twice before we were in contact, once at ADE and the other one at Berghain, but I’m pretty sure we will meet very soon. I admire her a lot because she supports a lot of female artists and we need more of this in our scene. We’re also planning to make something happen soon on her labels so keep an eye on it!

Infelizmente, no mundo em que vivemos, se você perguntar o que pode ser melhorado, a resposta será absolutamente tudo. O trabalho é enorme, tentando descobrir como podemos ter um estilo de vida sustentável sem destruir a Terra onde vivemos, então isso me impulsionou a começar a fazer mais e mais perguntas. À medida que meu nome crescia, comecei a me perguntar como poderia usar isso para incentivar as pessoas com quem trabalhava em shows a tentar empregar práticas que pudessem melhorar os eventos, usando menos plástico descartável e coisas assim, tentar ser mais sustentável. Não posso dizer que sou um especialista ou que sei absolutamente tudo, mas tenho interesse e quero melhorar. Todos devemos nos esforçar para melhorar as coisas para serem sustentáveis.

What do you think is why the female presence has gained greater visibility and acceptance in genres such as indie dance, dark disco, and Italo?

We’ve been always great, is just people started to pay attention to female artists these past few years. I should also say this: one of the reasons why we can see more female artists these days is because women’s rights have been raised through various movements and protests, making it a little easier for women to take on new challenges compared to before. I still see so many female friends which are

Sustentabilidade não deveria ser uma

“É ótimo estar envolvido no desenvolvimento de artistas dentro da cena, assistir o crescimento deles e aumentar a empolgação na cena em geral.”

palavra suja; sustentabilidade deve ser algo empolgante. No final do dia, ser sustentável significa que a humanidade pode continuar fazendo as coisas para sempre, e isso é incrível porque é legal pensar que eventos podem acontecer para sempre sem destruir o planeta. Há muito trabalho a ser feito, e não é fácil. Não quero demonizar as pessoas pelas práticas que estão fazendo agora, mas sim tentar encorajá-las a começar com as mudanças mais simples. Sempre viajo com uma garrafa de água e a reabasteço em vez de comprar uma garrafa de plástico toda vez. Coisas assim realmente podem fazer a diferença.

No início da sua resposta, você disse que foi inspirado pelo Burning Man, um evento que começou com uma filosofia fantástica sobre viver em um mundo sustentável onde dinheiro real não existe. Você considera que o núcleo central de uma celebração como essa perdeu seus valores iniciais?

Absolutamente, essa é a minha percepção. No entanto, não posso dizer que conheço intimamente porque ainda não voltei, já que nunca estou disponível quando o Burning Man acontece. Mas definitivamente é minha percepção. E, claro, o dinheiro parece mudar as coisas e quando mais pessoas se aproximam do evento com dinheiro, ultrapassando alguns dos fundamentos éticos do que o evento deveria ser, isso é problemático.

Falando de shows, além do ‘NAFF’ no Brasil alguns dias depois, você sobe ao palco do gigante Coachella com FISHER. O que o público pode esperar de diferente neste show especial?

Bem, conheci FISHER há cerca de oito anos. Quando nos conhecemos, simplesmente nos conectamos; tenho a sorte de chamá-lo de um dos meus melhores amigos; ele é um ser humano fantástico e é impossível não se divertir quando ele está por perto.

Nós nos inspiramos musicalmente; compartilhamos o mesmo empresário e temos membros da equipe semelhantes. Então, é realmente muito fácil para nós realizar esses eventos. Às vezes, em eventos, você pode ver que colocam dois DJs para tocar juntos, e pode ser um pouco confuso quando eles têm equipes diferentes; colocar todos na mesma página é difícil, mas para FISHER e eu é realmente fácil. Nossa amizade e conexão musical podem ser sentidas quando tocamos juntos; nos divertimos muito. Também temos amigos e familiares conosco quando estamos fazendo shows juntos; não fazemos isso com muita frequência, mas quando fazemos, reunimos todos e nos divertimos pra caramba. Uma das melhores maneiras de descrever nosso B2B é ter uma festa com nossos amigos e convidar outras pessoas para se juntar a nós, e é isso que sentimos que é um B2B. Simplesmente amamos; estamos muito orgulhosos do que fazemos.

No início de março, você lançou uma versão VIP do hit “Deceiver”, com Green Velvet, uma faixa que fez parte do 50º lançamento da Black Book. O que você destacaria sobre esta nova versão?

Durante a pandemia, um dos meus melhores amigos, Chris Lorenzo, me ligou e disse: “Chris, tenho um desses shows drive-in na Califórnia e realmente quero que você faça uma versão VIP de uma de suas faixas, qualquer uma para o meu set”. Eu disse: “Cara, não estou afim disso, então não”.

No final da ligação, cerca de uma hora depois, passei uma hora tentando ver se conseguia fazer algo, e fiz essa versão em uma hora e enviei para ele. Ele tocou, e teve uma das melhores reações da noite. Ele tinha uma cópia da faixa, eu tinha outra, e dei uma para FISHER. Foi uma daquelas faixas que teve uma reação incrivelmente boa. No começo, eu queria mantê-la só para mim. Eu disse a todos que não queria lançá-la e a mantive para meus sets. Eu não sei porque, naquele momento, senti que nos últimos meses, estava colocando tanto trabalho em minha próxima música. Mas as pessoas continuavam me perguntando sobre a faixa, então eu a lancei.

O que você pode compartilhar sobre como personalidades como Green Velvet contribuíram para sua visão musical?

É impossível não se inspirar em Green Velvet,

“Gosto do fato de que estamos inspirando pessoas e sendo copiados, isso nos mantém avançando, então é legal.”

sua discografia é incrível e sua relevância até hoje é impressionante. Ele é excepcionalmente relevante para a juventude atual; ele é único. Eu o amo; sua personalidade é contagiante, e suas contribuições musicais têm sido sentidas por gerações. Dizer que trabalhei com ele me deixa muito orgulhoso.

also the start of the 2nd wave of pandemic so many gigs got cancelled, which leaded me to stay at home. I didn’t realize in that moment, but I was suffering with deep melancholia. I had no input and no energy at all. My Mexico tour was planned for January so no matter what, I had to finish before I leave. I forced myself, but I wasn’t happy with the result. Suddenly a friend visited me at my house and saw my project open on the laptop, then tried to add an element. From this little hint I was finally able to finish my project and it became my favorite remix!

E olhando para frente, temos o single ‘Beggin’ (a ser lançado em 21 de abril) em colaboração com Aluna, que já tivemos a chance de ouvir, e é incrível! Vocês já se reuniram no estúdio para essa missão?

It’s not a remix, but let’s talk about the collab with Biesman - working with Joris was very smooth and fast and of course fun! I just brought an arp, then he made a fat bass line which was immediately fitting on it. We were jamming without talking and found some more layers very naturally. After a short snack break, we almost finished track. It was very inspiring working with him. All came very fast and naturally!

What role does dig for music still play in your work as a DJ and producer?

Tivemos várias sessões em estúdio, criando essa música. Eu não tinha encontrado a Aluna antes e fiquei realmente impressionado com ela; é uma artista fantástica; estou muito feliz com a faixa que criamos juntos; simplesmente parece diferente e mal posso esperar para as pessoas ouvirem.

When I feel a lack of ideas about making music, instead of taking a rest, I dig into new music. Some bass line or melody line or arpeggios always ends up inspiring me. It starts with trying to replicate that sound, but of course the result comes out very different and bring to life something brand new and original which is always the best.

Por fim, gostamos sempre de pedir dicas ou mensagens de encorajamento para aqueles que estão no início de suas carreiras, lutando por seu espaço. O que você diria a eles?

No fim das contas, o mais importante é que você precisa encontrar o que te faz único. Isso é o que você realmente precisa. Não é tentar encontrar o som ou imitar a pessoa que está em alta agora. Você só

Especially when we talk about DJing, digging is everything. I try to follow all the ti-

meline of my SoundCloud. That’s why sometimes it takes a long time to check all after I come back from my tours. I don’t dig just to play music at my gigs, I do it also for various genres like ambient, old world music and so on. That’s how I started my mix series called “Cosmic Voyage”. It’s my pure passion. When I’m tired of listening to club tunes, when I feel lonely or melancholy, finding new tunes to record a new Cosmic Voyage mix cures me and my soul.

precisa descobrir a parte da sua música que te torna excepcional. Não tenha vergonha de mostrar essa singularidade; abrace-a; é a coisa mais poderosa que qualquer artista tem.

Obrigado!

Any plans to release a full-length album?

Follow CHRIS LAKE on: Instagram.com/ChrisLake Facebook.com/ChrisLake Soundcloud.com/ChrisLake

people. Between Korean people it’s okay because we can see and recognize this without even talking, you don’t need to. For foreigners it’s instead hard to recognize this sometimes. Remember, when you see your Korean friends and you think they’re being too kind, think it twice and try to understand if they are just trying to be polite!

Thanks for having me Mixmag Brazil! Can’t wait to visit more countries in South America and to play music and dance together with you guys!

Follow SHUBOSTAR on:

Follow Black Book Records on: Instagram.com/BlackBookRecords

Step by step! Of course, it’s on my list. But first, I want to settle down in my life. I’ve been always in different cities, moving from flat to flat and city to city very often. I want to find a house and settle down in order to also build my studio first. When I will have my set-up arranged, I will work on a full-length album with a variety of all my styles, that’s for sure!

To wrap up, what would be the first thing that came to your mind if I tell you about Latin America? And what is the most Korean thing about you?

Arroz con frijoles? Ahahah kidding! Beautiful nature, delicious food, very kind and friendly people, Spanish language. I’ve only been in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia so far, but I’ve always wanted to discover other countries too… Brazil is next on the list of course!

The most Korean thing about me is that I am over polite maybe. In our culture we respect each other even too much so sometimes we lose ourselves in order to take care of other

Instagram.com/ Facebook.com/

Soundcloud.com/ Twitter.com/

“Conheci FISHER há cerca de oito anos. Quando nos conhecemos, simplesmente nos conectamos; tenho a sorte de chamá-lo um dos meus melhores amigos.”