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Fade To Mind Just Unleashed Their New Mind To Mind Project, With MikeQ and DJ Sliink

The trio chat about their latest releases, working with Kelela, and the ups and downs of living in Jersey.
TN

This article originally published in THUMP UK

If I were to ask you what your favourite dance labels are right now, I wouldn't be too surprised if you mentioned LA's Fade To Mind and London's Night Slugs; two closely-related club imprints who have been setting the bar very high as a network of DJs throwing some of the best parties on the planet.

Now, you can add Mind To Mind to that list too. Mind To Mind is a new Fade To Mind offshoot, which - as label boss Kingdom and producers MikeQ and DJ Sliink explain - is influenced by Night Slugs' Club Constructions, yet with its own, unique outlook.

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THUMP: What made you want to start Mind To Mind?

Kingdom: Will and I who run Fade To Mind had been thinking a lot about what is at the core of what we do; what would be a category of music that our artists generate that doesn't get released, or that doesn't make it onto EPs usually. We came to see that a lot of that stuff is casual collaborations, and improvised music that our artists make together, so our concept was to create a release series that is specifically for collaborations.

Those collaborations can be one off - like, if I happen to be in London for a few nights, and I make a couple of tracks with Bok Bok, or whatever the case may be. It's basically to have a space where people can make tracks together without having to form "a band", or have to say "We're a duo, we're now called this".

Will Mind To Mind have a similar club-based/DJ tools approach as Night Slugs' Club Constructions series? 

Kingdom: Mind to Mind is only really comparable to Club Constructions in the way that they are both side releases. Sonically, we're hoping to push an entirely different direction - although, these tracks on the release from Mike and Sliink are very rhythm-based and drum heavy, like Club Constructions. But, in general, this stuff is going to be very free-form. Some stuff will have no drums.

We are keeping it really open format, though. We don't want it to be just club music. It can be more experimental forms too. Also, you can't really know what to expect based on who is collaborating. Massacooraman and L-Vis 1990 have been making a lot of tracks together, and those are kinda of grimey, but also quite sparse and a-rhythmic. Very creepy, industrial, dark stuff.

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Mike and Sliink, how did you guys meet? Did you know each other before Mind To Mind?

MikeQ: Sliink and I met online first. I already knew of him and his music being from New Jersey. I always played his music when I played here in the past, and we had a few gigs together.

DJ Sliink: I met Mike from this video interview and mix session program in NYC called Noise212 with JP Solis. Mike did his slot before me, and I was on the next week. I pretty much saw he was from Jersey and messaged him. Everything was pretty organic. The first remix I did for him was the 'Ha Dub' remix on Fade To Mind.

How did you start producing music together? 

z After Mike and I met, we found out that we lived around the corner from each other. We have a lot of tracks together. We both really dig each other's style, and have a culture behind what we do. I'm all for the culture.

MikeQ: Well for my debut EP I asked him to remix a track, and then the Mind To Mind release idea didn't even come until after we were done with the tracks. For this project, we were just fucking around and had this idea to clash ballroom and Jersey club. We passed tracks back and forth and met up a few times at my house, and this release was born.

DJ Sliink: Mike and I both use Sony Acid Pro and FL Studio. It's amazing that we use the same thing, as it makes the process that much easier. We would email demos over and review them, and see what might work in the club. When we both were home, that's when we would grab some studio time.

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Jersey seems like a very creative, interesting place right now. How do you find it?                           

DJ Sliink: I try to enjoy New Jersey as much as I can. New Jersey can be good or bad, depending on where you are. There's trouble everywhere, but you have to pick and choose your spots. It has heaps of talent and they express it through dancing, producing music and other things. I love to see people put their energy into something positive. New Jersey will always be home, so it's a great spot for me to chill with my friends when I'm not touring.

MikeQ: I have always said New Jersey has the most talent. So many great superstar icons and DJs - people of the arts, in any form - have come from here (Essex County), let alone New Jersey. I'd also say it has the highest concentration of DJs in the world - which tends to be a little aggy, but I'm not hating on anyone's game. I just want everyone to be official with it. Can't nobody say shit.

Is there much of a crossover in terms of the listening audience? And in the clubs?

MIkeQ: Certainly. Ballroom is a predominately gay genre of music, while Jersey club is hetero, but neither sexual preference stays on their predominant side [musically]. It's just dance music. People love it, and they are alike in many ways, so we are closing the gap.

DJ Sliink: I think ballroom and Jersey club go hand to hand. Ballroom is not totally leftfield from Jersey club. It's never gone wrong in any club setting I've played in. The sounds are familiar, and people just want to dance.

Advertisement

This article originally published in THUMP UK

If I were to ask you what your favourite dance labels are right now, I wouldn't be too surprised if you mentioned LA's Fade To Mind and London's Night Slugs; two closely-related club imprints who have been setting the bar very high as a network of DJs throwing some of the best parties on the planet.

Now, you can add Mind To Mind to that list too. Mind To Mind is a new Fade To Mind offshoot, which - as label boss Kingdom and producers MikeQ and DJ Sliink explain - is influenced by Night Slugs' Club Constructions, yet with its own, unique outlook.

THUMP: What made you want to start Mind To Mind?

Kingdom: Will and I who run Fade To Mind had been thinking a lot about what is at the core of what we do; what would be a category of music that our artists generate that doesn't get released, or that doesn't make it onto EPs usually. We came to see that a lot of that stuff is casual collaborations, and improvised music that our artists make together, so our concept was to create a release series that is specifically for collaborations.

Those collaborations can be one off - like, if I happen to be in London for a few nights, and I make a couple of tracks with Bok Bok, or whatever the case may be. It's basically to have a space where people can make tracks together without having to form "a band", or have to say "We're a duo, we're now called this".

Will Mind To Mind have a similar club-based/DJ tools approach as Night Slugs' Club Constructions series? 

Kingdom: Mind to Mind is only really comparable to Club Constructions in the way that they are both side releases. Sonically, we're hoping to push an entirely different direction - although, these tracks on the release from Mike and Sliink are very rhythm-based and drum heavy, like Club Constructions. But, in general, this stuff is going to be very free-form. Some stuff will have no drums.

We are keeping it really open format, though. We don't want it to be just club music. It can be more experimental forms too. Also, you can't really know what to expect based on who is collaborating. Massacooraman and L-Vis 1990 have been making a lot of tracks together, and those are kinda of grimey, but also quite sparse and a-rhythmic. Very creepy, industrial, dark stuff. 

Mike and Sliink, how did you guys meet? Did you know each other before Mind To Mind?

MikeQ: Sliink and I met online first. I already knew of him and his music being from New Jersey. I always played his music when I played here in the past, and we had a few gigs together. 

DJ Sliink: I met Mike from this video interview and mix session program in NYC called Noise212 with JP Solis. Mike did his slot before me, and I was on the next week. I pretty much saw he was from Jersey and messaged him. Everything was pretty organic. The first remix I did for him was the 'Ha Dub' remix on Fade To Mind. 

How did you start producing music together? 

z After Mike and I met, we found out that we lived around the corner from each other. We have a lot of tracks together. We both really dig each other's style, and have a culture behind what we do. I'm all for the culture.

MikeQ: Well for my debut EP I asked him to remix a track, and then the Mind To Mind release idea didn't even come until after we were done with the tracks. For this project, we were just fucking around and had this idea to clash ballroom and Jersey club. We passed tracks back and forth and met up a few times at my house, and this release was born.

DJ Sliink: Mike and I both use Sony Acid Pro and FL Studio. It's amazing that we use the same thing, as it makes the process that much easier. We would email demos over and review them, and see what might work in the club. When we both were home, that's when we would grab some studio time. 

Jersey seems like a very creative, interesting place right now. How do you find it?                           

DJ Sliink: I try to enjoy New Jersey as much as I can. New Jersey can be good or bad, depending on where you are. There's trouble everywhere, but you have to pick and choose your spots. It has heaps of talent and they express it through dancing, producing music and other things. I love to see people put their energy into something positive. New Jersey will always be home, so it's a great spot for me to chill with my friends when I'm not touring.

MikeQ: I have always said New Jersey has the most talent. So many great superstar icons and DJs - people of the arts, in any form - have come from here (Essex County), let alone New Jersey. I'd also say it has the highest concentration of DJs in the world - which tends to be a little aggy, but I'm not hating on anyone's game. I just want everyone to be official with it. Can't nobody say shit.    

Is there much of a crossover in terms of the listening audience? And in the clubs?

MIkeQ: Certainly. Ballroom is a predominately gay genre of music, while Jersey club is hetero, but neither sexual preference stays on their predominant side [musically]. It's just dance music. People love it, and they are alike in many ways, so we are closing the gap. 

DJ Sliink: I think ballroom and Jersey club go hand to hand. Ballroom is not totally leftfield from Jersey club. It's never gone wrong in any club setting I've played in. The sounds are familiar, and people just want to dance. 

Is there much of a ball scene in LA? 

Kingdom: I don't know of a real ball scene happening in LA, you know. I don't think the city is very conducive to it. Even if it did, it would be hard to find out about because it is such a gigantic city. There's a little bit, but it's very light. Someone might vogue for a couple of minutes in the club, but as far as I know there's not a lot of official balls happening out here. It's not central to the music scene here. It's definitely more of an East Coast phenomenon. 

How is the club scene over there in LA, then? 

Kingdom: In general it's really good actually. I think Fade To Mind has gathered quite a following here, and our parties have been doing really well. People come, and they know the sound to expect from us. LA crowds are great. They like to dance, so they'll come early and stay till the very end. We try to make it a destination for them by booking guests that no-one else is booking, and LA has been very receptive to our sound. It seems like in NY, because there's a lot going on, people are bouncing from club to club. Out here, people are just down on the weekend for making it a thing to do. Like, "Let's go to a Fade To Mind rave", you know? 

Both ballroom and Jersey club are becoming very hip now. What are your opinions of the inevitable cash-­ins in both scenes, and how do you see the genres moving forward?

DJ Sliink: I'm all about the culture. I grew up on Jersey club, so I'm always going to have a sincere love for it. Sometimes I sit back and look, and.... it's like people don't understand. A lot of people pop out of the wood work for the "now", and I'm not about the "now". I love to inspire people, and I love for them to inspire me. I think we have a bright future.

MikeQ: Well,I see what's going on but - only speaking for my genre - I will do anything to keep it from going crazy. I'll call a motherfucker out and end their whole shit, ha.

Nah, but like people need to chill. Let the people that do this for life eat from it. Yes, be inspired, make a track - but don't keep doing it, or trying to make EPs full of this sound. 'The Ha Dance' samples I now have zero control over, because I sample it like anyone else can, but that's not going to make it ballroom. You are simply doing a Masters At Work remix. I do well to keep my secrets sacred. If you want to do it officially, be knowledgeable about the culture you trying to pull from. Moving forward, it's definitely happening. I see it like all of you do. 

If you could pick two producers or musicians to collaborate on a future Mind To Mind release, who would it be?

DJ Sliink: I would actually want to get something done with NGUZUNGUZU and L-­Vis 1990.

MIkeQ: Fuck, I think Divoli S'vere and Total Freedom could be crazy and future.

Last Friday saw the release on Fade To Mind of Dat Burn's 'Icy Lake', accompanied by a short documentary on the history of the track by THUMP. Can you tell me how this all came together? 

Kingdom: Ashland (Total Freedom) found a video on YouTube of Juniour Vasquez DJing at a club - I believe it was the Palladium, back in 1997. The track was in the video and he became obsessed with it, sending it to all of us in an email. We all immediately fell in love with the track, too. Our friend Sara managed to track down the CD single (which was out of print), and from that point on we all started to play the track constantly. Then L-Vis 1990 made an edit of the track, Total Freedom made an edit of it, DJ Na from NGUZUNGUZU made an edit of it with DJ Rashad - it just kept growing and growing.

L-Vis decided he wanted to make this short documentary about the history of the song and put together this whole re-release, although the idea had been brewing as we were getting all these remixes. The track was way interesting to all of us because it has this really long, ominous, creepy intro. There's this strange, sarcastic voicemail message sampled on it. There's glass breaking, industrial sounds - and then it drops into this really heavy tribal beat after a long, long introduction. It kind of resonates with what Night Slugs and Fade To Mind do, which is to bring unexpected emotions into the club.

How is Fade To Mind itself going? 

Kingdom: Fade To Mind going really well. The Kelela mixtape did great, and we're very excited to be re-releasing it again soon. We're going to finally be putting it out on double vinyl and CD. There will be a digital re-release featuring nine remixes from the Fade To Mind and Night Slugs crew.

It will be a chance for fans of the mixture to finally get it physically, and for people who already have it to get these remixes. A lot of them are pretty club-ready. Some of them are very DJ-orientated, so give people a chance to hear these vocals in that context. Now people already know the words, they can have a new take on the beats. 

Will we hear any new Kelela music in the near future? 

Kingdom: Yeah. I have sent her some beats, and I know she's working with some producers on our teams, so there is still new music being made. Definitely. 

So, what else have you got coming up on Fade To Mind? 

Kingdom: We have the Kelela LP, the debut release from Rizzla (who is a New York-based artist with a kind of strange take on dancehall and tribal house mixed together), then an album from Massacooraman, which is an incredible album. Something you will listen to front to back. His whole sonic pallet has expanded so much in the last year since his debut EP, and we're going to create a lot of video content for that one.

Finally, there's the LA HQ of Fade To Mind. We've had some vocalists over to the studio, bringing different singers in and trying out demos. That's still in the early stages, but we have new vocalists we will be debuting as well. 

Cool - will those vocal-based tracks be similar in style to Kelela's work? 

Kingdom: I think you will definitely hear some connections to the Kelela sound. That sound is something we have been working on for 10 years on and off; this mix of R&B and a soulful element with club drums. The Fade To Mind sound. With the next release, there's going to be even more of a hint of pop (or those type of elements) in there. Kelela is definitely known for a downtempo sound, sometimes with a neo-soul feel, and the people we're talking to now are a little bit more on the pop side of things.   

Is there much of a ball scene in LA? 

Kingdom: I don't know of a real ball scene happening in LA, you know. I don't think the city is very conducive to it. Even if it did, it would be hard to find out about because it is such a gigantic city. There's a little bit, but it's very light. Someone might vogue for a couple of minutes in the club, but as far as I know there's not a lot of official balls happening out here. It's not central to the music scene here. It's definitely more of an East Coast phenomenon.

How is the club scene over there in LA, then? 

Kingdom: In general it's really good actually. I think Fade To Mind has gathered quite a following here, and our parties have been doing really well. People come, and they know the sound to expect from us. LA crowds are great. They like to dance, so they'll come early and stay till the very end. We try to make it a destination for them by booking guests that no-one else is booking, and LA has been very receptive to our sound. It seems like in NY, because there's a lot going on, people are bouncing from club to club. Out here, people are just down on the weekend for making it a thing to do. Like, "Let's go to a Fade To Mind rave", you know?

Both ballroom and Jersey club are becoming very hip now. What are your opinions of the inevitable cash-­ins in both scenes, and how do you see the genres moving forward?

DJ Sliink: I'm all about the culture. I grew up on Jersey club, so I'm always going to have a sincere love for it. Sometimes I sit back and look, and…. it's like people don't understand. A lot of people pop out of the wood work for the "now", and I'm not about the "now". I love to inspire people, and I love for them to inspire me. I think we have a bright future.

Advertisement

MikeQ: Well,I see what's going on but - only speaking for my genre - I will do anything to keep it from going crazy. I'll call a motherfucker out and end their whole shit, ha.

Nah, but like people need to chill. Let the people that do this for life eat from it. Yes, be inspired, make a track - but don't keep doing it, or trying to make EPs full of this sound. 'The Ha Dance' samples I now have zero control over, because I sample it like anyone else can, but that's not going to make it ballroom. You are simply doing a Masters At Work remix. I do well to keep my secrets sacred. If you want to do it officially, be knowledgeable about the culture you trying to pull from. Moving forward, it's definitely happening. I see it like all of you do.

If you could pick two producers or musicians to collaborate on a future Mind To Mind release, who would it be?

DJ Sliink: I would actually want to get something done with NGUZUNGUZU and L-­Vis 1990.

MIkeQ: Fuck, I think Divoli S'vere and Total Freedom could be crazy and future.

Last Friday saw the release on Fade To Mind of Dat Burn's 'Icy Lake', accompanied by a short documentary on the history of the track by THUMP. Can you tell me how this all came together? 

Kingdom: Ashland (Total Freedom) found a video on YouTube of Juniour Vasquez DJing at a club - I believe it was the Palladium, back in 1997. The track was in the video and he became obsessed with it, sending it to all of us in an email. We all immediately fell in love with the track, too. Our friend Sara managed to track down the CD single (which was out of print), and from that point on we all started to play the track constantly. Then L-Vis 1990 made an edit of the track, Total Freedom made an edit of it, DJ Na from NGUZUNGUZU made an edit of it with DJ Rashad - it just kept growing and growing.

Advertisement

L-Vis decided he wanted to make this short documentary about the history of the song and put together this whole re-release, although the idea had been brewing as we were getting all these remixes. The track was way interesting to all of us because it has this really long, ominous, creepy intro. There's this strange, sarcastic voicemail message sampled on it. There's glass breaking, industrial sounds - and then it drops into this really heavy tribal beat after a long, long introduction. It kind of resonates with what Night Slugs and Fade To Mind do, which is to bring unexpected emotions into the club.

How is Fade To Mind itself going? 

Kingdom: Fade To Mind going really well. The Kelela mixtape did great, and we're very excited to be re-releasing it again soon. We're going to finally be putting it out on double vinyl and CD. There will be a digital re-release featuring nine remixes from the Fade To Mind and Night Slugs crew.

It will be a chance for fans of the mixture to finally get it physically, and for people who already have it to get these remixes. A lot of them are pretty club-ready. Some of them are very DJ-orientated, so give people a chance to hear these vocals in that context. Now people already know the words, they can have a new take on the beats.

Will we hear any new Kelela music in the near future? 

Kingdom: Yeah. I have sent her some beats, and I know she's working with some producers on our teams, so there is still new music being made. Definitely.

Advertisement

This article originally published in THUMP UK

If I were to ask you what your favourite dance labels are right now, I wouldn't be too surprised if you mentioned LA's Fade To Mind and London's Night Slugs; two closely-related club imprints who have been setting the bar very high as a network of DJs throwing some of the best parties on the planet.

Now, you can add Mind To Mind to that list too. Mind To Mind is a new Fade To Mind offshoot, which - as label boss Kingdom and producers MikeQ and DJ Sliink explain - is influenced by Night Slugs' Club Constructions, yet with its own, unique outlook.

THUMP: What made you want to start Mind To Mind?

Kingdom: Will and I who run Fade To Mind had been thinking a lot about what is at the core of what we do; what would be a category of music that our artists generate that doesn't get released, or that doesn't make it onto EPs usually. We came to see that a lot of that stuff is casual collaborations, and improvised music that our artists make together, so our concept was to create a release series that is specifically for collaborations.

Those collaborations can be one off - like, if I happen to be in London for a few nights, and I make a couple of tracks with Bok Bok, or whatever the case may be. It's basically to have a space where people can make tracks together without having to form "a band", or have to say "We're a duo, we're now called this".

Will Mind To Mind have a similar club-based/DJ tools approach as Night Slugs' Club Constructions series? 

Kingdom: Mind to Mind is only really comparable to Club Constructions in the way that they are both side releases. Sonically, we're hoping to push an entirely different direction - although, these tracks on the release from Mike and Sliink are very rhythm-based and drum heavy, like Club Constructions. But, in general, this stuff is going to be very free-form. Some stuff will have no drums.

We are keeping it really open format, though. We don't want it to be just club music. It can be more experimental forms too. Also, you can't really know what to expect based on who is collaborating. Massacooraman and L-Vis 1990 have been making a lot of tracks together, and those are kinda of grimey, but also quite sparse and a-rhythmic. Very creepy, industrial, dark stuff. 

Mike and Sliink, how did you guys meet? Did you know each other before Mind To Mind?

MikeQ: Sliink and I met online first. I already knew of him and his music being from New Jersey. I always played his music when I played here in the past, and we had a few gigs together. 

DJ Sliink: I met Mike from this video interview and mix session program in NYC called Noise212 with JP Solis. Mike did his slot before me, and I was on the next week. I pretty much saw he was from Jersey and messaged him. Everything was pretty organic. The first remix I did for him was the 'Ha Dub' remix on Fade To Mind. 

How did you start producing music together? 

z After Mike and I met, we found out that we lived around the corner from each other. We have a lot of tracks together. We both really dig each other's style, and have a culture behind what we do. I'm all for the culture.

MikeQ: Well for my debut EP I asked him to remix a track, and then the Mind To Mind release idea didn't even come until after we were done with the tracks. For this project, we were just fucking around and had this idea to clash ballroom and Jersey club. We passed tracks back and forth and met up a few times at my house, and this release was born.

DJ Sliink: Mike and I both use Sony Acid Pro and FL Studio. It's amazing that we use the same thing, as it makes the process that much easier. We would email demos over and review them, and see what might work in the club. When we both were home, that's when we would grab some studio time. 

Jersey seems like a very creative, interesting place right now. How do you find it?                           

DJ Sliink: I try to enjoy New Jersey as much as I can. New Jersey can be good or bad, depending on where you are. There's trouble everywhere, but you have to pick and choose your spots. It has heaps of talent and they express it through dancing, producing music and other things. I love to see people put their energy into something positive. New Jersey will always be home, so it's a great spot for me to chill with my friends when I'm not touring.

MikeQ: I have always said New Jersey has the most talent. So many great superstar icons and DJs - people of the arts, in any form - have come from here (Essex County), let alone New Jersey. I'd also say it has the highest concentration of DJs in the world - which tends to be a little aggy, but I'm not hating on anyone's game. I just want everyone to be official with it. Can't nobody say shit.    

Is there much of a crossover in terms of the listening audience? And in the clubs?

MIkeQ: Certainly. Ballroom is a predominately gay genre of music, while Jersey club is hetero, but neither sexual preference stays on their predominant side [musically]. It's just dance music. People love it, and they are alike in many ways, so we are closing the gap. 

DJ Sliink: I think ballroom and Jersey club go hand to hand. Ballroom is not totally leftfield from Jersey club. It's never gone wrong in any club setting I've played in. The sounds are familiar, and people just want to dance. 

Is there much of a ball scene in LA? 

Kingdom: I don't know of a real ball scene happening in LA, you know. I don't think the city is very conducive to it. Even if it did, it would be hard to find out about because it is such a gigantic city. There's a little bit, but it's very light. Someone might vogue for a couple of minutes in the club, but as far as I know there's not a lot of official balls happening out here. It's not central to the music scene here. It's definitely more of an East Coast phenomenon. 

How is the club scene over there in LA, then? 

Kingdom: In general it's really good actually. I think Fade To Mind has gathered quite a following here, and our parties have been doing really well. People come, and they know the sound to expect from us. LA crowds are great. They like to dance, so they'll come early and stay till the very end. We try to make it a destination for them by booking guests that no-one else is booking, and LA has been very receptive to our sound. It seems like in NY, because there's a lot going on, people are bouncing from club to club. Out here, people are just down on the weekend for making it a thing to do. Like, "Let's go to a Fade To Mind rave", you know? 

Both ballroom and Jersey club are becoming very hip now. What are your opinions of the inevitable cash-­ins in both scenes, and how do you see the genres moving forward?

DJ Sliink: I'm all about the culture. I grew up on Jersey club, so I'm always going to have a sincere love for it. Sometimes I sit back and look, and.... it's like people don't understand. A lot of people pop out of the wood work for the "now", and I'm not about the "now". I love to inspire people, and I love for them to inspire me. I think we have a bright future.

MikeQ: Well,I see what's going on but - only speaking for my genre - I will do anything to keep it from going crazy. I'll call a motherfucker out and end their whole shit, ha.

Nah, but like people need to chill. Let the people that do this for life eat from it. Yes, be inspired, make a track - but don't keep doing it, or trying to make EPs full of this sound. 'The Ha Dance' samples I now have zero control over, because I sample it like anyone else can, but that's not going to make it ballroom. You are simply doing a Masters At Work remix. I do well to keep my secrets sacred. If you want to do it officially, be knowledgeable about the culture you trying to pull from. Moving forward, it's definitely happening. I see it like all of you do. 

If you could pick two producers or musicians to collaborate on a future Mind To Mind release, who would it be?

DJ Sliink: I would actually want to get something done with NGUZUNGUZU and L-­Vis 1990.

MIkeQ: Fuck, I think Divoli S'vere and Total Freedom could be crazy and future.

Last Friday saw the release on Fade To Mind of Dat Burn's 'Icy Lake', accompanied by a short documentary on the history of the track by THUMP. Can you tell me how this all came together? 

Kingdom: Ashland (Total Freedom) found a video on YouTube of Juniour Vasquez DJing at a club - I believe it was the Palladium, back in 1997. The track was in the video and he became obsessed with it, sending it to all of us in an email. We all immediately fell in love with the track, too. Our friend Sara managed to track down the CD single (which was out of print), and from that point on we all started to play the track constantly. Then L-Vis 1990 made an edit of the track, Total Freedom made an edit of it, DJ Na from NGUZUNGUZU made an edit of it with DJ Rashad - it just kept growing and growing.

L-Vis decided he wanted to make this short documentary about the history of the song and put together this whole re-release, although the idea had been brewing as we were getting all these remixes. The track was way interesting to all of us because it has this really long, ominous, creepy intro. There's this strange, sarcastic voicemail message sampled on it. There's glass breaking, industrial sounds - and then it drops into this really heavy tribal beat after a long, long introduction. It kind of resonates with what Night Slugs and Fade To Mind do, which is to bring unexpected emotions into the club.

How is Fade To Mind itself going? 

Kingdom: Fade To Mind going really well. The Kelela mixtape did great, and we're very excited to be re-releasing it again soon. We're going to finally be putting it out on double vinyl and CD. There will be a digital re-release featuring nine remixes from the Fade To Mind and Night Slugs crew.

It will be a chance for fans of the mixture to finally get it physically, and for people who already have it to get these remixes. A lot of them are pretty club-ready. Some of them are very DJ-orientated, so give people a chance to hear these vocals in that context. Now people already know the words, they can have a new take on the beats. 

Will we hear any new Kelela music in the near future? 

Kingdom: Yeah. I have sent her some beats, and I know she's working with some producers on our teams, so there is still new music being made. Definitely. 

So, what else have you got coming up on Fade To Mind? 

Kingdom: We have the Kelela LP, the debut release from Rizzla (who is a New York-based artist with a kind of strange take on dancehall and tribal house mixed together), then an album from Massacooraman, which is an incredible album. Something you will listen to front to back. His whole sonic pallet has expanded so much in the last year since his debut EP, and we're going to create a lot of video content for that one.

Finally, there's the LA HQ of Fade To Mind. We've had some vocalists over to the studio, bringing different singers in and trying out demos. That's still in the early stages, but we have new vocalists we will be debuting as well. 

Cool - will those vocal-based tracks be similar in style to Kelela's work? 

Kingdom: I think you will definitely hear some connections to the Kelela sound. That sound is something we have been working on for 10 years on and off; this mix of R&B and a soulful element with club drums. The Fade To Mind sound. With the next release, there's going to be even more of a hint of pop (or those type of elements) in there. Kelela is definitely known for a downtempo sound, sometimes with a neo-soul feel, and the people we're talking to now are a little bit more on the pop side of things.   

So, what else have you got coming up on Fade To Mind? 

Kingdom: We have the Kelela LP, the debut release from Rizzla (who is a New York-based artist with a kind of strange take on dancehall and tribal house mixed together), then an album from Massacooraman, which is an incredible album. Something you will listen to front to back. His whole sonic pallet has expanded so much in the last year since his debut EP, and we're going to create a lot of video content for that one.

Finally, there's the LA HQ of Fade To Mind. We've had some vocalists over to the studio, bringing different singers in and trying out demos. That's still in the early stages, but we have new vocalists we will be debuting as well.

Cool - will those vocal-based tracks be similar in style to Kelela's work? 

Kingdom: I think you will definitely hear some connections to the Kelela sound. That sound is something we have been working on for 10 years on and off; this mix of R&B and a soulful element with club drums. The Fade To Mind sound. With the next release, there's going to be even more of a hint of pop (or those type of elements) in there. Kelela is definitely known for a downtempo sound, sometimes with a neo-soul feel, and the people we're talking to now are a little bit more on the pop side of things.

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