Following a slew of impressive separate solo releases over the past twelve months, Dominik Marz and brothers Radial Gaze now team up for an impressive four-track outing on TAU. Both acts have been steadily building their reputations on the underground, maintaining a high level of consistency and captivating dance floors across the planet. The trio have already worked together, dropping ‘Trans’ on Mexican label Duro in 2021. Now they’re back with a full EP, demonstrating the full force of their alliance. We caught up with them to find out more.
Hey guys, how are you doing? How has 2022 been for you so far?
Radial Gaze: It wasn’t very easy at times. But we continue to work, I think it is important not to stop. Moreover, we get interesting results.
Dominik Marz: I’m fine. Life feels good at the moment. Everything seems to be normal after the pandemic. It’s summer.
Let’s start with your story. Could you talk about yourselves, how you started producing music and why precisely this kind of electronic music?
RG: I was born in St. Petersburg, the northern city of a million people and the cradle of the Russian underground. So, the mechanicality of the residential areas and the informal club culture influenced us not a little. I worked in a bank for a long time, mixing my desk work with DJing and writing electronic music. It was a complex and delicate balance, as you know. Yes, only until the hobby turned into a profession and the choice between music disappeared by itself. There was a time of travel, backpacking, interest in the folk cultures of Asia and Africa, and music festivals. Indonesia, Malaysia, India, China. These crazy sounds in non-European modes. You think their tools don’t build at all, but they don’t. Even passing by, you will not remain the same as a musician. From such shocks and inspirations, the first serious project, Radial Gaze, grew. There, perhaps, you will find everything that is said here.
DM: I come from a Hip Hop/ turntableism background. It all comes from listening to great records. I started buying/ listeningt to music early. For me it was a natural development from Dj Shadow to Ninja Tune and Warp to Techno and House. I wa a DJ first, then a producer.
Big ups on the release of your new EP ‘Baren’. Tell us about the release?
RG: On this release, we tried to combine all our previous experience, which everyone managed to gain as a separate artist. We have always been looking for a balance between leftfield and an accessible and understandable classical sound. Each track really reflects the main directions inherent in each of the artists.
DM: We both come from different backgrounds and try to fuse that in our music. Our music is made for the dancefloor. It’s melodic and musical. I always try to make it as simple has possible (that doesn’t always work J).
Has this EP been in the works for a long time?
RG: I think we started working on it at the beginning of last summer. By the end of the summer, most of the material was ready and soon we had already found a home for these tracks.
DM: We finished it last year and sent it straight to the Adana Twins. These tracks also were the first ones we ever produced together.
Was there anything that influenced/inspired its creation?
RG: I tried to do the best I could. Since this was a new experiment for both of us, the result turned out to be exceptionally original material.
DM: I always get my inspiration from listening to music. I’m a big music nerd and I spent hours after hours on bandcamp. But you can get the best results if you turn off your head and don’t think too much about what you could do. When making music it’s all about recording, trying out, pushing buttons, making mistakes and random stuff. Sometimes it’s lots of work to get to the point but often you are inspred right away.
Festival season is in full bloom right now. Can we expect you behind the decks somewhere and what do we have to expect from one of your DJ sets?
RG: In my case, of course, you can hear my DJ sets here in St. Petersburg. The content often depends on the venue and mood – it can be either a more underground and leftfield techno sound, or fun tracks.
DM: I just had a little surgery and recovering from that. But after that you can listen to me on several festivals and clubnights, mainly in Europe. But touring India and Mexico is on the list.
Where did you both grow up and what is the music scene like there?
RG: I was born and raised in St. Petersburg. Here you can find music for every taste, so at different times I visited completely different places, with different music and atmosphere
DM: I’m from Augsburg, near Munich. We have a small scene here. But I grew up with lots of music and good record stores around me. Some of my best friends are great DJs and producers, like David Kochs, Daniel Bortz..and we always had some cool clubnights which inspired me a lot when I starting going to parties.
Are there any local artists that we should be keeping our eyes on?
RG: I would single out Anastasia Zems.
Lastly, what does the rest 2022 look like for you?
RG: I’m looking forward to the release on TAU. I also have more releases planned for this year for the Radial Gaze project and the second Oblako Maranta project.
We will also continue to work actively with Dominik.
DM: I’m finishing lots of new music and working on some upcoming EPs. Some new collaorations and solo stuff. Next up are some releases on Duro, Lossless and Diynamic.
Dominik Marz & Radial Gaze – Baren EP is released on July 22 via TAU. Grab it here.
