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RA.817 OKO DJ

Published
Jan 30, 2022
Filesize
221 MB
Length
01:36:26

Late-night murmurs and coldwave rhythms from a one-of-a-kind DJ.
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Marine Tordjemann is a key player in the French electronic music underground. And we're not talking big-tent festival events or world-touring DJs—we mean the weird shit. As part of the BFDM and Bruits de la Passion crews, she works alongside some of the most unusual, talented and sometimes humorous producers in France, and she's equally talented as a DJ. In Matt McDermott's words, reviewing her debut EP in 2020, "she seems intent on making you scratch your head and dance, and not necessarily in that order." A move to Athens has not dramatically changed her music or the connection to the scenes she came from. In fact, it seems the last few years have only pushed her further out towards the edges, judging from her RA Podcast. Inspired by a yearning for live concerts, as well a distance from clubbing because of the pandemic, Tordjemann's RA entry is even more unmoored from the dance floor. Covering post-punk, experimental electronics, coldwave and finishing with a little Jam City, it's a mix that reminds you of the endless possibilities of DJing and curation of the act of simply putting music together. What have you been up to recently? After the busy summer touring in independent French festivals such as Yellow Light Of Death, Zone Disco Autonome, Paturia or La Cavale, it felt really good to come back to my home in Athens and spend some time in the studio again. I've been working on some new material and also adding some new instruments to our shared studio with Louis de La Gorce (Eiger Drums Propaganda), mostly percussion, chanting bowls, gong. And it's allowing me to understand that I actually feel happier working with instruments than machines. It's been quite a busy year for me, as I decided to use the free time I had to learn new things: knitting, how to drive, moving to a deeper level in yoga, how to lucid dream, how to make kickass vegan aged cheeses, and how to be even more myself and be grateful and happy for that. These activities, as well as being in the studio and listening to music, are basically the things I do weekly, if not daily. What are you grateful for these days? Woof it's a long list! I actually like to make gratitude lists every now and then and they just go on forever haha. So I'll just go ahead and make one now for RA! I'm grateful for having such loving friends (they all visited us in Athens for NYE), having a home that makes me feel safe and creative, having beautiful inspiring women surrounding me, nature's language which provides me with such good guidance whenever I need it, being able to do what makes me happy, having a body that can function and run and dance and listen to music and smell the grass and yell and feel and make love. I am grateful for being able to close my eyes sometimes and do absolutely nothing but breathe. To put it in a simple way: I am grateful to be alive. How and where was the mix recorded, and can you tell us the idea behind it? I recorded the mix in my home in Viktoria neighbourhood in Athens, at night. It took me a while to have a proper DJ setup at home, since I was focusing more on production and investing in the studio. We recently got a vinyl turntable and i can't say how much I was waiting for it to arrive, it felt so good being able to listen to records again. The setup I have is two XDJ 700s, a Pioneer PLX 1000 and a funky vintage English mixer, as well as some hi-fi speakers. I lit some candles and dimmed the lights, I wanted to record this mix as a ritual, focused, absorbed and out of the everyday life context. I wouldn't do this always but the tracks I selected made me want to have this quite dark and almost meditative approach to it. Energetically, this adds a dimension that will be tangible in the listening experience. At some point I felt a bit pressured to deliver a "straightforward dance floor ready" mix, and felt quite stuck. This made me realise I had to free myself from external influences and opinions and hype trends. I stopped questioning all the choice of tracks I was including, and instead just go with my intuition and personal taste, without asking myself "Is this cool enough to be in the podcast? Is it gonna make more plays if it's less complicated? Shall I play more electronic music to get club bookings?" etc. This very organic approach to the selection made me feel absolutely free, and this is a space that I like to be in, that I have to be in, because I know no other way to be honest. I believe it's also where I can shine as my best DJ self. It was a very liberating experience in the end. As a result, it appeared quite obvious to me at some point that I wanted to play mostly non-electronic music in this selection. The fact that we haven't been able to see lots of live shows these past months makes me really long for the sound of acoustic instruments, so I was naturally driven to pick these tracks, and to create a whole story around it, incorporating all sorts of genres, and playing around with half and double-time tempo transitions. We've also not been able to rave as much as we used to, so I wanted to select some leftfield tracks that I would totally play on a dance floor. Overall, I made a mix that I'm gonna be happy to listen to these days: psychedelic, jazzy, quite dark. I wanted to be surprised by melodies and rhythmic patterns while recording it, and it worked for me. So I hope listeners also get a pleasant psychedelic and unexpected ride. You play a lot of, as you said, non-electronic music in this mix. Do you think the pandemic experience has permanently changed how you DJ? What do you think of as "dance music" now? Playing less these past months have helped me recalibrate myself as a DJ. I was a bit confused but having the context stripping DJing to the minimum, it has helped me gain a more clear view about what I like most to play, and what I'm best at. I tried to have it all condensed together in this podcast. I love dance music, always have, always will, but it’s not my go-to music for everyday life, or for any random selection. My core spectrum is a bit elsewhere, more edgy-gritty-psychedelic, I'd say. I like to save all my dance music energy for special moments that really fit, not throw it around like it's a one size fits all music. Also, I like to make people dance to non-dance music. It's a nice challenge. I believe a lot in having different music for different moments and times, and dance music is just one in so many options. To me dance music doesn’t occupy such a special place, it's the music chosen for the dance that does, and that can be literally anything, even silence. Why not?! Can you tell us about Women's Circle? Circles with a sacred center are ancient, the oldest form of social interaction. With the Women's Circles, we reconnect with this ancient power to truly connect as women, as divine feminine beings, with one another, to allow our true selves to shine, and to invite the sacred to join us during the Circle. I started guiding a circle of women both at my place and online more than two years ago, and it has been such a magical journey. For each circle, I choose a theme, and then create a déroulé with whatever feels right to me: breathing, meditations, free movement dance sessions, silence, rituals, creative parts, experience sharing. It's insane to see what happens when women sit on the floor in a circle and come to listen to each other, to be supported, to be heard: it's a hugely powerful energetic experience. I am still in awe every second of how powerful we are together, when we are fully conscious of our inner power and the powers the universe has given us. I want to thank all the women who have joined a circle, all the ones that will in the future, and also all the other ones! I love you. As fighting for our rights as women is exhausting, I feel more than ever that it's so important to also take the time to stop fighting and focus on celebrating! The journey of being a woman. We deserve it, and life should be a big party. It's a party y'all!! If you’re curious about joining a circle with me, please feel free to contact me on my socials! What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to? I'd love people to realize that one of the best ways (if not the very best) to take care of our mother earth and all her inhabitants is by having a plant-based diet. We have to stop thinking we have more power over species that speak a different language than us: plants, animals, and people we view as "weird" or simply "different." Being kind to the earth and to the animals are actually the same things, and they include being kind to ourselves too. There is no way we can reach for collective enlightenment while we mass slaughter billions of animals per year, and accept to live in a world where a chair is worth more than a living and sentient being. Things have to change, and a good way to act on that change is to stop eating animals. Plus it's the best way to act for the environment, and it's a healthy diet. I strongly believe that the moment we will realize that we are beings of light and start to act like such—meaning by taking care of all the forms of life around us—we will take a big step in the evolution of humanity. Take a look at Meera Sodha's East Cooking book if you’re uninspired, it’s been my favorite vegan (also has a few vegetarian recipes) culinary inspiration for the last few months. https://www.269life-france.com/ https://www.l214.com/ https://earthlinged.org/thisisveganpropaganda What are you up to next? I will continue hosting Women's Circle both in my home in Athens and online. This has been such an empowering and moving experience so far that I want to give it even more attention in the coming months. And as for music, I'm working on my next release, it will be the second one after the Dans les Lunes EP that got out on Futur2010. I'm also working on a French tour to celebrate the 5 years of my LYL show Pu$$y Nightmare through music, women, art and nature—a tour which will include feminist art, live shows and more. There is a Brazil tour upcoming in spring, really looking forward to this, Rio got my heart last time. Finally, I'm joining Futura Artists agency for world bookings, while still having judaah's bi-pole taking care of my French bookings. This new work environment, people and energies got me really excited, and this comes at a perfect time, with the start of the new year. I'm excited to see what the universe has in stock for me in 2022!
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