The young Irish producer Mmoths’ Diaries EP comes out in early 2013 on SQE Music, a sort of musical replacement for the Moleskine notebook he bought (and quickly abandoned) to chronicle his first global tour this year. "It just kind of hit me that maybe instead of writing things down literally," he says, "it was my music that was documenting what was going on." To take a little break from recording and rehearsing, he made this mix of favorite tracks for when he's deep in the studio-headspace: "Just the tracks I keep returning to lately, because I just don't have the time to be looking for new music." Download the mix—a percussive and placid blend that includes two never-before-heard tracks from his EP, "For Her" and "Too Real"—then read an interview and check out the tracklist beneath it.
Download: Mmoths FADER Mix
What's your favorite thing to do besides making tracks? I don't really have any other hobbies. Through school and shit I was always trying to find my hobby but like, sports and shit like that was not me. I come from a small town so that was just the vibe of the place and stuff like that. But, I like photography a lot. That's the first thing I have a passion for I guess, then music came after it. I like hanging out with friends. I'm just a normal guy.
What was it like where you grew up? I grew up in a small town called Newbridge, it's just like your regular small town where everyone knows everyone. There wasn't really that many places to showcase music, so that wasn't really part of growing up for me. It when I got a bit older and went out to shows outside of town that I got into music. I live in Dublin now. When I finished school I moved out. I kind of had to get out the town. I don't want to say bad things. I think that anyone who was brought up in a small town would understand. It's a weird one. It's just a weird one.
Did you play in bands when you were younger? I played in really shit cover bands. I think that's something everyone does when their like going through their teenage years. But they are always the worst, like 13-year-olds playing fucking AC/DC. I'm happy I done that and tried that out, but I never really liked the idea of playing someone else's songs.
How is working with a band on your own music now? It was always just an idea that I had. I got fed up of seeing people play live with a controller and a laptop. It's not really a show. And I got sick of me doing it, too, like I wasn't giving people enough. We got the opportunity to play at one of my favorite venues in Dublin and I just asked if we could do a live show, and people were into it, so I got some friends to play instruments with me. It should be interesting. Hopefully we can get a video of it and put it up online. With the new EP, it's not as electronic and computer-based. There's more organic and real instruments, so it's mostly real.
You tweeted recently about buying a crate of Vanilla Coke. Can you defend that purchase? I don't know. There's a guy in the band, Gavin, who plays guitar and it's like his drink. You cannot get Vanilla Coke anywhere except for like this one weird store, so when we saw it I said, Fuck it, let's do it! I love Vanilla Coke. You don't love Vanilla Coke?
Tracklist:
Brian Eno + Laraaji, "Kalimba"
Mount Kimbie, "Maybes"
MMOTHS, "For Her feat. Young & Sick"
Machweo, "U Stronger"
Eaves, "Hiking Trails"
Stubborn Heart, "Need Someone"
Dauwd, "Shimmer"
Koreless, "Lost in Tokyo"
Dam Mantle, "Not A Word"
Shlohmo, "Rained The Whole Time (Nicolas Jaar Remix)"
MMOTHS, "Too Real"