FADER Mix: Murlo

When is a mix not a mix? When it's a mutant mixtape, that's when. For his contribution to the FADER Mix series, London producer Murlo hit up his "Jasmine" collaborator Gemma Dunleavy to help cook up something pretty special. The Dublin singer added her wistful flow to a handful of dancehall riddims, as well as a bunch of Murlo originals, including some intriguingly untitled beats. See what I mean about mutant mixtape? It's the sound of the artist stretching, hinting at what's to come. The result is strikingly tender: bubble-like xylophone tones, warm dancehall echoes, whispers of grime's top-line melodies. Listen below, and read a short Q&A with Murlo after the jump.

Where are you right now? Describe your surroundings. It's 2am and I'm staring at my PC monitor at my workspace in my living room, basically a shitty desk with a cactus on it. Lemme see... There's three USB sticks, a broken phone, a Ja Rule CD still in its cellophane, and a Nature Valley bar that I've just noticed and I'm gonna eat that now.

Tell us about a little bit about this mix—what vibe were you going for? It's all sorts really—the recent EP was collaborative, so it made sense for me to reach to Gemma and have her involved in the mix. I sent her a bunch of tracks for her to do specials of. Some of them were mine, and some of them were tracks I was playing a lot during the time I was making the EP with her. It was fun weaving Gemma in and out of the tunes on the mix; it was crazy how fast she worked. Swing Ting—the monthly night in Manchester that I'm resident at—often has Fox hosting their mixes, so I was also inspired by how they put those together. The mix also features a bunch of new tunes by me, and a few nods to other producers I'm feeling.

How did you first encounter grime as a kid, and what made you want to explore its sound? Well, at first my little brother was really into it, and cause we shared a room, we both used to fight over use of the CD player, but he'd usually win. I wasn't exposed to it in a club until I moved away from where I grew up—that was when I first started going out too. I started making club edits when I was like 20 or so—when I moved away from the Midlands—but I'd been messing about with FruityLoops for a few years before. As I got better at making tunes, I can see the grime palette in there, but I'm just as inspired by UK funky, dancehall, and bassline in the same respect.

"Jasmine" was a bit of a departure, though a welcome one! What else do you have coming up? It's funny: a few people have said that. I actually made the "Jasmine" beat three years ago, so it doesn't seem like that to me, but it is the first vocal release I've done, so I get that. Working on some more stuff for Mixpak at the moment—that's what I have the majority of my time invested in. I also have a couple of side projects I'm working on too.

What's your favorite dish to cook and how do you make it? I'm decent at making chili con carne—well, it's one of the only things I can make that's half good. I'm not gonna reveal the methods because it's the only thing going for me in the kitchen, but it involves a lot of sauces and those sweet types of red pepper.

Tracklist:

Murlo ft. Gemma Dunleavy - Jasmine (Alt Version)
Echo One Production - Kool Breeze Riddim (Gemma Special)
Marcy Chin - Head Ova Heels
Tifa - Mi Sum'n Good
Stacious - Cute Bubble
Sasco Music - D-Stress Riddim (Gemma Special)
Murlo - ??? (Gemma Special)
Arif Cooper - Eva Ready Riddim (Gemma Special)
Murlo - ???
Murlo - Selene
Murlo - ???
Dubbel Dutch - Angolan Flutes
Tarquin - Kid U
Murlo - ??? (Gemma Special)
Murlo - ???
Murlo - ??? (Gemma Special)