Laid Back: A.V.P. @ Musique Non Stop

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A.V.P. Posted: 15 Jul 2019 02:45 AM PDT Two months ago, East London original, producer, DJ, and former House Gospel Choir vocalist, A.V.P. (Amedé Uri Perez) dropped his mixtape titled GRAM CULTURE. Inspired by the zeitgeist of today where many of us form our perspective of the world through social media platforms such as twitter and instagram, A.V.P. has taken the same approach and applied it to his mixtape by presenting a mixture of songs and interludes, most of which are all under 60 seconds, just like an Instagram feed. When Amedé sent me the “Summer 02′” video taken from the “Gram Culture” project, I couldn’t help but ask him what was the story behind the lyrics. Here is his story. The story of a family being evicted from their home told from the perspective of their 12 years old son. My two younger brothers and I were enjoying a typical Saturday morning, watching TV, eating cereal while both our parents were at work. To our surprise we heard a firm knocking on our front door, it persisted but we didn't move. Deep down I knew it was our local authority looking for the outstanding money my dad had owed them for years on the rent. They reached for the power tools and started drilling the door through, the nerves kicked in and I phoned my dad using my Nokia 5110, the first mobile phone he bought for me. His word were "Don't Move! Stay upstairs". So we did. Eventually the bailiffs and a locksmith entered our home followed by a woman with a clipboard calculating the cost of all our possessions… I doubt she was impressed after doing the maths. That same woman escorted my brothers and I into her car and drove us to the local authority office until my father picked us up an hour later. That was the beginning of Summer 2002. We spent then 3 weeks staying with family friends, killing time at the shopping mall when mum had her days off and running around the large empty office my father ran his taxi company from in Leyton. For my brothers and I, it was actually a fun experience because we were always out and about, however it was clear that we didn't comprehend the severity of the situation. My parents eventually found the outstanding balance, paid the money, and got the keys back. The song is actually a sample of one of my own disused beats, produced on a Teenage Engineering OP-1, with the vocals recorded through the laptop speaker in a couple takes. This was a very D.I.Y. process, a theme which continues into the visuals, shot using my iPhone 7 plus. I chose to shoot scenes and perspectives of the Golden Lane Estate, by the Barbican in the City Of London, designed by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon. I have always personally seen The Golden Lane Estate as the 'utopian council estate'. I have always lived in a concrete jungle so I guess this is all I know and truly feel safe within, despite the benefits of having greenery and space like my parents did in Zambia and Nigeria. Exploring those passageways is my take on window shopping my dream home, one that looks just like the one I was evicted from back in Summer 2002.

Mr. Zula Posted: 15 Jul 2019 01:19 AM PDT Burka Bayram aka Mr. Zula is a graphic designer, DJ and music producer based in Istanbul. I connected with him a few months ago when he released his "Ramponeau" beat tape and thought inviting him for a guest mix was the perfect opportunity to dig deeper in his universe.  Tracklist Wun Two & FloFilz – Same Old Czigri – We Call It Oldschool Pacific Shore – Road 1 feat. Sarah Linhares Midori – Hello Again Melodiesinfonie – Morning Glory DJ Mahmut & Murat G – Nereye Baksam (Mr. Zula Edit) Karakan – Akşam Oldu King Size Terror – Cehenneme Hoşgeldin Summers Sons & C.Tappin – The Season Sotu The Traveller – Verbs Sami Baha – Yonga SNK∆ & Khryo – Peach Bugseed – Pizza Pizza Khryo – Incrustées dans ses Yeux de Miel (MC Solaar Rework) Frankfurt/Main Underground United – Unity Iz Strength The Mighty Bop – Freestyle Linguistique Lex (de Kalhex) – Green Sumthin Gunny – Mornin feat. Farragol Bluestaeb – Last Minute Session Cut feat. Melodiesinfonie & S. Fidelity [See image gallery at ldbk.eu] – Thank you for your mix! I discovered a lot of artists while listening to it. Except for FloFilz, Melodiesinfonie & C.Tappin, they are all new to me. And Sotu The Traveller… I remember him from back in the days.  Mr. Zula: Yes, he also Turkish but living in The Netherlands. I have a personal connection with most artists featured in the mix. Connections that I built thanks to Radio Zula, a webradio that I launched in 2011.  The mix features Turkish artists and people I connected with while studying in France: Flofilz and Bluestaeb are German, Melodiesinfonie is Swiss, Bugseed is Japanese, Midori, Snka, Khryo are French and Farragol is from Taiwan… I also added some of my favorites Turkish and French tracks from the 90's. Mainly abstract hiphop. I like to mix different cultures. It's a common thread in my work.   – You lived in France?   Yes, I studied communication in Paris for four years. When I stopped Radio Zula in 2014, I kept the name for my personal activities and started doing shows for various radio stations namely Le Mellotron, Villabota and now Lounge FM in Istanbul.   – But you didn't stay in France after your studies. No, I had some visa issues. At the same time I found a job in a communication agency based in Istanbul so I decided to come back. My goal was to stay in Istanbul for a year and go back to France to complete my last semester. But I had to deal with some personal and family issues. Three years passed already. In the mean time, I launched a design studio with two partners. We mostly focus on print, book covers, posters, …   – While in France you connected with Beatbliotek and together you released the "Ramponeau" beat tape. I produced most of the tracks in Paris. I used to live in Ramponeau street hence the name of the project. I finished the beat tape in Istanbul though.   – While we were preparing this article, we had to stop because you had to go to military service.  Indeed. It's been years that I was trying to avoid military service. Previously it was supposed to last for one year, now it's 6 months but you can serve only 3 weeks if you pay 15.000  lira. I took this option. Civilian service doesn't exist in Turkey unfortunately. I could see myself teaching kids for 6 months. But those three weeks were ok. I had cool roommates. It was very cosmopolite.  – You were recently featured in a documentary about the electronic music scene in Istanbul. The last scene is shot at the barbershop just before you joined to the army. Yeah, I had to cut my long hair and moustache. I couldn't recognise myself at the beginning. Unfortunately the documentary focuses mostly on political topics, not so much on the music. I guess they made this choice because there were elections organised end of June in Istanbul. I would have preferred music to take the center stage. But it's fine, a longer version of the documentary should be available soon. Hopefully with a bigger focus on music.  – Any plans for the coming months? I would like to release an EP before the end of the year. I started working with jazz musicians to integrate organic elements to my beats. We recorded the first track and I'm planning the next sessions. I'll have a few DJ gigs in France and Germany next year so I'm planning a little tour. I'll go to Lille to say hello to my friends from Beatbliotek and then Brussels could be my next stop. But I'm working full time as a graphic designer so I need to find some time for those side projects.  – Good luck with your projects and thanks again for the mix!  Thank you! I discovered LDBK in 2010 and was really happy when Simon from Beatbliotek told me you wanted to invite me for a guest mix.  Follow Mr. Zula on Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud Photography by Ces XC