M&A #46: Sudonim

Milk & Alcohol celebrates music which is deeply tied to black communities and black culture. The racist treatment of black people by police and society as a whole is more apparent now than ever, and so we believe it's important to give back to these communities. We want to tie our posts to some recommendations for places you can go to learn more about what we can do, or what you should understand, in order to actively help fight it:

• If you are financially able to, donations to bail funds helping protesters in the US can be spread using this tool: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

• Donations to UK based charities supporting POC are just as important. A range of great charities (by no means an exhaustive list) can be found on this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15gBiGqIB5ViNtfl__jlER0qNNRkxX8R0GGuryMu2k4A/edit

• A range of resources to read, long and short, can be found in this google drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10-sqmyDKIN1FK_RKOd7Anzm4E0jlnUnz

• This tool helps you write to your MP to demand condemnation of the US response to protests, justice for Belly Mujinga and Shukri Abdi and further action to change attitudes from the top of government: https://write-for-changes.herokuapp.com/

• Something I have personally found useful, and there are many of these, is this write up from CRACK Magazine, containing more petitions, causes needing your donations, reading etc: https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/help-black-lives-matter-protests-donate-organisations/

This time is one for reflection. The virus has affected us all, but most of its effects are temporary. The injustice experienced by black and other people of colour has survived over countless generations and has shaped society in ways we must acknowledge. Here we look to focus on a love for music, and all this music comes from the creativity and hardship of black communities. The least we can all do is give back, maybe with your time, maybe with money (for example, the amount you might have spent on a night out if corona wasn't a thing) and go forward consciously elevating these voices.

Sudonim started DJing 3 years ago, as something to pass the time during a summer holiday. Coming from a dance music family, he was introduced to rave music from a young age with the iconic Fat of The Land album by The Prodigy a stand-out memory. This background becomes clear when the mix kicks off, with that early rave style knitting the opening few tunes together. It puts the latter stages in a sort of sonic/historical perspective, as breaks are ever more inventively chopped together and contemporary bassline noises emerge. That wubby bassline aggression nicely modulates to a warmer dubby sound later on, as a half-time change-up cracks the tension and brings us neatly to the close. Definitely one for the bassheads out there.

How did you record the mix?

I use Beatport to buy my tracks, Rekordbox to analyse them/put down cue points if I need to, and then use Serato Pro as the mixing software. Decks used for this one are Pioneer DDJ SB3, although I often mix on my friends pioneer CDJ’s as well.

What were you trying to do with it?

I knew I wanted to slowly build a dark atmosphere throughout the mix, peaking with a couple of specific tracks at about 45mins in, and then use the rest of the mix to wind down slowly, whilst keeping the same hard-hitting basslines. I had a few blends that I knew worked well beforehand and used those to structure it throughout, filling in the rest of the mix with tracks that I felt would work at the time, going on how I felt right at that moment whilst mixing, just making sure I kept to the moody and bass-heavy atmosphere with my selection.

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?

Kasabian

What’s the last song you listened to?

Scuzzy - Nikki Nair

Who is your favourite producer/performer at the moment?

Alix Perez

What is your go-to banger?

It depends what I’m mixing at the time; for something like this mix, Jitters by Was A Be is great. For some of the garage sounds that I’m working with more at the moment, On My Knees by Soulecta is a really clean production.

What’s coming up for you during/after Quarantine?

I’m going to start working on another garage/bassline house mix where I want to move from some old school sounds like Zinc and Blazin’ Squad transitioning towards some of the newer basslines from producer’s like Bitr8 which I’m really liking at the moment.

Sudonim's Tracklist:

Highlander - Calibre

Moving Target - SPIRIT

Pull up Selector (Nu:Logic Remix) - Jimmy

Twilight - DBridge, Fierce

Solitaire (Remix) - Spirit

Stateless - Nectax

Soundboy Gone (Samurai Breaks Remix) - Chopstick Dubplate

One Amen A Day (Galvatron Remix) - Bassflex

Super Sharp Shooter - Ganja Kru

Cocooned (VIP) - Bungle

Jitters - Was A Be, Dabs

Fade Away - Spectrasoul

Projections (Mefjus remix) - Kasra, Enei

Gaslight - Halogenix

Fate - Submarine

Playing With Fire - DRS w/ Dub Phizix

Grunge - Submarine

Baby Doll - Big T & Vibe Chemistry

Lost It - Insideinfo

Star Core - Kasra, Enei

Sharks - Benny L, Shimon

Pulsation - Insideinfo, Mefjus

System Down - Octo Pi

Matriarch - Mefjus

Blej (Fade Black Remix) - Halogenix 

Stinger - Synergy

Prang - Mob Tactics

Troglodyte - Culture Shock

The Serpent - Alix Perez, Eprom

Bring Dat Back - Richie Brains, Killa P

The Saga - Shades

No Drama - Hyroglifics

Kinda Mad - Groves

Stop It - Alix Perez, Ivy Lab

Third World Cop - Ivy Lab

Alarma - Shades, Killa P

Yare - Hebbe

Explain (Original Mix) - Samba

Deep Six - Alix Perez

Last Rites - Alix Perez

Badman (VIP) - Kryptic Minds