Born in Ukraine, Dmytro Avksentiev is a Dj, producer and co-owner of Salon Imaginalis. The unclassifiable artist constantly reinvents himself and produces since 2012 under aliases Koloah, Voin Oruwu and Tropical Echobird. Signed to Soulection, Roundabout Sounds, Cut Records, Banoffee Pies, Kvitnu, Alien Communications, NECHTO… each release proves that his work is a music-fusion and pushes boundaries. As multi-talented having several strings to his bow, we also could see him at Nuits Sonores making a 360° A/V performance of his album “Serenity”. Dmytro looks back at his cinematic background, evolution from his hip-hop roots to his upcoming Ep “Mind Control” out on his new sub-label Tanz Salon records.

Where do you come from? 

I was born in a very small city in the center of Ukraine in a family of teachers. Nobody from my family was not involved into music or art scene. In 2011 I graduated from a film school as movie director. So, I was really into theater and cinema scene and start to produce film music from there. Short films, student theatre, etc. Then I got into commercial market and worked with brands mostly focused on ambient and high energy music. 

Your sci-fi inspirations?

My mother is a big fan of sci-fi. She has around 3k+books in her library at home and 80% of it is sci-fi and fantasy… So, from my childhood movies like Alien, Event Horizon, Sphere, John Carpenter movies… Some teenage sci-fi books which I didn’t remember now. A lot of classics like Hobbit, etc.

Your first approach to electronic music?

Everything starts from hip-hop in the late 90s. I was really into hip-hop so Wu-Tang, NAS, Jedi Mind Tricks, Anticon then Prodigy, Chrystal Method. 90’s Jungle mixtapes, etc. So actually, it was many kinds of broken beat music. Thats why next big thing for me was dubstep, bass music and electro. 

What was decisive to become a producer and what kind of gears do you use?

I started to produce my own bits on my first computer in the beginning of the 2000s. So basically, it was because in our local hip hop community nobody didn’t know how to make beats and only a couple guys had a computer, I was one of them. It was very interesting for me. I used different DAW’s like Reason, FL 2.0. Some editors like Auditoion. Sound Forge… I think the most important devices I used for years is Dave Smith Prophet REV2, Elektron A4, Moog sub 25. Maschine+. I use Maschine from the very first edition in I guess 2012 or so. Never want to change it. So yeah... I didn’t have something super specific. All gear is pretty standard but I am trying to work a lot on post production. So huge FX chains, some weird vst’s, max mxp plugins, etc.

 “Mind Control”, what is the message behind this Ep?

The idea of this Ep is about to connect my hip-hop past and my broken beat presents. I use my voice in my production a lot but this time I wanted to make it more clear. “Tell My Ex Im Doing Fine” is a flagman track in this Ep as for me. Its almost a song actually and in future releases I will develop this direction. I moved to Berlin now and obviously I have some impact from it. So, this Ep shows it loud and clear.

The philosophy behind Voin Oruwu?

Voin Oruwu was born in 2013-2014 when I had a big depression because of revolution, some personal break downs, lack of work and motivation. It was hard times in our country at that moment so Voin Oruwu was my reflection on all this. It was slow, dark and mysterious. My album Big Space Adventure consists mostly from that tracks. Then it transformed into more techno vibes.

What about Salon Imaginalis values?

As everybody knows, label stuff is always about pain in ass. Endless demo sendings, never get replies, cues in vinyl plants, cues in releases, bad communication… I just could not… So, I started my own in 2019 to release my own music. Then I realised that I want to help people I know to release their music. So that’s why the concept is to have a non-genre policy and also some kind of dreamy, mystic atmosphere mood in music.

What about the new label Tanz Salon?

Actually, I don’t want to name it like a new label. I think its more like a label series which is focused mostly on dance music. I want to keep Salon Imaginalis for experiments and Tanz Salon is more about functional dancefloor music. Now I teamed up with Alex (Monoconda) and Sergii Tomchuk to push it to another level. Make it more professional and the main thing to make releases more regular.

Ep or Album format?

Usually, I prefer to work with a long form. I love to work on a big music piece and for the last 6 years I used to play big audio-visual lives. Due to my cinematography past I am trying to integrate this to my music. To work on concept, visual form, some cool mechanics and perspectives. Use some modern technologies and 3d engines. But now I can see that single type of releasing music looks more advantageous.

Your best Live experience?

I think it was CXEMA x BOILER ROOM 2018 in Kyiv. 6 or 7 thousand people, huge sound system. That moment was unique for me. Big rise of local music scene, top community, the moment before the war…

Top 5 new releases? 

. Ben Frost “Chimera”

. Dopplereffekt “Programmable Organism”

. Current Value “The Fiels”

. ANNĒ “Zephyrus”

. SPIME.IM “Hint”

Top 5 oldies?

. Goldie “Timeless”

. Mala “Changes”

. Double 99 “RipGroove”

. Claude VonStroke “Who’s Afraid Of Detroit”

. Drexciya “Digital Tsunami”

Interviewed by Sabrina Bouzidi.