guest mix: southern depot

For this episode, I'm choosing to host a beautiful downloadable mix by SOUTHERN DEPOT. Like many DJ's that I post, Southern Depot is an avid artist-photographer. I got to peek as some really amazing shots (and inquired about the editing, natch) at his FLICKR site and his INSTAGRAM site. Like me (but way better), he is all about shooting pics with the trusty old camera phone (in my case, a Samsung S4; in his case, an HTC One). I really like to see how good of a picture that I can get with such simple means (and affordability). While I'm taking pictures of nature and land, SD prefers to take pictures of gloves. While some might think that this is odd, I think it's a very unique and individual taste that shows a certain dedication to a specific form of art. That's called focus. I don't have that (unfortunately).


It appears that Southern Depot is not new to ambient mixes. This is an annual series (starting with 2008, and with two mixes each in 2012 and 2013, this mix being followed up by a darker mix this year called AMBIENT MIX 6.2). Having a year between ambient mixes to let some good music sink in and take anchor allows his mixes to flourish with solid ideas and concepts.

Southern Depot gravitated toward rock and pop as a child of the 80's, digging on some of his mother's interests like Tina Turner and Genesis (as well as most other popular radio music). His first mix tapes led to the this style being traded with his sister. With the arrival of the 90's, new musical styles from Dutch national radio ushered in new sounds of grunge, hip-hop, and house music. The recordings he made of these broadcasts still exist, and consist of artist such as AUTECHRE, DAVE CLARKE, and SCHOOLLY D. In high school, his peers began to introduce him to more styles, such as punk, alternative, metal, and drum 'n bass. The fact that he began playing drums at the age of 8 solidified the fact that drum 'n bass became such a strong influence to his musical foundation.

With gaining insight on the knowledge of manipulating samples via programming around '92, he initially began developing basic house mixes, and later graduated to very serious drum 'n bass compositions. This sparked his musical fire, and after 6 years made the move to become a working DJ, thanks to his diligence in perfecting live drum 'n bass mixing. After a few gigs, he was able to acquire a steady residency at a club near his college. With this opportunity, he created a following and was able to organize events. While in college, he was introduced to Reason, and creating more complex electronic music compositions. This all culminated in releasing a 7" breakcore release on the German label together with Mutellat entitled REGDUB: DUBCORE VOLUME 2.

While this could be the end of the story. But with Southern Depot not resisting the inertia of becoming a musical sponge, the jazz and classical that he disliked in his youth (even though this was his father's main choice of music) finally made sense to him. His open ears and mind allowed him to let other elements creep into his musical universe. When he's DJ'ing, he allows the music that controls the flow dictate what is spun, and realizes that creative moments depend on all musical styles. His tunes complement each other, and the fact that his listeners are digging on his vision sums up the reason why he is very successful at what he does.

I invite you to check out all of Southern Depot's work HERE. You can also visit his SOUNDCLOUD page for his original compositions. Of course, what I'm hosting is the ambient side, but a seasoned DJ such as himself is able to offer amazing mixes no matter what the style. Thanks for the amazing story and mix(es), SD, and we look forward to hearing more from you! Peace.

[DOWNLOAD AMBIENT MIX 6.1]

TRACK LISTING

• The Fast Lane - Lusine iCL

• Silent Sound Spread Spectrum (Excerpt) -  A Guy Named Gerald

• Attributes 39 (Donato Dozzy Remix) - Peter Van Hoesen

• Hollow - Seaworthy & Taylor Deupree

• Insula - Maitreya

• Last Love Inside Love - -On--On-

• She In Motion (Excerpt) - Herbstlaub

• First Frost - Hirotaka Shirotsubaki

• Jan Mayen - Boozoo Bajou

• MltVz5 - Michael Banabila

• Morimond - Eric Vloeimans

• Music For Spaceports - Space Dimension Controller

• Sapphire Eyes - Makoto

• Outside Me (Excerpt) - Linear Bells

• Vertical Jet - Maps & Diagrams

• Whisperers From The Abyss - Angular Dreams

• Telepath - Boards Of Canada

• Ymadyn (Ambient) - Funckarma