DON’T MIX THAT VOL 48: 199? & AQWEA

DON’T MIX THAT VOL 48: 199? & AQWEA by Don’t Watch That on Mixcloud

Ahead of their party this weekend featuring the mighty Sharda, that yung buck Grovestreet – dazzling residents and overlords of Aerial 199? and Aqwea enrol in the Don’t Mix That alumni….

Featuring original productions and driven by some fierce percussion, this is thirty- five perfectly squared off minutes of party. I’ve got my Reebok Workouts on and I’m chirsping your girl to this.

Don’t Watch That caught up with the duo beforehand to chat cartoons, taco stands and other worldly shit.

Tell us a little bit more about yourselves…

199?: We met when we were working at the same creative agency a few
years back. Aqwea is from South London and I’m from Gravesend in Kent
so we bonded over the 90s garage/housey stuff that we were listening
to growing up. We were both producing at the time and stayed in touch
ever since.

What got you into music?

199?: My Dad was always in bands, so I started playing guitar really
young, like 6 years old. My Mum was working at the local secondary
school when one of her students made a garage tape for me to listen
to. This must have been like 1999. From then on I had the bug. I
played less guitar and listened to more Garage, later Grime, then
everything else. Here I am. I’ve actually still got the tape
somewhere.

Aqwea: My family. My Mum is into everything and anything. Very open minded and unforgiving when blasting Michael Bolton’s ‘My Secret Passion’ or Def Leppard b2b with stuff like Roy Davis Jr.’s ‘Gabriel’. She’s not a purist in any musical sense which is pretty funny compared to my Dad who is very serious with music, especially Jazz. He has loads of amazing funk and soul vinyls. My older cousins got me into Hip Hop and Garage.
And, of course, being a Ghanaian meant that everything was rounded off
with heavy doses of Hi-Life too. It all inspired me. I just loved
hearing new things. Even if I disliked something…I would let it
humour me…

Did anything inspire this mix? or your favourite track, story behind it etc

199?: We always try to represent our influences along with what we are
feeling at the time. I find it weird that although pretty much every
track ever made is available online in some capacity, a lot of mixes
sound too similar and share the same tracklists, especially in
electronic music. I think the internet means that people don’t dig
enough for tunes anymore. That’s why alongside some unreleased stuff
from artists we are pushing, our own productions and a track or two
from our own label, you’ll always find us throwing in some older
percys that we feel are just as relevant.

Aqwea: We’re always inspired by new music we come into contact with
and naturally we both like to pay homage with tracks that
sparked our love for music. The track that does that for me in this
mix is Tail Spin’s ‘All Massive’…purely because it reminds me of the Moondance
raves I never went to.

If you could use any vocalist in the world on a track who would it be?

199?: Probably June Hamm who supplies the vocals in Colours – Hold On.
One of my all time favourite tracks like EVER.

Aqwea: Grace Jones. I love how commanding and rich her voice always
sounds. I’d like to think my inner thoughts are voiced by her.

Whats the weirdest thing thats ever happened to you?

199?: Probably a very small 80 something-year-old elf-like man from Detroit coming up to me at like 2am at a taco stand in East LA asking if I could administer his eye drops for him. He was being deadly serious too. I was pretty lifted at the time myself so I was unable tell if I was in a David Lynch movie or not. Anyway, the taco stand is called Burrito King on Sunset Boulevard and it’s unfuckwithable.

Aqwea: Staying awake during The Hangover.

What is your favourite cartoon?

199?: Tom & Jerry

Aqwea: Daria

What did you have for breakfast?

199?: Nutella. It’s developed into a serious addiction. I know it’s
not good for me, but I keep going back for more!

Aqwea: The leftover butterfly prawns I ate during this mix. Living.

Any famous last words?

199?: Have fun, be nice to people and don’t take yourself too seriously! That’s it really. Just spread love and be happy y’all.

Aqwea: Not yet…but I was waiting for the right question to slyly plug our night…

AERIAL 003 // PRESENTING:

SHARDA
GROVESTREET (TIGHT KNIT RECORDS / TRAX COUTURE)
199? & AQWEA (AERIAL)

SATURDAY 25TH OCTOBER
@ CANAVAN’S POOL CLUB PECKHAM, 188 RYE LANE, SE15 4NF
9PM – 4AM
£3 BEFORE 11PM / £5 AFTER

FREE DOWNLOAD: GUN TOTING / SHOT CALLIN BLEND OF MENTA & TEK9 ERE.