Episode 93 is here and we have a synth-heavy mix of EBM, italo, and post-punk goodness from Mutations MCR co-founder Chernobyl Steve.
The mix is quintessential Mutations and Steve has put together 70-minutes of Mutations classics which you can expect to hear at any of their events. Anyone who knows me knows I love Italo and I’ve been dancing to this one ever since Steve sent it over. We also spoke to Steve about his musical inspirations, setting up Mutations and running events in Manchester. You can catch our interview with him below.
Hi Chernobyl Steve thanks so much for coming on the AMF blog and putting a mix together for us. I always like to start my interviews by asking my guest to introduce themselves and give us the story of how they got into DJ’ing. Can you give us a run down of your musical journey from the first time you picked up a record until now?
No worries at all! I’ve not recorded a mix in ages so really enjoyed myself! I’ve been into music and the live experience as long as I can remember really. I previously used to risk limbs in mosh pits with metal/guitar based music and I’d say my tastes evolved towards more dancey electronic stuff over the last 15 years or so. I taught myself to DJ during the Covid lockdown. With all the spare social downtime I thought it was something enjoyable and productive to do. We also know partying too much can be a little self destructive at times, so DJing for me gives a sober intellectual type outlet for the music I love.
You’re the co-founder of Mutations a Manchester-based EBM, Italo, Proto-trance, industrial, and post-punk club night. It’s a pretty unique club night for Manchester. What convinced you to put an event like this on and how have you found setting up the club night and running events in this city.
I think Manchester has a lot of great techno, house and bass nights but there’s definitely a huge gap on the alternative electronic side. Don’t get me wrong – I love a good techno banger – but myself and Dan (my Mutations partner in crime) wanted to share the other types of music we really love dancing to; yet usually have to go abroad or to London to do this. In terms of setting up the event – We luckily had a lot of knowledgeable friends to ask for advice with event planning etc. It definitely assists working with a partner to share costs/organisational tasks, plus Dan works in marketing which is also a big help on the promotional side of things.
Mutations is a relatively new clubnight, what advice or guidance would you give to other promoter looking to get started running their own event?
My main advice would to go out to dance and make connections. It’s helped immensely having a network of friends that DJ themselves and will happily play for us, friends that are sound people to assist with equipment, friends that are venue staff etc.
Moving on to the mix you did for us can you a bit about how you put it together. Do you tend to meticulously plan your mixes or what quite an organic free-flow process?
I tend to start with a rough idea of BPM and type of genres I’d like to work around. This mix was around 120 to 135 BPM and I wanted quite a bit of EBM/New Beat influenced stuff in there. I’ll maybe have 2 or 3 tracks I’d definitely want to play and work around those. From there it’s a bit of trial and error; Judging what tracks I feel work well at the front/middle/climax of a mix and before/after the previous track. It’s quite easy to get too meticulous and doubt yourself after a certain point so it’s also important to just have confidence in the music you like and go with it. Perfection is all subjective and in the ear of the beholder anyway.
Are there any standout tracks in the mix you don’t mind sharing with us? Tracks that are always in your record bag or certain tracks you’re really loving playing out at the minute.
There are one or two tracks in there I played at the most recent Mutations. Chinaski is a really impressive producer of hooky synth sounds and his recent track Come and Watch really stood out when I first heard it.
Lastly, what’s on the horizon for yourself and Mutations? Do you have any more nights in the pipeline you can tell us about or radio shows, festivals etc?
We are currently trying to organise a Mutations summer date/venue so we can hopefully reveal details within the coming weeks. I’m also playing for another Manchester-based party in July but that’s also to be announced so I can’t reveal just yet 
Our eventual aim is to make Mutations a little less niche and as established as some of the other amazing Manchester promotors, although we’ll try not to follow trends and keep playing what we feel doesn’t get enough airplay.
