- Words Notion Staff
- 3D art director Niko Zelenik
- Photographer Melissa Verhoeven
- Stylist Amber Aste
Ahead of dropping his upcoming ‘Dreamland’ EP — a technicolour collection of transcendent tracks for the club — experimental electronic producer Ferdous makes us an eclectic mix.
What DJs, artists, club nights, or genres are inspiring you right now?
I can’t lie, I’ve found some of my favourite artists and genres on TikTok lately. I’ve included them in this mix as well. There’s so much music on there that I think would have never seen the light of day when radio and TV was still dominant, which is kinda mind-blowing if you think about it. I love the idea of randomly stumbling upon something you absolutely fall in love with, doesn’t matter if it’s in a record store, online blogs or through an algorithm. Speaking of which, the Blog House era will always be one of my biggest inspirations, and is a huge influence for my upcoming ‘Dreamland’ EP.
Can you talk us through some of your inspirations for this mix?
Soulwax / 2ManyDJs are my DJ gods! They have always been so fearless about throwing any type of song into their set from all kinds of different eras and genres, but they even make it sound good and cohesive. I think that is the biggest challenge you could give to yourself as a DJ, because I feel like many people always have a certain musical expectation when they go to a party or club, and it’s so easy to disappoint crowds when you’re not living up to a certain expectation. 2ManyDJs just keep smashing any conception that people have about what DJ’ing is, while still being wildly entertaining. That’s a huge inspiration for this mix. I never want to limit myself to one thing only, that’s why this set kinda goes all over the place.
Where do you imagine people listening to it?
So I just wanted to do a complete mix of all the music I’m loving right now and listen to mostly when I’m traveling. There isn’t a single song in here that I haven’t been addicted to at some point. You can listen to it all by yourself, but I think it’s also pretty safe for social occasions, if anything you’ll show ur friends and family you have an AMAZING taste in music.
What’s one song you’ll always come back to in your mixes?
That would probably be ‘Topdown’ by Channel Tres, flawless!
What should we look out for from you next?
My ‘Dreamland’ EP is dropping in February! It’s gonna be very uptempo and club-focussed. I’ve explored a totally different side of myself and I can’t wait to show this to everyone, and literally can’t wait to celebrate the release night in LA which feels like a dream.
