Kevin, Congratulations on the release of Your new Album, Samsara.  How much time did it take for you to complete the Album and what is it about? 

About 3 years. Slipstream and oscillatorium were the first tracks I wrote for this album and they were started in the summer of 2019. The album was always intended to take the listener on a journey, to describe a place outside of our universe. The title, Samsara, is a name for the endless cycle of death and rebirth; and this album is about the space in between.

What were some of the biggest challenges you had to overcome while making this album?

Balance. This story needed to put the listener through a series of emotions that are tied with death and the unknown: fear, confusion, stress, serenity, sadness and hope. Combining all of this into something that feels new and alien while also being accessible was quite challenging.

While writing the final tracks (pushing on/ Dream Tonic remix) my father passed away. This album is very heavily influenced by the emotions I felt from knowing I would soon lose him. It was extremely challenging to mix and finalize; in the end it was a large part of my grieving process.

How do you get ideas for your songs? What is your favorite way to start a new song?  

Sometimes I have a specific vision I am going for and just as often, the ideas come after I have laid down a foundation. My intention is to build a space for the listener to get lost in. I think of each song as a room and the sounds are like shapes and colors that you can use to build a setting inside of that room. It’s a highly visual process

My favorite is when I’m doing something unrelated to music and a melody or groove pops in my head, I will drop everything and hop in the studio to draft the idea. Spiderhound has talked before about “following the white rabbit” and it quite literally feels like the music is writing itself.

What other artists do you listen to for inspiration?

Tipper, mindex, somatoast, psydell, bogtrotter, resonant language, bil bless, Benji robot, k.l.o. 

A ton of psychedelic rock (13th floor elevators is a big one)… Radiohead always inspires me to explore groove in more experimental ways.

Labels/collectives: The Rust Music, Lysergia Art Collective, Shanti Planti, Addictech.

How do you approach collaborations?  Do you have any advice for others who are trying to collaborate?

I prefer to work in person where we can really feed off of each other’s energy but this is not always possible. My friend, fellow ninja and longtime collaborator; Moonsplatta, lives a couple timezones away from me so we have had to adjust to online collabs. His turnaround is super quick and often sends the project back within days of receiving my updates. I don’t, often focusing on getting the idea perfected before I feel comfortable passing it back. 

My advice is to be quick. If you take too long, the original vision and direction gets harder to hold on to and makes the process more difficult and time consuming.

Tell us about your new Merch on the Producer DJ Marketplace.

I am adding 2 t-shirts to the marketplace and in the very near future I will have hats and art available as well

What can we expect from you in 2022? Any cool shows coming up? 

Nothing that I can announce just yet regarding shows but I will be announcing some new performances near the start of summer on my social media. I’m currently working on 2 new EP’s and will be self publishing the mass majority of my music moving forward.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with us? 

I want to thank audio goblin and dream tonic for including their tracks in this project. Mindex for his incredible work mastering this album. Last but not least, Matik. for his exceptional album art. This would not be the same without their contributions and I highly recommend checking out their own creations. 

Stream/Download Samsara here: https://linktr.ee/Mufunka

Mufunka’s Merch Store on the Producer DJ Marketplace: https://mufunka.producerdj.com/