Mix & In Conversation: Manami

Showing off her darker side, Manami curates the next mix of the series, centered around minimal melodies, techno flavours and cosmic synths, as well as some naughty breakbeat numbers. Keeping the mood dark and trippy throughout Manami suggests you 'stick this on at an afters rather than a pre's sorta thing':

Hailing from Japan, Manami is now based in Bristol where she regularly graces the decks at The Love Inn and Motion, as well as making an impact in London where she's been announced as Micks Garage's new resident. To learn more Oli chatted to Manami about her DJing roots, her selection and her future plans.

For those who don't know you can you introduce yourself?

Hey! I’m Manami, and I’m a Bristol based DJ. I started DJ’ing 3 years ago, and have been pretty hooked since.

How did get into DJing, are there any musical influences on your style? And how would you describe your selection?

I joined the uni DJ society actually. I was at Bristol uni and graduated last year. I knew I wanted to pick it up from before though. I remember seeing a friend DJ at house parties during the school years, and remember thinking I wanted to have control of what was being played.

I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint a specific influence on my style really. I’ve always been sure of what I like and dislike, so I just stick to my instincts with regards to what I play. I’m into everything and anything that sounds good to my ears, though the main things I listen out for when digging for tracks is rhythm, texture and expectation. A good groove will keep the crowd dancing, cool weird textures keeps the crowd interested, and tracks that break off from a structure that you’d expect are always good tracks to occasionally feed in to keep the listener’s on their toes.

What have been your biggest challenges breaking into the scene?

I guess being taken seriously was one of the challenges. Some people saw my age, saw that I hadn’t been doing it for that long, and sometimes assumed I didn’t have much to give. Those perceptions made me want to prove them wrong and work even harder on my DJ’ing. I like to think those perceptions have been gradually changing though.

Following on from this has it been difficult getting gigs when you don't produce? What advice would you give to people in securing gigs?

It hasn’t particularly been a disadvantage so far, yet anyway. It can be a daunting prospect though, as my DJ’ing has to do all of the talking.

My general advice for getting gigs is to make yourself known to the music community. Go to nights out that fit with your music, stay till the end, chat with the DJ’s, the promoters. Work hard on your mixes and send them to the people you meet. Persist and persevere, if you really want it it will follow through in the end.

We saw you've been announced as a resident at Mick's Garage, what kind of vibes are you going to bring to your residency?

As a resident you’re trusted by the venue, the headliner and the crowd to build and create the perfect atmosphere for the headline DJ to then pop the party off. My aim will always be to create the right sonic foundations for the party so the headliner can stick their usb in and just get right to it.

What's your favourite event that you've played so far?

I played at The Hague a few weeks ago on a beach with Dekmantel Soundsystem. That was wicked, I love the Dutch crowd, they really get behind you.

Future plans and your dream goals?

Move to Amsterdam, play The Greenhouse at Dekmantel, play in the basement at De School.

If you're lucky enough to have a nabbed at Glasto ticket (like us) you can catch Manami spinning at the Greenpeace Field or if not, alongside Tornado Wallace and Love Fingers at Mick's Garage on July 13th.