
Exclusive Mix & Interview
February 18th, 2018
Monotronik
City: Porto - Luanda
Country: Portugal - Angola
Genre: House / Techno
Label: Sync Forward
Release Type: Digital / Vinyl

Monotronik. Tell us a little bit about who are, what you do, and what makes you do it.
We are an Electronic Music duo originating from Porto, Portugal that has been producing for over 5 years and Dj'ing for over a decade. Even though life took us miles away from each other, we still make it work through a lot of Skype sessions, Splice app, etc. Everything we do stems from our passion for studio work and the love we both share for Electronic Music.
Early days. How did you meet? What were some of your earliest influences in music and art?
We actually met more than a decade ago, around 2006, through a common friend in our hometown of Porto, Portugal. Interestingly enough, we only started working together many years later. We both shared a love for Hip-Hop earlier on that eventually spilled into Drum & Bass - particularly the stripped down minimal sound of Shogun Audio and Medschool. It wasn't long after that we started listening to House and Minimal Techno.

"Even though life took us miles away from each other, we still make it work..."
Pushing Content. We see you are very active online. Can you give us some insight as to where you focus your energy. In your opinion, what should artists be pursuing, in terms of online presence?
To be honest, this is actually something we both have to work harder on. We end up thinking too much about the music we're making and only sharing actual content instead of trying to engage an audience. But even though we think online presence is important, we’d rather focus on spending as much time as possible locked in the studio.
What are some of your biggest achievements so far? Any shoutouts you’d like to give?
We would probably say our vinyl release was the most special. Having started with vinyl earlier in our careers, it was always a part of us and being invited to be part of one was something we will never forget.
Music selection. Tell us about your mixing process. As a duo, how do you two combine your styles into one?
We would say we have pretty similar taste in music, hence why we decided to work together.
The tracklists won't differ much and we buy all our music together as a general rule of thumb.
As far as music production. What are some of your favourite hardware & software technologies that you can’t produce music without.
We absolutely couldn't live without Arturia V Collection for writing and the Waves Bundle for post-processing.

"Everything we do stems from our passion for studio work and the love we both share for
Electronic Music."
If you could collaborate with one artist of any genre, who would it be?
If we could work with anyone from any genre, we would probably go for someone like Pharrell Williams.
The amount of hits he has created, plus his long list of collaborations with many different artists makes it an interesting proposition.
What is the best street food in Porto (Portugal)?
Without a doubt the most famous and popular dish in Porto is Francesinha. A Portuguese sandwich,
made with bread, wet-cured ham, steak, covered with melted cheese, and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce, served with french fries. A must try for anyone visiting!
Monotronik, in a few sentences. Tell us about this mix you made for us. Where did you get your inspiration? Is there anything special you want the audience to know?
Actually, we've been locked up in the studio for the past 4 months, and have just recently finished our debut album. It felt nice to record a mix where we can included some of the forthcoming tracks on it. We hope you guys enjoy it
