CLUBS

Adam Anonymous talks to the Polish-born rave-starter ahead of his date at the Mongrel vs Ago showdown.

A flyer sporting a robotic crustacean claw welded to a grizzly bear means only one thing in Bristol: ear-blasting sound-fiends Mongrel are back, outdoing themselves for the second instalment of their face-offs with fellow noisy bastards Agro. A fittingly mutant concoction of global talent overruns three rooms at Lakota. Several highlights – notably mash-up kingpin Kid606 and Northern Irish low-frequency master Boxcutter – are headline draws in their own right. Sitting atop the monstrous line-up, however, is Bogdan Raczynski, making a one-off call to the West Country: Venue gave him a grilling. (Disclaimer: not all of his responses below are entirely grounded in reality and/or truth.)

This upcoming Bristol show is your only upcoming British date. Did Bristol pick you or you pick Bristol, so to speak? And what should we expect from your set? I don’t believe in destiny, but it’s quite interesting how events in life can seem no less magical and rare than the alignment of stars and moons. On my way back from a show in Switzerland today I saw a lady run to her train and get there just as the door was closing: she literally had half a second to squeeze in; she missed it. It’s fair to say that getting asked to play a show somewhere has a similar specialness to it. As for what to expect, you should expect me to amplify the crowd’s energy as best as I can. If Bristolians give it, then I may very well break out of my ultra-shy shell and put on a half decent show. Best not to expect too much though!

It’s a pretty monster bill. Are you looking forward to seeing anybody else play or catching up with any of the artists you know personally? I’m looking forward to checking out what kind of food specialties Bristol has in store. I tried Googling it, but don’t see any Bristolian pudding or cheese or Bristol-like pasty of any kind. Don’t let me down B-town!

What have your past experiences of Bristol shows been like? Do you recall any particularly amazing, weird, crazy or bad ones? I remember one specific event many years back, a very underground event, the kind where you had to call up a hotline to get a secret coded message which, unscrambled, would lead you to the location of the next party. And the decode instructions were given out at the party prior. I think in the end the party was held at the kitchen of a top-rated Chinese restaurant, raw chicken-feet hanging from hooks, dark-brown pigs floating in air, freshly made noodles aerating. Suffice to say, the acoustics mixed with the smell of raw food was akin to the feeling and smell and taste you experience just prior to vomiting on a night gone wrong (right?). Good times...

Aside from a few remixes you’ve not really released much since 2007 album ‘Alright!’. What have you been up to in the interim? Is there new music on the way? And if so, what is it sounding like? Yeah, I finished up ‘Alright!’ many years ago, maybe five or six? Took a while to come out. Tiësto and his Goa/psy-trance minions are still trying to catch up! What can I say? Since then I’ve been staring out train windows and cleaning the ramen steam off of my forehead. At the moment I’m working on curating an exhibition on the secret underground ramen scene in Japan. May sound silly but it exists, though you won’t find it in any Japanese magazines. It’s very exclusive and I only happened upon it by pure chance, stumbling back to my hotel in a drunken haze. I went down a few wrong (right?) alleys and sat on what I must’ve thought was the subway seat. I was awoken from my blackout by the gorgeous steam of a miso-based broth.

You’ve asked Mongrel vs Agro to bill you with the middle name ‘Rararamen’. You’re a big cookery fan, presumably there’s a noodles reference in there? Do you like requesting things just to see what you can get away with? Ever tried that with your rider? The middle name is just an extra bit of value-added tomfoolery. Some of my rider highlights include two buckets of crispy chicken, a case of Fairtrade Peruvian chocolate, five kilos of smoked salmon jerky (that stuff is priced on par with gold!), various colouring books and crayons, a bevy of anti-virus programs... the list goes on.

Do you have any favourite recipes/dishes currently? You’ll have to read my upcoming cookbook to find out! Keep an eye on www.bogdanraczynski.com for the details!

Mongrel vs Agro’s running theme on their posters and flyers is half-animal/half-machine creatures. What animal and/or machine would you combine given the chance (and technology from the probably not-too-distance future)? Interesting. When I had just moved to the States at the tender age of six I scoped out this magical set of robot toys that when put together in a specific combination would form a massive robot lion. I was never able to get one myself, which is probably for the best. I reckon life would get a bit boring (or you’d get even greedier) if you had everything you wanted.

You’ve lived in Japan, the USA, UK and Canada. Where are you residing currently? I’m actually between homes at the moment. I just came to Switzerland to do a show in a beautiful little town called La Chaux-de-Fonds – incredible bread alert! Prior to that I was in a remote temple in China trying to wean some secrets from a 125-year-old noodle-making legend. I was sworn to secrecy, so I can’t get into specifics, but the recipe is so epic it’s cosmic.

MONGREL VS AGRO PART II WAS AT LAKOTA, BRISTOL ON SAT 23 OCT.

FOR MORE ON THIS AND OTHER CLUB NIGHTS IN BRISTOL & BATH BUY THIS WEEK'S VENUE MAGAZINE (OUT 13 OCT)
 

Copyright Adam Anonymous 2010

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