Bringing up-front music from new artists alongside classic and obscure records from decades past, London collective Brand New Wayo will take you on a magic carpet ride. As part of our London Spotlight series, they have delivered a mix in association with Meadows In The Mountains Festival. They’ve been picking up some serious heat of their own mixtape series, but for us they’ve done things a little different, with each member of the team picking five tracks. Traversing musical landscapes they cover bases from Darkhouse Fam beats to Brazilian Soul from Di Melo and a classic recording of Bill Withers live in Harlem. Disco edits from Mukat and Kon deliver the dance!
BNW will be playing two 3 hours sets at Meadows In The Mountains. For tickets and more information, head here. You can also catch BNW in London tonight at the free Brownswood-affiliated night, Fourth, where they’ll be playing alongside Reginald Omas Mamode IV and Al Dobson Jr .
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TRACKLIST
1. The Jones Girls – Nights Over Egypt
2. Slum Village (feat. Busta Rhymes) – What It’s All About
3. Fifty Four – Sea Level
4. Bill Withers – Holler Harlem Intro
5. Mukatsuku Edits – Biggie’s Boogie
6. Eddie Henderson – Open Eyes
7. Cymande – Brothers On The Slide
8. Denroy Morgan – Happy Feeling
9. Sean Dean – Cookie Duster
10. Jackie’s Beaver – Mr. Bump Man (Part 2)
11. Madlib & Freddie Gibbs – Harold’s
12. Darkhouse Fam – Stay Blazed
13. One Way – I Didn’t Mean To Break Your Heart
14. Di Melo – Minha Estrela
15. The System – You Are In The System
16. Kenny Dope – Comin’ Inside
17. Kon – All Night (Casserta’s Dub)
18. Moodymann – Don’t You Want My Love
19. Outkast – Southernplayallisticcadillacmuzik
20. The Whispers – Keen On Lovin’ Me
For those who don’t know BNW, can you introduce yourself.
Four others and myself set up Brand New Wayo a few months ago. We put mixes out fortnightly, every other Monday at midday GMT. We’re pretty free in selection and like to go all over the musical cosmos. It’s a past, present, future thing.
How did BNW come to being and what motivated you to start it?
Brand New Wayo is really a long time in the making. Not by that name, but the concept. The five of us that make up BNW have been mates for years and have been big into music as a crew; constantly one upping each other by finding the next diamond in the ruff. We’ve been bedroom DJs for a long time so thought it was about time we shared what we’re about. The fortnightly mixes are our way of sharing our selections. But when we play out we bring the party and get people moving. Between us, we’ve got broad tastes that loosely fit into what has become Brand New Wayo.
What was it about the Mixed Grill song that made you want to use it as your name?
The funk! It’s a mad funky tune, and Wayo means ‘footprint’ in Swahili so it made sense for what we’re going for with the mixes and what’s to come…
If it implies you’re bringing something new and different to the music game, what would you say that is?
An emphasis on selection and flow. It’d be arrogant or misguided to say it hasn’t been done before, but I’d often hear mixes that wouldn’t move beyond 5 BPM for an hour, or would just play classic funk. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that but we don’t wanna limit ourselves. We’re not concerned with BPMs, tempo or genre. We just wanna play what we love and sounds good together.
There’s a strong design element to the series, with teasers and tracklist presented in a visual way. Is it important for you to make BNW not just an audio project, limited to Soundcloud?
To be honest I’m not keen on the design element we’ve got going on. We borrowed the volume artwork from the original Comb and Razor Records compilation (big up Comb and Razor by the way!) and I’ve been crudely mocking up the banners while we wait for a clearer ID. I don’t want to talk too much about what we have coming but I’d just answer your question with yes, it’s important but the music and artists we pick come first. It’s just a way to rep what we’ve got forthcoming in the next mix.
You’ve put together a mix for us, in association with Meadow In The Mountains. Can you tell us a bit about it?
As there’s five of us in the crew, we each submitted four tracks for the mix and I weaved them together. Usually it’s just one of us doing a volume so this was our first mix done together. It was different to work out a fluid sequence but I think we got there in the end. It was recorded in Club Jean (a members club in South London where we practice and get down) and tidied in the BNW lab. The Mukat Edit – Biggie’s Boogie and the Madlib & Freddie Gibbs track Harold are massive tracks. There’s a wicked Brazilian tune from Di Melo too, but it’s all heat. It’s a more party oriented mix than the volumes.
With this being a London Spotlight, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the London scene – one thing you like and dislike?
One thing I like? It’s got to be the constant flow of quality artists that come through London. Nowhere else in the world can you find such a broad range of decent producers and DJs passing through. Dislike? Aggy bouncers.
What are your favourite places to buy records in London?
Sounds of the Universe is up there, along with Eldica in Dalston, Phonica, Rat Records Camberwell, Flashback in Angel and the Exchanges in Greenwich and Notting Hill. So much goodness to be found in basements of the Exhanges!
Is there any emerging local talent we should keep an eye on?
Panoram is a wicked producer. He’s had a few releases out but is definitely one to watch. Brock Berrigan has some wicked beats too. And shouts Al Dobson Jr too. Love his sounds! Also, Hello Skinny is incredible, Tom Skinner who also drums in Owiny Sigoma Band crafted an incredible self-titled album last year.
Looking at a few live dates coming up, first up is Fourth, the Brownswood-associated night in Peckham. Pleased to be part of the crew as their new residents? How will you be approaching the regular slot?
Yeh we’re looking forward to this! We played the first one with Diggs Duke and Gilles P a couple of months ago and it was a lot of fun. Gotta shout out Morell who’s running things down there. Approach? Well you gotta come down and hear!
First festival in the season will be Meadows In The Mountains in Bulgaria. Excited for it? What can people expect from a set in sun, compared to your mixtapes and club sets?
Yeh we can’t wait for Meadows! I heard about it last year through some friends, so it’s a real buzz to be playing it this year. We’ve got two three hour sets so will get a real chance to flex what we’re about. Expect all sorts, as loose and diverse as the mixes but with rude movements. Cannot wait! Big up the Sasse bros too.
