We round off the year in Stamp Mixes with Taylor Freels, Californian born producer and DJ better known as Urulu. With contemplative chords and clever drum programming a quality mark for his work, he’s found homes on Let’s Play House, Dirt Crew, Cascine and Andy Hart’s Voyage Recordings, while his own Amadeus imprint was one of the first to release Chaos in the CBD and Steve Huerta. Taylor has put together an atmospheric mix of house and breaks, accompanied by an interview that reflects on a standout year.
Looking back on 2017, what are you most proud of?
I think just generally being invited to cities I’ve previously never visited is always a massive pleasure. The fact that someone is willing to pay me to travel to their hometown and play records is still beyond humbling. Saying that, making it over to both China and Australia this year were huge aspirations of mine. Not only were both tours filled with new, friendly faces but also equally pleasing underground scenes and culinary explorations.
Could you tell us a bit about the mix you’ve made for us? [where/how did you record it, and what was the idea behind it]
I made it at home, here in California at the house I grew up in. It’s sort of a combination of recent records I’ve ripped and promos received over the last two months. I don’t have a stable setup here to mix comfortably but am constantly ripping tracks into Ableton so it is sort of a blend of self-edits and interludes. Unfortunately, there’s no original material of mine in it.
Any standouts you’d like to mention?
That new Sleep D & Albrecht La’Brooy collab is beautiful, the intro to the mix features the soundscape-ambiance from “After The Rain.” You’ll also find the next record on Amadeus in there – four tunes from fellow-Californian-gone-berlin Huerta, as well as older digs courtesy of Terry Lee Brown Jr, Bushwacka, Shawn Rudiman, B12 (grab that reissue) and Chris Brann’s Wambonix project.
Give us your alternative list of 2017. Favourite tracks/albums not allowed, you can go anywhere you want with this one.
2017’s top 5 best cheese experiences on tour
1. St Marcellin (don’t be a fool, melt it on a burger)
2. Italian La Tur
3. Black pepper Pecorino
4. Truffle Sottocenere
5. Gouda (just any plain-old gouda to be fair)
What’s on the horizon for 2018 you’re particularly excited about?
I’ve got the next record on the Gran Canaria-based Saft /Pulp Label as well as a follow up for Andy Hart’s Voyage Imprint (both out by early 2018). From then on I have yet to plan much. Working on playing out more and scheduling dates well into 2018. I’ve got another Aus/Asia tour on the horizon, as well as sparse dates in Europe over the summer.
