Svetnik is Svetoslav Stoyanov. He’s originally from Sofia, Bulgaria and lived there for 8 years. For the past 6 years he’s been living in Berlin soaking up the cities culture.
Svetnik started DJing and collecting records at the tender age of 14. He started making his first steps in music production at the age of 16. His sound is somewhere between Hip Hop and Electronica, you can hear the em jazz and soul influences as well as his influences of today‘s UK bass movement.
Svetnik’s exclusive mix is one of our favourite’s, it’s totally chilled out and is perfect for those lazy Sunday mornings and times when you just need something to nod your head to. Featuring tracks from Mayer Hawthorne, Busta Rhymes, Madlib, Suff Daddy, Flying Lotus, Jackhigh & Teebs we hope you like what you hear.
IA: Whats your musical background, how did you first get involved with music?
SS: I was singing in a choir as a kid. But the first time I really got involved with music and where I realized that this could be something for me was during my internship in a record store. I must have been about 14 or 15 when I started working at HHV.de and I learned so much about music there. I was walking around all day with pen and paper writing down the names of the records which look interesting so I could listen to them in my break. The staff there was very nice to me as well, they where the first to tell me off about dilla and stones throw, which played a major role in the development of my sound.
IA: What was the first record you bought?
SS: Phew. I think this should have been the Labcabincalifornia LP by the Pharcyde. I still love this record so much, Jay Dee’s Production skills and the lyrics on this record flash me everytime.
IA: Who has influenced you / inspired you to make music?
SS: Biggie was a major influence for sure. Before I got into music production I tried myself at rapping but this did not really work out well, so I switched to making beats. 1000names and Flying Lotus were some big influences too. They were the first to get my ears to this beat movement and I love the idea of doing tracks, not caring about usual song structures.
IA: What has been the biggest challenge for you so far to get to where you are now?
SS: Definitely my age. A lot of people didn’t really take me serious. But it’s changing. I can hang out now with people twice my age and have the most interesting conversations about music with them. This is a thing what really makes me happy and what is really important to me.
IA: What was the concept behind the Blueprint EP?
SS: The concept was pretty easy. The word explains it actually. I just tried a lot of different things, tried to find my own sound. I worked with synthesizers, samples, my voice,recordings I did in the nature, just everything. I’m still searching for my sound but I gotta tell you that it’s evolving very well. It’s easier for me to do music when I got a project in mind that I want to finish. Just doing beats for fun isn’t my thing. I like to have a sort of vision in my music and I’m also really happy that there are people out there who see this vision and who push and support it.
IA: What producers / DJs would you recommend at the moment?
SS: I’m digging all the stuff motor city drum ensemble does. His sound is getting more interesting with every release. His music is so near to live, full of dirt and emotion, it’s amazing.
IA: How do you make your music?
SS: I don’t like to talk about equipment. I use my imagination, that’s the most important thing.
IA: What piece of hardware could you not live without?
SS: My Mind.
IA: What record label really stands out to you / would you want to release on?
SS: There are so many. I’m loving ‘Eklektik Records’ and I really like the concept of Svetlana Industries. The idea of supporting music from the eastern edge of Europe. It’s a pretty young label but already dropped some dope releases for example the “tropics EP” by Teebs & Jackhigh. I would love to do something on their imprint. The stuff that comes from cologne based Up my Alley or the Planet mu releases are very good as well. I’m working on some new stuff…so let’s see what comes around.
IA: Where will Svetnik be in the next 5 years?
SS: I hope he will be in good health and still able to put his emotion, his passion and ideas into his music.
TRACKLIST
1.Mayer Hawthorne – Just ain’t gonna work out
2.Busta Rhymes – Woo Ha (Jay Dee Remix)
3.Jazz Cat – Ummah
4.Sound Providers – Autumns Evening Breeze
5.The Pharcyde – Drop (Beatminerz Remix)
6.Madlib – Distant land
7.The Wise Guys – Ladies say “ow!”
8.Large Pro – Cool
9.MoO – You don’t need
10.Soul II Soul – Jazzie’s Groove (Piano Version)
11.The Earl – Here’s the Proof
12.Suff Daddy – Like Daddy
13.Richie Pitch – The Lyricist (Feat. J-Live)
14.Powell – Sound of the City
15.Oh No – Come Back
16.Flying Lotus – Ganesh
16.S & V Despotin – 22 Nights
17.Bioniqsoundlab – Path to Horizon
18.Auditory Ossicles – Alter
19.Teebs & Jackhigh – Rain
20.1000names – Private Heroes
21.A Race of Angels – Just Begin