Over the last thirteen years Om Records has been at the cutting edge of electronic music embracing house to hip hop, drum & bass to down-tempo. The label has released ground breaking music from artists including Mark Farina, Bassnectar, Zeph & Azeem, Landshark, Strange Fruit Project, Greenskeepers, Miguel Migs, People Under The Stairs, Derrick Carter, Terra Deva, Scratch Perverts, DJ Sneak and King Kooba.

On Thursday 20th September, Om launches their first UK residency with new signing MIKE MONDAY. Mike has been a stalwart of the dance scene from his early beginnings as part of Beat Foundation with Andy Cato to his artist album in 2006, ‘Smorgasbord’ on Playtime, which was hailed as ‘a classic’ by One Week to Live and awarded ‘Album of the Month’ in I-DJ Magazine. At the forefront of the breaking music scene, Mike consistently pushes the boundaries of electronic music with innovative productions and is a welcome addition to the Om family as the exclusive monthly resident at Plastic People before dropping his second artist album in early 2008 on the label.

Please introduce yourself and describe the music you like to play…

I’m Mike Monday and I play anything that I like, although currently that tends to be deep, freaky, bleepy house and techno which makes your ass shake.

We’ve managed to find out your real name is Michael Mukhopadhyay, how did you come up with Mike Monday?

Monday is easily my favourite day of the week, as that’s when I tend to sleep!

You met Andy Cato while studying music at Oxford University and went on to form Beat Foundation in the early 90’s: how does the industry differ today?

There are in fact a lot of similarities between the scene now and then. Recently the underground has come back with a vengeance, and the music that’s the most unusual and out there seems to be the biggest. It was the same in the early 90’s, when there were no rules to dance music. Also in the early 90’s the scene was less fragmented than it became, with very different Djs playing the same music but just in a different way. For instance, 5 years ago I never thought I’d be playing a Mauro Picotto or an Adam Beyer tune!
The advent of downloading and Beatport has meant that everyone can get everything, which really sorts out the men from the goats dj wise. This is great for the scene, and I can’t remember a time including the early 90’s when I have been more excited about what’s going on in around me.

Smorgasbord was your first solo artist album; what was the ethos behind that album?

I wanted to show some different sides to my music while not alienating the people who are into my club stuff. I also tried to make it an album you could really listen to from beginning to end, wherever and whenever. It ended up being almost an explanation of where I’m from musically, as I don’t think there’s a style or genre of music that has influenced me over the years that isn’t represented or referred to in some way on Smorgasbord.

You’ve just been signed to Om Records to produce your second album; what can we expect from the album?

Your guess is as good as mine! I’m still in the middle of working on it, so a lot could happen with the direction of the album. But right now I’m thinking of going even further towards home listening, as there’ll be a bonus cd with a dj mix on it where I’ll put my more club oriented stuff.
I’m also interested in pursuing the idea of purely instrumental dance music on an album. Too often when working on albums dance producers use vocals in an attempt to justify or add interest. But they do this when they have very little or no experience of working with vocals or writing songs. But with the incredibly vast sonic palette available to dance producers there is so much you can do without vocals. Also with an instrumental track, its meaning is entirely open to interpretation as there no lyrics to specifiy what its about. I like the idea of a signpost (ie the title of the track), which gives an indication of what I was thinking about, and leaving the rest to the imagination of the listener.

Which artists are inspiring you on the dance scene at the moment?

Always Carl Craig! But some of the newer guys who are really doing it for me are Tommy Four Seven who’s just sent me a killer track which took the roof off the Hidden Disco at Bestival. I’m also feeling pretty much everything Matthew Dear does (his new album is stunning), Gabriel Ananda, Sebo K, Falko Brocksieper, John Spring… the list is endless as there’s so much amazing music around at the moment!

What’s the biggest tune in your box right now?

ZumZum which is one of the tracks off Smrogasbord been signed by Great Stuff in Munich and they’ve commissioned mixes from Peter Kruder and Jan Driver. I got the Peter Kruder remix a couple of weeks ago and its pretty massive. The guy is a legend!

If you had to choose three highlights of your career what would they be?

Probably releasing Smorgasbord on Playtime, playing the Aquaholic closing party last year in Ibiza and my set last weekend in Hidden Disco at Bestival. It completely went off!!!

Next week you launch your new residency for Om Records at Plastic People; what can we expect?

Plastic People is a unique club in London as it’s so intimate and has an incredible Function One sound system. This means you can push the envelope musically much more than in a big room situation. Also, I’m really excited to be able to bring some of my current heroes to play in such an environment, where they can get really up close and personal with the crowd. It’s also a great opportunity to play some of the new stuff I’ve been working on in the studio. I can’t wait to get stuck in!

And finally, tell us , how do we get ‘nesty’?

You’ll have to ask Nest about that…

Join Om Records, Mike Monday and special guest Tommy Four Seven on THURSDAY 20th SEPTEMBER for some ass wigglin and booty shakin to get the weekend started early...

Om Records @ Plastic People
147-149 Curtain Road, London, EC2
10pm-2am...FREE before 11pm OR £6 entry/£3 concs
http://www.om-records.com
http://www.myspace.com/omrecords

FORTHCOMING DATE FOR YOUR DIARY:
Thursday 18th October

‘things might get a bit nesty...’