- Busted breakbeats and psychedelia.
- DJ Plant Texture is a drummer, if you couldn't tell from his tracks. The Italian artist Dona Basile makes rough-and-tumble drum workouts that sound like they were found in an attic after years spent collecting dust. Jungle, house, hardcore, breaks, drumfunk—if it's based on a breakbeat, DJ Plant Texture makes it. At a time when breakbeats are popping left and right, his raucous samples, chewed-up textures and pure speed-rush energy on releases for 1Ø PILLS MATE, Unknown To The Unknown, Ilian Tape and Jericho One set him apart from the pack. As Dona, his other alias, he makes no-nonsense house, techno and acid that harnesses the power of analogue equipment, imperfections and all. Dona tracks capture the raucous spirit of early house music in the same way that DJ Plant Texture channels hardcore and jungle.
Basile is no regular producer, and this is no regular podcast. Made with a busted turntable setup and recorded onto cassette tape for good measure, it's nearly two hours long and presented more like a mixtape than a DJ set. He haphazardly but intuitively jumps between dance tracks old and new, soundtrack music, psychedelic rock and all kinds of other oddities. It's meant as a snapshot of his upbringing, a mosaic of his influences. Raw, unique and straight to the point, the mix shows why Basile is poised for big things in 2018.
What have you been up to recently?
Hi there! It was a really busy period. I spent the last months opening a new record shop in my town and trying to find the right time for making music. It was stressful sometimes but now I have the chance to do what I love in my life, so I'm really happy about it.
How and where was the mix recorded?
The mix was recorded a couple of months ago. I did it with a little setup and also one turntable does not work very well but hey, I was really happy about the final project. Just passed the main out through a cassette tape recorder for an extra saturation effect but nothing too special.
Can you tell us about the idea behind the mix?
I have wanted to do a mix like this for a very long time, it's like it talks about most of my musical influences since I started to listen and collect music. That's why you'll find music from the Terminator soundtrack, Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth mixed with more "danceable" music by Jamal Moss or DJ Overdose. It's like the soundtrack of my musical tastes, I did it thinking it was like a movie in my mind.
DJ Plant Texture is a newer alias. How do your projects differ?
I use the DJ Plant Texture alias for the more break/jungle style, the Dona one is for every other style. Basically if in the tracks there's a break sampled from another record, it is as DJPT. With the Dona alias I would promote the sound of the machine itself, the real analogue power.
A lot of your music references older jungle, hardcore and drum & bass. What is it about these sounds that still has an appeal for you?
I guess it's because I'm a drummer and I really like drum breaks and stuff like that. It's an important part of my music, also because I don't use too many instruments in every tracks, and it helps to give to the whole music more variety.
What are you up to next?
Hope it will be a very nice 2018. I have an upcoming album on Interdimensional Transmissions for the Acid Series that they launched in 2017, a couple of EPs for Crème Organization, a new project with my brother Mike Tansella Jr as EXPERIMENT ZERO, plus I'm workin' on some music with my mates Derek Plaslaiko and Mystic Bill. Hope you'll appreciate it!
TracklistFrancesco Clemente - Suoni Dalle Ombre E Oltre
Raymond Scott - Idea #35
Beau Wanzer - Drew Is Dogeater
Tans - Brkggmm
Pierre Schaeffer - Prosopopee 1
Dona - Inverno (Upcoming on Creme Organization)
Maoupa Mazzocchetti - Black Humour
Gavon - Venom
Snorre Magnar Sollberg & Dj Sotofett - Untitled
Untitled - Light Sounds Dark
Untitled - Light Sounds Dark
Cyrnai - Untitled
Gunnar Haslam - He Came From The Border
Pseudo Code - Que Viva My Japanese Mother
John Cage - Williams Mix
DJ Overdose - Errorless Computer
Peder Mannerfelt - Perspectives
Daniele Cullini - The Shadow Whisper
Brad Fiedel - Terminator Main Theme
Not Waving - Battle Mountain
Plant 43 - Ascendant Machines
Experiment Zero - Napalm (Upcoming on Creme Organization)
Traxx - Introspective
Saturn V - H Sync
Nick Klein & Maoupa Mazzocchetti - Untitled
Sonic Youth - Lincoln's Gout
I.B.M. - Limelight 80
Annea Lockwood - Amazonia Dreaming
Dona - T2 (For DJ Spank Spank) (Upcoming on Interdimensional Transmissions)
Pink Floyd - Party Sequence
Analogous Doom - Angle Of Attack
Maria Sabina - Na Ai-Ni Tso
Klaus Weiss - Time Signals Track 12
Get It Boyz - Shake That Booty
Tans - Godfather Running The Joint
J Dilla - My Victory W/ Boldy James