How is vinyl culture doing in the face of modern technology? It turns out that it’s going quite well – and in the world of techno music, its best days seem to be still ahead of it.
We decided to ask Milena Głowacka for her opinion, as the Tricity’s DJ and producer is well known for her passion for the plates. She produces and plays exclusively on vinyl, participates actively in the culture gathered around them, collects (and cares about!) her DJ-ing tools all by herself. Soon you will be able to hear her, among others, at Muse Festival at the Goszcz Palace, which we had the opportunity to discuss a bit.
Agata Omelanska: Hi Milena, nice to meet you. I’m very happy to ask you a few questions – especially as it’s really a pleasure to see your career blooming. Let me start with a slightly warming-up question: how are you? Where do you live, what are you currently working on, and what genre of music is closest to your heart – not just in the realm of your own productions?
Milena Glowacka: Thanks for the invitation! I’ve been living in the Tricity for the past 3 years and I create here as well. I have been regularly working on my producing sound and technique for years; creating my own new samples from scratch and tracks, honing my skills. I am currently working on changing the sound quality of my tracks. I’m still trying to improve my craft! In addition, I spend a lot of time over turntables and digging records.
Techno music is the closest to my heart. However, I draw a lot of inspiration (not necessarily production-related) from different genres. On a daily basis, I listen to really diverse music. My playlists are full of electro, dnb/jungle, hip-hop & trap, metal bands, soul or r’n’b.
It’s been a while since you’ve released your music on EP – the last was the “Radiance EP” from 2019 – but it doesn’t mean that you’re not working at all. Your tracks can be found on many VAs, such as “Varias Artists” curated by Casanova Bar Records, “Volume 6” by Monday Off Records or “Are We All Alone of Just Overwhelmed” by Inner Tension. How did you get there and what did your cooperation with these labels look like?
The labels got back to me on their own and invited me to collaborate, which of course I was very happy to do. The cooperation went very well. I created tracks exclusively for these labels, which were enthusiastically received and accepted. The owners and curators usually asked me for two proposals and chose between them, and I chose one track that best fit their idea. I would, of course, like to focus on releasing another EP in some time, this time on vinyl, but I don’t want to give anything away too soon and move forward with raising the quality.
And when it comes to DJ-ing, you played in clubs like Berlin’s Tresor, //about blank, London’s Fuse, Tricity’s Drugi Dom and Crackhouse. We’re also in the middle of the festival season, and I’m very excited to see you at the very first edition of Muse Festival in Goszcz Palace. How do you feel about it? Apart from the amazing venue and really great line-up, what can we expect from the festival?
I am incredibly excited and can’t wait for my another visit to the Goszcz Palace! I had the opportunity to visit the festival venue for the first time during the long May weekend. The organizing team invited me to perform in front of the cameras for the purpose of recording a podcast-showcase as a sneak peak of what will be heard and seen at Muse Festival.
The stage on which I will perform, and on which the video podcast was recorded, is the ruins of an abandoned Protestant church. Not only the sacred building itself, but also the entire festival space made a very positive impression on me. I also learned from the team that the area will be decorated at night with light installations. I am very curious what the final effect will be and what I will see while I’ll be there! In addition to the beautiful architecture and history written on their walls, in Goszcz you can also experience close contact with nature, which is also important for me.
I cannot omit this question, I’m sorry – have you already prepared the tracks for your gig? What’s your selection based on, how do you work with the music you’ve collected so far and would you describe your style?
When going on a trip with records to another city or country, I have limited space in cases. I am therefore forced to pack to one, max two. I clean a selection of plates before my performances; sometimes, when necessary, I also sort out jumbled covers. However, I never go to events with a rigidly arranged tracklist in my head – I rely on spontaneity and contact with the audience. I try to read and understand what is happening on the dancefloor in real time. If necessary, I change the dynamics of the set, using only records I physically carry with me – which are basically nothing more than my party selection.
I would describe my style as a combination of psychedelic grooves and pulsating, trippy techno.
I know DJs hate all the requests, but… is there any chance to hear snippets of your new productions during the festival?
Well, the festival attendees will still have to wait for snippets of my new tracks until their release. I play DJ sets exclusively from vinyl, and my productions have also been released in this form for several years now. Usually labels send me a few copies before the day of release, and if I’m playing somewhere at the time, I get a chance to test them in a club setting. This time, unfortunately, it’s too early for that, as my new release won’t be out until mid-September.
Okay, let’s take a small step back to the past: which music genre has had the biggest influence on your life so far? Which albums do you consider the most important in terms of your own career, and which band’s / artist’s concert would you like to see again and again and again…?
As a young child, I heard the music of French composer Jean-Michel Jarre, which was incredibly interesting and moved me a lot. So I think ambient music and its atmospheric nature influenced the initial formation of my musical taste.
The album that definitely influenced my further development was “Lustrations” produced by Mike Parker and released by – the now defunct – Prologue Label in 2013. Mike’s music is a unique, psychedelic and futuristic experience, and his sound is so original that it inspires masses of producers. His style has certainly set a new direction in techno music.
And how did you discover your passion for the “black plates” and how they became your main working tools?
I bought my first vinyl at the age of 19. The circle of older friends, with whom I spent my free time at the time, infected me with this hobby. When I was a teenager, I also had the opportunity to visit hip-hop dance competitions where DJs played from vinyl. Vinyl and hip-hop culture enthralled and dazzled me. I longed to become a DJ. However, I did not have the budget to buy enough records or even purchase turntables on my own. So I decided to continue my foray into production, in which I began to take my first steps, at the age of 13. As the years passed, I began presenting my own productions in clubs in the form of live acts. I used the money I’ve earned for performing in this form, in part, to buy the records I wanted and dreamed of.
In the meantime, record labels began to offer me cooperation and releases – including vinyl ones. Another part of the records I got as gifts from other artists or label owners, traveling around Europe with my live acts. The records in my collection are also, of course, those with my own songs. Successively, over the years, I managed to collect a sufficient number of records and finally moved on with DJ’ing, moving away from the form of live acts, which for me was a tool, not a goal.
And in terms of production: how do you feel about releases made only on vinyl? We’re in 2024, where streaming & digital releases still have a lot to say in the whole music industry…
I think it’s very cool. There are vinyl releases from years when streaming and digital releases didn’t exist, and club music was released only in this form. Owners of such records have real gems in their collections; very original EPs that are not playable or findable in digital form, which – of course – makes them special.
… and when it comes to electronic music, the division into vinyl lovers and digital records enthusiasts seems to be even more and more prominent. Let’s make a final statement: should vinyl purists really feel like they’re representing the better quality or level of DJ-ing? Or maybe it’s all fading away, as we’re all diving deeper and deeper into technology and modern tools?
As an enthusiast of vinyl culture and a person who actively participates in it, I believe that the sound quality from analog is simply different from the digital one. There is, actually, an error in the statement you cite, and that error is the term: “better quality.” If we are talking about vinyl, then – in my opinion – there is no such thing. Personally, I would use the term “different quality.” Warm, deep and responsive sound from a record, crackles and noises are completely different levels of experiencing and receiving music, versus the one in digital form, deprived from these “distortions.” Also, vinyl techno releases from three decades ago will sound very different from modern releases. Their quality and signal are much weaker, much more quiet compared to what is released today.
It is thanks to the development of technology, mixing or mastering that we can celebrate and enjoy techno music from vinyl in a completely new, different and better quality. How this music has evolved over the decades, is something amazing. Today’s producers can take inspiration from the past and ideas from a few decades ago, using today’s much more advanced technology. This makes today’s vinyl releases sound brilliant. I think that thanks to this, techno music still has its best days ahead of it.
The same is true for DJ’ing – playing from vinyl versus digital is a completely different experience for the DJ himself, as well as for the club-goer. As a physical medium, the record also requires maintenance and caution in use, making it vulnerable to some degree. As a vinyl DJ, you travel along with your records like luggage; when mixing from them, the DJ relies solely on his or her own hearing – there is no display with waveform, bpm count or even a sync button. It is, therefore, impossible to compare these differences – and they should not be.
Thank you for the interview, Milena! Good luck and see you at the Muse Festival!
