First Joy Orbison, then Com Truise; now Mord Fustang is the latest linguistic trickster to come along with a too-clever-for-its-own-good, meta-po-mo, celebrity- or brand-riffing alias. (Like Com Truise, it’s a spoonerism to boot, which is worth pointing out if only to take advantage of any opportunity to use that word. Spoonerism!)
And we should have fun with Mord Fustang’s name while we can, as surely it can’t be long before the Estonian producer receives a cease-and-desist from the American auto maker and re-christens himself something safer—like, oh, Tete Pong, or perhaps 5eadmaud.
Mord has only been on most listeners’ radar for a few months now, but he’s making up for lost time with a seriously rapid ascent. Since January he’s dropped five singles for Miles Dyson‘s Plasmapool label, with “Lick the Rainbow” currently sitting at #3 on the Beatport Top 100.
Mord Fustang debut's at Ministry of Sound next Saturday for the London leg of the Mixmag Tour, alongside Zeed, Pleasurekraft, and our Residents Joe and Will Ask...
See full listing here / Buy Tickets
So who is Mord Fustang? And where’d he get such a twisted ride? Check out this interview Beatport did with the guy back in May of this year to find out more...
Can you tell us a little about your background? Where did you grow up, and where are you based now?
I grew up in a more countryside-ish place not very far from Estonia’s capital Tallinn, where I am now.
How did you get started DJing and/or making music?
When I was 8 I went to study the piano in a local music school and graduated 7 years later… I had originally wanted to study the guitar, and so I did after that. At some point I got around to, you know, recording stuff and such. That was when I started trying different electronic stuff…
How would you describe the music that you make?
An adventurously nude fluctuant immaculate rainbow-coated thunderstorm with arpeggios, 1-up mushrooms and disco basslines, plus a wobble or two. Something like that. :)
Do you DJ or play live (or both)? How would you describe your sets?
It’s funny that the question is layed down like that. I do in fact do both. I like to sample stuff on the go, always improvise. Basically, I perform my tracks, and DJ.
Did you have any mentors when you were starting out? Who helped you get established?
No particular mentors besides my teachers at the music school… But you know, later on when I got deeper into electronic music, some local, and after that, global, DJ’s also gave some advice. Right now I am under Miles Dyson’s Plasmapool label.
When did you first feel that you had finally discovered your own individual sound?
The first time I touched “Music 2000” on the PlayStation. No, seriously.
How do you explain your music to your family members?
Electronic Dance Music.
Are you the type of musician who knows what kind of track you want to write before you sit down to make it, or do you create music more from a process of experimentation, trial and error?
Sometimes I know, sometimes I don’t. The combination of both I guess.
When you sit down to make a track, what’s the first thing you typically do? How long does a track typically take you to make?
Depends on what’s crossed my mind as groovy at the moment. Sometimes I start with the kickdrum, other times with the base of the melody and build from there. It’s good to have a vision. It takes me from about 5 hours to, say, 500 hours to make a track.
Where do you record? (Bedroom, home studio, dedicated studio, etc.)
Home studio.
Do you currently have a favorite piece of gear/software?
Favourite software - Ableton Live. I’m really interested in and looking forward to getting into analog synths. Future music…
Are you a morning person or night owl?
Leaning more towards “night owl”.
Which record do you wish you had made?
Aphex Twin “Windowlicker”
If a wrecking ball was headed for your house, which *one* record would you rescue before it hit?
I’d probably take any Luke Vibert album.
When you’re not listening to electronic music, what do you listen to?
Every other genre of music. Not the biggest fan of mainstream tho…
When you’re not making or playing music, what’s your preferred pastime?
I occasionally play video games. Favourite console - NES
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing with your life?
I would either do some other entertaining thing or be a computer scientist.