Megatronic interview – “The streets of London are full of so many different cultures”
The UK-born, Lisbon-based artist in full, soulful house effect
UK-born, Lisbon-based Megatronic has been deep in the scene for more than 20 years as a DJ, producer and activist.
As her bold new Razor N Tape-issued EP, ‘Do I Belong To You’, makes waves with its soulful deep house grooves, she joins Juno Daily to chat London, Jimpster, Stavros and activism…
Hi and thanks for your time…. First of all, can you tell us where you are right now, and what kind of day you’re having… Been anywhere already or going anywhere interesting later?
I am having a super chilled and well deserved Sunday on my sofa after a full on couple of weeks including my birthday celebrations.
It ain’t where you’re from it’s where you’re at, as they say… But where are you from, and where are you at now?
I am originally from London, I did most of my time growing up in Hackney, East London. But I am currently living in Lisboa, Portugal.
Tell us a bit about your formative musical experiences… Early musical memories from siblings, parents, schoolmates… First record bought, first band/performances, and how you feel in love with the music you make now?
Growing up in vibrant London with African parents meant I was constantly surrounded by sounds. I think my earliest memories are of listening to African music that my parents would play at home. The tones within my parents dialect when talking on the phone to loved ones, especially my mom native language wolof… is super musical sounding.
The streets of London are full of so many different cultures. Co-existing in one space. So I think I was exposed and interested in sound from an early age… my ears were constantly stimulated.
Like most kids I think my taste started with the hand me down music choices of my older siblings and my parents. There’s quite a considerable age gap between me and my brothers and sister. So I listened to a lot of house, garage, acid and jungle and then my parents would play Tina Turner, Ebo Taylor and Prince. By the time I was a teenager my taste started to steer towards indie bands like blur & oasis and eventually more into the indie dance bloc party. This was a whole vibe.
Pj Harvey was my biggest inspiration to play guitar, I just thought she was so FKN cool and really she still is. “Stories from the city, Stories from the sea” was like a bible for me at one point in my life.
Give us a brief precis of what you’ve released to date and any other notable career landmarks…
SMTHNG SMTIME was a little project that I started in 2021 with Australia DJ/Producer Edseven our debut Ep actually did quite well and received lots of great feedback.
More recent I have playing shows supporting the lovely Keinemusik traveling to places like Dubai, Bali & Lisboa which have been unforgettable experience.
Also playing my first headline festival show in Brazil, this year has been full of some notable career landmarks. Hopefully more to come.
The new 12” for Razor N Tape is called ‘Do I Belong To You’ – that’s not one of the tracks on it though…
Talk us through the tracks on it… both musically and lyrically…
Off lately
I have definitely become more obsessed with the idea of love, it’s a subject we can never ever stop talking, learning and writing about.
Organic
The idea of the track was to write a conclusion to a relationship in the format of beautiful love letter 💌
Hopelessly romantic with my experience of the treatment I was experiencing while I was in love. The boundaries we don’t set until it’s too late blah blah blah.!
Nuffin but LUV
Working with JITWAM is great and always fun. He really is a very talented artist, so when we get together magic just flows.
We have been friends for a long time and now we are sorta neighbours.
It’s always easy to create music for me with someone I have a pre existing relationship with and honestly he’s definitely like a little brother to me.
We see each other regularly and jam ideas together, give each other advice and generally just care for each other. Safe space energy 🥹
Been Thinkin
In & out of Berlin in 48hrs, as always with all travel I included quick studio sessions, enter the room Owen Ross & Jonathon Walters: Late night grooves, smooth smoky tones and lively pumping beat …. The lyrics are about being slightly annoyed with someone that just keeps on wasting your time and doesn’t understand the role they are playing in this minor irritation.
The World
This song is very dear to me.
We saw a nice picture of you and Jimpster online hanging out together – how did that musical hook up happen and tell us what you think he’s brought to ‘Been Thinkin’ as a remixer
hahha that photo was actually taken at a good friend’s wedding. Jimpster and I actually met for the first time last year in Berlin as we were both billed to play at the most amazing club Heidigluten.
Already a huge fan of his work I was super excited to meet him, my set was just before his and I was a bit nervous that he was watching especially when he asked me to play longer, while he set up from the live set. The next day, when he posted about the gig. “Megatronic had killer set” immediately friends for life hahahah
So yes, he was naturally top of the list for remixing.
Kiko Navarro is good friends with the label (Razor N Tape), so this meeting was set up via Jared (label manager). Obviously amazing, because I have been listening to his work for years, especially the “Afroterraneo album” super beautiful piece of music.
Stavros is a very close and dear friend of mine from my time I used to live in Dubai, whenever we were in the car, my house, the club he would be singing. We always talked about making something together. Literally I woke up one morning starting making the bases to track “The World” and instantly I thought his voice would be perfect, with a little bit of nurturing and direction… Stavros produced melodies that perfectly fitted the track, and we wrote the lyrics together. The excitement was so real and fresh, it reminded me of my earlier songwriting days.
Tell us a bit about your activism as well – obviously dance music had a very political streak in its early days, but music can be a powerful agent of change, no?!
I think the word activism is a strong word for kinda work I do, I think it’s unfair to take such a title. As artists, our craft serves as our primary language, allowing us to convey our stories most effectively. We create music to share with the world and to help others. As an artist, my music is everything to me, and I believe it’s the best way I can contribute. A few months ago I released a charity single called “Rejoice Ft. Aku” independently to raise funds for the two initiatives supporting Sudan & Palestine. (more info on bandcamp link)
And what else are you up to musically at the moment? What are you hearing that’s inspiring you? Any more live/DJ or release action we should know about?
Musically everything, I am currently working on my next project with some amazing collaboration from artists all over the world… Now I have a flow back making music feeling natural again and I am not hiding tracks on my computer for no one to hear. Already looking forward to my 2025 era of sound.
To buy your 12″ vinyl cvopy of Megatronic’s ‘Do I Belong To You’ EP, click here
Pictures courtesy of @Natalie_lines