This month we’re joined by a producer & DJ that we’ve been a huge supporter of here at Phonica over the years. If you’re one of our regulars, you’ve definitely seen his records up on our wall whether he’s throwing down for Phil South’s Golf Channel Recordings, Eric Duncan’s Keep It Cheap, the always on point ESP Institute or his very own My Rules imprint which has supplied some of our favourite edits and remixes in recent times including the outstanding remixes of Todd Terje’s Inspector Norse & Strandbar and most recently The Creams' ‘Let’s’. Before embarking on his solo career Justin Van Der Volgen was also part of the ‘post-punk-funk’ outfits ‘!!!’ (pronounced ‘chk chk chk’) and ‘Out Hud’. While he was with the bands Justin produced each album which definitely helped him hone his ‘rough and ready’ production methods that we just can’t get enough of! Today the Brooklyn based producer throws down a seamless blend of uplifting House and Disco to welcome in the spring season! Enjoy!

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Hey Justin! How are you doing and what have you been up to lately?
Hi, thanks for inviting me to do a mix. I've been up to the usual lately, going to the studio during the week working on remixes and productions and then djing on weekends.

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve prepared for us today?
The mix was recorded last week at my studio in Bed Stuy using a UREI 1620 mixer, some old CDj 200's and one Technics 1200.  No crazy concept behind it, its mainly new music with a couple older things that i thought fit.

What's been inspiring you these days?
Inspiration comes from everywhere, new music, old music, good food, kung fu movies, comedy, skate videos, coffee, hanging out with friends, talking with my girlfriend. I was recently roped into joining a Wednesday night bowling league by my friends and DJ's The Almond Brothers and find the bowling alley a pretty interesting mix of society.

You're an acclaimed remixer and even Gerd Janson said he might need to "cut my own hands off" to stop from reaching for one your edits. Do you have any favourite remixes from other artists at the moment?
Thats nice of Gerd to say, gonna have to thank him for that. I like this new remix that Will did.

You've been living in NYC for a while and your name is synonymous with the city's music scene. What would you recommend checking out if you were visiting the city?
I've been in NY for 15 years now, and there is so much to do here. As far as nightlife, you can find everything from small intimate jams to the more big room style clubs.  Last weekend I went to a house party in the East Village where my friends Moontan were DJing, It was a top level apartment, a total DIY setup, the door charge was 5 bucks and they had a homemade bar. It was completely packed and going off. It went late and there were no problems with the cops. Whatever your interested in is here, you just need to look for it.

You've collaborated with many different artists over the years, are there new projects we can look forward to?
Slowly working to finish up some Happy Family stuff with Eric Duncan and would be great to do some more things with Doug Lee as TBD but I think all of us are pretty busy on our own so I'll just have to see how things go.

...and your solo output? We're huge fans of the My Rules Imprint!
Yes, really looking forward to releasing more My Rules records this year, just had The Creams record come out in January, the next one is scheduled for early June.

We know you're a real digger and always mixing up dusty finds with new jams, care to share a recent discovery?

E. Live - Flotational Device. This is a record from the last 6 months but sounds old. It's a 7" on the Star Creature label that I think is from Chicago.  It has really good keys and could be described as "funky and jazzy" in the best way.

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