Dazed Mix: Ziúr

“Sorry I don’t know why I brought that up, I think that genuine emotion just sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable.” Five minutes into her Dazed Mix, Ziúr launches a track that repeats these words until they gradually warp into obscurity. It’s placed right before a section of an incredibly open and vulnerably emotional track from Yves Tumor. The contrast feels fitting, an encapsulation of how as a DJ and also as a producer, Ziúr doesn’t work with a linear path – there are often U-turns in mood.

The Berlin-based producer has released two EPs so far – one on independent Montreal techno and club label Infinite Machine, and one for female-identifying and non-binary focused British label Objects Limited. Her coarse, glitching, breakneck take on club music is revitalising and there’s more to come later this year in the form of an album released jointly by Planet Mu and Objects Limited.

We caught up with her before her set at London clubnight Wild Combination’s first birthday celebration, where she’ll be joined by other DJs including Cõvco and Wild Combination co-founders Pure Joy and Maya.

A lot of people’s first introduction to Ziúr was through your Deeform EP on Objects Limited last year, but that wasn’t your first released collection of music or the extent of your involvement with music. Could you talk about what you were doing before that?

Ziúr: The whole story is not as linear as it might seem. Initially I self-released a mixtape online, which kinda got a little lost out there. My debut EP Taiga came out on Infinite Machine in July a few months before Deeform. The Objects Limited release actually contained older tracks, which were part of the mixtape plus the two ‘in-between ones’ I mentioned earlier. I’ve always been involved with music before I started Ziúr; I came from a punk background and had been playing music in bands since the late 90s. It did take me a long time to trust my skills enough to go solo and believe in my own musical vision. With Ziúr it feels like I basically arrived somewhere for the first time or maybe at least I can do a little pit stop since I don’t believe in stagnation. I’ll always keep moving.

Your debut album for Planet Mu and Objects Limited is currently in the works; how far along with it are you and what ideas or themes is it playing with?

Ziúr: I’m quite far when it comes to collecting new tracks for the album, especially in the last months I've just been hiding and writing new music. Ideally I’ll write another handful of tracks and then sort out what goes on the actual thing. There are some spoilers in the mix, oops. General ideas that come with my music are rather abstract. I very often think about shifts of energies in all forms, moon cycles, power dynamics and the universe in its entirety which might sound mighty hippie right now but I can tell you I’m not.

“I know my sets are a lot to take in and that they’re hard to digest... but it really pays off when it hits the right spot” – Ziúr

A contrast between harsh and soft runs through both your productions and style of DJing. You’ve said that your production process is an emotional one – what goes through your head when you sit down to make a track?

Ziúr: I believe you can just tell that something is harsh when you have a soft side to compare it to. If everything is amazing then nothing is, right? It used to be easier giving insights on my inner self in connection to the musical output when I was still writing lyrics for sure, at least on a superficial level. Now the connection between emotional stand and actual track is still as strong as it was before just it's much harder to detect. Generally I’m rather feeding of an emotional stand than a factual one but this gives me the chance to completely invest myself. I try to not think too much when I write music and much rather drift along with where it takes me but this for me is the ideal state of how to be as present in my productions as I possibly can be.

You started a party called BOO HOO in Berlin in 2015. What might people expect to experience in terms of music and atmosphere and energy if they came to one of the nights?

Ziúr: With BOO HOO we wanna give artists a forum that belong to marginalised groups just because every promoter should consider that and check their bookings for an overflow of white cis dudes. We still book ‘em, just not too many. Mostly we wanna create an environment that we feel comfortable in ourselves and I believe we’re succeeding with it. It’s really just another microscopic approach of creating an open space which in the end is something wildly mixed where people can feel welcome no matter what. We do have a strong focus on music at this party, we don’t pity book people just because they’re hitting the criteria. Musically it can turn out to be quite diverse, anything from deconstructed club music to (yes we did just book) a gospel set.

“When it comes to art in general I think polarising is the way to go – mediocrity kills all passion” – Ziúr

When you’re behind the booth on the decks, what emotions and energy are you looking to convey to your audience?

Ziúr: I know my sets are a lot to take in and that they’re hard to digest. When I play I demand attention and it often feels like this seems too much to ask from a club kid but it really pays off when it hits the right spot in people. I don’t compromise and I'm not here to please anyone since this would just blur my artistic vision. When it comes to art in general I think polarising is the way to go – mediocrity kills all passion. In the end I much rather prefer people being repelled by my approach than if I put them to sleep. Nothing kills my vibe more than a snooze fest. 

Your mix finishes with an amazing track that pulls together Britney Spears’ ‘Everytime’ and the Twin Peaks theme, what can you tell us about it?

Ziúr: I literally heard the track the first time on Sunday morning after hanging out at a friends place coming home from a night out and it was one of the most pleasing things I heard in a while. All I know is that it’s been out there for some years already and I thought it would be nice to finish the mix with the greatest possible amount of harmony.

TRACKLIST

01. Ziúr – ???
02. Ase Manual – “Euro Tears”
03. GIL – ???
04. Cool For You – “Stabilized, Yes”
05. Yves Tumor – “Limerence”
06. Fawkes – “La Ghoula”
07. Kablam – ???
08. Bonaventure – “Synchronicity”
09. Keru Not Ever – “Blue Strobe Pastiche”
10. Merca Bae – “Intocable”
11. Wolf & 111X – “Wounded Alien” (Astrosuka remix)
12. Air Max ‘97 – “Suede”
13. Swan Meat & DJ Heroin – “Vespers”
14. Perera Elsewhere – “Tomorrow South”
15. Fiordmoss – “Motherland” (Ziúr remix)
16. Bungalovv – “Tregua”
17. Ziúr – ???
18. Jonathan Fitoussi and Clemens Hourriere – “Drum Circle” (Aïsha Devi edit)
19. Jlin – “Nandi”
20. Britney Spears – “Everytime” x Angelo Badalamenti – “Falling” (instrumental)

Ziur plays Wild Combination at Hackney’s The Yard with Superfície, Cõvco and Reckonwrong on March 10