Dazed Mix: Only Fire

With the UK heatwave in full blast, this month’s Dazed Mix is brought to you by Croatian techno prodigy Only Fire. The 22-year-old has taken on the underground electronic circuit with his hypersexual tracks that draw equally from the futuristic sounds of SOPHIE as the dirty lyricism of CupCakke. His 2020 album Double Penetration is a prime example of this: “You drive my car/ I drive your dick,” goes the instantaneously recognisable hook on “ASMR” against a thudding 4/4 hook. 

For his Dazed Mix, the producer has chosen a high-octane combination of electronic pop’s finest – Rosalía, Rico Nasty, Tommy Genesis and SOPHIE – as well as some of his own stellar tracks. “These are some of my favourite tracks at the moment that I will for sure have on repeat this summer, I hope the listeners enjoy this mix as much as I enjoyed making it,” he says. Enjoyed by the poolside or at a sweaty basement rager, the music is euphoric and XXXplicit – tuck in.

Happy Summer! Do you have any plans this year?

Only Fire: Happy Summer to you too! I have many plans, my current priority is to release some new music as soon as possible. I am just very messy when it comes to finishing songs or beats I started, so I often find myself starting something completely new even though I have yet to finish a song I was working on like a day before. At the moment I’m focused on revisiting my favourite projects I started this year and finishing them so I can finally release them. There are also some very exciting collabs I’m working on that I can’t wait to drop.

What are some of your earliest memories of music? Have they influenced your sound at all?

Only Fire: I would say it’s probably the game SingStar that I always used to play on my PlayStation 2 as a kid. It was something like a karaoke game and you had to hit the right notes to get points. I remember always choosing “Complicated” by Avril or “Scandalous” by Mis-Teeq. I wouldn’t say these influenced my sound, but one of the first more sexual songs I used to always listen to when younger was “Birthday Cake” by Rihanna. I found the beat and her flow on it really catchy and I don’t think I even understood what she was singing about at the time it came out, I just thought it was a fun song to celebrate birthdays. I think that one definitely had some influence on the sexual themes of my songs.

What’s your experience of the pandemic been like? Did you spend it focusing on music?

Only Fire: I don’t really go out to the clubs here in Croatia that much because I don’t like the scene here. So the pandemic didn’t have that much impact on my going out life. I used to spend most days in Zagreb making beats and stuff at home and that’s how most of my days during the pandemic have looked as well.

Do you have any favourite live shows post-pandemic and why?

Only Fire: The first live show I had was in October last year for Halloween in Paris and it was so good! I loved every show I did afterwards too, and some of my favourite ones were when supporting Shygirl on her UK tour. It was amazing hearing the audience singing my lyrics knowing I was only the opening act and everyone came there for her. She killed all these shows too, of course. It was a really fun experience.

Tell us about your Dazed mix.

Only Fire: I would describe it as all over the place. I listen to a lot of genres so I always try to include more of them in my set, that’s what I did here too. I started the mix with some of the more reggaeton-ish tracks like SAOKO and El Alma Que Te Trajo which I think fit the summer vibe perfectly, and it slowly progresses to some more ‘usual’ electronic stuff. These are some of my favourite tracks at the moment that I will for sure have on repeat this summer, I hope the listeners enjoy this mix as much as I enjoyed making it.

Tracklist 

1. ROSALÍA - SAOKO
2. Giudi - Butterfly (Space Candy Remix)
3. cupcakKe - Vagina (Only Fire Remix)
4. Safety Trance & Arca - El Alma Que Te Trajo
5. Only Fire - Rain on Me
6. Rema - Carry
7. Rico Nasty - Pussy Poppin (I Don’t Really Talk Like This)
8. Tommy Genesis - Play With It
9. xR, Madge & Moon Bounce - Three Drinks
10. Tinashe & ZHU - Die a Little Bit (feat. Ms Banks) [Remix]
11. Tazer & Tink - Wet Dollars
12. Florentino, Isabella Lovestory & MC Buzzz - Fuego (feat. Mc Baby Perigosa)
13. Floating Points - Grammar
14. Only Fire - ASMR
15. Chase Icon - Nancy
16. Overmono - Bby x Shygirl - BB
17. COUCOU CHLOE - WIZZ
18. SOPHIE - Ponyboy (Megadog) x Cardi B - WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)
19. River Moon - Shake Dat
20. Only Fire - Cheeks (feat. Chase Icon)