\u201cI must say, the hardest challenge for me is to not make the tracks too busy with all kinds of percussion layers,\u201d says Nicola Mauskovic. \u201cI really like creating new rhythms, but it\u2019s not always beneficial for the song to completely squeeze it full of busy congas and guiras.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seems like a sensible approach, given that the group the Amsterdam-based musician and producer leads, The Mauskovic Dance Band, makes music that\u2019s already packed to bursting with all kinds of stuff. Their first full album, an eponymous release on the Soundway label last year (after several EPs on Swiss imprint Bongo Joe), showcased their tangle of dizzy space disco, effervescent Afro-Colombian motifs, and outr\u00e9 NYC punk-funk, steeped in a stew of hallucinogenic howls and haunting chants, rubber-band basslines, eerie synth licks and enigmatic echoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sounds like a lot of upbeat fun, and it is, but that\u2019s a bit deceptive. Insinuated into the MDB\u2019s sound is a subtle but certain streak of unease. \u201cI think the hypnotic element in our music, from the repetitive rhythms, gives it kind of a darker atmosphere,\u201d says Mauskovic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have the feeling some people tend to see rhythmic music as happy music,\u201d Mauskovic continues. \u201cOr as soon if there is an upbeat groove, and congas or other percussion, the music is party music. Which for me isn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n