Since around 2003, Ostrich has carved a path as a DJ and producer, pushing a minimalistic sound that pulls from downtempo, dub, deep house, and techno. As a DJ, these disparate sounds are woven together in a creative arch at venues such as Stereo Montreal—where he is resident and musical director—Berghain/Panorama Bar, Output NY, BPM Festival, SXM Festival in Saint Martin, and D-Edge in Sao Paulo, among many others.

On the production front, he follows a similar sonic ethos, creating enticing, groove-led cuts that have found their way to labels including Leftroom Records, Ark To Ashes, High Seas Over, and Souvenir Music, and features on John Digweed’s Transitions radio show, Andre Galluzzi’s The Sound of Berlin 2010, and Ryan Crosson and Matt Tolfrey’s Leftroom Records compilation.

The mix he has shared today gives a glimpse into how a night with Ostrich would start, flowing through deep and dubby ambient textures to more housey grooves as the night progresses.

You can download and stream the mix below.

Ostrich will be playing alongside Nicole Moudaber, The W4rriors, Izzy Vadim b2b Toast, and more at this weekend’s edition of Piknic Electronik in Montreal. You can get tickets to the event here.

Where and when was the mix recorded?

This is an excerpt from a recent live and unedited recording of an eight-hour open-to-close set at Stereo in July. It captures the slow and steady build of how I get in my groove during the early hours of an extended set.

On what equipment did you record the mix?

3 CDJs + 1 Turntable + Xone 92

You’re the musical director and resident at Stereo Montreal, can you describe the club and musical ethos for those that haven’t been?

There’s no other place in the world quite like Stereo. It’s a 700-person after-hours club, operating without an alcohol license between the hours of 2 a.m. and 10 a.m., generally, and has been running for 18 years. Given the legal setback of not being able to serve alcohol in an after-hours, it’s not as easy to entice audiences with riskier bookings. However, StereoBar is our 300 capacity, booze-serving club located in the basement which operates independently from Stereo and during bar hours where I introduce lesser-known acts to the city. I also like to highlight our resident DJs by giving them as much playtime and visibility as an international headliner. I firmly believe that resident DJs are ambassadors of our local communities, so instead of belittling their importance, they deserve to be celebrated. Montreal has always had a soft spot for techno, tribal, and progressive house, and these are the sounds that have been embedded in the city’s after-hours culture and helped sculpt the sound we’re most known for at Stereo. Whereas the musical direction that I curate at StereoBar sticks to a more minimal, deep house, and tech house approach.

In regards to electronic music, what do you think sets Montreal apart from other cities? And how do you see it moving forward in the coming years?

Montreal is without a doubt the most open-minded city compared to the rest of Canada. It’s a diverse community with a lot of inspiration enriched from the arts and its multicultural background. For example, the city is the home of MUTEK, where they take pride in exclusively booking 98% live acts who the general audience most likely have never heard of before. It’s a pleasantly refreshing approach when the majority of the world’s music festivals hire the same recycled names over and over again. Piknic Electronik and Igloofest play important roles in the city’s musical diversity and growth, so overall the city is in reliable hands.

What else do you have coming up this year?

September’s a little hectic for my standards since I prefer not to gig as often in my own city, but it’s not too bad when I’m playing all my favorite venues before leaving on tour through the Middle East and Europe in October.

You can find all of Ostrich’s upcoming tour dates below.

September 2 – StereoBar
September 4 – Piknic Electronik (w/ Nicole Moudaber)
September 8 – Stereo (w/ Jeff Mills)
September 14 – Salon Daomé (w/ Brawther)
September 30 – StereoBar
October 5 – Analog Room, Dubai
October 6 – Desimana, Cairo
October 13 – Tribe, Beirut
October 21 – Vatos Locos @ ADE, Amsterdam
October 22 – Kater Blau, Berlin
October 28 – Kristal Club, Romania

Tracklisting:

1. Andrea “Floating” [Ilian Tape]
2. Pablo Bolivar “Leaves Without Shadows” (Youandme Ambient Version) [Seven Villas]
3. Sebastian Mullaert “Every Moment, I Am” [Apollo]
4. Jackit Tape “Panopticon” [Play Groove]
5. Deaf Pillow “Elipsis” [Moral Fiber]
6. Pancratio “Able To Dream” [Heko]
7. Apollo Powder “Ataraxie” [Neo Apparatus]
8. F.eht “007” [Samani]
9. Ozel Ab “Positronic Dreams” [Workshop]
10. Marco Buratti “Hit Me When I Say Cheese” [Tip Tap]
11. Tolga Fidan & Roustam “Brodsky Beat” [Moscow]
12. Satoshi Tomiie “#14” (Cab Drivers Remix 2) [Abstract Architecture]
13. Steve O’Sullivan & Yossi Amoyal “Singularity” [Sushitech]
14. Aftahrs “Action” [Celestial]
15. Lee Burton “Gadzcleanoein” [Caph]
16. The Willers Brothers “Quantise” [EWax]
17. 2vilas “6446” [Organic]
18. Alexandar Kyosev “Rouan” [Caph]
19. Mark D FunKtion “Take One” [Son Of Rah]
20. Seb Zito “Appletizer” (Janeret Remix) [Hund]