Mayurashka, based in Tokyo, Japan, connected through music through classical piano while in school, but she’s made a name for herself through her DJing, a skill she’s been developing since the age of 15. Her sets, which mix techno, new wave, disco, and house, have appeared on platforms like NTS Radio and Berlin Community Radio, but since 2020 she’s been focusing more on production—an ambition of her’s since childhood. In December 2021, she delivered two of her early tracks to Amsterdam label Osàre! Editions’ Donne Che Corrono Coi Lupi compilation, and earlier this year she put out Waterskipps, a debut EP. More recently, she’s contributed “Masakane” to XLR8R+039, which she based on various Italo house and country samples from her record collection. (You can download that full package here.)

To celebrate the release, Mayurashka has delivered an XLR8R podcast, one of the first DJ sets she’s released for nearly three years. To kick things off, she’s shared some of her unreleased music, and from there she jumps into tracks that she played when she first started DJing and that have influenced her own songwriting. Across its 60 minute run-time, you’ll hear techno, disco, and house, crafting an engrossing mix of left-field electronic music filled hypnotic club jams of the highest order.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I have a request for a DJ mix, so I am preparing for that, and working hard on a production.

02. What have you been listening to recently? 
I’ve been listening to a lot of records I bought from Discogs, in particular Krautrock, disco, and ambient.

03. Where and when did you record this mix?
This mix was recorded at home in late July.

04. You haven’t been releasing too many DJ mixes. How was it recording this one?
Recording is always nerve-wracking. And you have to check the recording so many times and reassemble the set. But the set that I worked so hard to create is a set that will become my favorite, and it’ll be listened to frequently in the future.

05. How did you go about choosing the tracks that you’ve included?
I decided to start with my own unreleased music for the first song. From there, I came up with a story and chose songs from friends overseas, songs I played when I first started DJing, and songs that influenced my own songwriting.

06. You released a track on XLR8R+ recently. When can we hear more music from you?
I have an EP ready to go but, due to pressing delays, it may be released later this year. I’m currently working on another proposal and one more for next year.

07. What’s next on your horizon?
My most recent task is to prepare well for a music festival scheduled for the fall. And my dream is to travel the world as a DJ in the near future.

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel to listen offline, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Mayurashka “UPPERHORSE” (Unreleased)      
02. Eirwud Mudwasser “Shivers”(Balearic Social)
03. Lemon Jelly “’88 aka Come Down On Me” (XL Recordings)
04. Air “Travelling Without Moving Trip 8” (SSR Records)
05. Popol Vuh “Schnee” (Thomas Fehlmann Flow Mix) (Unknown)
06. Ekambi Brillant “Afrika Afrika” (John Talabot & Pional ‘Lost Scripts’ Re-rub)(Africa Seven)     
07. Deixa Tudo Fluir feat. Nathan Haines (Ray Mang Sambadrone Beats) “Saidêra” (Let’s Play House)
08. Anton Klint “Up North” (PUBLIC POSSESSION)
09. Warp Factor 9 “The Atmospherian” (Tornado Wallace Remix) (ESP Institute)
10. The Vendetta Suite “Sirius” (Hell Yeah Recordings)
11. Jonathan Fitoussi / Clemens Hourrière “Poissons volants” (Obliques)
12. hopper8 “Millia” (Unknown)
13. K-rAd “114_Min2ModRedo” (Unknown)
14. Secret Circuit “Bamboo Tanzen” (Unknown)
15. Gerardo Frisina “Shingara” (Schema)
16. CiM “First” (Delsin)
17. Adrian Lenz “No Prisoners” (Harmonious Thelonious Remix) (Blank Mind)  
18. Leonid “Galax” (Dolly)
19. Shinichi Atobe “So Good, So Right 2” (DDS)
20. Cousin “TUB2” (Unknown)
21. Mesec u Šolji “Bastion” (PGP RTB)
22. Ess O Ess “Cantillate” (Suzanne Kraft Remix) (Not An Animal)
23. A Certain Ratio “Spirit Dance” (A&M Records)
24. Odopt “Lower Ground Floor 3” (Unknown)