Dawn Razor, the alias of Ruslan Fomichev, has been a regular on the XLR8R pages since we launched our submissions portal in 2018. An enigmatic Russian artist, Ruslan grew up in a small town called Naro-Fominsk on the outskirts of Moscow, and he found house and techno through old school rap and hip-hop. His journey in music began around 2003 when he began playing records at local parties, with a focus on breaks and trance, but it wasn’t until 2008 that he started trying to actually make music. “I didn’t have any musical background so it was all kind of self-studying and a poke method,” he tells XLR8R. His first records, experiments in prog-trance, came under his Adam Antine alias, but his pathway changed in 2015 when he moved towards electro, techno, mutated bass, and modern breakbeat as Dawn Razor. After a handful of single-track compilation releases on Hypnotic Room, Intelligenzia Records, and ARTS, he has put out material on R & S Records and Planet Rhythm Records. Last year, he shared “20for20,” via XLR8R+, fusing broken-beat grooves with razor-sharp percussion alongside tracks from STL, Enrica Falqui, and Nemo Vachez—and we thought now would be a good time to get him in for a podcast.

As a touring DJ, Ruslan is an adamant explorer of breaks, bass, and trance, and this mix, recorded in his home studio earlier this month, is no different. Across its one-hour run-time, Fomichev sprinkles his soon-to-be-released work alongside some of his favorite heaters from close friends.

01. What have you been up to recently? 
Recently, I’ve been working on new music and preparing for upcoming performances. I’ve been collaborating with other artists in some exciting projects.

02. How was your 2022? 
2022 was a challenging year but I was able to keep creating music. It was hard to keep up with my studio production regime so lots of 2022 releases are the ones I completed years ago.

03. Where and when did you record this mix? 
I recorded this mix at my home studio in about few weeks ago.

04. What setup did you use? 
I used Ableton as my primary DAW with two Allen & Heath Xone K2 controls and an Ableton Push.

05. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included? 
I chose tracks based on what I felt would create an interesting journey for the listener. I wanted to present the variety of sounds that inspired me during recent years, including fresh stuff from my favorite artists together with some old heaters I always use in my sets. There’s lots of my own material, both released and forthcoming, but also tracks from my friends. This mix is mostly broken beats of all kinds, from UK breakbeat and electro to dubstep and even jungle-flavored stuff. There’s also some post-trance vibes.

06. How does it compare to what we might hear you play live? 
My DJ sets tend to be a bit more improvisational and can include more unreleased music and remixes, but this mix really shows all the influences that take place in my performances.

07. What’s next on your horizon? 
This year I’ve decided to pay more attention to my Adam Antine alias because I have lots of stuff with a more slow-groove house and breakbeat mood. I have some exciting music coming out soon on some great labels and I’m also looking forward to playing more live shows.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Adam Antine & ArcheTEch “Gradient” (Unreleased)
02. Dawn Razor “Fatherhood” (Cosmo Lopez Remix) (Diffuse Reality)
03. Szare “Leaden Sky” (Original Mix) (Frozen Border)
04. Dawn Razor “Typhoon” (Scuffed)
05. Rnbws “Bounce Your Body” (Unreleased)
06. Zia “Fracture” (Alexi Delano Remix) (Turbo)
07. Dawn Razor “Arp it Up” (DEXT)
08. Kareem El Morr “How to Bring Down Your Government” (Rakim’s Stay in Bed Mix) (RFR Records)
09. Boulderhead “Golden Light” (Yellow Island Records)
10. James Shinra “Ekko” (Analogical Force)
11. DD 2 “Infinite” (The Final Experiment)
12. Dawn Razor “Dobroe Utro” (Unreleased)
13. Hatewax “ID” (Unreleased)
14. Dawn Razor & ArcheTech “Wide Open” (Unreleased)
15. Sensient “Madmans Playroom” (Sensient breaks remix)
16. Graze “Coax” (New Kanada)
17. CW-A “1212-Dehex” (Parachute)
18. Rnbws “54321 V2” (Unreleased)
19. Commoner “Gurumier” (Unreleased)
20. CRAZED (BR) “808 Do Vapo” (Yellow Island Records)
21. Inigo Kennedy “Tribulations” (Ultranoise Remix) (Bazovoe Techno)
22. Soul Edifice “Come On” (Vernacular Records)
23. Errortica “Welcome to the Family” (feat. Neverpais) (WARNING)
24. Low Tape “This” (Unreleased)
25. Justin Jay, beez & Nick D “Hi Yuhhh” (BangersOnly)
26. Pugilist & Tamen “Lithium” (DEXT)
27. Dawn Razor & ArcheTEch “Intervals” (Unreleased)