kinetic mix 038: aasana "the river beneath the river"
After a brief hiatus, we're back with a new mix from Nantes based and Macadam's Artist Programmer Aasana
Welcome to our newsletter sharing our latest mixtapes, merch & events curated by Dj wiggles 🌀
After a brief hiatus, we’re back with our mix series in a slightly different format. Going forward we’ll be curating 4 artists to provide a mix for us each season, which will be accompanied by Joris Van Den Einden’s beautiful photography.
This first season will be visualised by his '‘Glass Land’ thesis project, which delves into the Dutch Westland region’s many beautiful green houses.
Big love to Joris for his time & effort on this, we’re so happy to have him on board and feel like his photos perfectly encapsulate the series.
The first episode of our new format is from Nantes based DJ and curator Aasana, exploring an unconscious inner power through an extremely beautiful and organic mix traversing ambient, breaks, techno and DnB.
Name / pronouns / where do you live
Anaëlle / She·Her / Nantes (FR)
Tell us about the concept of this mix
For several months now, I have been taking the time to explore Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ book Women Who Run with the Wolves. She specifically discusses the notion of Rio Abajo Rio, the River beneath the river, which echoes the depths of the unconscious and the instinctive wisdom that flows within us, even when we are unaware of it. She uses this metaphor to illustrate the primal life force and feminine intuition that exist beneath the surface of our daily lives.
This underground river symbolises natural instincts, ancestral knowledge, and creativity that continue to flow within us, even when they are sometimes stifled by social or personal pressures. A book that is both inspiring and unsettling, as it deeply resonates with my life’s quest today.
This set is a search for reconnection with Rio Abajo Rio, a journey toward my purest and deepest essence—my inner power—in order to reclaim my intuitive nature.
From a purely aesthetic perspective, this set is woven with Ambient, Techno, Breaks, Abstract, and D’n’B sounds, all tied together by a percussive and organic universe.
How has your environment past and present influenced your sound and approach to music?
I have been immersed in music since I was a child. My parents were involved in the Hard Rock scene. On my mother’s side, part of my family is from Brittany, so Breton music also played a big role in my childhood.
When I was old enough to go out, I dived into so many different scenes—Tribe, Hardcore, and Trance through Raves and Free Parties, Techno to House, Dubstep to D’n’B through clubs and festivals, Dub, Experimental Music, Noise, Ambient, Punk through alternative spaces and squats. This opened countless doors for me, leading to interconnected musical worlds.
Later, my job at Macadam also broadened my musical perspective, thanks to its artistic direction. That's why I generally need to move between different musical styles. My musical approach is entirely based on my feelings, emotions, moods, and, of course, the connection with the crowd when I play.
This is also why I love b2b sets—they push me out of my comfort zone and allow me to discover even more.
You mentioned you work at Macadam in Nantes, we haven’t been yet but have heard great things - can you tell us a little bit more the role & your approach to curation?
I've been working at Macadam for seven years, starting as an intern and then as a Community Manager until Covid. In 2020/2021, I became the Artistic Director and associate of Macadam.
I work both on programming our own events (including different formats like DIVA & Gloria, as well as classical nights) and curating events for local crews. Macadam's main mission is to develop the local scene, support national and international emergence, and foster diversity in the audience by offering an eclectic program that highlights subcultures.
At the same time, we promote a strong socio-political vision, raising awareness among our audiences about the values and history of electronic music—particularly the respect for others, which translates into an intersectional fight against discrimination, including anti-racist, queer, and feminist struggles.
We also work closely with organisations focused on harm reduction and the fight against gender-based and sexual violence in nightlife settings. Overall, we aim to keep alive the cultures that shaped us by raising awareness through music programming, talks, and our social media platforms.
You also set up the ‘Rapid Eye Movement’ podcast series, can you tell us a bit more your ideas behind this?
Since childhood, I’ve had a special connection with my dreams. I have experienced many lucid dreams and often found myself retreating into that world because they allowed me to escape reality. I had reached a point where I would look forward to the night, as I felt I could experience things more comfortably there than during the day, in real life.
At the same time, I talked a lot about it with my grandmother, who also dreams a lot. Unlike me, she tended not to like them. She always told me that some of her dreams were unpleasant because she had the feeling that, at times, they come true.
I started dreaming much less when I began working after my studies. In recent years, I have gradually been able to remember my dreams again. It’s a fact— as we grow older, we gradually drift away from our dreams.
These are, in particular, the notions of heritage, archiving, and imagination that has driven me to create this brand-new project, which is still in development. The idea is to collect dreams through various mediums, such as podcasts, writing, photography, video, and other graphic arts.
We’ve listened to a few of your recordings & you tend to focus on textures and atmosphere rather than genre, can you tell us a bit about your approach to putting a set or mix together?
I tend to blend genres, focusing primarily on the colour of the set, which becomes my guiding thread. I need to embark on a journey through my sets, especially during long slots.
For example, a one-hour set isn’t enough for me—it never gives me the time to fully express myself. I love crafting smooth and extended introductions, sometimes even producing them myself to immerse the listener in a story. I often start slowly, gradually increasing the tempo… or not. I also feel the need to incorporate moments of pause, almost silent breaths.
I shape my sets through textures and colours. I have a visual memory, and I think my way of perceiving music is quite similar, highly cinematic, often blending music and imagery. More and more, I integrate samples to bring subtle and refined touches, leading to a universe that oscillates between psychedelic, percussive, and organic sounds.
What’s next for you - any cool gigs or curations coming up?
I've got a lot of cool dates coming up, but the most exciting is the 10-day residency at a venue in Nantes called Trempo, in collaboration with the city of Recife (Brazil), the town where my grandma was born.
I'll be doing this residency with a great artist from there, IDLIBRA. I'm really excited to be working and experimenting in production, as I don't have much space and time to practice in everyday life.
What’s a party / club you haven’t been to but you’d like to?
Lately, I can't stop thinking about the Abyss event organised by Darwin, coming up at Open Ground, where the objective is to offer a weekend of sonic exploration, blending psychedelic music with wellness and spiritual practices, including breathwork, yoga, and slow, introspective music.
The lineup is incredible: Shackleton LIVE, Mama Snake, Laurel Halo, Dengue Dengue Dengue, Lena Willikens, Richard Akingbehin, Jurango, EMA, Howdu LIVE, Basic Chanel, Darwin. All of these artists inspire me greatly
a local party you’d like to big up?
It's too hard to choose just one party / crew :
Tissé Collectif , Hidden Rhythms, Chouette Journal, MÄR, Continuum, Spacy Crew
a local DJ you’d like to big up?
Same here, it’s a list with a few artists who deserve to be more well-known. Nuannss , Princ3kx , MiEL
what was your latest (positive) clubbing experience?
not a club but a festival, Parallel Festival.
The last mixes you listened to?
The last dj / producer you discovered?
Lamusa II
The last record you bought?
Digital was ‘Seeing Through Dimitri Talbot’ & vinyl ‘Brutal Bill - Destiny’
An all time favourite mix?
Your dream b2b?
Ambient b2b with Biosphere, dancefloor b2b with Dj Plead, JASSS or Benedikt Frey.
Your dream gig?
CTM 🤷♀️
summarise this mix in three words
Psychedelic - Primal - Earthy
kinetic mix 038: aasana "the river beneath the river"
Things you might have missed:
The latest episode from our kiosk ‘outsiders’ residency with LNR & Dj wiggles
We’ll be announcing our next EP next week, keep your eyes peeled
We’ll also be announcing a release party in collaboration with POS in Amsterdam on May 31st - we’re so so excited for this & hope some of our Dutch friends can make it, €10 tickets here»
Sadly I had the flu last week and couldn’t stay beyond the first couple of hours for our party last Friday with Woody92, dan nicholls, Colell & LNR & so I can’t do my usual write up about it, but want to say a big thank you to all the artists and everyone that came, I’ve heard it was amazing so am very very happy that the show went on without me <3
We’ll be planning something extra special for Oct / November time so watch this space 👀
Big big love as always!!!
kinetic xx