Against The Clock is a series where we give an artist 10 minutes in the studio and see what they come up with.
Ethiopian Records is the alias of Addis Ababa-based Endeguena Mulu, a driving force behind the city’s Ethiopiyawi electronic sound, which takes its cues from the country’s rich jazz scene of the 1960s and ’70s and modern sampling techniques.
Over the past few years, Mulu’s music has appeared on Washington, D.C.’s 1432 R label and Warp’s Arcola offshoot. We visited the producer at his studio where he delves into his own self-recorded sample library to build a track in 10 minutes using Ableton Live and MIDI controllers.
As with many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic has heavily affected artists in Ethiopia financially, with no support from institutions or grants. Ethiopian Records will be crowdfunding on Indiegogo to raise money to release his next double EP, Wel. You can support the project here and find the rest of his music on Bandcamp.
Listen to the final track below.
Filmed by Mia Zur-Szpiro
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