Every week, Bandwagon invites a guest to do a mix for us. Rather than a standard interview where the artist explains their influences, we figured it’d be more potent if you simply listened to the music.

We provide the context, they provide the sounds.

Bandwagon Mix returns this week with UNKNWN resident and XX:XX co-owner Mikail.

DJing since he was in his teens (thanks to his uncle, Manolet Dario, pioneer of dance music and DJ culture in Manila), the multi-genre DJ has performed alongside the likes of Kornel Kovacs, Four Tet, Crazy P, C'est Qui, and Jamie xx throughout his career - playing in Manila, London, Clockenflap in Hong Kong, and Wonderfruit in Thailand.

A true third culture kid, the Hong Kong-born, Rome-raised Mikail also spent 7 years in London, plus a year in Berlin where he worked under techno icon, Richie Hawtin. Pre-COVID-19, Mikail would split his time between Manila and Berlin, but now finds himself temporarily grounded in Manila.

When he's not behind the decks, Mikail is busy with More Rice, an Asia-based vinyl-only record label he co-founded in 2017, as well as being the Managing Director of CC:Concepts, the events company behind the Call Me By Your Name and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone concerts. 

Get to know more about Mikail below.

How did you get a start in DJing?

I had an interest in music and DJing since 13 or 14 already through my uncle, Manolet Dario, who I would come to visit on holidays. But an actual “start” I guess came when I was around 15 or 16. I got my first pair of decks, which naturally lead me to DJ most of my free time! I think my first actual gig was a friend's birthday party in Rome (where I grew up), think I was 17 so around 2004… and I remember convincing him to let me do “this DJ thing” as most didn’t really take it seriously at the time.

We've been in lockdown for a couple of months now, what do you miss most about playing in a club?

The togetherness and social interactions of like-minded people, the excitement you get from the music, seeing the familiar faces, the escape from daily life… there’s so much! Of course, playing music to people that appreciate it as well. It really is the space of the dance floor as a whole that I miss, it’s the combination of all of what I mentioned above, when it comes together it makes the dance floor a magical and special place that keeps on bringing people back…

What are you looking forward to when we get back to our new normal?

The "new normal" is such an abstract concept to think about as there is so much uncertainty right now. First of all, getting back on to a dance floor would be amazing, but right now I don’t know when normal will be back for that kind of stuff since a packed dance floor is very anti-social-distancing. Next to that would be NATURE - to go on a hike, a bike trip, the beach…just spend some time outside of the city. That’s extremely important to me since being stuck in a concrete jungle does take its toll.

Listen to Mikail's Bandwagon Mix here:

Tracklist:

Mirror Lakes - Bob Holroyd

Blood In My Mouth - Djrum

7:30 (In Pads) - Suzanne Kraft

Creature, Pt. 1 - Djrum

Mitosi - Franco Nanni

Symbol #9.2 - Synth Sense

Prologue (Djrum Remix) - Grandbrothers

Intrication - Burnt Friedman

Flyby VFR - Skee Mask

(Untitled) - AFX

Dezlegat La Capat - Petre Inspirescu

Massari and Me - DJ Plead

Leafs - Recondite

Teen Angst (Luciano Remix) - M83

Jonas - Franco Nanni

Amarsi Un Pò (Adriatic Sun Edit) - Lucio Battisti