The enigmatic Inga Mauer delivers a club mix that smashes all pretension.

Just back from immersing herself in the wilderness and solitude of the Ural mountains, we caught up with the free spirited artist to hear about her state of being and new projects on the horizon.

Hey Inga, how are you spending your days?

Hi Tom, I have been traveling quite a lot in August and September. Most of the time I’m spending my days in nature. Immortal mountains know neither corona, nor politics, nor business. Nature makes me forget about trifles. It heals and makes you destroy your self-absorption. Only in this state my ability to create grows.

It’s of course been an unusual and intense year for everyone, how have you navigated it? It sounds like despite the music business being on a long pause, you’ve been keeping busy… Can you tell us a bit more about where you’ve been investing your time?

First of all I wish health to everyone. “Staying Home” was the most annoying thing for me. One home: which I actually don’t have, because I have several places on different continents. When I was stuck in one country I couldn’t give water to my plants in other places. Of course I’m making jokes now, because I got tons of difficult situations, which I’m not able to share publicly.

About my DJ life.. Actually I pressed a stop button several months before this corona adventure began. I felt was doing something wrong and couldn’t enjoy this touring business circus anymore. I felt pressure to show myself or play a role in this scene as a spotless good girl, which I’m not sometimes. From the beginning I was focused on music, while everything surrounding this business can be obsessed with performativity and fame. Now we must all readjust to new conditions that corona dictates us. Maybe it will bring a new spirit in this industry.

Despite all of this, you said you have a lot of new music ready… has this been original works, remixes or both? We have loved your collaborations with Hivern, can we expect that partnership to continue or are there other labels we should expect to see your music landing on? 

I never stopped making sounds and still do this everyday. At the moment I am focusing on sound design for films and theatre. Besides music I’m setting up a small online store called Intercity Scout. While I was intensely traveling and living around the world for the past 6 years, I was always interested in buying different local items, ranging from electronic instruments to vintage clothes for friends or myself.

An idea to start my own store came when I sat down during corona. During that time I also got an apartment in Amsterdam and unboxed finally all my stuff and I realized that I have tons of interesting things, which I don’t mind to sell to people who are also into cool old shit. As I’m not gonna use everything alone I’m getting ready to get back to migration mode. I am also starting a music podcast series for architects under the same name, but it’s actually just music which is not annoying while working, drawing or driving. It’s like “furniture music” of Erik Satie – background sounds, but not boring.

Finally, what can you tell us about the mix you’ve recorded for us. Any specific vibe channeled, special bits in there you’d like to mention, etc.?

When I recorded this mix I dreamt of being in a loud basement again, and realized how much I missed it to be in the smoke forgetting about politics, cultures, meanings and all talks. Maybe it’s a myth, but I still want to believe in it.