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5 Minutes with Mandala [Interview]

Beyond the studio with Mandala

English psytrance producer Angus Young (yes, the very same name as AC/DC legend 😊) aka Mandala released his latest EP – Choose Love on 23^rd of April.

We caught up with him for a quick little cyber chat to meet the man behind the music… 

Where did you grow up?

Mandala: I grew up between England and Dubai.

Most people imagine Dubai to be hyper-modern but back then it was literally a single-track road with Camel’s crossing. The cheapest houses were right on the beach as it was much more favoured by the locals to live on the edge of the desert.

I spent most of my time surfing, camping and exploring.

Favourite city you’ve ever visited…

Mandala: There are too many to mention but I think It has to be Bangkok.

It’s so incredibly vibrant; a cross between ancient and futuristic… and similar to, yet slightly more tangible than Tokyo.

My favourite in Europe has to be Copenhagen.

I lived there for five years and had some extremely memorable times. Its small enough to be cosy and friendly, yet big enough to stumble across the unexpected.

First festival you ever attended?

Mandala: First festival was the Reading rock festival in 1986.

I went to see the Cure primarily but spent most of my time wondering where I was… and loving it!

Favourite food

Mandala: My favourite food to cook is definitely South Indian.

I love the combination of cashews, coconut and tamarind. I’ve always loved to cook and was the chef in my restaurant in Goa for a few years until I realised what a full-time commitment it was!

I also love the simplicity of cooking oven baked Mediterranean dishes and just experimenting…. it’s all like making music really, it somehow comes together, and some tracks are more subtly flavoured than others!

Do you have any pets?

Mandala: I have an unbelievably switched on dog named Zen, who lives up to his name in a big way and is possibly the wisest creature I have ever known…and 2 cats called Rani and Didi.

I love them all dearly.

One album you grew up with that you still listen to today…

Mandala: The first vinyl I ever had was Hayden’s surprise symphony when I was seven years old.

I loved the surprise part when everything dropped out into silence and then came back full power, orchestra blazing…quite similar to Psy trance really!

The soundtrack for my otherworldly interests to unfold in my teens was Pink Floyd -Ummagumma.

It captures the essence of walking the infinite tight rope just on the cusp of insanity but with an innocent happy go lucky childishness.

I still listen to both of them today.

An artist you wish you’d seen play live before they died?

Mandala: I wish I’d seen Jimi Hendrix on stage before he died…the thought gives me goose bumps.

Favourite music genre outside of psytrance…

Mandala: Hmmm…

Flotational beat-less chill, high quality dub, relentless funk and a spot of intelligent freestyle rap.

The track you are proudest of composing…

Mandala: The track I’m proudest of composing is “The lord of the Frogs” an unreleased piece I wrote in a monsoon in Goa about seven years ago.

It was a labour of love and madness as I sampled hundreds of frog sounds and composed the entire track from them. Even the kick and bass have frogs as their source!

I’ve always been into bringing nature into the music but on this occasion, it was nature in its entirety that became the music, thanks to the wonders of technology and having loads of time on your hands! 

Your go-to hardware or software synth in the studio…

Mandala: I guess at the moment it’s Thorn, and I’ve been noodling around with the Loom lately.

Mainly I love to use samplers, mash up unusual source material and map it across the keyboard.

Being on Nano Records means…

Mandala: Being a part of a beautiful family that you’ve always been a part of without knowing it.

A kind of karmic inevitability. In mythological terms it feels like the knights of the occasional table being sent forth by the elders to translate the language of the cosmos and spread the message far and wide!

Your ‘Choose Love’ EP dropped last month with two stomping tracks. Tell us a bit about the EP title, and what inspired both tracks which both have an anthemic, euphoric feeling of LOVE about them…

Mandala: The EP title comes from the way I aspire to living my life.

Firstly, to know that we all have a choice in our perception of every situation, believing that we can approach life with compassion and beautiful things will come to us as a result.

Love is a source energy and if you filter it through a clear vessel…life can become a wondrous experience.

Obviously, fear is antagonistic to our long-term development, although it has been a great teacher to us along the way, in overcoming its grasp.

I feel genuinely excited to be alive and I owe that to those choices. I wrote the tracks on the ep in a very positive and humbly grateful frame of mind, which would explain their anthemic euphoria😁.

Bonus question: Angus Young – coincidence or were your parents BIG AC/DC fans?

Mandala: My parents had never heard of AC/DC until I told them!

Although being at Wembley stadium for the Back in Black tour on my friend’s shoulders as the crowd shouted, “Angus Young…angus young!” was quite a trip😜

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