World Vision

Like many internationally acclaimed musicians and DJs, French native Alexis Mauri aka AlexKid now calls Berlin home. “I am very happy I made the move,” he begins. “Not necessarily because of the music, but for all the other qualities of the city. It is definitely a great place to live, I love the state of mind in Berlin… And of course it has inspired me. There is so much good electronic music coming out here and you have loads of options to go out… Paris is getting very interesting at the moment, but not appealing enough for me to make the move back.” The move has definitely enhanced Mauri's international profile; he recently signed to Loco Dice's Desolat booking agency. His tour schedule this summer included sets in Barcelona, Dubai, Palma as well as regular appearances at the Rex Club in Paris and Berlin's notorious Watergate club.

“There's a few great parties that come to my mind,” he says when quizzed on his fave sets. “Not necessarily big ones, but more like really outstanding locations, or random situations like Montenegro by the sea with a storm upon us… Or in Odessa playing 24-hour long parties, a Penthouse in Moscow or Berlin parties in semi-legal locations.”

Mauri is quick to include one of his favourite tour locations: Australia. “I love Australians. If it wasn't so far, I'd tour more often if I could…” His last set at Kubik also inspired a Australian collaboration, with Mauri contributing a remix to Mike Callander's Twilight release last year on Melbourne's Haul Music. “I'm very happy with the remix. The elements were great to play with and it's been having a great response from the crowd and from DJs,” he says.

Remix requests keep pouring in for Alexkid with his recent efforts signed to Freerange and Inmotion. Mauri reflects on some other projects he is working on: “I have something scheduled on Supplement Facts, I have also done one for Rob Paine and Someone Else. It's a mix of dub and rave… or at least what I imagine it could be. It's quite chaotic and in your face, I like it a lot.”

Whether you are familiar with his finely crafted acid house and tech remixes or his crossover hits Don't Hide It and Come With Me, Alexkid has a sound that's hard to pin down. Reflecting on some of his personal favourites, Mauri says, “The tracks that I am most proud of are Mint and maybe Caracol or Arboré Part One… None of them define my sound though, I don't know if there is such a thing as a sound of mine. I feel it's a bit arrogant to talk about 'my sound'. I like music. I just try to do my best. It keeps me going. trying to get closer to an ideal.”

When asked about his dream collaborations, Mauri reveals his passion for Ethiopian jazz and world music. “Yes, I'd mostly like to collaborate with world music musicians like Mulatu Astatke and Djivan Gasparyan. In electronic there's also a few… I'm working on it.”

It's been a few years between albums with Alexkid's last longplayer, Dub & Echo Tales, released in 2009, but Mauri is keen to get to work on his next one. “I am hoping to work on it as soon as possible though the truth is that I have been quite busy working on the live act and travelling since last April which doesn't help much. I stopped doing remixes in the past months to be able to do so. Things are slowly getting done but I plan to spend some time locked in the studio. It has been much too long.”

Alexkid will be performing at the following dates and venues:

Friday 31 August - The Revolver, Melbourne VIC