Listen to a new FADER Mix by Baalti and Lapgan

Baalti and Lapgan’s FADER Mix evokes the titular ethos of their latest project, Threads.

Released in April, Threads represents the tightly bound entwinement of two sonic forces: Baalti, the Bushwick based duo who deploy South Asian rhythms to delirious, strobe-strewn effect; and Lagpan, the Chicago-based sample collagist who is equally comfortable in dusty studios with Madlib as he is in global dance spaces.

For their FADER Mix, the composite trio made a mix that is more journey than linear speed run. Along the way, they weave disparate threads together like a hypnotizing and bright ambient remix of Cocteau Twins with a foreboding and plodding scene piece by Juana Molina. Along the way we of course get our fair share of bright danceability as well, like when they introduce Threads-standout “Naaz” which percolates with its blend chipmunk vocal samples and in-your-belly bass.

Read an interview with Baalti and Lapgan below, listen to their FADER Mix on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, and Youtube, and check out its track list below.

Baalti and Lapgan, "Devotion"
The Avalanches, "Summer Crane"
Kruder and Dorfmeister, "Morning"
a.s.o., "My Baby's Got It Out For Me"
Baalti, "ID"
Indian Ropeman, "Chairman of the Board"
Baalti, Lapgan, "ID"
Gunjan feat. Bally Sagoo, "Kinna Sohna"
Baalti, Lapgan, "Naaz"
Dhanji, "PITAMBAR WRIST"
Chicago Underground Duo, "Hyperglyph"
Holy Tongue meets Shackleton, "Blessed and Bewildered"
Open Reel Ensemble, "Tape Bowing Ensemble"
Cocteau Twins, "Cherry-Coloured Funk (Seefeel Remix)"
Juana Molina, "Lentísimo Halo"
Asa-Chang and Junray, "Hana"

What led you to start DJing?

Baalti: DJing started in college as a fun way to play music for our friends, and that continued till we started Baalti. Our first several gigs as Baalti were all live sets. We didn’t really think about DJing because we were so excited about the format and felt like it was the most natural way to play our sounds out. That got really time consuming and exhausting after a while, so we started doing Baalti DJ sets so we could play more shows and take some pressure off.

Lapgan: I'd been sampling a bunch of records I that I had got from India for a few years and wanted to share some of the source material in a different context, so I started out by playing some vinyl sets of South Asian records in Chicago.

What’s the first set you ever played?
Baalti: We played a live set in the woods in Santa Cruz CA at a friend’s rave

Lapgan: The first set I ever played was at my cousin's engagement party. I'd never really thought about translating my beats into a live set, so this was a fun opportunity that pushed me to start playing out more.

What DJs or artists inspire you?
Baalti: It’s always changing, but some evergreen ones are The Avalanches, Bally Sagoo, Moodymann, and early Four Tet. More recently, been super deep into Fever AM, Príncipe, and Wisdom Teeth.

Lapgan: Madlib, Daku, Traxx, Surinder Kaur, and Nishant A.K.A. Digging In India."

How has your local scene shaped your mixing and curation?
Baalti: New York is endlessly inspirational. Just seeing a lot of our friends in the scene absolutely killing it and being unafraid to get as weird and experimental as they want without fear of losing a crowd has been really inspirational for us. We’ve really been learning to trust our gut and take more risks with our curation and mixing now.

Lapgan: The artists that I know in Chicago are great friends and inspirations. It's a very supportive scene. Compared with NYC and London, the South Asian art scene is pretty low key out here though so it's been fun to share my sounds and creations in Chicago.

How did you link up as collaborators?
Baalti: With Gaurav [Lapgan], we always link up to collaborate in person. We tried the online thing but it super didn’t work out for us. We usually have big bags of records and samples we’ve collected since we last saw each other, and always keep an ear out for things that would be fun to work on together while digging. Threads was written in Joshua Tree, and we also spent a lot of time in NYC and Chicago cooking up at home together.

What’s the most memorable set you’ve ever played?
Baalti: We supported Four Tet last year at Under the K Bridge in Brooklyn, and that was honestly one of the best days of our lives. It was a beautiful day out, all our friends and fam were in the crowd, it just felt like a massive celebration of everything we’d been doing so far. One of the happiest times.

Lapgan: Baalti and I played a set at Silo in Brooklyn a few years ago. We were on the same bill as Lifafa, an artist from India that we both really look up to. It was a few months after we started collaborating irl so we pretty much ripped a full hour of our unreleased collabs and the room was loving it.

What excites you about the future of nightlife?
Lapgan: More trip-hop and downtempos sets.

What DJ trend needs to die?
Baalti: Unsolicited blend breakdowns. Nobody asked for that hectic live mashup, those 2 songs are just in the same key it’s not that crazy. If it worked IRL, great!

How would you describe your FADER mix?
Baalti: The mix dips into some of the kinds of sounds that were inspiring to us while we were making Threads, and after the process as we continued to work together. It’s a bit slower and more emotional than our usual speed.

Lapgan: We've been into some more downtempo and hip hop sounds lately. Some of the new music we're working is more in this realm

Where did you record the mix? Describe your surroundings.
Baalti and Lapgan: We recorded the mix in our apartment in Bushwick - we’ve got a big stack of records that we’ve been playing at home, the sun’s shining through the window, and we’re trading spots between the couch and the decks.

Beyond DJing and music, what's an interest you have that may surprise people?
Baalti: We’ve been getting quite deep into filmmaking recently. "Lime Tikka" was obviously a massive project, and since then we’ve worked on a bunch of other film projects, including one more music video coming out soon as well as a whole documentary we’re working on. We’ve been finding a lot of pleasure in expressing ourselves through an entirely new medium.

Lapgan: I like to spend time in the mountains and forest. I'm also into competitive ping pong.