Introducing: Evan Baggs and his fabric X 10 Years of RiffRaff Promo Mix

Looking at our listings for the coming months, there's a dizzying amount of birthday's we're soon to be celebrating. It begins on the 25th January where out long time compatriots, the Wilde Agency are hitting the 20 year mark and Middlesborough based party crew *RiffRaff are turning 10 years old in RM3. The North-East England based party crew will be bringing their strong cast of residents Lee Pennington, Philip Stirzaker and Kristoffer to mark the occasion along with guest player Evan Baggs who's been a regular part of *RiffRaff proceedings since he first ventured to spin at their parties a few years ago. Baggs is an interesting one to watch, we've been particularly enjoying his spots on Rinse FM's Disco & Mercy broadcasts and what we've managed to get our ears on to listen to when it comes to Bagg's production has been ticking our boxes too. His most recent EP for Swedish imprint Kurbits is rich in dynamics and teases to the darkside with some pretty dirt trodden basslines as well as well thought out percussive elements creating a record with promising depth. So of course we jumped at the opportunity to get to shine a bit more light on Baggs by sharing his exclusively recorded fabric x 10 Years of *RiffRaff promo mix and talking through why Berlin is his adopted home and what he's got planned for the future right here on the blog. Download: Evan Baggs fabric X 10 Years of RiffRaff Promo Mix So there’s not much that I can read up on of you online (RA) but what I managed to deduce is that you’re from NYC and now based in Berlin New York has quite an amazing legacy of artists – Fred P, Jus Ed, Levon Vincent, DJ QU – how much did what they were doing impact on you? Well, those artists are prime examples of what happens if you just do your own thing - that's a quality that many creative New Yorkers have. Why the move to Europe what provoked you to leave NYC? It wasn't really premeditated at all. When the record store I was working at shut down, I came out at short notice to visit some friends while I had the free time. By chance, I was offered an opportunity to stay for a few months in the form of an internship, which seemed like a chance to truly experience another culture and country. Being from a country that was nearly exclusively built on immigration, it's interesting to be on the other end of it by experiencing - albeit a milder form - what integration into a new society is like. How has being in Berlin helped you get along in the music world? I know it’s a topic that seems a bit overdone as an interview subject but it seems you’ve been playing some nice gigs over there. Proximity of good record stores. Probably over-done too though, right? Either way, there's plenty around. It's nice to just pop in and see what gold nuggets can be unearthed in an afternoon. Can you tell me a bit about your production, where can we find your releases? My most recent release was on Anders Ivarrson's Swedish/German label, Kurbits Records. My next release will be a track on a various artists EP on DJ Spiders' Plan B Recordings some time in early Spring. I've known Anders for years, he's coming by for lunch tomorrow actually. I'm going to smash him back with some home-made Kimchi. Both of those dudes are friends, so we shared music and one thing led to another. You’re coming to Farringdon for the first time as part of RiffRaff’s RM3 takeover – how did you first hook up with the guys? An invitation to play their (RiffRaff) night in Middlesbrough a few years back. Since then we've stayed friends, played some other events together with the likes of Lee Pennington, Terry Francis et al. and so they invited me to play for what'll be my first time in fabric. Overchuffed about the whole thing. What can we look forward to from you this year? What’re your plans for 2014? Plan for 2014? FFS, I haven't even thrown out the Christmas tree yet! Ok, here's my plan: leave it up until mom comes for a visit in May and throws it out for me. Jokes aside, at the moment, musical experimentations - whether something comes out of it or not, or whether it be alone or with friends - happens every day. It's research basically: Seeing what one can do within this framework of sound. Keeping that going throughout the year is also a plan. And finally can you tell us a bit about this mix you’ve recorded for us? Rollage.