Introducing: Mihai Popoviciu and his fabric X Wiggle Mix

Turned onto making beats by early experiences of the fledgling rave scene of mid 90s Romania, Mihai Popolai also worked influences from far away Detroit into his studio output. Old school electro had its place too; his first release was for DJ Hell’s International Deejay Gigolo Records in 2005 and fit in perfectly to the label’s electro clash agenda of the time. Over the years and since signing to his home label Highgrade Records, Poplai’s groove has settled into a more refined mode, fitting more comfortably into the house oriented world which enabled him to meet Wiggle main man, Nathan Coles, who invited him to play the next Wiggle takeover this Saturday. As this is the first time we will have the pleasure of hosting Popolia’s live workings, we took the opportunity to find out why he seems to have found a close affinity with Berlin’s label culture but equally won’t be leaving his native Romania any time soon. Download: Mihai Popoviciu abric X Wiggle Mix Seeing as we've not spoken to you before on the blog can you start us off by telling us a bit about your early influences that inspired you to start producing? For me, it all started in the mid 90’s when I first got in touch with the rave scene and just feel in love with it. At the time there were some pretty ‘grey’ years in Romania after communism and access to that kind of music was very limited. I’d say my earlier influences that first inspired me were Detroit techno and old school electro/ electro pop, that’s how I came to start producing in 2001. Romania more and more is becoming known for its music, artists like Raresh, Rhadoo and Petre Inspirecu are firm regulars here - how does what they do relate to your own happenings? It doesn't relate much to be honest. Of course i know them but we are not close, with travelling all the time we don't get to meet all that often, maybe few times a year accidently in some airport or at some venue. I respect their work and passion for music, they among others have definitely put Romania on the map, but somehow we have different ways of doing things. What kind of party and label infrastructure in your home country that supports the scene at the moment? The main scene in Romania happens mainly around Bucharest where things are going pretty well party wise. There are lots of venues of all kinds every weekend so there’s plenty to choose from for a night out. The label infrastructure is less evolved though, there are lots of small labels around but very few have a solid content and background. We still need to work on that. Are there any artists coming up from there that you think we should know about? He's far from being a new comer but just in case you don't know him so well yet, you should have a closer look to Jay Bliss. He also has a very interesting alias that you will probably find out about soon. Saying all this you're main label base is Highgrade records who are based in Berlin - how did you come to work with the label? I’ve been with Highgrade for 5 years now and the first release for them was done with my buddy Markus Homm. We had some tracks ready and it was his idea to try to release them on Highgrade. Everything went well and we became regulars at the label, then we also joined their booking agency and it became our "mother label". Do you think your own music carries more of an affinity with that city? Berlin has such a wide variety of musical sides that you could say i might fit in there but i can't see a particular affinity with it. It could aswell be London, Paris or Amsterdam. Is this where you call home now? No, i still live in Romania, in my birth city, Sibiu. Life has a slower pace there and that's good for me, need that quiet and relaxed feel of it after a busy weekend. No plans to move at the moment. Your production seems to have refined over time from that first International Deejay Gigolo release - has your studio arrangement changed? Can you lay out for us what it is you're using now? Maybe my production has refined over time but my studio arrangement hasn't changed all that much, the setup i use is very stripped down, i only have my PC and the monitor speakers. I use Ableton and i only rely on software machines to produce music. What do you have coming up release wise? By the end of this year I will have another EP out on Highgrade together with David Delgado, one with my long time friends and parteners Pagal and Jay Bliss and of course a release on my own label Cyclic Records. You're playing with the Wiggle crew in Room Two - do you know Nathan, Terry and Eddie already how did you link up? I had the honour to meet Eddie in Berlin few years ago and if i remember right i also met Nathan at a venue in Romania. I am excited about their invitation to join them at Wiggle and looking forward to a great night at Fabric! And to complete our interview can you tell us a bit about your mix for us - what informed your track selections? It's a selection of music that i got and play recently, including some tracks of mine that are about to be released.