Faux Mix Series #004 // Mensah

Bringing us the latest instalment of the Faux Mix Series, 23 year old dubstep DJ Mensah Anderson gives us ten minutes of exclusives, featuring a whole host of technicolor synthesizers, low-end bass, dark energy and fresh new tracks. A rising star on the dubstep circuit, Mensah is signed to influential Bristol dubstep label Hench. Finding time between crafting his brand new 6 track EP ‘Untitled Future Funk’, supplying tracks for the excellent Hench mixtape and a whole host of DJ slots, Mensah brings Faux a mix of some of dubstep’s most exciting new productions.

01. Jakes – Rhythm (Mensah Special) Intro
02. Mensah – Untitled Future Funk
03. Mensah – Rock City
04. Mensah – Stapleton Road
05. Mensah Ft Eddie K – Steady As She Goes
06. Mensah – 1986 Was The Future
07. Baby D – Let Me Be Your Fantasy (Mensah Remix)
08. Mensah – Acid Dub

Of his own sound, Mensah explains: “I don’t think I have a sound yet. I try and make every tune different from the last. Dubstep is a lot of things, so I like to experiment and see where it takes me. I listen to a lot of different musical genres but my mood at the time of being in the studio has overall effect on what a tune sounds like.” Moving his mix through a whole range of moods, this ten minute sampler brings a diverse sample of the dubstep spectrum, a range of exclusives and tracks brimming with glitch-laden intensity.

First getting involved with Hench through DJing around Bristol, he describes his involvement with dubstep legend Jakes; “I used to go to the Hench parties and I used to DJ at a night called Run and Jakes would MC for me. We’ve known each other for a long time. When I started producing at 140bpm I sent all my tunes to Jakes and he picked up on them. We all know each other well on Hench – so it felt right when Jakes wanted to put my music out on the label.” Collaborating with such a long-established and well-respected dubstep label isn’t taken lightly by Mensah, a long time fan of the label – “I’m all about my music being out on vinyl and with a label that i can trust. Hench is good for me because there is a variety of music being put out on it and so will be going to a wider audience. I have seen it from the early days with Gatekeeper, Wedge, Jakes, Komonazmuk and Headhunter so i know the origins and history behind it. Each release is different and that really maters to me.”

Bringing a diverse range of dubstep’s many sounds to the mix, Mensah demonstrates a pleasing reluctance to be constrained to one genre. “I like a lot of the early (Dubstep Label) Tectonic Plates stuff and I like a lot of modern dancefloor sounds….all in moderation! I have never wanted to be pigeon holed into one thing, so I’m just gonna doing what I do and move forward. The iPod has made it so we can all skip from one genre to another and DJ’s do it a lot more now as well, so it means you can always hear something new.” It won’t be long till the tracks are available for purchase either – Mensah’s remix of Baby D’s ‘Let Me Be Your Fantasy’ is due for release soon, and he explains that his mix is essentially a showcase for exclusive new material. “I wanted to keep it just to the tracks on my EP but I added few other in just for good measure. I have kept it to tunes that are coming out very soon.”

Mensah’s ‘Untitled Future Funk EP’ is available on limited vinyl here.