Numb Mixtape Kohib

Numb Mixtape - Kohib

Numb Magazine loves Chris Massey’s Sprechen label (as if you didn’t know) and to mark the release of their latest EP we thought we’d get the latest addition to the family to contribute to our Numb Mixtape Series.

Kohib or Øivind Sjøvoll to his friends is the brains behind SM004 or ‘Itchy Kitchy People’ & ‘Yakkatakk’. Both tracks have been firm favourites across the globe with numerous selectors and seeing as we’re so nice we thought we’d have a chat with Øivind so he can tell us a little bit about himself.

Sit back, press play , have a read and spend the next hour with Kohib………

NM) Welcome from Numb Magazine firstly could you introduce yourself to our readers?

ØS) Thanks! I`m here as Kohib, the bastard son of Øivind Sjøvoll, born and raised freezing, but living far up north in Norway. Since the fishing season is short as hell up here, i needed a supplementary activity to tying flies and chasing trout. Luckily I got to meet some strange people with «may the funk be with you» t-shirts and funny caps some years back. They claimed it was possible to make music on computers, as long you have a proper shaker and some punked up cowbells, they were right.

NM) You are credited with starting the legendary club Yaz’n and you run Circa Café what should we expect at one of your nights?

ØS) My uncle gave me a cassette with Jethro Tull when I was five, i stole some classic Hip Hop from my best friend’s older sister some years after, and my mom always meant I should stick to Fleetwood Mac. With this said, I should mention that the only place which sold music where I grew up, also sold hotdogs, had videos for rent, and they really prioritised the two last ones...This, combined with the «may the funk be with you» - crew, made me who I am today…. Confused, with a big heart for any kind of music. I just love a good Balearic night, containing music with a story and a good beat.

NM) The current healthy state of electronic music owes a lot to Norway’s now well documented musical output why do you think Norway is such a hotbed for outstanding music?

ØS) Hehe…Norwegian musicians, and especially DJ`s have ALWAYS looked abroad for inspiration. And some years back, you could more or less listen to the production, and by that tell where it came from. I think years of listening to international urban music, processing this, and giving this a more quirky sound, was an early start. I think we discovered disco 20 years after the rest of the world and made it our own thing in the beginning of 2000. Why it is a hotbed is hard to say, it just happened. Thanks to pioneers as Per Martinsen, Geir Jenssen, Lindstrøm, Prins Thomas, Erot and many, many more Norway all of a sudden was the centre of electronic music attention.

NM) Standard Numb Mixtape question, where did you record it & what did you use?

ØS) I recorded this more or less on the fly (so the mixes are what they are) right after a fantastic seal-meal with my neighbours back home in Tromsø. I have a tiny studio in my basement, and used a Technics 1210, two Pioneer 2000s, and a (ready for the museum) UREI mixer.

NM) Can you explain a little bit how you and Chris hooked up for your latest Sprechen release?

ØS) We got to know each other through Ben Davis in Paper Recordings. Fantastic guy, with an unstoppable need to produce, promote and discover music. I am super happy to be part of the relatively small, but beautiful Sprechen Family!

NM) Now time for some harmless self-promotion, what else would you like our readers to know?

ØS) I would like to invite you, and your readers to my home in Tromsø. I will cook for you, tell incredible stories about our region, and play great homemade music. And if you are close to a music-shop online; Kohib is written with a «K».