You named your podcast ‘Brenda, come and sit down!’. Can you explain why and what mood you tried to capture?

The name refers to the first record I played in the podcast in which you hear a man talking to his wife (i guess) and he’s going like: 

M: “Brenda, come and sit down!”

B: “I’m thinking!”

B: “Got a lot on your mind? Come and take the weight off your feet.” “There, you have the nice comfy one.” “You know sometimes, I wish I knew what was going on inside your head.”

Then we’re off on a trippy voyage inside Brenda's mind (you’ll have to listen to the podcast to know what’s going on inside her mind!) I found this record in Crevette, it’s on KidNap records, a label from Amsterdam with all kinds of cool adventurous music and sometimes weird dialogues like this one between the tracks. I’ve bought quite a lot of their releases and like to use them at the beginning or end of a set to keep things a bit fluffy you know, haha. And so after that, the music I played in the podcast is meant to calm Brenda’s mind and get her and the other listeners in a more chilly vibe away from the stress of the world for the following hour!

Any tracks you want to highlight, a personal favorite?

That’s a tough one because there are some of my current downtempo favorites in the podcast. If I really have to pick one, I think it would have to be the last track: Bomb The Bass - Bug Powder Dust (Kruder & Dorfmeister Session). A classic trip hop remix by Kruder & Dorfmeister of Bug Powder Dust by Bomb The Bass. The combination of the fat bass, groove, 303 and vocals made me travel to outer space when I first heard it somewhere exhausted after a strong weekend on a friend’s couch!

Can you talk a bit about your digging routine when looking for records? Where did you find the records in this mix?

I found all of the records in Crevette Records of course! Hehe, no. I found a lot of them in Crevette but also a lot of them last summer when I was away for a while during summer to surf and spend time at festivals after my studies. And so along the way, I dug in downtempo/trip hop crates in record stores and found a lot of great records (is it almost summer again please?!).

My latest digging routine in Crevette consists of choosing one crate and listening to every record in that crate (or almost every one, depending on how much time I have, I do a little pre-selection). I notice that I find many gems in crates where I least expect it, and I try to pass by Crevette every week, so why not try all the crates?

We’ve heard that your roots are in the free-party ‘teknival’ scene, it’s quite a contrast with this chill out mix. Can you tell us a bit more about that Rinokid at the free parties? What was your experience and do you still carry some of that spirit with you in what you dig or play now?

Hahaha, yes quite a contrast indeed! But it’s true, when I was fifteen I started going out with my homies to ‘The Frontline’ also better known as “ ‘t Steegske” and many other Acid Core, Mental, Frenchcore, Tekno and Goa parties all over Belgium. I have always been open to all types of music but back then I preferred it hard and fast héhé! Because we didn’t know much about Techno or other genres we thought it was boring, repetitive and not interesting at all. It’s actually until I started buying records that I discovered a world beyond ‘business techno’. I found records (mostly from the 90s) that were a little slower than I was used to, but still had the same ravey spirit. They had multiple layers of interesting grooves, baselines, analog synths, etc. And then boom, I realized there are a loooooot of them. Et voila, since then I was hooked on the endless path of digging!

But to answer the question, yeah of course I still carry that spirit! After going to these parties weekly for over five years, there is a part that sticks in my music taste. I am a sucker for 303’s, fat baselines, haunting synths, tribalistic drums and psychedelic tracks in general. 

BUT, not just dance music! It may sound like a typical cliché, but I love all types of music. I started digging into electronic dance music but after a while I think your brain needs new stuff. And so I discovered the world of downtempo, trip hop, ambient, leftfield, … In record stores there are often a lot of cool and cheap records in these genres. So sometimes I feel like I find good stuff faster in these crates. Which, of course, is satisfying!

We are very well informed (LOL) and we also know that you started deejaying at long private home gatherings with your best friends going strong for days, now suddenly you are playing major Belgian festivals and Berlin clubs. Do you still feel the cozy atmosphere in what you bring as an artist? Do you think differently now?

Haha, where do you get this sensitive information? It seems that you have been there at one point to (wink)? The only goal right now is to be happy and find a balance in life! I like to let things flow. I really really enjoy doing what I'm doing with music so I want to continue doing it with the same drive and passion. There’s just something so addictive when it comes to digging for new music (it’s so endlessssssss). Afterwards, mixing the tracks together and sharing them with your friends is what makes me happy.

I do believe that last year I started thinking differently and developed a different perspective on deejaying. Where, as you said, it started as a weekly get-together with friends spending hours and hours playing the music (shout out to Van Eyck, all the Van Eyck homies and everyone else for these beautiful moments together <3), it has now also shifted to sharing music to a wider audience. Something I really enjoy too!

I feel like I've been at a turning point of my life for the last few months where a lot of things are changing. I'm struggling to make ends meet, so I’m looking for a steady job but at the same time I want to put a lot of my time into music. Right now I’m trying to glue these pieces together. Like for a lot of people I guess, it’s an equation where I'm looking for the right balance between doing what I love and being able to make a good enough living.

You run a label with your buddies Tom Rynders, Boudewijn Ericx & Michiel called Pinguin Society. What is your guy's story and what’s the future bringing for the Pinguins?

Yezzzz, indeed. I run this label together with my music brothers in crime! Our mission with the label is to give new life to rare records that we love that are currently inaccessible, or re-release tracks that have only been released on promo copies or CD. We always try to reissue the record and not just repress it. In collaboration with the artist(s), we share the story of the record as well as the story of the artist(s). If possible we also add an unreleased track from her/his or their archive. As we did for example with the B-side of the first release ‘Bloop - Robotic Operation’!

We only had one release this year because we had some delays with the second one. But before I did this interview I just saw that the second one is finally on its way fresh from the pressing plant, stoked! So go check it out soon in Crevette :)

You’re also a Beautiful Freak right? What’s that? 

Exactly! Beautiful Freaks is a 16-hour gathering in Buda BXL that grew out of the pairing of the Pinguins and Walrus and his Basic Moves. We agreed that just like our extended spin sessions, we like our parties long, intimate and with good vibes. And that's exactly what we tried to achieve with our past two editions. We thought the last edition was really something special. A lovely crowd, artists bringing great music and the collaboration with Stephanie and Filip from Buda Bxl flows very naturally. This gave us even more energy to keep improving the concept and make it better every edition!

So it is safe to say we are more than excited for the next edition on May 19, where I will be playing alongside fellow Pinguin Tom Rynders, Hicham, Bruno Schmidt and Carl H! Exciting line up no?!

Thanks Rinokid, we wish you a fun & bright musical future ahead

With pleasure brothers and thanks for having me! See you soon x

(pictures by Barbara Crasson)