A burgeoning force on the international house music circuit, Swedish artitst Malin Linnéa is quickly garnering a reputation as one of the most exciting, multi-faceted talents in the industry. Known for her eclectic taste in both music and fashion, the now CDMX-based DJ, producer and vocalist presents an emotive sound palette that fuses old school deep house, indie dance and seductive rhythms, to mesmerising effect. Following the critically acclaimed release of her most recent single Haze on Amaya Records, Malin now looks to close out the summer in emphatic fashion, as she announces her latest two-part musical opus, Fate & Fiction EP. Out now via Brazilian label Sonido Profundo, Fate & Fiction EP marks Malin’s eagerly anticipated debut outing on DJ Albuquerque’s iconic Latin American imprint, following a slew of impressive career releases already on the like of Amaya Records, AMITABHA and Bercana Music, amongst others. We caught up with Malin to find out more…
Hi Malin, and welcome to Techno Mood. So lovely to have you with us for the first time. Please can you quickly introduce yourself to our readers?
Thanks for having me! I’m a Swedish DJ, producer and vocalist. I started playing out in venues when I moved to London in 2010. I live a chaotic and mostly fun life but I also try to keep a balance and I often crave more quiet times alone at home making music.
Can’t quite believe it, but we’re quickly approaching the end of another year. How has 2023 been for you so far? Any highlights?
It’s been a year of change for me. Back when I lived full-time in London I was DJing 4-6 nights a week to pay the bills and it left me exhausted and with zero energy or inspiration to produce music. This year I’ve tried to do fewer but better shows in order to focus more on production. As for highlights I would say spending most of the summer in Berlin doing a few gigs and also an amazing little tour in Brazil where I played for Warung Tour in Ciudad del Este. The crowds down in South of Brazil/Argentina/Paraguay are really great.
Starting at the beginning, can you tell us how you got into music and production?
After going to Ibiza in 2007 I was captivated by the music and took a quite serious DJ course back home in Stockholm. My first paid gig ended up being in pub in London 2010. I was playing electro, house and techno but it only lasted a few weeks as (not so surprisingly) the manager thought my style was too hard. I then ended up being offered warm up slots in the West End Clubs which later led to main slots. Soon I was playing a lot at anything from bars, clubs and the odd fashion event or very cool rave in East London. During these years I also studied music production at Point Blank and produced a few tracks but I was so tired from constantly playing and was struggling with a lot of self-doubt in terms of my productions. This led me to realize that I couldn’t live in London full-time.
How would you best describe your brand of electronic music for those who may not be familiar?
This is always hard to do. I recently made a mix for Melody Lab and they described it as ‘weaving between deep house nostalgia to tantalizing hints of rave, EBM and acid house’. Someone else described my new EP as ‘A sophisticated offering, led by a complex web of trippy synth structures, Malin’s trademark composite of intelligent, forward-thinking club music shines front and centre’ – Wow it sounds very pretentious.
Who or what were your biggest musical inspirations growing up?
So many. I was very into Michael Jackson, Madonna and a Swedish band called Army of Lovers that did some sort of weird Euro pop. I also loved Hed Kandi and all the Absolute Dance and Clubber’s guide albums.
You have a new EP coming up on Sonido Profundo in October. Can you talk us through the record and how it came about?
I wanted to make a vocal, more chilled and mysterious track and also more of a peak time track. Looking back at all the songs I made previously and never released, they’re actually a little bit on the micro house spectrum. I’ve gotten the advice to not release the music that is not aligned with what I’m playing though. But perhaps that is something I can do later on, or maybe release them under another alias.
What do you like to do in your spare time when you’re not touring the world or making music?
I started an art project in Mexico City doing oil paintings on huge canvases on mixed material, mainly sand. I generally like anything that has to do with art, design or fashion. It makes me relaxed and happy.
Do you have any other releases planned in the coming months that you can tell us about?
Yes! I hope my new tracks will be completely finished by the time the article goes online. They are housier and have my own vocals on them. I’m in talks with a few labels so let’s see.
On the live side, where can we next see you perform?
Next I’m playing at Luzy Boom in Guadalajara, Mexico. I’m also doing my own set of events which will be dance music focused.
