One of our favourite things about running Mantissa is the people we meet along the way. We’d long been fans of Pjenne, an artist, DJ, label-head, and host of one of our favourite radio shows, Passing Notes, before a chance meeting at Berlin’s finest radio station, Refuge Worldwide. Her show that day was as great as we’d come to expect, and came towards the end of a summer in Europe. We managed to catch up with her upon her return to Oz about her musical influences, Companion, the amazing label that she co-runs with Millù, and her top tier radio show, Passing Notes.
Hi Penny, it was a nice coincidence to bump into you at Refuge Worldwide! How did you find Berlin?
Hi James! Thanks for inviting me to participate in an interview, I’m usually on the other side so it’s nice to be answering the questions this time. It was lovely to meet you and a nice coincidence indeed – although maybe not that much of a coincidence at the wonderful cultural hub that is Refuge? Shouts to the Refuge Worldwide crew and everything they do, so much heart and soul in that organisation. My trip and Berlin was of course wonderful. Although I got stuck working for large chunks of my time there, it was great to connect with people and even work in a different environment.
How are you doing and have you been up to anything fun recently?
I’ve been home for a while now and it seems work has unfortunately been a big focus for me of late. I just submitted a huge grant application (I’m an academic by day…) last week and although it was not fun at all, I had a new lease on life after I completed it and even the most mundane tasks like going for walk have been feeling extremely fun. I also recently did my first live radio show (Passing Notes) with an in-person audience. Although I was very nervous it was super fun to prepare for and to host the lovely OK EG as return guests who played live on the night alongside another favourite local DJ Marley Swain. It was a great night and an incredible reminder of how lucky we are with community radio here in Naarm/Melbourne.
What have your highlights been from your tour across Europe this summer – the food, people, clubs, festivals?
This is a huge question but having reflected on my trip since my return I think I’ve narrowed down my highlights to a more digestible few. The first is meeting some friends for the first time I have been in contact with via the internet since before COVID. It sounds incredibly nerdy but I’ve connected with a lot of people through music, especially a shared love for trance on various platforms and I had been looking forward to meeting them for years. I flew into London and met nearly 10 of these people the first night and I was completely overwhelmed and felt like I was in a dream. Big love to the WHOMP crew who hosted me in London and to everyone else who looked after me at various points in the UK. Such a special bunch of people doing wonderful things so shouts to Sybil, Tekh, Jams, Nic, Megan, Anna, Katie, Matteo, Ben, Jacques…the list goes on.
A second highlight was visiting Croatia with my partner. We visited his hometown which is close to Motovun in Istria. Rolling green hills, vineyards, home made wine and truffles coupled with the unparalleled hospitality of his extended family. We hired a car and drove to some incredible beaches and it was a truly magical and sentimental experience!
Lets take it back to the beginning…Can you tell us a bit about some of your favourite music and bands growing up, and what led to your discovery of electronic music?
My music taste growing up was very all over the place and I went through various characteristic teenage phases from punk to hip hop. When I was in the early years of high school I absolutely loved bands like Lagwagon, NOFX etc which is pretty funny to look back on. I think if I listened to a few of the punk or ska albums I rinsed in the 90s/00s I would be flooded with nostalgic teen angst. In the later parts of high school, my taste started to drift toward more-electronic focused bands and artists that were popular in the early 2000s like Air, LCD Soundsystem and The Presets. Finally, like many DJs, my true love for electronic music started when I started clubbing at around the age of 16. French electro was huge at this time so I was obsessed with anything on Ed Banger or by similar local heroes Bang Gang and Ajax (RIP). Seeing stalwart DJs that played at clubs week in week out when I was underage like Lewie Day and Mic Newman (now still going strong as Tornado Wallace and Fantastic Man) were also formative experiences . I guess this was the gateway and at this time I also started to attend doofs like Rainbow Serpent and big room techno events that focused more on a deeper side of electronic music. It took me another 6-7 years to finally jump to the other side of the booth from punter to DJ.
How did you end up hosting a weekly Passing Notes radio show on PBSfm? And how does having to prepare for a weekly show help you as a DJ?
I started my community radio journey alongside my sometimes DJ partner, co-label head and ultimate friend Milly Davison. She was connected to RRR (another big community radio station in Naarm similar to PBS) through her university. I kept her company at a few graveyard slots and we then started to do fills on PBS for regular broadcasters like Ed Fisher (Tomorrowland, PBS). I did the PBS presenter course and also managed to do some solo fills for CC:Disco’s show ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ as she started to tour more often. When CC decided to move to Europe her slot became available and she basically forced me to write a program application. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to commit to weekly radio at the time, but she was incredibly persuasive. I was successful in my application which so I’m super grateful to CC for supporting me to take the plunge. Many people are involved with the station for years before being offered a show, so I also feel it was a ‘right place and person at the right time’ situation. PBS were looking to be more connected to the electronic music community so it was a great opportunity for me to establish my own show.
As for preparing for weekly radio – it’s not easy whilst working full time and having completed my PhD over the last 3.5 years, yet having done nearly 250 shows I have my preparation down to a pretty fine art. I usually spend the week looking for new music and listening to promos, and then a few hours before the show working out a structure and writing anything I want to say. Shows that involve interviews require hours of preparation during the week as I take pride in researching writing about artists from the heart. The best thing about live FM radio is that it doesn’t have the same pressure to be hyper curated like making a mix or playing on an online radio station and that is very freeing to me. I think this helps my DJing as it allows you to test out and try things that you might not want to try in the club. Although I think there is a net positive effect on my DJing, I do sometimes think that the sheer volume of music I collect can be a negative!
So you’re the name behind one of the finest series around, Passing Notes. There’s so many great guest mixes to choose from, from a long list of stellar artists. What is your curation process behind selecting people for your radio show?
I usually try to curate guests based on a diverse mixture of exciting up and coming local artists and international artists who are touring. Sometimes interviews and mixes might also fall on milestones such as new releases or parties to promote, but I generally have a pretty open and flexible approach to the curation process. I also take breaks from hosting guests, as it can be overwhelming at times with my other commitments. But honestly, interviews are just so rewarding and I thank all the artists that take the time to be a part of the show.
What was your inspiration behind starting your label, Companion, with Millù – what have you gained from it and what challenges have you faced?
Many creative seeds were sown during the forced periods of reflection over the COVID lockdown period. I’m sure we have all noticed this with the stream of superb releases, new labels and creative outputs emerging in the global electronic music community the last few years. Milly and I also started the label in lockdown – we had been discussing ideas for starting separate labels on one of our many state-sanctioned walks along the Birrarung (the beautiful Yarra River that ran alongside our previous houses) and realised that we had almost the same vision so it was a no-brainer to join forces and establish Companion. The inspiration for this label came from our shared love for home listening music, specifically atmospheric iterations of downtempo, trance and IDM popular in the 90s and early 2000s. We were also inspired by the fact that not many labels in Naarm are run by women and we had identified a gap surrounding this particular sound.
The journey so far has been full of many challenges, learning on the job, lots of communication, hard work and most of all a very symbiotic relationship. We both have a very specific vision for the label so working on something with such purpose and harmony has already been incredibly rewarding for us both. It has felt quite organic and exciting. One thing that I have loved from starting the label is working directly and collaboratively with artists and helping them shape and realise their dreams. We received a grant from Creative Victoria to start the label, so it feels good to be able to provide financial backing for artists who dream of seeing their work pressed to wax. Of course, running the label is not without its challenges. Many stem around external factors that impact or hold back releases from being on time. Another, for both of us is finding the time to put into the label that we want to – we want to give all artists that work with us a good experience but it’s very much a labour of love with no individual financial benefits that could support us to do this in a more full time capacity. We are lucky that we love it.
Your label also donates 10% of its profits to Black Rainbow, a grassroots organisation supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of the LGBTQI+ community. Why was it important for you to do this?
We operate Companion on the stolen lands of Woi Wurrung Wurundjeri peoples – we acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of Country and the place that we have the privilege to work, live and play. It’s important to us to acknowledge this with both words and action, so we ‘pay our rent’ by making donations through fundraisers, compilations and sales in general to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations. We are also both members of the queer community, which is why we chose Black Rainbow as the main organisation that we donate to.
I noticed that several of the releases on Companion have been pressed to vinyl. Do you experience the same challenges with vinyl in Australia regarding delays, costs, etc, as we do in Europe?
Absolutely yes and in fact being in Australia – so far away from the rest of the world adds another layer of complexity to the vinyl business. All the challenges, plus the cost of shipping records either from Australia to Europe, or Europe to Australia mean it’s very difficult to keep our manufacturing costs down. Although the delays are a given, we’ve found that these have eased a bit in 2024!
Both your label, Companion, and your mix series, Passing Notes have such great artwork – I especially love the artwork between PN 27 and PN 129 for the mix series. How did you decide upon the themes for these two different entities?
Both the radio show and the label are also inspired by artwork that is often associated with the genres I listed above; ambient trance, downtempo, IDM etc – we are both slightly obsessed with 90s CD artwork. Although that is the underlying inspiration for both, each platform have very different brand identities. For Passing Notes, I wanted to go for something that straddled playful and serious, much like the show. Big love Liam Richards who does the design for Passing Notes, who often has to whip up a tile for me last minute, who always comes up with something perfect with absolutely no complaints. You can find him and his wonderful work over at @lny_________graphics!
For Companion, one of the features we wanted to incorporate into the ethos of the label was to create beautiful objects for the home. With this, we were keen to engage visual artists, not just designers for each release. This also enables us to enact some of our core values which are to engage more non-male artists in all of our processes, from mastersing, to design and artwork. We have worked with some incredibly talented artists so far, and also partner with Arts Project for our digital compilations. Arts Project is a Naarm-based organisation that supports and gives platform to visual artists with intellectual disabilities. Because of these features, the visual identity of the label is much more organic than the orignal inspiration. I must also mention that Milly is also incredibly creative and talented and does a lot of our design work – it works super well for us because she can always bring our shared vision to life in the best ways. I can honestly say I have loved every idea she has put forward to me.
Who are your favourite DJs, producers and labels at the moment?
Oh gosh how much page space do I have?!
My number one DJ at the moment is Sybil, her mixes have gotten me through so many highs and lows, god damn just how does she do it. I also love Aaron J, Millu, Garcon, Nat Salih, Kia, Konduku, Hannah D, Severja, Richard Akingbehin, Timnah, there’s honestly just too many to mention.
For producers, I’m going to have mention Simon Huxtable as one of, if not my favourite producer of all time who is responsible for Inhmost, Aural Imbalance, Deep Space Organisms…I know he has been around for a while but there’s not a radio show that goes by I don’t play something from his many monikers. Other shouts to A Strange Wedding, Cousin, Polygonia, Sanguine, Hybrid Man, Upsammy, OK EG, Zara, E Fishpool, Mike Midnight, LOIF, Saphileaum, Command D, gi, Sunju Hargun, Repulsive Force, and to add a few bands in there Acopia, Hysterical Love Project and Dregs.
Labels: Midgar, Lowless, Hunali, Goddezz, Paper-Cuts, Hypnus Records, A Strangely Isolated Place, Ultimae, Dream Software, NAFF…again the list is infinite.
What plans do you have for the remainder of 2023 – can we expect another release, another tour?
Excitingly, we do have another two releases on the way, one we have just pushed back until January and the other should come soon after! The first is an extended EP is from a local artist who featured on our first compilation. For many reasons this release has been extremely slow to get out into the world, so we are super excited to share it with everyone soon.
I’ll definitely be in Naarm for the remainder of the year, but I’m very excited to be throwing a party with on the 16th of December, with a line up of international and local heat including Dream Software, E Fishpool (Live), Jon Jones, LOIF (Live), Nak and Tangela (Eora).
As for tours, nothing for 2023 but I may be heading back to Europe much sooner rather than later – I have had some interest for a short string of shows in late April/May. Super grateful to be able to do this if I can make it happen.
Interview By: James Acquaye Nortey-Glover