Bill Mango
DJ | Producer | Promoter
Slip into the vortex on Bill Mango’s Soundcloud and you’ll emerge wrapped up in a marshmallow-filled duvet of warmth, feeling floaty, fizzy and even a bit light-headed.
Hailing from Waterford, Irish DJ and producer Bill Mango has spent the last few years living in Berlin where the city has acted as a playground for developing his style and sound and learning the ropes of promoting parties. As a 'verified party starter,' Bill launched the Mango event series back in 2018, and after a string of successful nights at Chalet club, the party found a permanent home at Griessmuehle where it remained in full swing right up until the forced closure of the club in February this year.
Having a clear visual and sonic identity behind Mango was enough to build a loyal community of house and disco lovers, each of whom headed out to Neukölln every two months to enjoy the likes of Eclair Fifi, Kornél Kovács and Moomin soundtracking the former pasta factory. As well as playing support slots on the night, Bill booked a load of Berlin-based talent to complete the line-ups, including Long Island Sound, Der Opium Queen, EMA and more which brought together multiple Irish DJs residing in the city.
After growing a loyal audience through Mango events, Bill launched the Mango label to go alongside. In July this year, Bill released his debut EP to mark the imprint’s first production. Like the hazy blue and pink gradient that makes up the artwork for ‘Sun, Sea & XTC’, Bill’s first foray into producing holds a dreamlike quality, luring listeners away from Covid-related funk and into a brief, blissful reverie.
With another release in the form of a VA coming out on Friday on Mango, Bill shares the theme behind it, as well as going back to an unpredictable moment live on the airwaves of HÖR Berlin…
Photo: HÖR via Youtube
Where was this photo taken and why did you choose it?
The photo was taken at HÖR Radio in Berlin when Emma and I played a show together there. Emma and I got a little bit drunk on the plane over and therefore there was very little to no preparation for the show and that truly backfired for me. Stuck a Pearson Sound tune on my USB before we went on to only discover live on air that the tune had a weird time signature which made it horrendous to beat match. Remember my phone vibrating in my pocket with friends laughing at me train wrecking mixing that tune in and out. Shout out to Emma, Hi Emma x
How have you been over the last few months and what is life currently like in Ireland?
I’ve been tickidy boo the last few months. Been back in my hometown of Waterford for the pandemic which has been very wholesome. Hanging out with family and friends. Started going for runs regularly which is something we never thought would happen. Also introduced foods that are coloured green and grow from the ground into my diet. One day I even flirted with the notion of becoming a vegan but that only lasted a few hours as then came along dinner. Definitely the most clarity within the realm of my head than ever before, who would’ve thought exercise and a healthy diet would be SO damn good for you.
Earlier this year, you released your debut EP ‘Sun, Sea & XTC’ on your relatively new label Mango. Did the pandemic give you an extra push to get things done or was it initially hard to get motivated with everything going on?
Yeah definitely having a healthier lifestyle and less distractions helped with the process of getting the first release done. I always had a romantic idea of a debut release and that definitely held me back for a long time. Had it in my head that it had to be PERFECT. Realised it was never going to be perfect so it was time to just say feck it and just put something out for the world to…well…mostly ignore but thanks to the 0.000000000000000000000000001% of the earths population who bought or listened to it.
Yesterday you announced the next release on Mango (which is now available to pre-order) - an ambient compilation with proceeds going to The Solas Centre in Waterford. Why did you go down the ambient route for this particular release and who have you asked to contribute to the VA?
My family were brainstorming of ways to raise money for our local cancer support centre, The Solas Centre. I have a close family member currently going through treatment for cancer and our whole family are extremely grateful for the support the centre has been providing during this extremely shite time. The only creative outlet I had to contribute to help raise funds was via music. So I thought it would be rather wholesome to release a series of lovely ambient compilations full of tunes from my very talented pals and donate the proceeds to the Solas Centre. I chose ambient as I thought it would be a much more interesting listening experience rather than putting out a dance music compilation when there’s nowhere to dance together right now.
Your own track ‘Hilton’s Sleepy Head’ opens up the VA. How did you find the process of producing an ambient track?
Oh I love the process, ‘tis very fun indeed. I don’t have to worry about my percussion sounding absolutely rubbish and can focus in on my favourite part of music making…THE MELODY. Get a nice texture, record a catchy pop melody and run it through a reverb/delay pedal and BOOM…ambient music. It’s that simple…right?
As someone who has been heavily involved with electronic music in terms of DJing, producing, promoting and now running a record label, how do you currently feel about the future?
You know what, everyone around me seems so sad and gloomy about the future of dance music and club culture etc etc. I’m very much optimistic. People are gonna want to party more than ever when this is all over. The slate has been cleaned and a wave of fresh energy will be among us. Mystic Bill predicts loads of yummy new parties, an assemblage of wild new hairstyles and a boat load of fresh party freaks in da clerbbbb.
That’s if there are any clubs left open BUT as long as Robbie Kitts is around we should all be gravy. Shout out to Robbie, love you x
What has been a source of comfort for you throughout 2020 so far?
Many years ago my ex-girlfriend and her best friend both lived right next door to me. They owned a gorgeous Rag Doll cat named Princess Pushkins. Oh such big beautiful feline eyes. Two big blue balls in a little fluffy cat head. Such a harmless innocent creature in fact. ANYWAY one day my mother ran over the cat with her car and flattened it…accidentally of course. RIP Pushkins.
Well…thinking about that doesn’t provide any comfort to help me get through 2020. Far from it in fact BUT we did get a new replacement cat for them. They didn’t want the cat as it was all a bit too soon for them. So we kept the replacement cat for ourselves and named him Harvey. Being back home I get to hang out with him everyday and we’ve gotten quite close. Mom hasn’t even left a teeny weeny tyre mark on him yet.
Listen to Bill’s latest mix for Four Four here and follow him below: