Listening Room: Dakini9 on Trail Markers

There’s a story behind every track, or at least the good ones.

Welcome to our new music discovery feature, Listening Room, in which we share a stream of a new track and ask its creator about making it.

Today we talk to Dakini9 about her track “Trail Markers” from Sound Warrior 002.

This is the last part of our 3 days of features on Sound Warrior, a label and collective of female producers and DJs. Sound Warrior’s first record was a split between Jenifa Mayanja and Dakini9. Their second release, out December 12 worldwide is a 12″ featuring Jenifa, Dakini9 and Pursuit Grooves.

Can you give me an epitome of the Sound Warrior concept?

Sound Warrior is a label and collective of female producers and DJs. We decided to start Sound Warrior simply because, as women in the industry, we have learned from our experience and know that women, as a whole, are less visible than men in the dance music industry. There are fewer mentors, fewer role models, and sometimes that can feel like there are fewer opportunities. Our aim is to promote, nurture, support, and work with other women in this field. In terms of our sound, this project focuses on the spectrum of house music, from deep to tech, but all with a certain ritualistic, organic feel.

Is there a reason you picked this track for a Sound Warrior release?

I had been working on this track before the deadline for our next release came up, but I felt it was a strong track and fit our sound, so I submitted it for the project.

What can you tell me about writing it? –The journey, so to speak.

In this track I experimented with a different way of working with the percussive elements of the track. They are layered and come in and out of the mix.

Soon before I finished the track, I took a trip to a location in upstate New York that is really remote. My friends were married and picked a campsite for their ceremony. As I found out, camping is a big part of their life and all their friends and family members are campers, so most of the wedding guests were camped out in tents on a big lawn near a lake. Around the lake were some trails, which I enjoyed walking. The whole experience was one of being in the rawness and beauty of the natural world, and when I returned, I felt a sense of openness and even freedom.

I called the track “Trail Markers” because of those wooded trails I walked, and how they all intersect and weave thru the forest, and how sometimes you stay on the trail and sometimes you wander off. In all our lives, we see trail markers, sometimes we heed them, sometimes we ignore them.

What tools did you use to create it?

This track was made in Reason with a MicroKorg XL.