Interview: Linda Mirada - Qué largo es el verano (Lovemonk)

Fans of Linda Mirada's latest; album that came out last week might have overlooked the autumn equinox yesterday as they're still living in the warm glow of 'Qué largo es el verano', that'll be 'How Long Is The Summer'; let's say it's going to be for a long time as we get some answers from Linda herself about the album.

Lovemonk Records are a mainstay of Madrid's active Latin soul/funk/jazz scene that have been releasing records for over 20 years with the likes of Chip Wickham, Gecko Turner, Casbah 73 being the tri-cornerstones and arguably the most well known artists on the label.

So, you'd be forgiven if it'd slipped your memory that Linda Mirada released an Italo-Disco/synth-pop album called 'Con Mi Tempo Y El Progreso' in 2012 it was time we took the chance to find out more about the new 7 new tracks but before that:

YATM:  Your previous album, 'Con Mi Tempo Y El Progreso' sounds very Euro-pop to me (I'm in the UK and the only artist I can think of similar at around that time is La Roux) but who would have been your influences at that time?

LM: I suppose I was listening to more or les the same things I listen to today. I remember listening to Roxy Music back then, and still do. But you are right, it could be very Euro-Pop, but of what people call Euro- pop, I´m more interested in the stuff created in the early 80 in the south, which has more latín influences. Italian bands like La Bionda, Riggeira, Pino Daggio, and even in Spain, Gary Low, Ivan... 

I remember La Roux, she was very trendy at that time.

YATM:  What have you been doing since 2012? 

LM: Working, I became a mother, DJ sometimes and enjoy life in general (Ed. I think we can add going to the beach on the basis of the photo you sent us).

YATM:  So the obvious next question is how did the new album come about and how did you link up with producer Daniel Collás of the Brooklyn based trio, The Phenomenal Handclap Band? 

LM: I met Daniel many years ago through a mutual friend, Bart Davenport.  For some reason there were both in Madrid at that time, probably on their way to Tarifa to record the Incarnations album (Ed. 2010) or maybe it was before that.  

In any case, they came to my house and we talked non-stop about music and watched videos.  He told me he was fan of Barrabás, a Spanish band I love, and talked about the influences of disco music.  He was a really witty guy, capable of mentioning many references in a short time.

After that, we talked many times by email, and suddenly Lovemonk asked me to do something with him.  I had a couple of demos stored in the fridge, and I thought he might be the best choice to produce them. After that I went back to write songs again, it seemed like I needed it.

YATM:  So knowing PHB work and speaking to Daniel for years did you think their NYC disco/house sound would work with you?

LM: I knew that Daniel liked my songs because he had told me before, but then he made a great remix of 'Secundario'.  I fell in love immediately, I loved the sequencies and electric guitar. Then, I thought that sound could work with those demos in the fridge, 'La brisa' and 'Obstáculo'.  Daniel is very into Italo, we started sending songs as references and he clearly hit the nail on the head.

YATM: I thought the opening track 'Bajo un mismo techo' has a 80s Fleetwood Mac approach that 'links' the new album to the old?

LM: I like Fleetwood Mac, I always have. Now it seems like everyone wants to sound like them, but I think they have forgotten that it´s not all about sound, it´s about good songs. But in the case of 'Bajo un mismo techo', in my opinión, its more about new wave. Its more about XTC or The Motels, The Tubes or even Phil Seymour. 

YATM: And I say that as 'Obstáculo' gets us firmly under the disco ball and I love the vibes and synths of 'Siempre' - What's your favourite tracks on the album? 

LM: It is difficult to say, to be honest. I always liked “Siempre” but it was difficult to develop, it started as a mid-tempo, but then I felt it had to be more classic disco, in the style of soul bands like The Spinners.

'Obstáculo', on the other hand, was born to be very classic Italo. I told Daniel that it had to be like Raf’s “Self Control” and I wanted a classic dance-floor hit. Did you know the instrumental part between the chorus and the verse comes from 'I Just Called to Say I Love You'?

YATM: 'Starlink' is a bit different, is that why it was chosen as a single? LM:  Yes It was chosen as a single, 

LM: I wanted it to be a single. I really enjoyed writing it, I’m proud of the lyrics. I don’t remember when I decided to start with dub sequences, I was looking to recreate the vibe of 'Summer Madness' by Kool And The Gang, something very laid back. We worked a lot on the drums and in the end, I decided to leave it as I had set them up from the beginning in the demo, acoustic and simple.

YATM:  Now you say that, I see the connection, whilst 'Morena del Apóstol' and 'Autoficción' are a lot closer to early UK synth-pop bands like Tubeway Army/Depeche Mode, who were your influencial?

LM:  Yes, the synth at the begining and end of 'Morena del Apóstol' was Eugene’s idea (Eugene Tambourine de North Satellite).  He called “my OMD part” (Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark).  I thought it was very original because in the middle, the sound of the song is more Mediterranean.

'Autoficción', I understand what you say.  I’m a big fan of Gary Numan, actually, the cover of my second album pays homage to Kazumi Kurigami’s TV commercial featuring Gary Numan.

As for Depeche Mode, I could sing every single (including B- sides) from 1980 to 1988!

YATM:  I'll tell you about the time I saw 'the Mode' at Crocs Night Club in at Rayleigh one day but back to 'Si la brisa es buena' that's a bit like Wham? And are there any more plans for PHB remixes?

LM:  Sure, like in 'Club Tropicana'. Maybe in the future, I´d love to do more stuff with Daniel, even though he told me the song didn´t need horns, just like Lovemonk. Luckily, I’m so stubborn and insisted (ahahaha).

YATM:  You were spot on to insist and it's great artwork on the album too, who did that?

LM:  It's one of the things I'm most proud of.  It's Javier Rodríguez, a comic book artist who now works for DC (he used to work for Marvel). He recently won an Eisner Award and I'm sure he'll win it again next year, with the new character he's working on.

Here his IG https://www.instagram.com/javiercaster

YATM:  Is there going to be a release party? Where's the best disco in Madrid for a tourist to visit? 

LM:  Maybe when the vinyl comes out.  I don't go out very often, but there are a few bars and clubs where I really like the music and the atmosphere. First of all, Café Berlin, which is a nice club with a great audience. Villanos, it is a venue that usually puts on great concerts by bands like Butcher Brown. Fun House sometimes organizes great parties, especially the all-nighter 60s parties. And I love the Tiki Volcano Bar, best cocktails located in the classic Malasaña neighbourghood.

YATM:  I've never been but I always had a good time at Bradley's Spanish Bar (back of Tottenham Court Road and handy for Soho's records shops.

LM: Just wanted to say thanks for being interested in my project. 

Whilst we thank Linda for doing the interview and whilst we dance to 'Si la brisa es buena', I do hope we get some more synth-pop disco dub a la Wham verses Blitz: The club that shaped the 80s (Exhibition on now at the Design Museum, London): Ed. it certainly wasn't Crocs!

Album review HERE

BUY LINK: Qué largo es el verano | Linda Mirada

Artist: Linda Mirada
Title:   Qué largo es el verano (w/The Phenomenal Handclap Band Remix)
Release date: 19th September, 2025
Label : Lovemonk Records
Catalog Number : TBC
Format: Vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp 

Interview: Jean-Claude (If Music, Amalgamation of Soundz)

Record shop owner, renowned DJ and one half of respected production duo The Amalgamation Of Soundz, Jean-Claude has been a mainstay of London’s music scene for almost 4 decades now. Alongside artists such as Kruder & Dorfmeister and Saint Germain, The Amalgamation of Soundz championed a genre defying, jazz influenced style that became the soundtrack to the late nineties and early naughties for many music lovers. Their 2003 Fabric compilation is a slept-on classic, flying in the face of convention with cinematic elegance and off-kilter weirdness whilst retaining the DNA of the pair’s memorable DJ sets, which included a Glastonbury appearance in 2005. More recently, Jean Claude has been busying himself with new projects of late: namely running his record shop If Music, hosting shows on NTS and Soho Radio and curating a series of compilation albums. The latest of these, A Journey Into Deep Jazz (out now on BBE Music) sees Jean-Claude digging deep into his formidable collection and emerging with a fantastically eclectic haul of rare musical gems. We caught up with the man himself to find out more.

How did you get your start in music? Were you collecting records for a long time before you began DJing? 
Apparently I was obsessed with buying and owning my own music since the age of six (so the story be told by my late mother). I had my first ever DJ-gig at the age of fifteen for the school party.

You clearly have wide-ranging musical tastes. As a DJ, do you pull it all together in a way that makes sense? 
As a DJ I have learnt that unless it is a residency each gig has to be approached as if it’s the first time. If it’s a Fabric on a Saturday night, of course I’m playing Disco, house/Techno and I will throw as many breaks into that mix as I can. If it’s a Plastic Peeps (legendary and sadly missed London venue Plastic People) scenario then I’m going stupidly heavy and playing the most obscure shizzle I can get away with. When it’s a Glastonbury, you hit them with the shit they know and want but, everything with my own way of delivering the party. We all have the same records, it’s just how one plays them. The right notes in the wrong order or maybe the wrong notes in the right order!

You've been a DJ for well over three decades now. Please describe how you've seen the scene change and evolve in London during that time. 
 I have DJd man and boy for nearly forty years and the evolution of the DJ is hand in hand with technology as it constantly evolves. For the past ten years or more it’s been all about turning your back on vinyl and the basics, to let the computers do all the work for u. Not surprising really, with the advancement in technology that has transpired over the last twenty years!

We hear your record shop, If Music, has just moved to new premises… 
We are coming up to our 14th b/day and after a seven year absence we have returned to Soho (our 1st spot was in Green’s Ct. back in Jan. 2003). This time we are on D’Arblay Street, right opposite where Black Market Records used to be (serendipity? For sure).

What's it like running a record shop now compared to back in the 90s? 
Indie record spots like ours still function in the same way they always have: we break acts, we turn on the players from all over the world to the latest heat and the classics they need, we introduce the next generation of new talent to the established underground Dons and Donettes and even to the major labels so, the wheels of the music industry keep on truckin’. Running a small record emporium has always been a ***ed up double-edged sword: on one hand, great to be surrounded by brilliant music all day and have the dream job where no two days are the same but, not likely to make millions from doing it. Saying that, one doesn’t do it for the money, I guess.


Your 'Journey Into Deep Jazz' LP on BBE is a very special compilation. How did you go about selecting (and ordering) the music? 
I chose an X amount of records from my collection. Whatever we were able to license was licensed and hey presto, job done!

What's next for Jean-Claude? 
We have the label tie-in with Ninja Tune, so, we will have an array of artist albums continually released on IF Music, there are a host of different comps I’m putting together for BBE et al. There’s the NTS & Soho Radio shows which are a lot of fun, gigs and a busy shop to run……

Jean Claude's 'Journey Into Deep Jazz' is out now on BBE Records.
Check out the 'If Music' online store here