DJ Vadim
Vadim the self-confessed foodie explains his love for food and tunes.
“I have always associated food and music with each other. Making music is like making food. Sometimes you fancy an elaborate high end something, and sometimes just a good sandwich... The drums are the potatoes, the bass is the protein, the herbs and spices are the music style. Sometimes tracks are so simple. A trio like Little Dragon - drums, bass, singer. And it works. Like Italian food, it’s so simple but it works. Other times you have an orchestra, you have complexity. That’s jazz, that’s Coltrane. That’s listening to Flying Lotus, that’s art rock…”
When you think of DJs, Vadim is up there with the best. Who can forget 1998 album USSR Repertoire thru Ninja Tunes records? It was a go-to album for us back in the day and, let’s face it, still is. Brings back fond memories of the sun rising over the Melbourne skyline. Over the years Vadim has continued to bring out tidy release after tidy release such as “Bluebird” on the brilliant Children of Possibility and “Sweet Like a Lolly” (hey, we are about food and tunes here) on Dubcatcher. Though USSR: Life From the Other Side with its mix of hip hop, jazz, funk and guest DJs & MCs such as Motionman, Sarah Jones, Starvin Artist and DJ Primecuts is a classic album, period.
Vadim has worked with many artists including DJ Krush, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Prince, Public Enemy, Dilated Peoples, Kraftwerk, Sly and the Family Stone, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Paul Weller, plus mixes for The Cure and Erykah Badu, just to name a few. Vadim’s love for producing, promoting, nurturing talent and general great vibes come through especially when making his recent record with new super group Freaquen.C with Andre Laville and Graziella Affinita. From what Vadim describes, those sessions sound like everything Flavourpitch. There is more to this story behind the flavour… stay tuned…
Freaquen.C recently released their first single “Break Bread”, a smooth soulful hip hop sound, and with infectious new track “Freaqshit” OUT NOW we can’t wait for their debut album, Eons and Echelons. We hear it’s not too far away.
Get listening and be sure to make Vadim’s “Saturday” ciabatta, like everything he does it’s an absolute delight, though in this case it’s a Mrs Vadim mix!
The Saturday Ciabatta
My favourite sandwich is when I come home from walking the dog on a Saturday and my wife has prepared a fresh frittata served in a ciabatta with cut cherry tomatoes and rocket.
Ingredients
For the frittata:
Eggs
Feta cheese
Prosciutto cotto
Finely diced bell pepper
Olive oil
Herbs of your choice
Plus ciabatta, cherry tomatoes and rocket
Method
Cook it with love and then put it in the oven.
Best served with freshly squeezed OJ, coffee or a nice tea.
Where do you like to eat and drink?
Cafe: Cookie Beacon Brunch in Budapest, Hercegprímás u. 15, 1051. I just love brunch, the whole idea. It’s a mix of lunch, breakfast, coffee, juice, light and hearty, sweet and savoury. Props to all-day brunch places. This one has more of an American influence, but redesigned by Catalan chefs. So it’s great pancakes, fried chicken sandwiches and more, but done with a Mediterranean twist. All in brunch size ideals. It might sound weird, but as a foodie, honestly it’s so original. It doesn’t do Eggs Benedict like every other place, neither does it do croissants, but they do the best ever homemade cookies and they have about 15-20 different types. And the flavours... oh my God. It’s cookie soft bake heaven.
Pub/bar: Roots Bar Budapest, Budapest, Király u. 77, 1077.This isn’t a fancy place. It’s really just a dive bar. No fancy cocktails. They just do beers, mixers, chasers and shots but, it’s a great bar. There’s always interesting people and it plays mostly great music themed around hip hop, reggae, drum n bass, jungle and garage. They’ve got a chess board, darts and it’s cozy, plus prices are very decent.
Restaurant: I have been to so many great restaurants around the world. There are so many styles, and of course the 'experience' counts. I will keep with the Budapest theme and choose Hungarian French Déryné, Budapest, Krisztina tér 3, 1013. It’s a bistro/steak bar with an international menu and incredible 1920s/30s interior styling, with tropical plants and birds and opulent gold-framed paintings and chandeliers, but not snotty like the Ritz. Much more cozy. Excellent original cocktails. Top end steaks and fish, salads, mains. There is usually a jazz 3-piece in the centre. Nice terrace and friendly staff. In the bathrooms they have a record player and you can play records whilst you do ya business. Nice touch. They have these interesting books on the shelves, it’s just quite quirky and I love the connection with music. It’s the little touches that make a place stand out.
DJ Vadim’s Flavourpitch playlist
What tunes do you play in the kitchen? Aha. If I’m doing a quickie, then something uptempo like Chase & Status, Dillinger, drum n bass. If it’s more of a big meal that includes multiple components like cooked potatoes, oven, stuff in a pan, salad, mashing etc., then something more easy - classic Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Big Momma Thornton, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald but also could be De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Fugees. If I’m preparing cocktails then something sexy - Prince or Kaytranada, jungle. Ezra Collective have been a big one recently… My wife loves to sneak in maybe an Oasis classic, Blur or even some 80s glam rock. Now that’s the best, when you have someone else control the playlist and they drop something good but you weren’t expecting it. It can change where you go with the cooking… Ok - we’re not going Italian on this dish - we’re going Middle Eastern with the cumin and cayenne pepper, or going more Indian etc.
Want to see more of DJ Vadim?
Instagram: @djvadim
Spotify: DJ Vadim
Bandcamp: DJ Vadim
Instagram: @freaquen.c
What’s happening:
I started a brand new group called Freaquen.C. There’s three of us: Andre Laville, Graziella Affinita and myself. It’s basically soul with an afro house electronic twist, but also with hip hop and jazz. I flew them over six times to Budapest to record and we basically lived, cooked, ate, smoked and made tunes. It was so fun and each of us had our specialty. Graz is half Italian half Filipino and her food went Asian or Italian. Dre is Jamaican, so food went that way, plus me doing me. So every day was salads, nibbles, snacks, fried dumplings and hot sauce, or amazing homemade courgette tagliatelle pasta with almond pistachio sauce. Anyway - Freaquen.C’s singles “Break Bread” and “Freaqshit” are out now and the Freaquen.C album is coming soon. My new album Soundcatcher 2.0 is out and I’m also doing an album with Scottish reggae singer Tom Spirals (from Mungo’s HiFi).