There is music that needs fog, a dark and sweaty club, paired with that slight tension in the air, to truly unfold. But when Mathias Modica, aka Kapote, starts at the decks, none of that matters any more. The Toy Tonics boss, producer and DJ curates tracks that do not feel like cold Berlin concrete. Close your eyes and you could almost think you were sitting in the passenger seat of a convertible on a warm summer’s day, driving down Italian switchbacks towards the sea.
To understand what defines Kapote’s sound, it is worth looking back into the past, to his former self. For more than a decade and a half, Modica shaped European club culture as Munk and as the head of the legendary Munich label Gomma Records. Munk’s approach was both eclectic and deeply rooted in post-punk, no wave and indie disco. Almost as a counterpart, Kapote stands for warmth, living sound, slapping basses and hypnotic grooves, emerging from a mixture of Detroit electro-funk, New York garage house and Chicago house.
Airy bedrock
That this sound breathes so deeply is also down to Modica’s collective spirit. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with a wildly extensive roster of visionary artists, from James Murphy and Peaches to WhoMadeWho. After moving to the capital, he established himself as a fixture of Berlin’s house scene. As the mastermind behind Toy Tonics, which he founded together with friends, he shapes a global network from here.
In his guest mix, too, Kapote creates a space that feels airy and light. Through influences from Italo disco and disco-house grooves, he demonstrates beautifully how his typical creative tools interact. Instead of sterile monotony, rhythms roll inexorably forward, while organic vocal loops and jazzy percussion interlock perfectly.
