Get To Know 01: Vakula

By si Tuesday June 19, 2012

This is the first of a new, regular feature where we give you a run down of the best tracks by some of the finest artists we feature on Sound Shelter.

First up is deep house maestro Vakula.

Known to his mates as Mikhaylo, Vakula hails from the Ukrainian city of Konotop – probably best known for being the smallest city in the country with it’s own tram system and most definitely not the first city to come to mind when naming house music hotspots around the globe. His position on the globe does not seem to have affected his ability to craft together timeless, dubby house where the influences of Detroit can be felt in the way his delay covered, melancholic pads smother intricate, body rattling rhythms. That framework may sound all to familiar yet Vakulas output has a timeless and personal feel which should see his tracks cementing their place in the collections of many DJ’s, while tracks from the producers du jour disappear into the recesses of broken hard drives, never to be heard again.

In the circle of music, being prolific (some of his releases feature 6 tracks) is not always to be associated with the release of high quality output but this is where Vakula again bucks the trend. The last 12 months saw him release on labels such as Mule Musiq, 3rd Strike, Dekmantel, Firecracker and Aus as well as production for his own Leleka label – the labels may change but the quality never seems to drops. He’s also a highly regarded remixer with the likes of Fudge Fingas, Cottam, Basic Soul Unit, Jazzanova and probably most intriguing of all, Steve Reich, being given a Vakula interpretation.