The Mixtape Vol. 150

22-year-old Robin Jones left Worcester to study Visual Communication design at Stellenbosch University and now lives in Cape Town where he DJs as Ripchord. 

"I don't really have one genre that I focus on, and I really just try to have fun whilst creating music and work with what I'm feeling."

Influenced by Clams Casino's ambience, the production and versatility of Skrillex and the beautiful feeling that Hans Zimmer creates in his music, for Ripchord music is a creative outlet for his dark ambient sound. 

How did you come up with the name Ripchord? 

I got my name from watching GI Joe as a kid. I was watching the show and thought the character Ripcord had such a cool name. Felt like it would describe me and the sound I was going for.

You've been in the game for four years now, how has your sound changed over the years? 

I started out making very hard electronic music like Dubstep and Trap, then started venturing into other genres as I didn't want to box myself into any one style. Over the years I learned to incorporate all of these sounds into my music. Today there's an ambient. atmospheric feel in my production that often sounds quite dark.

You're busy working on an EP. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

I've got a collab EP in the works with one of my mentors, Odous. The EP is best described as very dark, ambient and experimental music with a lot of bass. I've got another collab EP with talented rapper Khule Ngubane, which has been a really fun process working with him. Later this year I will be dropping another EP, which will be a kind of feels EP. The best way to describe it or to explain what to expect is to check out my track 'Sure Thing Feels' on Soundcloud.

You play all over the city, what have been some of your most memorable gigs and why?

Definitely my first time playing Assembly. It was my first gig ever and a couple of my friends and I drove all the way from Worcester. I had to steal my mom's laptop to do my performance on virtual DJ. 

Then my first time playing OVERTIME at Fiction was really crazy, as I was so nervous and the venue was so packed. The crowd was amazing and had so much energy, I'm not sure if the aircon was broken that night but the walls were sweating. Das Kapital danced so much while I was performing he had to sit down to take a break.

What's in the mix you made for The Way of Us?

There's a bit of something  for everyone from trap to house to jersey bounce, Hip hop, dubstep and more. It's a mix that not only shows my versatility but my big inspirations as well. There are a few exclusives from myself and other producers such as Rvwr and Odous, too.