Dig deep into the abyss of tones, drones, dubs, clubs, riddims and rhythms, smooth grooves and deep moves. Hop aboard the BassShip, sometimes piloted by rad guests captains.

On this month’s episode, Masha is joined by special guest Vladimir Ivkovic.

Vladimir Ivkovic is a Serbian DJ and label owner. Born and raised in Belgrade, he first dabbled in DJing as a teenager in the mid ’80s, but it was only after leaving Yugoslavia (to study in Germany) and later coming back for a summertime visit that he truly immersed himself in the craft. From there, he spent much of the next two decades honing his skills while throwing events like Selected and Substance that played host to a cross-section of boundary-pushing DJs, long before it was fashionable to do so.

Eventually, Ivkovic found his musical and spiritual home at Salon des Amateurs, an unassuming spot in Düsseldorf that’s gradually proven to be wildly influential, giving rise in recent years to otherworldly talents like Lena Willikens, Tolouse Low Trax, Jan Schulte and many others, including Ivkovic himself. That same adventurous spirit has found its way into Ivkovic’s curation of Offen Music, a label he launched in 2015. Although the imprint’s output is all but impossible to neatly categorize – experimental Serbian rarities sit alongside ambient excursions and moody synth-pop in the label’s catalogue – the label’s open-minded approach and embrace of off-kilter sounds perfectly encapsulates Ivkovic’s artistic temperament.

Through the years Ivkovic has become a staple of the European club circuit and has appeared at celebrated nightspots like De School (Amsterdam), Berghain (Berlin), Nitsa (Barcelona), Kaiku (Helsinki) alongside large-scale events like Primavera Sound, Unsound, Strange Sounds from Beyond, Dekmantel, Flow, TodaysArt, Robot to name a few. (Futura Artists)