Eight years after its first party in Berlin, Mala Junta enters a new chapter with the launch of Mala Junta Records. The label opens with MJR001, a 22-track compilation bringing together artists from across the community that has formed around the party over the past eight years, including Audrey Danza, DJ Babatr, DJ Fuckoff, DJ TOOL, Hyperaktivist, Kim Ann Foxman, Priori, Whrikk and Yazzus.
Among the tracks is “Splatter Rhythm” by DJ TOOL, co-founder of Mala Junta. A trance-tinged techno cut with a restless, psychedelic energy, the track arrives as part of the label’s first compilation and reflects the kind of movement and intensity that has long surrounded Mala Junta’s dance floors.
To mark the release, we spoke with DJ TOOL about “Splatter Rhythm,” his evolving approach to DJing and production, eight years of Mala Junta, and what lies ahead for both the label and his own work.
“Splatter Rhythm” is part of MJR001, the first release from Mala Junta Records. What was the starting point for this track, and what made it the right piece to represent this new chapter?
I made the track on the go when we were on tour in China with Mala Junta last winter. I played a DJ set at the Chinese New Year’s celebration party at TAG in Chengdu, consisting only of my own productions.
For that to happen, I was working on tracks every day up until the party. So I’ve been sitting on the tracks from back then for a while. They have been coming out on different compilations one by one.
I really like this one and wanted to keep it for a good release, and this was obviously it! I think the track has a strong amount of energy, and I’m very happy to finally have this one out on this special compilation.
What were you focusing on sonically when you were making “Splatter Rhythm”? Were there any particular sounds, rhythms or textures you wanted to push?
I was focusing on hitting an old-school trance vibe mixed with modern techno production, crackly distorted psychedelic textures together with the 303 basslines from old trance and a boomy kick drum and loud percs and hats from techno.
I think it hit pretty good. I’m very happy with how the track turned out, and I hope it resonates well at parties, especially outdoors in nature. Should give a proper trippy vibe on the dance floor, I think 🙂
Mala Junta has grown from a Berlin party into an international community over the past eight years. What has this journey meant to you personally?
The journey has been everything for me, honestly. Without that project, I wouldn’t be who I am.
It has formed me in so many ways, and I’ve learned a lot from making Mala Junta all over the world together with my best friends Ana Laura (Hyperaktivist) and Nayme.
Given the fact that it blew up to the thing that it is, it has of course given all of us opportunities to travel the world together and get friend groups and connect with like-minded party crews everywhere from China to Colombia.
It changes you as a person to travel a lot. You get a better/different understanding of reality as a whole, which I think is only healthy for everyone. It really does put things in perspective.
Outside of Mala Junta, how has your own sound or approach to making music evolved in recent years?
My own sound as a DJ is ever-evolving and always changing in a way. Within the last years, I’ve finally become more confident in the fact that I do it my way and it’s different. It has a touch of storytelling every time. It’s not sustaining a peaking techno feeling the whole way through. Even a 2h set is approached differently.
My sound is not the sound of a specific version of techno, it’s a way of doing things. When I DJ, I can jump around in subgenres, but usually I’m picking a part of my collection that I think will fit the party, the timetable and the mood of the given situation. I don’t mix up a lot of different genres within one DJ set, though I have tons of tracks/records across different genres. The set usually has an idea of rather this one is a more trancey one, a more old-school or new-school techno set, or a bassy, tripped-out one, not all at the same time.
I think a lot about the context of the given situation and how to get the best potential experience out of that. For some reason, it never gets old to me. When I’m in the booth, I love it as much now as I did when I started.
Production-wise, a lot has changed for me in the last years. A big, big change for me was starting to make music together with Yazzus as The Evil B-Side Twins and release records on our own label, Evil Twin Rekords.
I’ve gotten a lot more organized in my tracks and more confident in my sounds. We finally built a nice studio in Berlin fully with old-school hardware, which also has become a big part of what I/we do.
Sitting on tons of tracks we’ve done together over the last years and a good bunch of my own productions too these days, so definitely expect a lot of stuff coming out soon, little by little.
What’s next for Mala Junta and DJ TOOL? Are there any projects or directions you’re particularly excited about?
For Mala Junta, we are very excited about finally having our own label up and running, and we are all really happy with how it all came together.
We are of course excited about hitting Bassiani and FOLD later in the year. Those are some of our favourite spots around the planet. As well as a trip over to Prague soon for Harmony at Ankali, which is gonna be so good.
For me (DJ TOOL) personally, I’m very excited about the future of Yazzus and my project and what’s coming on the label. We have a new EP out at the end of this year, hopefully, and a bunch of more things for next year too. This year went on too fast, hahah. I say that every year and I’m not getting younger.
Anyways, lots of good things to come sonically, and also excited about putting some solo EPs out soon. It’s long overdue, but yeah, I can be special about things, haha.
It excites me to transform slowly into spending more and more time on producing music these days. For me, it’s a very pure output artistically that gives me a space to breathe, in a quite suffocating DJ scene that feels sped up and infected by capitalism and the more-the-merrier approach to things.
When I’m in the studio, I don’t think much about how it will be achieved at all. It’s just pouring out in a pretty innocent way.
Follow Mala Junta & DJ TOOL
Mala Junta First Compilation: MJR 001 on Bandcamp
KEYI Magazine Fundraiser Vol.002 x Phantom Bar Berlin, 26th September 2026 Support and Get Your Tix on RA
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