
FRANKIE FLOWERZ
www.myspace.com/frankieflowerz
One of the main ideals of Love International is to create a platform for unknown/ up and coming Malaysian electonic music producers to expose their music to an international audience. But what happened to the true electronic music pioneers from Malaysia. In this series, we feature these true unsung heroes. And to kick off this series, we present Frankie Flowerz a.k.a Mohan Das, originally from our home island of Penang and long time resident in the electronic music mecca of this century, Berlin.
Releases..having produced for over a decade now, his productions can be heard on various labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Turbo, Funkhaus , Hypercolour, Blaou and most recently on Internasiojnal; his style is passionate mix of soul, funk, disco, techno, jazz and deep house music.In 2008, he took over as Label Head & A/R for Funkhausmusic, Berlin. His partner is Daniel Sunn, the founder(www.myspace.com/funkhausmusic).
Mohan built his studio in Switzerland(1993) out of boredom during the daytime and his perpetual love for music. Then he formed a 6 piece soul, funkjazz band called "Funk You" in 1995; -he was the lead vocalist & backing keyboardist and also wrote songs for the outfit; the outcome of all this was a Live cd recording. As his sound got better (so he thought), he began to approach some labels. His first ever 12" was on Blaou Records, Berlin called "Free my Soul EP" under the Das Deva guise in 1999 . In 2002 he was approached by Funkhausmusic to join them in building up the label and its sound. He released there as Audio Royal and Hybrid Funk. It wasn’t long before Funkhaus became an established label to many DJ's and punters. Its 2005 -Frankie Flowerz was born-Crosstown Rebels wanted his music and they got it -he did two 12" -"The Key" (the record with the scratch) and "SweetsistaVoodoo/In your Eyes" and a remix for Adamsky (“Larynx”)
In 2006, Mohan sent Tiga an MP3 for his then 12" on Funkhaus, "Now or Never" ; Tiga loved it and they met. Funkhaus disbanded in 2005 but he continued the label with one of the owners. Then came Hypercolour in 2006 (Mohan had met Jaime, one of the label owners in Krakow, Poland after a gig )-a 12” was cut- the “Sweet Dreamz” EP on Hypercolour, UK. Its 2007 and Mohan discovers Myspace and puts some of his different sounding productions on the player and hunts for friends-Prinsthomas finds him and “Break The Barriers” gets signed on to Internasjonal . He sends out "Rain " and “Stylo” to Tiga and they meet...again. Mohan soon meets up with Thomas von Party (Tiga’s brother) and Oh Yes! & Funk Dat gets signed on to Turbo Recordings…it continues.
With some hard hitting releases on some of the worlds finest electronic music labels, Mohan is set to expand his music; sharing it with people who love his vibe. Next Stop- OM Records, San Francisco-July 2009. Stay tuned..
Spinning… on the global DJ circuit for a good 24 years ,Mohan has Headlined; as well as either supported /opened for/played in a party with Laurent Garnier(E.U Clubnight 2009 & Tempodrom ,Berlin 2000)Kenny Dixon Jr (Moodymann), Theo Parrish, Prins Thomas, Trentemoeller, LTJ Bukem, Etienne de Crecy, George Morel (Germany tour -Coke Dj Culture in 2002), Carl Craig, Afrika Bambaata, Kevin Saunderson, Sasha and James Zabiella, (Coke DJ Culture 2006 ; Sonne Mond, Sterne Festival 2006) so as to mention some.(flyers viewable in www.myspace.com/frankieflowerz.com)
DJ Sets…Mohan, as most people know him, began dj'ing in Penang, Malaysia in 1984 playing funk, rock,new wave etc during live band pauses in the Skyroom.This was while he was waiting for his “O” level results. He had 2 tape players with pitch control and boxes of cassetes containing 12" recorded on to them. 2 years later he had turntables and vinyl and it wasnt long before he had played in every club on the island. His brother ,who was living in Switzerland, hooked him up with a DJ Agency in Zurich and in 1990 his career took off full time in Europe. After 8 years of touring in Switzerland, he left for "greener pastures"..so he thought. Berlin beckoned next and this was to be a period of huge change-Berlin was Techno city and Mohan a deep, soulful House Dj who loved Funk..Great-he realised he had to develop more and explore deeper, so he embraced Techno , Electro and just moved along and took things the way they came – soon, he earned a reputation for his house sets in Berlin when he was the Resident in the Casino Lounge, supporting George Morel, Laurent Garnier and other icons in the scene. Soon he was playing all over the globe ;over the years he has incorporated a bigger spectrum;thus tastefully combining electro, minimal and techno - he also loves playing soul, funk , disco and downtempo in a more laid back setting .expect to hear the oldskool,newskool and the future sounds in his dj sets.
Mohan has his regular nights at the Roter Salon, Berlin called “Electric Mondays” where he plays with his partner Ricardo Rodriguez.