Premiere: Mary Yuzovskaya debuts on Kvalia Records with the “Cozy” EP

Moving slowly towards the end of another year, I am happy to share the next track premiere by a special artist within the hypnotic techno scene on a label very dear to my heart.

Mary Yuzovskaya is a vinyl only DJ, producer and a label owner, with more than 15 years of experience and presence in the electronic music scene. Her life journey is one with many and exciting chapters. The beginning of her music career began in Berlin in the early 2000s, continued in New York in 2013, and made a full circle back to Berlin with her latest relocation in 2020.

She has toured the world, showcasing her craft and undeniable love for vinyl, which has certainly touched many minds and hearts. In addition to her success as a DJ, Mary’s talent and dedication have brought her becoming a producer with releases on labels such as Semantica, System Revival, upcoming Kvalia Records, and her very own Monday Off Records.

I had the chance to connect with Linny Hex, the owner of Kvalia and Mary herself to dive a little deeper into their collaboration and upcoming vinyl only magic – the “Cozy” EP.

It’s been more than a year since I got to know and feature Linny and her label, in which period of time so much happened in both our lives. Looking at the way the catalogue of Kvalia unfolded featuring artists such as DJ Nobu, Anthony Linell, and Psyk, I am nothing but impressed with it all!

Cozy EP artwork on Kvalia Records — Artwork for the ‘‘Cozy’’ EP by Eric Blum

I wanted to start by asking the ladies how has their year been so far? Mary goes on to share “2022 has been kind to me. I’ve been traveling around Europe with gigs, and played a lot of debuts. My music was hosted by Mnestic Records, my very own Monday Off, and soon by Kvalia! Aside from that, I realised a couple of remixes. My label Monday Off published two records this year, and I’m very proud of both of them. Overall it’s been busy which is ideal for me, especially after having no travels during the pandemic. Feels good to be back.” How lovely! Indeed, it does feel good to be back to normal life, and , and my compliments go to Mary for the successful year she’s had. For the crazy music lovers, the two records that Mary just mentioned are the “Metaverse” EP by Ruhig, featuring a remix by Claudio PRC, and the latest VA Vol. 5 featuring Abstract Man, Hoedus, Xhato and Mary herself. If you didn’t get your hands on it, hurry up to your local record store or Bandcamp!

Linny tunes in: “Music-wise it’s been one of the busiest years of my career ever. After having suffered from burn out for almost 4 year, but gotten better I recently decided to start accepting gigs abroad. It’s been so rewarding to finally be able to play outside of Sweden and to meet so many sweet and creative people.” How brave and lovely to hear that 2022 has been a success so far!

It always makes me happy to see powerful women working together, and I was curious how did this collaboration come about? Earlier this year Linny appeared on the Monday Off podcast series and that was perhaps the actual beginning? Linny starts “I had known Mary and her music for a year or so, before I decided to approach her with the request. What’s funny is that when I asked her for an EP, she instantly told me yes, and that Kvalia is a favourite label of hers. I couldn’t take that in since Kvalia to me is still a small and anonymous label without a major following. But her words made me really happy, and we started to speak about what a potential release could look like. I explained my way of working with putting together releases and she told me about her process of writing tracks. I feel like Mary is such a sweet and caring person who values the same things as I do in the work process, so to me it was a no brainer that I wanted to work with her.”

Mary: “Linny reached out and asked if I’d me interested, and indeed I am a big fan of the label (at that time I had Kvalia002 – Abstract Man and Kvalia 003 – Blazej Malinowski in my collection and was obsessed with those records) I was beyond excited and grateful for the opportunity to create something for the imprint. I didn’t send Linny any previously created demos – after the invitation I started fresh projects and this EP was written specially for her.” That’s such a lovely approach! It is not often that artists go about invitations in this way, as it takes so much time and energy and creative headspace. But showing your love for a label in a way that you create with the label in mind, is the highest form of appreciation.

‘‘I didn’t send Linny any previously created demos. After the invitation I started fresh projects, and this EP was written specially for her.’’

Going deeper into the release itself I wanted to know what were some other thoughts and feelings that Mary put into it? “I worked on it during the winter lockdown, first half of 2021. I was really missing the clubs and travels, and I think you can hear that. A lot of producers created mostly ambient and experimental pieces during those months, for me, however it was the opposite – I was trying to recreate the club vibe in my studio. Everything I made in that time frame (including this EP) was very dance floor oriented and quite uplifting.” I can completely understand that. We all processed these hard months in our own way. Linny goes on “What surprised me when I listened through the final version for me the first time was that the productions were a little rougher and more stripped down than I had expected from Mary. Since I’ve felt for some time that I want to take Kvalia in that exact direction Mary’s EP was an instant like for me.” What a match of energies and nice coincidence it was! It seems like a lot had aligned for the ladies to arrive at such wonderful body of work together, but additionally I sense that there is a lot in common between them speaking of values and work ethic.

‘‘It’s important for me to not only enjoy the curation of the label and the direction it’s headed, but also to make sure we are on the same page in terms of communication and overall professionalism.’’

Since Mary is a label owner herself, and she has gone through the process of curating a catalogue and inviting other artists to be part of her story, I wanted to know, when releasing on other labels what are the things or qualities that are important to her in the people running it? “It’s important for me to not only enjoy the curation of the label and the direction it’s headed, but also to make sure we are on the same page in terms of communication and overall professionalism. If we have a similar approach to the work process – it’s a great start. Another crucial factor – which mastering engineer and distribution the label choses to work with. Also, I recently stopped giving my music to digital only labels – now I mainly focus on vinyl releases, with some exceptions for charity projects or close friends.”

What I gather from Mary’s answers is that she is a very professional artist, who is standing strong with both feet on the ground, considering all the important aspects, but at the same time following her heart and intuition. I am happy that in the end it has all led her to the wonderful projects she has been involved with so far. To wrap up our small catchup I wanted to know what are some future plans when it comes to releasing music or playing? “I’m going to dedicate the rest of the year to the studio, wrapping up another solo EP, and a few other things. After that I’ll be back on the road (which is my favourite part of this job!), will pay a short visit to the US and hopefully more continents in 2023. My label Monday Off has two Eps scheduled for next year, fingers crossed for no delays at the pressing plant.”

With that we ended our chat, and now dear readers, it’s time for you to enjoy “Schlaf” – the track premiere of the “Cozy” EP by Mary Yuzovskaya to be released on 2nd of December on Kvalia Records. Press play and transcend on the dancefloor in anticipation of the full record! I bet that we will dance a lot to the sound of this track in the upcoming club season!