At Future Sonner Records, we’re always drawn to artists who don’t just chase a sound — they chase a version of themselves that’s still on the horizon. Few embody that journey as honestly as MINDDAGAAP, the producer and DJ whose new EP lands like a transmission from the spaces between where he’s been and where he’s headed. We sat down with him to unpack the move from Pietermaritzburg to Johannesburg, the taxi rides that started it all, and the singular creative philosophy hidden in his name.
From KZN to the City of Gold
The shift from the quiet pulse of PMB to Johannesburg’s relentless tempo rewired MINDDAGAAP’s musical DNA. “My move influenced my sound and production a lot,” he explains. In Joburg, he found himself surrounded by DJs who played wildly different styles, and he became a regular in spaces where the music refused to sit still. That collision of sounds — from deep, soulful corners to harder, sweat-soaked floors — opened up new production lanes. “This exposure to different types of sounds allowed me to tap into different shades of dance music,” he says. The EP bears that out: it moves fluidly between moods because its creator learned to move between worlds.
Falling in Love on the Way to School
Before clubs and studios, there was the morning commute. Growing up in Pietermaritzburg in the early 2000s, electronic music wasn’t a niche — it was the soundtrack of daily motion. “Most of the taxis I rode to school had an impeccable sound system,” MINDDAGAAP recalls. “As a kid, I had the liberty to choose the taxi with the best sound system that played the music I liked.” That’s where the love affair began, in the back of a minibus taxi, bass vibrating through the seats, melodies competing with the noise of the road. It’s a detail that couldn’t be more South African, and it explains why his music feels both deeply personal and inherently communal.
The Story Behind the Name
MINDDAGAAP isn’t just a moniker — it’s a mission statement. “There is a high self that I aspire to connect with,” he says. “There is a futurist sound that I am chasing. At the moment, there is a gap between what I am creating and what my envisaged self is creating in the future. And I am constantly trying to bridge that gap.” The name articulates that tension between present output and future potential, a space where growth lives. It’s a vulnerable admission for any artist, and it gives his music an edge of intentional searching. You’re not just hearing tracks; you’re overhearing a conversation between who he is and who he’s becoming.
Inside the EP: A Mood for Every Moment
When asked what ties the four tracks together, MINDDAGAAP resists a single story. “This EP was created to suit different moods,” he says. “There are songs that you can listen to when you are alone, maybe when you are driving late at night. There are songs that you can listen to when you are chilling with your homies, and there are songs that will get you in the mood to go party.” That range feels intentional, a deliberate soundtrack for the full arc of a night out — or a night in. While making the project, he was deep into drum & bass and jazz breaks, and although he’s not sure those influences bled directly into the EP, the rhythmic elasticity and breakbeat undertones suggest otherwise. The music breathes, stutters, and glides in ways that reveal a producer devouring sounds far beyond the 4/4 grid.
The Rituals: Anime, Muted, and a DAW
Every producer has their studio ritual, and MINDDAGAAP’s is wonderfully specific. “Usually, when I produce, I have two screens open. One screen will be playing random anime on mute, and the other will be displaying the DAW.” It’s a setup that speaks to his generation — visual stimulation as a silent collaborator, a moving painting that keeps one part of the brain occupied while the other builds worlds out of sound. Asked which house track represents his life’s soundtrack so far, he points to his own “C.9ine feat. P’Oliveira - Donia.” It’s a fitting choice: a track of his own making that carries the emotional weight of the journey, a milestone on the path toward that high self.
MINDDAGAAP’s music is an invitation to ride along while he closes the gap — between cities, between influences, between the artist he is today and the one he’s in pursuit of tomorrow. We’re proud to have him in the Future Sonner family, and we can’t wait for you to hear where the next transmission lands.
Stream or buy the new EP exclusively on our website!! due to be out on all platforms May 29th, and keep your ears fixed on the gap — that’s where the future sounds best.