Frankey & Sandrino traverse progressive breaks and house…

With a partnership stretching back to 2009, Frankey & Sandrino have quietly carved out a body of work defined by curiosity rather than conformity. Their productions favour intuition over trend, moving fluidly between moods while retaining a clear, personal signature.

That commitment to following their own instincts has seen them release across a broad spectrum of respected imprints, including Innervisions, Mule Musiq, Kompakt, Diynamic, as well as their own platform, Sum Over Histories.

On this Balance Selections mix, the duo trace a slow-burn arc from progressive breaks into more introspective terrain. Featuring music from David August, Impérieux, Frizon and others, it unfolds as a focused, inward-looking 60 minutes that rewards close listening.

Tracklist

1. Impérieux – Gider {Macro}
2. Voltaire – Unity {Cod3 Qr}
3. Nuage – The Owl (Extended Version) {House Of Youth}
4. Rtika – I Just Wonder {Good Skills}
5. Dylan Dylan – Natural High (S*Edit) {Pont Neuf Records}
6. Dylan Dylan – Listen to Yourselves {Pont Neuf Records}
7. Baril – One More Rush {Intercept Records}
8. Whistleblower (Trikk Version)
9. Frizon – Voices {Sum Over Histories}
10. Apste – Contextual {Sum Over Histories}
11. Tomás GC – Spark Of Life {Sum Over Histories}
12. David August – Workout III {99Chants}

Sandrino: I developed an interest in electronic music at a very early age. By 1991, when I was just eleven years old, I was already buying my first CDs and twelve-inch records.

I can’t even explain why—it was simply there. I loved how music allowed me to travel through time and space, just by closing my eyes and surrendering to the rhythm.

But my earliest and most vivid musical memory goes back even further.

I grew up in communist-era Romania, where television programming was heavily restricted. However, we were able to receive a Serbian TV channel, mainly to watch cartoons.

One afternoon, while sitting in front of the TV, something completely unexpected happened: they broadcast the music video for Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal.

That moment is burned into my memory. It did something profound to me & it created a deep emotional connection to music.

A connection that has stayed with me ever since, continuously growing and shaping who I am today.

Frankey: I remember my parents having this all DUAL Automatic Recordplayer and as soon as I was 4 years old and could reach the start switch, I started listening to the records of my parents.

So for me it started with old Queen, Santana or Aretha Franklin Records. And it was never some background entertainment for me.

I spend hours just sitting next to the record player and listening to these records, doing nothing else. It was my favorite thing to do from a very early age on.

Frankey: The first electronic music tracks that influenced me were the early „breakdance“ days and then I bought my first vinyl singles like Axel F. from Harold Faltemeyer or 19 from Paul Hardcastle, but I stayed mostly with traditional hand played music till my early 20ties.

Sandrino: My first time in a club was in the summer of 1993. I had just turned 13. A school friend of mine, Benny, had an older cousin who was already 19 and deeply into techno. He was going to parties and sometimes brought records over to us.

We would sit together, listening to techno and other records, completely absorbed by this new sound and the world around it.

One day he asked if we wanted to come to a club with him. Of course we did. I told my parents I was staying over at Benny’s place. He told his parents he was staying at mine.

That night we made our way to Bonn, to the Biscuithalle, to see Cosmic Baby and Steve Mason play.

At the door the bouncer took one look at us and immediately pushed us out of the line. We stood outside, disappointed, not really knowing what to do.

Then suddenly the bouncer walked straight towards us, looked at us for a moment and simply said, “In.”

We looked at each other, paid the entrance fee and walked into the club. What I experienced there changed my life forever.

Frankey: I was probably about 20 years old and had already quite a long history of playing in all kinds of bands. So before even understanding the music that DJ was playing, I was more fascinated by the fact, that people were not focusing on a stage.

They just came together to celebrate music in an intense way and the DJ was not the center of attention, like I was used to from the Band-culture.

Unfortunately this is not the case anymore. It seems humans just like watching up to somebody on a stage, even if he’s not doing that much 🙂

Frankey: It’s so crazy that for me as a DJ, I can’t even remember when I had a CD in my hand the last time, because I associate the concept of an Album somehow with a physical medium of an artist that tells a longer story.

The last Album that blew me away, made me cry and all the good things, was Cloak from Jordan Rakei and it was released 2016. So, it’s been a while. I found it by myself while digging music on Spotify.

And even though artist are complaining so much about Spotify and unfair payments, I have to admit, Spotify is my treasure chest for finding music like nothing has ever been before. Because in the first place I am simply a music lover and in the last place I care about money & business.

Sandrino: The last album I downloaded was Impérieux´s Rezil, released on Macro Records, a Berlin-based label run by Stefan Goldmann. The album brings together tenderness, energy, depth, and emotion all in one, and it’s exactly the kind of music I look for.

For me, it’s a perfect electronic music album. It’s not just a collection of club tracks, but a complete story, a full concept, an emotional journey from the very first note to the last.

Sandrino: I love it very simple. I’m old school and I really love rotary mixers, especially my very own ISO 420 by Isonoe.

Yet for the club, I like the new AlphaTheta Euphonica mixer and four CDJs 3000 to have a lot of options selecting music, preparing, especially during long nights, long sets.

This is what I prefer. No Effects just good Music perfectly blend together.

Frankey: The Studio Setup is pretty simple. Using just a couple of analog Drum Computers and a little Moog as outboard gear, because I really enjoy the mobility of working in the box.

On the other hand I think nowadays the hardware or not discussion is less about sound than about haptics. That’s why I still try to control Vst Synths with actual knobs instead of mouse or touchpad.

Most used synths in our productions are the usual suspects: Everything from Mr Urs Heckmann (U-He), Omnisphere, Serum, Sylenth and some Arturia Stuff.

Sandrino: We have a few gigs coming up that we’re really looking forward to, like our all nighter at Gewölbe in Cologne this Saturday. But there’s one gig we’re especially excited about.

On February 28th we’ll be back at our absolute favorite club in the world, Stereo in Montreal. There’s no other club in the world with that vibe. There’s no other place where we can express ourselves musically the way we do there.

Everything comes together. The perfect sound system, the best crowd, the best team, amazing lighting. It’s simply the perfect place for our music, where we can spend 10, 11, 12 hours completely losing ourselves and taking a journey together with the audience.

If you can you should not miss that one.