Varg2™ Hates the Algorithm. And Your Outfit.

Photo courtesy of Varg2™.

This is SOUND ADVICE, a weekly destination for playlists curated by Interview’s friends, enemies, and lovers. Over the past few weeks, we’ve gathered playlists from José James, Nourished by Time and Molly Lewis. This week’s guest is Swedish producer and artist Varg2™, who just dropped Nordic Flora Series Pt. 6: Outlaw Music, in which he joins forces with a host of musical savants including Rx Papi, Skrillex, Eartheater and his YEAR0001 label-mates Ecco2k and Bladee. In the coming weeks, the musician is also set to open his own art gallery in Stockholm with friend Anthony Linell. “I’m trying to create a platform for dope shit, not monopolize the art world,” he told us last week when he took our Sound Advice questionnaire. To mark the new record and his foray into the art world, Varg curated us a playlist of eclectic tracks and sounded off on Cartier, Adderall, and the detriment of the algorithm to music.

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Where do you dance? I don’t dance, I sauce walk everywhere. 

Bluetooth or wired headphones? Neither. iPhone speaker on the back of the bus. 

What was your first concert? DS13 when I was 10 at Galaxen in Umeå.

The world is ending, what are you wearing? Dirty Adidas pants and a tank top and a buss down. 

Where are you hanging out in New York? The metro junctions. Also Purple Passion. 

What song reminds you of your childhood? Dolly Parton, “Jolene.”

Dream collaboration? Dolly Parton, Gordon Ramsay, David Blane or Criss Angel, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Philipp Plein.

What’s your DJ-ing pet peeve? People that wear shoes on in the house. I fucking hate when it’s not brand new equipment and the link is wonky and the search bar is old as fuck it feels like playing some after market pirate shit. Also, it’s underrated to mix in key instead of keeping BPM range/genre. 

Best setting to listen to your new album?  Under a bridge smoking crack. But for real like, country road drive in California in Bakersfield (shoutout Korn) super humid late night smoking it up in the car and pulling into a diner by yourself. Basically, redneck Burial type shit. I once did acid and went to view the Borghese collection while listening to Coil’s The Ape of Naples on repeat. I’m not saying my album is as good as theirs but it could also be a good setting for mine. 

Where do you find new music? Bandcamp. I like trying to find smaller interesting artists because I don’t listen to electronic music in my downtime. I find that if I’m oblivious to the EDM hierarchy then I can discover more without a bias. My girlfriend has also been ripping her Thunderdome CD collection for me and putting it on my USB. 

What’s your music taste red flag? TikTok trend techno sucks and it’s super wack. Covering up bad production with distortion is lame as fuck. The dollar store raver leather harness, ‘I’m a fucking vampire’ style can suck my dick. You’re not demonic and unique, you belong to algorithm. 

Adderall dose? 420mg.

Who do you trust most with aux? I would say my friend B.E. but he had a phase of playing AI cat remixes of songs and the melodies were sung by cracked out computer cats. Now I have to go with DJ Billybool. 

Sunglasses inside, yes or no? Yes if they’re Cartier.

What inspired your art dealer era?  I think it’s time for more community where it’s artists pushing for artists and less corporate involvement. I’m opening a gallery but I’m trying to create a platform for dope shit, not monopolize the art world.