Cast your minds back to 2006. The clubs were over-run be infectious baile funk beats. And who was at the helm of all of this? Edu K. The Brazilian producer has since reinvented himself with a more minimal bent, and to much acclaim, with his track Dos Gusanos landing prima facie on Claude VonStroke’s Dirtybird 5: The Future compilation. With a club tour kicking off in the coming weeks, the ever-changing music man chats to inthemix about punk, baile funk, minimal tropical beats and why variety is, indeed, the spice of life.

When did you start making music?
When I was ten I saw the Stones on the telly one night and a few days later I started a band. Before that it was Saturday Night Fever that got me hooked on music. Tony Manero forever!

You seem to have very diverse tastes and styles. How did this come to be?
I really don’t know, for sure. I guess it’s just a natural thing for me. It’s been this way since school when I loved Duran Duran and AC/DC with the same passion. There is so much different and amazing music in this world, especially right now, that I can’t restrain myself. I want to have it all.

You were, in Australia at least, very influential in championing baile funk to the mainstream. You then moved away to a different sound on Frenetiko and now a very minimalist sound. Why?
Well, one thing that is crucial for me is that I’m an ever-changing man. Even since the days of Defalla, my rock band from the eighties and nineties. When I first appeared on the international scene people knew me as a baile funkster, but actually that has just been another one of my phases.

I love all kinds of music and I follow my heart. I’m always falling in love with different styles here and there and I’m very curious. I always go for it. I always try and see if I can produce tracks in a vein that I have never explored before. I suppose that that’s what keeps my music fresh. I can’t imagine myself doing the same kind of music over and over. I’d die of boredom. I know that this makes me a hard act to follow, but I guess that it’s also entertaining.

The funny thing is the way that these elements are moving in circles. Right now I’m interested in certain baile funk elements again and I’ve been incorporating them in my productions. It’s a full circle if you believe that, at least to some extent, my old records had a certain influence on European producers that are now inspiring me, via French Fries [YounGunz] for example. It’s a crazy magic world!

Also, were you surprised by the success of the baile funk sound?
Not really. The first time I heard baile funk I knew it would be huge. It was like music from the future, like third world mutant hip-hop. It was just a question of time before the world got hip to it.

How and why did you end up transitioning from the live punk scene (De Falla) to DJing?
Back then, when I was singing with the band, I was already DJing. I used to make a mess in my sets by blending awkward styles together like cutting from Duran Duran to the Stooges and back to Run DMC. I was actually the first dude in my city to play hip hop and I was not very popular for that.

When did this more minimal sound develop?
It was a reaction to the over-saturation of the fidget sound. About a year and a half ago everything was just bangers, bangers, bangers! I guess that made a lot of people migrate to the minimal sound. And man, do I love the perversion of it – kids wearing ‘Minimal My Ass’ t-shirts one day and dancing to Minus records the next! Everyone was hungover from fidget and bangers, so it was natural to go back to a lighter and sparse sound, slower BPMs. Girls like it better that way! Really, I suppose that I’m a maximalist with a current minimal mindset. I’m not one to be tied up to tags or concepts – everything is allowed in my mix.

How did you come to be involved with Dirtybird?
I actually first became friends with Worthy when Anabatic [Records] released my Avec Bon Bons EP. It was through him that my EP got to Barclay [Crenshaw aka Claude VonStroke]. I’m very excited that Dos Gusanos will be part of Dirtybird’s fifth anniversary compilation.

What was it like working with Crookers, another act that have recently hit the mainstream hard, on Gatas Gatas Gatas?
Wow, it was like a dream come true. Daniel Haaksman from Man Recordings introduced me to their sound about five years ago. It ignited my fidget craze and ever since then they have become heroes to me. Bot taught me the ancient three-sample bass drum technique, a secret that passes from generation to generation of sacred sound engineers. Yes, I was blessed!

Is there an album in the pipeline?
I’m not an ‘album’ type producer. The whole album process can take up to six months and I’m usually bored of my own tracks about a week after they’re finished. I believe in the freedom and speed of singles, so I’m not working on anything album-wise, but plenty of singles instead. I’ve got about 20 new unfinished tracks.

Any inspirations musical or otherwise?
I’m inspired by anything and everything: records, movies, TV shows, comic books, books, other DJs and producers, the amazing girls from my hometown, savage nights out at the clubs…everything! In the producer realm recently, I’ve been very inspired by lots of the German dudes like Heinrichs & Hirtenfellner, Das Krause Duo, Alex Niggemann and the new wave of American deep house from guys like Lazaro Casanova and Jay-You and the Frisco sound from Worthy, VonStroke and J. Phlip.

Finally, what can we expect from your upcoming Aussie shows?
You can expect anything from me. I’ll be playing by heart, so expect lots of amazing music ranging wildly from minimal to deep house to tropical to tech-house. There are no boundaries for me when it comes to music, especially club music. In short, a shit-load of banging drums and mind-bending synths. We are all going to party like it’s 2012. Sorry, Prince. The times are ever changing.

Edu K tour dates:

Fri 26 March – Shape, Perth
Sat 27 March – Espy, Melbourne
Sat 3 April – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Sun 4 April – CBD, Newcastle
Thu 8 April – Monastery, Brisbane
Fri 9 April – Arena, Ballina