Minni Rider is a Croatian singer, songwriter, musician, producer and a mixing engineer currently based in Berlin.
Minni first came to our attention via a Suzanne Kraft remix of ‘Fool’ from her excellent 2017 debut EP ‘Dark Horse’. Les Inrockuptbles magazine in France described one of the songs as “a solitary journey on the dancefloor” which is a very apt description; the EP has an up to date electronic music sound with a part 80s, part trip-hop vibe with lots of sensuality, intimacy and a certain melancholic but still hopeful mood.
We are looking forward to Minni’s next release, her first full length album as Minni Rider which is due to be released in autumn 2020 via the Sonar Kollektiv record label with a couple of singles to be released in late spring/early summer.
So, tell us a litlle about yourself?
I’ve been a musician for a long time now. I started playing classical guitar at the age of 7. Later I carried on playing in bands. Eventually I started my own projects. Also, for the past 8-9 years or so I’ve been working as a sound-engineer and recently I started producing other artists too.
I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to do what I like doing and I’m very grateful for that. Of course there are ups and downs as in any other job but ultimately I get to do what I love doing, and mostly with nice people too.
I’ve had various projects for the past 15 years but with the latest one – “Minni Rider” – I’ve dug much deeper into production and mixing of my own music, not only composing and performing. And this is the main difference I think, although I do this kind of 80s sounding stuff now (in comparison to my work from 7-8 years ago). At the same time, I like experimenting with different instruments that then influence the genre of music. According to my track record I seem to keep wanting to change things, so in five years time I might be doing something a bit different. Or maybe not. We’ll see.
Which artists have been the greatest influence on your musical style?
I’m very much rooted In the sound of the 70s, 80s and 90s. I’ve always loved Roxy Music, Sade, Eurythmics, Grace Jones, Dire Straits, Leonard Cohen, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode. I guess those would be my main influences. And actually club music from the 80s and 90s too, like house music and techno.
What is your cuisine of choice?
Well….lately I’ve very much been into Italian food. I was recently on tour with a Berlin based Italian artist called Missincat so she got me into pasta lately a lot more! I love the regular bolognese, it always feels so nourishing, but I also love seafood pasta, of course the seafood needs to be fresh and not frozen and then it’s great. It’s not easy to make good pasta I think so when it’s good – it’s really good. I also do like french cuisine a lot. Maybe that would be my cuisine of choice! All the amazing sauces and the vine… I could probably eat that all the time. Japanese is something that I love but don’t think would be able to eat every day.
Maybe when in Japan! And every now and then I get a craving for something of my mum’s cooking. Something Croatian that I grew up with…
As a Croatian who has lived and worked in both Berlin and London, have you found anywhere in either city with authentic Croatian food?
Well it’s a bit of a shame but I haven’t found a good Croatian restaurant either in the UK or in Berlin. Maybe I just didn’t search well!