Mondocane recorded an ayahuasca ceremony in the Pacaya Samiria reserve in the Peruvian Amazon in 2021, asked permission from the curanderos leading it, a mother and son, and left the file untouched for four years. “Ayawaska”, released on 30 January by Latinambient, the label curated by Populous, is what happened when the Rome-based producer finally opened it again with collaborator Fake Mantra, using that recording as its core.
The single appears on Semillas, a four-track EP constructed from field recordings captured during a 2021 trip to Peru. Mondocane, the recording and performance name of Italian DJ, producer and songwriter Andrea Cota, describes the project as “a work about memory, not documentation, an introspective, intercultural process.” The title means “seeds” in Spanish and came while Cota was reading Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act as the tracks took form, a reminder that some creative materials can stay dormant until they find the right context to grow.
“Ayawaska” moves through three sections: a long hypnotic phase of waiting, a psychedelic and harmonic expansion, and a luminous resolution. Fake Mantra, the new project of Matteo Costanzo, contributed melodic and harmonic writing that supports that progression. The track sits alongside three other pieces on Semillas: “Uros“, based on recordings made on the floating islands of Lake Titicaca; “Nawi Kuna“, inspired by an Andean textile Cota brought home with deities drawn with large eyes; and “Wayna Kuna“, recorded in Aguas Calientes at the foot of Machu Picchu during a rehearsal for a reconstructed public ceremony. Artwork by Carlo Alberto Giardina accompanies the release, and a mini documentary shows the journey and the places behind the recordings.
Cota has worked as Mondocane for nearly twenty years, on dancefloors and in studios, with releases such as Tropicantesimo Cane on Pescheria and Botanique on Canadian label Cosmovision Records. He is also half of Jungla Est and front man of Veeblefetzer. For now Semillas lives inside his DJ sets rather than a dedicated live show, though a live version may follow.
Listen to “Ayawaska” and the rest of Semillas via Latinambient’s Bandcamp page