Minneapolis mainstay AKKO stopped by the studio and gave us a taste of his latest inspirations. We chatted with AKKO about his style and intentions for his mix. Read a transcript of the interview, edited for length and clarity, below:

Who are you?

I'm Andrew Koalska and I go by AKKO. I'm a music producer, DJ, studio owner, promoter… I wear a lot of hats.

How would you describe your DJ philosophy?

I think it's about sharing your passion for music. If you're actively discovering new music and sharing it with people, to some extent, you're doing the work of a DJ. I just tend to do it in a club and have grown some skills to mix it tastefully, but I think it's an art form that's accessible for everyone to get into. After 10 years of gigging, it’s still exciting to me.

How would you describe the electronic music scene here right now for somebody that's not from here?

You might be surprised that there's a ton of different levels to the electronic music scene. You have your more surface level EDM stuff that happens at the Armory or Skyway Theatre. There's also an amazing underground DJ scene here, from hip-hop to techno, and other sorts of left-field genres. A lot of that is supported by an amazing sound system culture. I wish we had more venues here, but that's another topic.

What are some of your favorite events that you've played lately?

I love playing my own events [Enigma and Decadance], which takes up most of my year. In the past year, I've gotten to play Freak of the Week as well as Communion hosted by Intellephunk. Those are two of my all time favorite parties.

What are we going to hear from you today?

I think today will be a mix of sort of left-field club sounds, probably leaning toward New York than anywhere else, and hardgroove techno, which is what I've really been into lately.

Follow AKKO on Instagram to stay up to date with his events.

Stay tuned for new mixes on Carbon Sound every other Wednesday. If you’re a DJ and want to be considered for the series, email a mix of yours to jgreen@mpr.org.