Nina Mix 012 takes us into the ethereal sonic world of Dylan Khotin-Foote, aka Khotin. His sound—vintage but never pastiche—is deep and bursting with colorful, emotive textures that come alive on his Nina mix. The Edmonton-based artist has stitched together an hour of mostly unreleased originals, alongside collaborations with Nik 7 and Patrick Holland.

2023 was a big year for the Canadian artist, marking the release of his third release on Ghostly, Release Spirit, and over 30 tour dates across the globe. Nina caught up with Khotin to hear more about the mix and his reflections on the past year. 

Tell us about this mix.

Hello, thanks for inviting me to do this! The mix is all music of mine... a jumble of unreleased stuff, demos, alternate mixes, and a couple collabs with friends (one with Nik 7 and the last song is with Patrick Holland). A few of the songs on here are actually from a CD made available for my Japan tour earlier this year called Disc For Japan. There were only 50 copies made, and it’s not yet been put online, so this is still the first place most people would hear them I'd say. I hope you enjoy!

What's up in Canada?

Not too much really. It is actually my 30th birthday today, which has me feeling a bit old and insane, but I am looking forward to spending the evening with my family. Besides that it’s finally getting a little colder and snowier in my part of the country, it’s kind of been a fake winter so far. This past November actually had no snow on the ground at all, which is incredibly uncommon.

How was this last year for you?

I’d say the year was quite positive for me. I released my latest album Release Spirit back in February which still feels like a big feat considering all the time and effort that was put into it by both myself and others. I believe I may have had my most active year yet with touring, playing somewhere around 30 shows this year, which may not sound like a ton, but to me it was a huge undertaking. I was primarily focused on performing my live set in support of the album and I believe pretty close to all those shows went smoothly and were very well received. I would just like to say thank you to everyone out there who may have attended a show, said hello, bought some merch, or just listened to my music at all this year, it means a lot! I focused a lot on creating visual art this year as well, which culminated in this new zine I put together, as well as a few video projects. Besides music and art stuff, I started playing hockey again, and tried to play a bit of tennis although I wish I got out more. I also spent a lot of time at home playing World of Warcraft Classic. 

Any notable shows or performances from the last year that you were a part of?

My first trip to Japan in September was definitely the highlight of my year, and possibly my entire life so far. I can’t really put into words how great it felt to finally travel there and get a chance to perform. I felt an incredibly strong connection with the listeners and the appreciation and attention they gave me during and after my shows was on another level. I was also really blown away by all the other artists at the shows I played. Particularly Chee Shimizu and DJ Trystero who DJ'd to open up the night at two separate shows in Tokyo. Getting the chance to see Chee perform was almost an otherworldly experience in itself! I really miss everything about Japan. The people, the vending machine drinks, the food! It’s the kind of place you can get served cucumbers in a special little handmade cucumber holder. Anyways, I made some really wonderful connections out there and going back again sometime soon is a top priority of mine. Some other really great shows this past year that come to mind were at Public Records, Making Time in Philly, playing for the In Sheep’s Clothing crew in LA, and DJing at Bar Part Time twice!  

What music inspired you in the last year? Can you share some releases/mixes/radio shows/etc. that kept you going?

I listened to a lot of Laraaji and other “new age” stuff while travelling, which all definitely kept me pretty uplifted and moving forward throughout the year. Besides that, I think my most listened to song was Hydroplane - The Love You Bring, which I discovered thanks to Time Is Away. I pretty much instantly bought any of the compilations and cassette tapes they’ve done, as well as grabbing up some of the Peace Pipe mix series. I was very inspired by a Japanese artist named banana, who I discovered this year and luckily was able to meet up with while I was out there. He is an incredible visual artist too, which I am just as inspired by just as much as his music. I think my favourite new release this year was The Otherworld by C-thru. Incredibly well done downtempo stuff, very melodic and cosmic sounding so it’s right up my alley. Lastly, this Doxa Sinistra song reissued on 7" recently really blew my mind. 

What's on the horizon for you?

I’m not really sure... I am awful at planning ahead. If anyone has any ideas for me please let me know. I am working on my first art show right now, so that’s something new and exciting. I guess I would also like to put out some more music and play some more shows if possible!