Manfredas joins us in our new club space as part of Tryouts Takeover with Logan Fisher and Neil Diablo

Manfredas and Vilnius are not one and the same but so intrinsically linked that the Lithuanian capital makes a good starting point. Although, Manfredas got his first musical experience via his hometown radio (long shifts soundtracking a country exploding itself out of the Soviet glaciation), it was his move to Vilnius that started it all.

Skip a few shifts at legendary club Gravity and an electroclash band and we get to Opium and Smala. It is quite hard to fathom how important the club and Manfredas’ imprint were to the Vilnius nightlife, and still are. For years, this was the party and what a party that was; creating a scene out of not much, educating a couple of generation of clubbers, tightening friendships and making Manfredas the international DJ he is today. For many, it made Vilnius unexpectedly the best clubbing city in the world.

After a string of solo releases and remixes aimed at the furthest corners of the dancefloor, Manfredas took a deep breath and reached out even beyond that furthest corner. With drummer Marijus Aleksa, he created Santaka, an organic/electronic post-jazz (insert whatever term you please) with releases on Byrd Out and legendary Finnish label Sahko, and a live project where the dance floor and non-dancefloor merge hypnotically.

When Manfredas created Radio Vilnius in 2021, a hub for experimental music in a dire national landscape, it was another way to pay his dues to the local scene. Born online, Radio Vilnius will soon be on FM and has it own record label, inaugurated by Santaka themselves.

When The Last Smala happened in 2020, Manfredas & Ivan Smagghe created a new party outfit: Dresden, a bastard child of Vilnius and London, mother of all nighters, designer of t-shirts, travelling circus (from Love International to Wonderfruit, Glastonbury to Sonar). More hours put in for unruly people, more psychedelic music, including a two-day “weekender” at Gallery, the new hyper-club opened by the Opium crew.

Jack of all trades but master of many (we haven’t talked about his love of food), you can find Manfredas touring the world searching for that extra sparkle and sharing it with all of us. Dismiss