SA ELECTRONIC RAP RENEGADE and producer PHFAT (Mike Zietsman) is a busy bro. If he’s not writing bone-rattling bars, he’s in the studio recording them. But, when it comes time to slow down, Mike runs.
Although he claims to be the “least runnery-runner”, Mike has been running for most of his life.
Why running? Besides health, what does it do for you?
I’ve always kind of sucked at any type of meditation, and heavy exercise is a form of forced meditation. When you’re running your ass off (the kind where your lungs are screaming at you, your muscles are burning, and your eyes sting from sweat), it’s pretty difficult to think about your taxes or your workload. I used to do some pretty stupid shit in my youth, flinging myself down big hills on my skateboard or onto the biggest waves I could find. These sports [skateboarding, surfing, running] all put you in a place where you are only thinking about what is happening right in front of you right at that moment. Time slows down.
What is the furthest you’ve run?
I did 20km once and 15km a bunch of times. I’m not obsessed with massive distances so much as feeling exhausted at the end. The most difficult run I’ve done was probably a 20-minute 5km and one never feels quite as hollow after having done a set of 800m sprints.
Where are some of your favourite places to run?
Mountains, mountain passes, and any sea or riverside path.
What are your top songs to run to?
When I do run with music, I usually have my whole ‘liked songs’ folder on Spotify bumping on random. Occasionally, I’ll put on something heavy like Gesaffelstein’s debut album Aleph. For longer, slower runs, I’ll put on something deep and difficult to digest, like Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly.
Is “the zone” while running the same as YOUR creative zone?
While creating, I sometimes forget where I am and what I’m doing. I forget that time exists. I exist in a flow state. Running helps my creative process in that my mind is more silent. I can zone out after heavy exercise. It [running] also does weird shit, like regulate my appetite and make me more optimistic about the future. All kinds of useful to make music.
For all the non-runners out there, is it really correct for runners to run on the right side of the road?
Absolutely no idea. I’m the least runnery-runner you’ll ever meet. I still run in cotton shirts and I dislike running shorts. I just, you know, pay attention to what’s happening; that’s probably easier if you are facing the traffic (so, running on the right).
What makes a solid running playlist?
Same as any good playlist. It needs to match the mood of the run. Doing Sprints: Something heavy. Doing a slow canter with the homies: Something mild.
Nahmean?
PLAYLIST: According to Mike’s formula for a solid running playlist, pair this month’s runs with Gesaffelstein’s Aleph and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly like this:
GALLOPS: When it hits your ears, it’s easy to understand why PHFAT runs to Gesaffelstein.
It’s as if the famed French DJ tailored his 2013, 14-track masterpiece of glitch and grit, Aleph, to the intensity of lung-screaming, muscle-burning, sweat-stinging sprints.
For a 30-minute session, plug in and power up with hard-hitters “Out of Line”, “Pursuit”, and “Trans”. Once locked in, use the deep, bassy beats of “Destinations” and “Hellifornia” to enter beast mode and reach the peak of your workout. Cool down with the slower-paced title track “Aleph” or “Piece of Future”.
TROTS: For a leisurely 10km lope, Kendrick Lamar’s 1hr 18 min To Pimp A Butterfly is it. Lamar’s Grammy Award-winning album is a work of musical theatre for the mind’s stage – an exercise for your body and your imagination.
Winning.
Acutely introspective yet motivational, TPAB’s entire track list gives you the ability to properly distil life’s overwhelm.
DOWNLOAD THE PHFAT-INSPIRED RUNNING PLAYLIST “PHFLAT OUT” HERE: APPLE MUSIC / SPOTIFY