Magnús Felix, the Icelandic producer operating under the alias Moff & Tarkin, has released his latest project, the Sit Down To EP, on Fortunea Records. Marking the label’s 41st release, the four-track record is limited to 200 vinyl copies with no repress planned.
Originally from Reykjavík and now based in Vienna, Felix has built a catalog across labels including Studio Barnhus, Dirtcrew, and Fortunea Records. The Sit Down To EP reflects his characteristically unpredictable approach, moving through chunky grooves, tribal elements, funky electro, soulful samples, and dubby deep house across its four tracks.
The alias name itself draws from Star Wars — Grand Moff Tarkin, a character from Episode IV — though Felix admits the choice was largely informal, influenced by friends adopting similar monikers. Within Icelandic online circles, he is known as “Moffarinn,” translating to The Moff, a persona he describes as carrying a slightly cooler attitude than his given name.
In a new interview with Magnetic Magazine, Felix spoke candidly about his creative process, describing his music-making as a recurring cycle of attempting to avoid house music, inevitably producing house music, and then compensating by introducing unexpected elements. He uses samples frequently as starting points, often removing them entirely before a track is finished, though he regularly identifies something within an existing song that he wants to extract and build upon.
One track on the EP, connected to Iceland’s Independence Day, prompted Felix to half-jokingly suggest it could serve as an unofficial Icelandic anthem. When pressed on which of his tracks he would actually nominate for that role, he pointed to “Skutla” from his Big Mango Bangers EP, noting that the track features sampled hippos and that a radio edit would likely be necessary.
Another EP cut, “Split The Difference,” combines funky electro beats with soulful vocals and an arpeggio Felix acknowledges sounds somewhat unplanned. He traced the track back to weeks of listening to a single song while doing dishes, eventually deciding to extract something new from it. His interest in electro stems specifically from the genre’s drum programming, while most other elements associated with the style leave him cold — leading him to construct his own version of it.
On the subject of genre more broadly, Felix expressed admiration for DJs who move fluidly between styles rather than committing to a single lane, citing the appeal of mixing Stevie Wonder into a Marcel Dettman set as an example of what that freedom can look like at its best. He acknowledged that navigating multiple genres, whether in production or DJing, is difficult to execute well and something he considers an ongoing aspiration rather than a solved problem.
His trust in labels, he noted, comes from their output and the people behind them, adding that he tends to regard his tracks as works in progress until they have been pressed to vinyl.
Source: Magnetic Magazine
