Some of the people who gave Secret Thirteen its shape are no longer here. I find it difficult to write about them only through records, dates or the names of their projects. What comes back first is often something smaller: helping Peter get his mix recorded, Mira talking as she drank red wine, the book Steve gave me. With Luis, it is a conversation in Vilnius and the hope of a mix that never arrived.
These are different kinds of connections. I did not know everyone equally well, and I do not want to make those relationships seem closer than they were. Some memories belong to conversations; others came through music, an interview or an artwork encountered in a gallery. Together they are part of the journal’s life.
This page brings eight of those people together with the contributions they left here. The original writing remains in its own time. What follows is a later remembrance, written in October 2026, with the affection and sadness that have surfaced while returning to these contributions. I want room for the work and for the people whose presence I miss.
Marcus Fjellström
1979–2017
I remember Marcus as a warm and genuine person. That is the memory I want to keep close to his work here. His music and films could move into strange, unsettling places, but the person I remember should not disappear behind those atmospheres.
His contribution arrived early in Secret Thirteen’s life, in August 2012. The mix brought together Kraftwerk, Drexciya, Autechre and other electronic music he had chosen for us. Alongside his orchestral and audiovisual work, it leaves a small view of his listening. I am grateful that it remains part of this archive.
Marcus Fjellström
Fifteen pieces set intricate electronic rhythms against expansive cinematic melody, moving from Kraftwerk and Drexciya to Autechre and Aphex Twin through carefully timed overlaps, muted tension and sudden detail.
Peter Rehberg
1968–2021
I helped Peter get his Secret Thirteen mix recorded. I remember him as an interesting person, and working with him is part of what this contribution means to me. That memory belongs alongside the music, even though it is a small part of a much larger life and body of work.
His 2012 selection opened a way into Editions Mego and its offshoots, with very different artists sharing the same listening space. I value that openness. Here, I want to remember his musical choices and Peter himself, the interesting person I had the chance to help.
Peter Rehberg
A survey of Editions Mego and its offshoots sets abrasive synthesis against melodic patterns, noise and ritual song, gathering sixteen releases into a portrait of the label’s restless musical direction in 2012.
Steve Roden
1964–2023
Steve left an indelible impression on me. He gave me his book, I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces: Music in Vernacular Photographs 1880–1955. His way of sharing music felt like another language: photographs, records and the lives they had passed through, brought together with care.
His mix for Secret Thirteen came from his own collection. He described it as the kind of selection he would play for someone visiting his home. I think of the gift and the mix together, as two ways of sharing a listening world. Steve’s own sound work could be very quiet; the music he chose for us had groove, song and the warmth of records with a life behind them.
Steve Roden
Twenty-four seven-inch records trace a personal route through African funk, garage psychedelia, soul and traditional music, with worn grooves and unexpected affinities giving distant recordings an intimate scale.
Joachim Sauter
1959–2021
I did not know Joachim personally. My connection with him came through his work, and I remember the wonder of encountering it in a gallery. The interview matters to me because it lets us spend time with the thinking behind those encounters.
He spoke about taking detours between disciplines, choosing which idea to pursue, and understanding the space a work would enter. Music and movement were part of that thinking. His answers give the finished objects another kind of presence: the decisions, doubts and curiosity of their maker. That is the part I want to keep within reach here.
Joachim Sauter — The Poetry of Motion
The ART+COM co-founder on space, experimentation and the work that joins digital systems to physical movement. His 2013 conversation accompanies kinetic installations and a separate 2026 reflection.
Luis Vasquez
1979–2024
I met Luis at a concert in Vilnius, and we talked about a mix for Secret Thirteen. He told me he did not know how to record one, but he was preparing to try. I remember the hope of hearing what he might choose for us. The mix never became a recording.
Paulius Ilevičius’s 2013 interview remains here. Luis speaks about dreams, self-discovery and the vulnerability of putting himself into his work as The Soft Moon. Beside that conversation, I keep the memory of meeting him and of an idea that was still ahead of us. It is difficult to know that the conversation cannot continue.
The Soft Moon — Self-Discovery in the Dark
Luis Vasquez on Zeros, recurring nightmares, percussion and the private impulse behind The Soft Moon. A 2013 conversation that connects the bedroom, the stage and the visual world of his records.
Mika Vainio
1963–2017
Mika’s music had been a reference point for me since my early youth. I remember sitting with him around the Spacelove night at Arma17 in 2014, sharing an ordinary exchange about our tattoos. Someone whose music had meant so much to me was there, talking about something personal.
Radvilė Nakaitė’s interview became part of the journal’s connection with him. In our conversations, Mika would return to the possibility of a Secret Thirteen mix, although it was not something he generally did. It never became a recording. I remember the openness of those conversations as much as the music I hoped might follow. His words remain here, alongside the longer remembrance of that meeting.
Mika Vainio — The Attention That Remains
Radvilė Nakaitė’s conversation with Mika Vainio at Unsound Kraków in October 2013, followed by Justinas Mikulskis’s personal remembrance and 2026 afterword.
Mira Calix
1969–2022
I remember our conversations, with Mira drinking red wine. It is a small detail, but it has stayed with me. In her words about this mix, she also recalls sitting down with wine to make a selection for the cooler months. That detail now sits beside my own memory of her.
Her 2014 contribution brings old favourites and new discoveries together in one live take. She calls some of the records her comfort blankets, and hopes the music will keep listeners company as the nights draw in. There is warmth in that invitation. I want to remember the person I spoke with alongside the composer and artist whose work could take so many different forms.
Mira Calix
Recorded live in one take as summer gives way to autumn, twenty-three selections draw voices, cello and electroacoustic detail into a personal sequence of familiar comforts, new discoveries and changing seasons.
Mark Stewart
1960–2023
I did not know Mark well, but he understood why the Secret Thirteen archive mattered. I remember him telling me about his interest in theatre puppets—hand puppets, as I recall them. It is a small, unexpected memory that has stayed beside the force of his music.
His mix arrived in 2019, and I am glad it has a place here. What I remember is also his recognition of what the journal was trying to preserve. I want to keep that encounter in view, with all the limits of how briefly I knew him. Armando’s original article remains with the mix, alongside the later S13 remembrance.
Mark Stewart
The Pop Group’s Mark Stewart delivers a kaleidoscopic hour of dub, noise, psychedelia and surrealism, weaving unreleased material and a Max Ernst interview into a Dadaist sonic manifesto.
I miss the conversations that can no longer continue. I am grateful for the music, words and small gestures that reached us, and for the people who still keep these works in circulation. Their contributions remain part of Secret Thirteen, with affection and care.
Sources and image credits
- Personal recollections: Justinas Mikulskis / S13, 12 October 2026. Original contributions retain their own authors and publication dates.
- Publication photograph / Marcus Fjellström: Photo © 2014 Open Source Art Festival. Digitally restored. Original publication and image credits.
- Publication photograph / Peter Rehberg: Peter Rehberg — photo by Magdalena Blaszczuk. Digitally restored. Original publication and image credits.
- Publication photograph / Steve Roden: Steve Roden — photograph from the Secret Thirteen archive. Digitally restored. Original publication and image credits.
- Publication photograph / Joachim Sauter: Joachim Sauter / Photo: Robert Wunsch Original publication and image credits.
- Publication photograph / Luis Vasquez: The Soft Moon / Luis Vasquez / Photo: Julie Bonato / Restored photograph Original publication and image credits.
- Publication photograph / Mika Vainio: Photo by Tommi Grönlund. The wide archive-card image is an AI-assisted adaptation. Original publication and image credits.
- Publication photograph / Mira Calix: Mira Calix — Photo by Jana Chielino. Digitally restored. Original publication and image credits.
- Publication photograph / Mark Stewart: Photograph from the Secret Thirteen archive. Original publication and image credits.
- Mika Vainio life dates: Touch.
- Joachim Sauter life dates: GRAFT.
- Luis Vasquez life dates: AllMusic.
- Steve Roden’s book and collection: Dust-to-Digital — official release.
- Full book title and bibliographic record: ARTBOOK / D.A.P. — book catalogue.