Josh Wink — Don’t laugh. Story behind the weirdest track of the 90s club scene

Completely exhausted by gigs after which he had to sleep for three hours, Josh Wink went to his studio to work on the track, but the only thing that he could squeeze out of himself was laughter.

“So I said fuck it I’ll record myself laughing.” Back then, he was fascinated by, as he called it, Chicago minimalism: the less, the better. Which meant a Roland TR-909 with elements of classic house and experimental acid. Sound like it’s unfinished but interesting—it’ll do.

Don’t laugh was not recorded seriously—it’s a typical sketch: hypnotic, throbbing, diabolic. And besides, it resembled his previous release, How’s the music. Because it was recorded just for fun. But after this, Mike Weiss from a New York label, Nevrous, called. After hearing a funny demo by Wink, which he played as his background music, he immediately asked Wink to send the record to the headquarters of the label. It was Wink’s first big commercial success. Soon he would release Higher state of consciousness.