Max Graham

The master’s tunes just keep on spinning. ‘Cycle 6’ coming our way

Interview by Dan Prince

Max welcome back to DMCWORLD…where on planet earth are you today?

“Hey Dan – just landed in Istanbul on my way to Hong Kong. The Star Alliance lounge here is one of my favourites so it’s a good spot to have a connection.”

Whilst the rest of us are getting stressed about turkeys, gift buying and piles of snow…you young man is getting crazy excited about the release of ‘Cycle 6’. We always look forward to next installment of Max Graham’s delving into unknown tracks from around the globe…what can you tell us about the new album artist/track/direction wise…

“Haha yes, it’s been non stop the past couple of months getting the CD ready and preparing for the Tour. It’s cool that Cycles is known for having those upcoming artists and fresh tracks vs just a hit parade. Thomas Vink is a guy who has two tracks on this mix, he has a very cool organic techno sound with lovely warm drums and percussion and he’s not afraid to delve into some strings and melody. The opening track is by a Canadian Tim Penner, it’s a lovely smooth melodic progressive track (Think Guy J progressive not the electro big room stuff) that started out as an ambient track, so with Tim’s permission I did a re-edit of his club version and his original chill version to start the CD and it’s lovely.”

Dude. Your Halloween photo. Was that you with the snake coming out of your eye? That was some crazy shit…

“Hahaha I wish I could take credit but it’s an iPhone app, some people thought it really was make up!”

Social media is obviously very important to you, do you still book flights around your radio show to make sure you can be on Twitter interacting and responding to your fans?

“I book flights around the radio show and F1 weekends haha!! Seriously though, I’ve missed the show just a handful of times and hate doing it. The live interaction makes it so much fun, plus I don’t actually hear the full show until it airs. I trust my ability as a DJ to know what works where so I put the show together and proof the individual mixes and make minor adjustments but i never listen to the whole thing as one until it airs, so being online for that and seeing other people react to it also is definitely worth booking a flight a few hours later.”

What are the big 5 tunes in your box this weekend?

“Brand new Alex Di Stefano that’s on Cycles 6.

Huge new tune by Montreal’s Solid Stone that he’s just finished.

“Bodyscrub – Turnabout” that’s just out on Alleanza, it’s techno but has lovely long string chords that appeal to my trancey side.

The Shelter remix of Alen Milivojevic’s “Beyond Techno”

And Dosem’s remix of the new Chus and Ceballos / Oscar Riviera tune “Blowin’ Minds”…”

DMC are of course the company behind the World DJ Championships…the competition that has brought us the likes of A-Trak, DJ Craze, Ca$h Money, Roc Raider and C2C over the years. Back in the 80s sir you were too a turntablist – do you keep an eye on the scene?

“Not really, I love watching the youtube videos every once in a while, I still have so much respect for those guys and what they can do but I’m too busy these days to keep on top of what they are all up to. I have thought about bringing a 1200 to one of my extended sets and breaking out the scratch vinyl though.”

Your tune of 2014?

“Not Enough by Solid Stone feat. Jennifer Rene. A perfect vocal tune that stays subtle and sexy without succumbing to the “sound of now” trappings. It will stand the test of time for sure.”

Favourite 3 gigs of 2014…

“Tough one, SRB in NYC for a 7 hour Open To Close set in March. Another Open To Close in Vancouver in August was probably my favourite gig of the year, Vancouver is incredible, the crowd is amazing and they have Funktion One’s so that always makes a DJ feel at home.”

Producer of the year?

“Another tough one, Alex Di Stefano and Dosem come to mind, Dosem’s album was on point. Sam Paganini also. Oh and Joris Voorn’s album is getting heavy play in my iPhone.”

Another year under your belt, what has been your proudest achievement?

“The Cycles Tour 2014. Felt so good to do 20 US cities in one go including a chunk of Open to Close sets, we’re both old school so you know that’s normal for DJs back in the day but these days to hold a crowds attention for that long isn’t as easy so it felt great to have such amazing open minded crowds on this tour. Can’t wait for 2015.”

We were in the crowd at your crazy Los Angeles gig back in August. The US scene has been fascinating to watch in 2014, we spoke to Paul Oakenfold a few weeks back who was talking about the large amount of EDM DJs moving to trance. What are your thoughts on the scene over there right now?

“It’s good for us, it’s bringing so many new people into the scene who are slowly getting tired of the mainstage hit parade and increasingly looking for that deeper connection with the music whether it be trance, techno, deep house they are starting to want to increase their musical palate. I’m not sure this festival madness is sustainable but it’s not my scene so I don’t really know. Give me a dark 300 person club every weekend and I’m far happier than a one hour set on a stage.”

What are the next studio plans for Max Graham?

“Being very influenced by techno and very turned off by electro and big room so the music coming out of the studio now is rooted in techno with soft but heavy beats and basslines but still keeps the string and melody type of emotion there. Really excited for 2015 musically, I still focus more on my djing that I do producing but there’s some good things happening in the studio for me so we’ll see how that’s received next year.”

And finally, what are you hoping Santa Claus is going to bring you this year?

“Haha a month off in Bali! Thank you for having me DMC!!!”

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Connect with Max Graham here…

NEW WEBSITE – http://maxgraham.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxgraham

Facebook: https://facebook.com/djmaxgraham

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/maxgraham

Tour Dates: http://bit.ly/MaxGrahamOnTour

YouTube: http://youtube.com/maxgraham

iTunes: http://bit.ly/maxgrahamitunes

Instagram: http://instagram.com/maxgraham