One of the most exciting producers of 2015 gets the ball rolling in 2016 with a Killer remix
Interview by Dan Prince
A huge welcome back to DMCWORLD, where on planet earth are you right now?
Hey Dan, I’m in Amsterdam right now.
The first piece of music you heard this morning after springing out of bed?
Uhmm, I just woke up and came across an article and ended up skipping through a mixtape from Malaa.
A belated Happy New Year to you, let’s get the festivities out of the way first. How was your Christmas, did you receive any crap gifts, where were you playing on New Years Eve and what was the midnight tune?
For Christmas I was in Bali, Indonesia. Didn’t get any gifts but we did a Christmas bbq / poolp arty at our villa there instead.
You have hit the ground running in 2016 with a big new release! Please talk us through the sounds of your remix of Patrolla vs Adamski’s ‘Killer’ which is out next week on Musical Freedom…
This remix I actually made in Bali a few months ago. I started of with the breakdown and the vocal. I basically tweaked the init preset on sylenth for the breakdown. Ended writing the main lead melody with a pluck, and kept tweaking the track from there. The bass line feels like a old skool trancey bass line for the main lead I doubled a few synths and added a little pitch bend on a few notes to keep the MOTi feeling in it
What is coming out next from you studio wise?
Well the next one is of course the Patrolla Remix. After that I have a solo track called “Turn Me up”. It’s a vocal track with amazing vocals from Nahbia. The VIP mix will be released first on Musical Freedom and later on the original will be released. I’ve also got a collab coming up with DVBBS and after that I have a collab with Bassjackers and Joe Ghost on Spinnin’.
“Holy Shit! So much love for you Germany!” was your shout out on Facebook this week. Tell us about it…
I think it was the first time they did this festival. Honestly I didn’t know what to expect and it turned out to be such a good show. Good vibes, a lot of energy. It really was a lot fun to play this show.
It was of course Black Monday this week, officially the most depressing day of the year. Were you down in the dumps moping about crying woe is me?!??
I didn’t notice it. It was a nice day in Amsterdam haha.
It was a sad day for the world of music last week with the passing of the legendary David Bowie. Were you a fan of the great man and his music?
Of course the man is a legend. Musically it was not my cup of tea but I definitely have a lot of respect for him.
Looking back, do you think 2015 was a good year for dance music?
Yes for sure. I mean I think big room has reached its peak for certain parts in the world but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It just means its pushes producers to explore more genres and to experiment more. Especially because I live in Amsterdam you can see all the changes coming. Deep house and techno used to be the hipster music here a few years back. The commercial scene was EDM. That has changed years ago. Techno is still underground, deep house got commercialized and edited till it was radio proof and now deep house is commercial. EDM is festival music here. And you can see that a few years later the same thing happened in the US. And some parts of Asia are just picking up EDM. We’ll see where it goes. I’m just happy that music keeps evolving. It would be boring if it would stay the same for the next 10 years right.
What was your favourite tune and gig of last year?
Favourite gig last year was SOMNII RFM Portugal. Favourite tune Lean On and favourite to play the remix I did with Tiësto for Lean On. My favourite production was my collab with Major Lazer called BOOM.
A new year and a DJ diary full of exciting dates stretching ahead of you. Where are some of the gigs you cannot wait for?
Some upcoming shows I’m looking forward to are in Brazil, NY and Swiss. Not sure if any of them are announced so I wont mention the names.
When was the last time you took a chance on a new territory or club/event and it paid off?
Actually last weekend at Titania festival. I played some new softer tracks in the middle of my set and it paid off!
The 5 big tunes in your box this weekend…
– Madison Mars – Milky Way (Hexagon)
Amazing melody and synths again in this Madison Mars track. Totally fits the Hexagon vibe.
– Sick Individuals & DBSTF – ID
Been playing this track every set last month. It’s a big room banger with a sweet vocal in the break followed up by hardstyle inspired chords with a banging drop.
– Headhunterz & Skytech – ID
This one is going to be big. Progressive with indian vibes.
– Skytech – ID
Remake of an old big track. But I love what he did to it!
– MOTi ft. Nahbia – Turn Me Up (VIP Mix)
I put this one in there because I finally finished the final version just before last weekend and I roadtested the final for the first time this weekend.
An up and coming producer to watch out for this year?
I put this one in there because I finally finished the final version just before last weekend and I roadtested the final for the first time this weekend.
An up and coming producer to watch out for this year?
You definitely have to check out Skytech. He’s been doing some big collabs lately and I’ve been working with him as well. Very talented producer and he’s really good in writing melodies. Also Kenneth G got some new cool stuff coming up keep an eye out for him and Maurice West is definitely one to watch!
When was the last time you got your speedos out and had a holiday?
That was 3 week ago actually. I had 4-week Asia tour with 8 shows. This meant a lot of off time. And I love Asia to just travel, explore stuff etc. And every time when I do a show in Bali I take 6 days off to relax at the pool and meet up with friends who live over there. So I think the last year I had two 6-day holidays in Bali. It’s not much but exactly enough for me.
What are your plans for Ibiza this summer?
I’m not sure. The years before I’ve only been up and down for shows. I think this year I might stay a few days longer on the island.
And finally. To the thousands of people reading this wishing to follow in the mighty MOTi’s footsteps…what is the best piece of advice you can offer to all of the aspiring producers out there…?
I think the most important thing is being experimental and trying to be original. On top of that make the music you love not what others want you to make. For me music is happiness and fun once you start making music for others or what others expect of you It can take out the fun of it.
