An artist making continuous strides in the house and techno space, London-based DJ and producer Guy Mac is an exponential contender for most, if not all, ‘ones to watch in 2022’ shortlists. His work has found a home on some of the industry’s best-known labels such as Sola Nauts, Under No Illusion, Armada Subjekt, Glasgow Underground, SK Recordings and more. Outside of the studio, Guy has also made a significant impact on his clubland presence, with bookings at Ministry of Sound, Egg London, ADE and Miami Music Week parties representing a handful of his most notable highlights. And now he brings us his much-anticipated debut on Hot Creations in January with the Sonic Boom EP. Made up of three original tracks, the release acts as both Guy’s and the label’s inaugural release of 2022. DMCWORLD dives in…
Guy, a pleasure to have you with us today! How are things? Where are you based right now?
Hey guys, likewise, it’s great to chat with you! I’m all good thanks, I am in London now preparing for an exciting studio session this weekend.
We’re pleased to be chatting with you upon a milestone moment in your career as you make your debut on the revered Hot Creations, congrats! It’s a versatile release and each track delivers! What can you tell us about the Sonic Boom EP and what was the inspiration behind it?
Thank you! This release is massively important because Hot Creations is a label I’ve looked up to for so long. I’m glad you guys are feeling it. All the tracks came together naturally for this EP and I enjoyed the creative process on each. The inspiration was to make something that captured the peak time energy at a gig, which everyone was missing at the time. I found myself experimenting more on the productions, having fun with each project, and not restricting myself. Because of this, I feel each track on the EP comes across uniquely and I’m super happy with how they feel different in their way but still feel cohesive together. Buy link: https://lnk.to/HOTC183
It sounds perfectly suited to the label, what’s the story of how the EP found its home on Hot Creations?
I sent Jamie a couple of demos last March and that weekend I found a video of him playing Sonic Boom in Miami, which was an incredible surprise! I actually thought he was going to like the other track I sent more and didn’t expect Sonic Boom to react the way it has in his sets, I almost didn’t send it because I wasn’t sure if Jamie would be into it – glad I did now! He continued to support it at gigs worldwide, which was amazing and I was lucky enough to witness it being played in person at Eastern Electrics. I wrapped up the three tracks for the EP by the summer, and Jamie confirmed everything for a Hot Creations release – which I was buzzing about when I heard the news.
Can you tell us a bit about your creative process and how you like to approach making a track?
I find most tracks start differently, whether it’s a cool groove, vocal idea, synth melody or a hook. It just needs to be something that can get you excited, and once you’re in the zone and can hear where the track is going I find every element falls into place. A few years ago, I saw a great talk by Nile Rodgers who said that when he wasn’t feeling it in the studio, they wouldn’t force it but take a break and come back fresh when ready. So I like this approach and put in the hours but monitor how my creative brain is feeling and don’t force bad ideas, but try to take advantage of the moments when I think that the good ideas are flowing in the studio.
We’d love to hear a bit about the styles of music or artists that have had the biggest impact on you throughout your life?
Really early on I was blown away by Daft Punk, listening to Homework just thinking, what is this and how did they make this, it really sparked my curiosity for wanting to learn about how electronic music could be made. Artists such as Armand Van Helden, Orbital, Jamie Jones, Kraftwerk, Kerri Chandler and more have been early inspirations for my music. In my first few years of producing as I was always flipping style, there was one point where I was inspired by the Hip Hop I was listening to at the time and making loads of rap beats. But the thing that was a game-changer for me was visiting Ibiza in 2016 and seeing Marco Carola at Music On playing on the legendary Amnesia terrace. He played an amazing set into the sunrise and I was so inspired by what I heard, it was definitely a key moment in shaping my sound and the feeling I wanted to recreate in my productions.
It’s fair to say that you’ve found a distinct sound that works for you and, it seems from listening, that you’re having a lot of fun creatively at the moment. Is there any advice you could offer to aspiring artists on reaching this point?
It has always been my goal to have my own ‘sound’ and I feel that over the years, I started to find a sonic that worked. I think it literally comes down to putting in as many hours as possible to make music then eventually, you will find different production nuances and ways of making a track that will give you a unique flavour. A few things that helped that click were making your own drums, so using individual hits to create a percussive groove and finding synthesizers that I loved and getting to know them well. For me the Arturia and Roland plugins are amazing and have been my go tos for the last 10 years or so, it’s similar to knowing your tunes when DJing to get a certain reaction, if you know the equipment you’re using inside out, you’d more easily be able to get your desired sound out of it. My advice would be to experiment with your productions, have fun, and that will come across in the music when you’ve done that enough, things will start to fall into place and you can get your ideas across how you want them to be heard.
Thanks a lot for chatting today Guy and congrats again on the EP! We hope to catch up again in the future. For now, is there anything else upcoming from yourself that we should keep an ear out for?
No problem, thanks for your time guys I appreciate the support! Yes definitely! I’m super excited for 2022, I’m really happy with the music I’ve been making and I can’t wait to get it out. It will be an exciting year…follow me on my socials to stay in the loop with all the news!
