New York resident Mike Maurro is known as one of the most successful producers when it comes to remixing old Disco records. Hailed as Tom Moulton’s crown prince, it was about time our reviewer Mannix teamed up with the man who breathes and lives Disco.
Mike, what does DISCO mean to you?
When I hear the word “Disco”….it reminds me of a time when New York was New York…not the watered down version it is today…..It reminds me of when real musicians made music……people were dancing to perfectly arranged orchestras…..not sounds made by an iPhone and cleaned up with Auto-tune……reminds me of a care free time (speaking from what I have learned and read since I was born in 73 and missed out on the real thing)….a time of excess and a time when people shed their inhibitions and just set themselves free on the dance floor and no one cared who you were or what you were……..
How did you connect with the music from the 70s?
When I first started dabbling in DJ’ing back in …maybe 1987-88 I was automatically drawn to not only the current sounds but I became interested in finding out what came before and the 12” vinyl format instantly became an obsession for some reason……..I started looking up ads in newspapers and going to flea markets looking for 12” collections……the more stuff I bought, the more interested I became and the more I learned from that.
Your mixing technique reminds on big stars of the genre like Tom Moulton, Walter Gibbons or John Morales. Why do you do your re-mixes like you do?
Well naturally I was influenced by guys like Tom, John, Walter …….they are the pioneers…..I try to always keep the track sounding as similar to the original as I can….I picture my versions as “lost” versions from the era that might have been hidden on a tape or put on an acetate or test pressing for disco dis and never released…….I mean I have done a few “mash-up” tracks for example a mix of Dtrain-“You’re The One For Me” with a House beat…but only because the multi track I got was missing the original drum kit…so I improvised….but usually I won’t do many house mixes or anything that involves quantizing to a grid because that just kills the vibe for me…..that being said I am not a “House Head” by any means……I never got into deep house, tech house, acid house etc……growing up where I did it was basically Disco then Freestyle and one the 90’s ended I really didn’t care for any dance music……seems like now people shoot for quantity over quality.
Tom and John are still alive and active. Do you speak to them about your productions?
The thing I have noticed about relationships among remixers……they are always good for a while and then go south……I was close with Tom for a while…he gave me a crash course on mixing and Pro Tools…..now I sort of do my own thing and stay out of their way…..I had spoken to John a few times……not so much about productions just in passing. I am actually very close friends with Paul Simpson who is the nicest person I have met in the music business…..no ego, no jealousy…..just a real dude…..he realizes that life is too short to mix every song on earth…….and that there is room for others to do their thing……
Nowadays many producers learned to DJ because they can’t live from producing. You went the opposite way. Why?
Luckily I don’t need neither DJ or Remix money to survive……so any DJ things I do are local just to hang with friends…..last thing I want to be is a 60 year old DJ living out of a suitcase……remixing has made me some decent money lately, as I am working with Reid Whitelaw and Brookside Records and I am actually making steady money from the stuff I am putting out now…..but nowhere enough to support a family…..
For your revamps you mostly use the original multi track tapes of the tracks. How do you get hold of them?
Like everyone else who got into this game….I got some from friends in the business…..now I really don’t ask anyone for anything because everyone is holding on to what they have for dear life……Now I will only either work on stuff I have had for a while or work on stuff that Brookside will get me from record labels.
What is your favourite track you ever mixed?
Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free and Harold Melvin & Blue Notes-The Love I Lost – dead even tie!
What track would you love to mix, but haven’t yet?
Oh man….thats a big list…….maybe Ojays-Darlin Darlin Baby……Jean Carn-Free Love ……anything Philly International that hasn’t been already re-done by anyone….
You are famous for your extended instrumental parts within your re-mixes. What is the thought behind that trademark?
I just like doing it…….I know its not really something the average listener can get into…….I do it basically because I like it and I think others would like to hear it too….the average listener who isn’t a dj or a club goer back in the day might not appreciate it….if you want 3 minute edited versions. 25 songs on a single CD please shop elsewhere!
Your CD/LP set ‘The Mike Maurro Peak Hour Mixes” did very well. Will we see another volume of that in the future?
Well not sure, my first CD comp did pretty well and is actually still charting in the Amazon UK best sellers charts, but currently the demand for the physical CD has declined with a jump in demand for vinyl…..so Reid/Brookside and myself have released a series of 12” vinyl singles since last year…..limited edition 500 pc pressings……basically did very well with those……we are shopping a cd box around but being told the CD demand is not what it was….plus the licensing nightmares…..so not many labels want the headache…
Generally, what’s coming up for you next?
Working on 2 tracks with Paul Simpson that we just finished recording vocals for in Philly…….working on a Disco project thats in the beginning stages so really don’t want to let that out of the bag just yet…..also trying to get a few more 12” vinyl of previous things I have done approved….just very tedious doing these legit and a lot of waiting and phone tag etc…..it’s a labor of love for sure!
