Interview with MACKerMD    ( 20.06.2008 - 19:20 GMT UTC )



    1. Who is MackerMD as an artist ? Can You please describe Yourself in a few lines ?

    MackerMD: I'm MACKerMD, a musician, Dj, radio host from The Netherlands who started his 'musical career' when he was 7. I got a small keyboard/organ where my mom and dad wanted me to play 'the flee march' but instead I played 'In The Mood' [because it had more tones/notes to play which I liked] and 'the game started'. When I was around 10, I exchanged my little keyboard for a bigger organ and started to 'improvise' even more and own tunes started to emerge to the surface. Some of these works I still have got on old retro-cassette-tape and 10inch reels. Since I was 8 I lived with my grandparents and they let me play on the turntable they had and I started to make 'tape-radio shows' with talk and music and own music that I played.. around 12 I discovered Ben Liebrands 'Grand Mix' and I was hooked on mixing. Tape reels of tape and sticky tape I used to make my first mega mixes using vinyl and tape-loops.. this went on till I was about 16 and started a little band. Drums, guitar and me on the keyboards.. During the same period I joined a small hip-hop group where I created the background music, using a sampler, Alesis X-16 drum machine and the first Technics SL1200 I had my hands on.. an awesome time [also recordings saved from back then on tape]. When I was around 17-18, I got hooked on the ACID and TECHNO; Acid from Belgium and the Techno from Detroit and UK. Man, a new world opened for me. And this started a few years of 'vagueness', a lot of drugs a lot of drugs [yes I did almost everything, but quit it before it got out of hand] and party-going. Then it was time to perform my own stuff on my own parties and groups like 'Spiral Tribe' came to my/our parties to play and perform as well.. These guys still exist and were known as Spiral Tribe 23. A group of 23 persons who traveled across Europe to play at underground parties. This was the same period I met Armin van Buuren in my local record store. Back then, both youngsters, we both discovered various types of music which the store imported from all over the world.. He went into the [now called] Trance way and I discovered more of the Techno/Underground/House stuffs.. When I was about 20, I kept on making music, but never released anything, because I had some bad experiences with labels who used material of artists, promised to release, but didn't and they released their own version under their own name but being the original riffs of the supplied material. This pissed me off quite a bit. Ar' had more luck, I didn't.. but this didn't mean I gave up on things, it just made me stronger in the upcoming years. I released over 100 tracks in the Public Domain [go goggle ] and got to know more and more people who were doing the same as I did.. Makin' music for fun, for all, for free..


    2. When did You start Djing, and how did this happen, what was the influence that made You choose this path ?

    MackerMD: The actual DJing and mixing was inspired by DJs like Ben Liebrand [the grand mix] and a show called 'De Bond Van Doorstarters'. On this show [now known] but then unknown DJs made 15 minute mega mixes which raised the roofs on the dance floors. When I got the change using tape decks [reels and cassettes] and a few turntables my neighbor had, I was able to produce some mixes myself. But it was up to the point where I 'rediscovered' the DJs from the hip-hop scene who were able to make entire stories with a few records, beat loops etc that got me going on the decks myself. There were a few record stores I went to and there I heard 'House Music' for the first time. The true house sound of Chicago, Detroit Techno, Uk Techno, French 'Vagueness', etc.. Yes, making small loops of vinyl in real time and beatmatchin em up in real time for a live audience. Gave me quite a kick. This was at a venue called 'BreeHuys' in the 'Breestraat' [literally Translated 'Broadway']. Armin van Buuren was spinning in a venue behind the Breestraat in the Nexus; known as a student discotheque, where is the 'breehuys' was more for underground, experimenting etc.. and all the graffiti artists of that time came there as well.. it was a good 'school' for all to learn, experiment and try out new things where you got instant feedback of when trying out. During the period I gave my own parties, I was an 'eMergency Dj' this meant 'when a Dj passed out on booze, drugs, tiredness' I had to jump in with my bag of tunes. And I can tell you, this happened quite often. Since I spin various stuffs, they couldn't put me in a box; meaning I had no ONE genre style of spinning. I even got asked to play at new years parties in English Squats in Rotterdam. Which I did, but this happened when I was aT the party and quite wasted.. A DJ passed out and I was asked to jump in. So I did and before I knew it, I was spinning from 00.30 till 08.30. Later, our own squats, I gave the decks to other Djs more, because 'we' wanted a 'one/two' genre evening and I liked to go from a to z and back again. So, I took care of the recordings of the parties [which I still have; stucked away in old suitcases]. Years later it 'itched' again to hit the decks myself again and within no time my collection started to grow... immensely. I took a 'sabbatical' around 1995/96 and picked up again around 2003/4. I did listen to all that was out, but I didn't buy anymore; because I wasn't spinning on parties no more.. But then.. the idea of UF came.. which was no more than a 're-issue' of the parties I did in the past bringing new talent to the spotlight with various and a lot of talent from a small location other than Armin van Buuren because he got pretty known back then [mid 90s/late 90s]. During parties, it happened a lot that you went to a party with 100 vinyls and got home with barely 30. Now, if this happens once its 'ok' but not during every party you do. People thought of my record bag as a 'freebie box' and because I was pretty damn wasted most of the time I didn't really paid attention on who took them... later of course I knew who did.. So.. this was one of the reasons I took a sabbatical. It just have cost me more than provided. During the UF shows I asked the audience if they would like to hear me on the decks for once. After about 40-45 shows I actually hit'd the decks again after a lot of years and I instantly felt the old vibes I had back then. The record store was happy with me again; since I started to buy a LOT that I skipped during my 'time off'. along with the new stuff.. so my nearly 200 mixes' were quite like how I spin back then -> various.


    3. I know that you are originary from the same place of which Armin van Buuren belongs, is there a coincidence or in that place of the world people have some particular passion for EDM music ?

    MackerMD: I think so. We, from a small town, listened to the 'big city' Djs like Remy [Amsterdam], DJs from Rotterdam, The Hague [Gizmo, Darkraver, Charly Lownoise] and in our own city we had Mark, Kosmo and Marque [short : MKM (discogs for 'MKM - Little Stars') where the intro was recorded on the 'broadway-street' near 'hotel de ville' [the club he spin] and he needed an intro so we played 'cowboys and indians outside' and he recorded that. We listened a LOT to other country Djs as well influences like Prodigy, Derrick May (there he is again), Moby, etc. Since there were a lot of small labels out there as well and hard to get on, we just all started to make music we liked to listen to, dance to, where others could think 'who made this?' I think I sticked more underground whereas Armin liked the more 'bigger masses'; and that got picked up more than the underground music I used to do. A lot of DJs/Artists nowadays listen in the same way as we did back then. We are just lucky that in the end, as one of the last, people from this little town got 'picked up' by the other Djs/artists in other cities [and countries] which made us more known. Also people like G-spot, which you guys know as Richard Durand, hopped in the record store where I was often as well.. all mutters for music, new ideas etc.. Well, not many of MY tunes were picked up, but they all remembered me as 'crazy macky' from the old days since I liked a lot, from chill out to hardcore.. and I was found on many parties on the dancefloor. After a while less and less came out of Amsterdam/Rotterdam/The Hague which was underground or 'new', but more 'commercial' stuff was produced in those cities whereas a lot of the 'native citizens of my town' sticked to their roots and their music. They became big [think : ID&T, Armada, Rotterdam Records, etc] where we stayed 'small' (This is also the reason why I put small lettered 'i' in the UF radio show name.. I = small, they are big] Music is music and money is handy to buy new music equipment but it's not the goal for making music.


    4. What do You think of trance music in it's current state, is there anything that You would like to be different in this sense ?

    MackerMD: The current Trance that's being released nowadays, is quite 'same-old same-old'; Meaning that if you take 100 tracks, 90 of them will have the same kind of atmospheres and riff-play-like. So it's harder to tell who made what and what's what you're hearing/playing. A lot of the Americans/Canadians/Australians don't care at all, they all think the 'sound' in general is great. Though I hear a 'similar thing' coming back for almost 3-4 years now. Some peak out because they use new instruments, being picked up by 'new artists' who use the same instruments as the 'hit' there was and then a new genre emerges. A good example is the progressive house, tribal house, tech-house, tech-trance, etc.. I won't jump into names, but sometimes I had the impression that stuff of 50 names, were made by 3-4 guys I never said the genres are bad, the more there is the wider the audience, the wider the experience of various styles in one genre. Personally, I would like some 'unique' things in some of the tunes that are out; and so I make such myself. Whereas a lot of the 'drums' are quite similar [think of the 'Flock-Basskick' the similar hit hats etc] ,white-noises and stuffs but in a different way. So I mix up the 'slow paste' tempos of the progressive, with an 'up tempo' beat/melody of the techno and the spacyness of 'acid' in a 'house'-enviroment. Keepin' true to my roots of 'various dance styles in one'. This is an adventure on its own, creating a mix of genres in one which should sound as a single genre/style. One of these 'experiments' was picked up by a digital label and got released in October 2007, of which I'm still pretty proud that it occurred. Even if you know I had the tune on a shelve for almost 2,5 years. So, where others 'follow one' I'd like to 'jump out' with something else using a 'few' elements of the elements that are known to the masses. My goal is to create a smile on people's faces, with a grin and after 7-12 minutes, you shouldn't know where you are anymore or have the experience of 'what did I just heard/experienced' and you rewind and play it again I make fun stuff, experiments, 1hr-tunes [meaning i don't work longer than an hour on such] and projects where I would like to involve others and be involved with.


    5. What can You tell us about Unlimited Friday ?

    MackerMD: UNLiMiTED FRiDAY (note the small 'i's), is an internet radio show concept with parties as well. To bring back the same vibe/feelings of back in the early 90's when 'House' was still an undiscovered territory. To bring new and old, unknown and known talent, Djs, artists to perform and spin the stuff THEY want to hear, stuff that makes THEM want to dance, without any limitation on genre, time length and mixing-qualities. This gives a true picture of the Dj/artist in question. Without someone telling them what to spin/play/perform they get into their own uplifting vibe or mental state of being and this brings a surprise with every episode. The show is aired, as the name suggests, always on a friday, to kick-off your weekend and broadens your view on going to a certain party. I accept plenty of material/Dj sets from other people. Like in the old days, I try NOT to spin every show myself, but let others have the decks and the opportunity to get known. One of the nice examples is 'DJ PiNAS'. A DJ who started 'radio' with UF and spins now on parties like DEFQON1 (quite big here in The Netherlands). The website along UF works like a portal. Where the Dj/artist can find his broadcasted set back on there and when others look for a Dj/artist they will see the UF site pop up with their search. Making it one of the widest genre shows on internet radio. Djs like, Transid, Lane, Entertijn, Pinas, Crazy-J, EL Toro, Tech Jack, Sander May, Laura K(atana) (aka Quakey), Karanda (Andi C and Wandii), Digitalchild and Regan, MiXX941 himself, Randy (youngest Dj on UF), Wrecklezz, Dazzle, Dizzle, Manic-D, Brothers of Hardcore, Rick Pier O'Neil (RPO), Perry O'Neil, Nick Thompson, Wes Johnson, Greg Corbett, Dave & Carr (Dave = Wes btw) and even Armin van Buuren himself already been on the show and many many more already been on the line-up on the UF radio show and some even on UF Parties; of which UF 069 was one of. There are also video recordings [dvd/vcd/xvid/wmv] available [free for download] and photos of when they spin on the show and on location. We're heading for UF 200 and hopefully this will be a major step forward for a lot of people. We are planning a party with live audio and video broadcast, but the location is not set yet and so it's still in the planning. Mind, that we do it all for free, and free for all, all for fun and fun for all. So NO one makes a cent/penny of it and so all DJs perform for free on the show. When we EVER would make money with the parties, we would invest it in the next party, website and pay the Djs a fair share until the money is gone. The goal is not to make money, but to bring the vibe to the people. UF started in 2004 and we are in our 4th year. Only ONE time it happened that we had to miss ONE episode, but this was because of personal stuffs so the show couldn't be aired. It all was settled but just wasn't able to broadcast it. We simply postponed the show to the week after and continued like there was never a show skipped. Sometimes it's hard getting all these Djs 'in lineup', because a lot have a lot to do, or just don't have the spare time to fulfill the lineup. Where on other days, UF gets so many guest mixes we can barely air them all in one show and have to plan 3-4 shows in advance. We still do live shows from time to time but after +/- 150 shows we 'stopped' mostly with the live-Dj-and-live-broadcast due to a lot of 'jealous' people who deliberately tried to bug the broadcast by bombing the broadcasting server/ip. So we took no more risks with that and decided, for the time being, to put the pre-recorded sets on a 'secret' broadcast server which is very hard to get through. Just for the sake of all the listeners who had 'drops' or 'cut-offs' in the past. A few 'basic' questions I always get during the shows from the DJs/Artists : 1) How many listeners are tuned in and 2) What do they think of my set? I can say that thanks to all the support, the amounts varies from say 250 till 7500 people every week who tune in. Every UF show is like a little surprise... you'll never know what you're gonna get [no, I am not Forest Gump] and this makes the show so interesting for a lot of people. Either it's something they really like, or really DON'T like. But the stuff THEY don't like, others like.. and vice-versa.. This makes it a dynamic thing which will be on the air as much as possible. I'm thankful for all the people who put a lot of time in it. Because without those Djs/artist/people who help out, the UF show would not have been what it has become today. add note: yes, I do spin from time to time on the show myself.


    6. Talking about radio shows I know that You were invited at Trancesound Session episode 30, a week ago, I have listened to the show too and I liked it indeed are there any comments about this that You would like to share with us ?

    MackerMD: Well, I liked being on TS030, since it's not often that I do a guestmix; I simply have trouble finding time for it.. I wanted to bring a little of everything I like to spin, play, listen to and telling a small story. If you listen to the intro, you will notice that too.. and if you look at the titles of the tracklist, you can make your own storyline with it.. I don't preplan this, it just happens during the mix itself.. making it more real/true to the stuff you hear. I hoped to read more comments on the sets I do, but unfortunately, people aren't that active on the forums to give me some feedback about it. And I don't wanna bug people like the other Djs with 'Did you like my mix / Did you actually listened to it in full' etc.. Feel free to ask me for one of my older [or even new] sets and I'll be glad to give you the opportunity to listen to it. Either by letting you download the set, or by tuning in to UF RADiO, since UF has it's own VERY SMALL but UNLiMiTED internet radio-spot where all older UF sets are played and on request can be played. People shouldn't be afraid of being logged on comments. People should be more afraid of the environment going to waste, people that start wars and people that kill people. That's scary, not the forums. There's so much information on the web nowadays, people cant find/don't wanna make time to read it all, they just wanna listen and 'go on with their -business-'. If people want to listen to me 'exclusively' they gotta 'hire' me or 'invite' me to their gig/party/radio show and if I can find the time, I'll fill in.. as where MD - eMergency Dj .. used to stand for.


    7. Please tell me further details about the 15th track of the special guest mix You had for TranceSound Session.

    MackerMD: Eitje was made during April 29th-30th in 2005, when Nick Thompson was invited by me to spin in Amsterdam on Queensday. We decided to make some 'mashup' of 'styles' into one tune. His progressive trance along with my tech-tribalish influences. This track was made in about 5-6 hours. And so was a 'piece of cake' to make. Which is the literally translation of 'Eitje' .. but, Eitje can ALSO mean 'Little Egg'. Since I tried to learn Nick some Dutch, of which one was 'Een Eitje als Ontbijtje' which means 'a little egg for breakfast' We also made a 2nd track which never has been released called 'ChiCha' which is a Turkish Waterpipe where you smoke Fruity-Flavored tobacco in, without the drugs, as 'after dinner desert' so 'Eitje' and 'Chicha' were like the 'breakfast' and 'desert' in one release. Eitje got picked up by Amplified Digital years later and Tygon and Superti made awesome remixes of it. Tygon made a sort of 'deep club/house/late-night' remix, whereas Superti picked the 'age of the youngsters' with an awesome remix for that specific audience. This would span the entire age-span of listeners of the track and by looking at 'who plays which remix' you could tell how old someone was. Eitje was a hash though to final-master-mix. This is also one of the reasons why it took so long before it actually got released after signing. It got signed in springtime and released in autumn. So, a piece of cake to make, but a hash to final master. I still owe thanks to Nick Thompson for a lot of his experience and ideas which made Eitje quite a success with people like Ernesto (known for his Trance-Anthems), Suzy Solar and others. I don't see Nick as much as I used to, because he's busy, I'm busy and we don't live in the same country. We both still make music of course.. but I still want to release one or more tracks on the good old vinyl someday. Even though we're in the digital age, I still would like some of it on the 225 grams of black gold plastic I hope that tells a bit about Eitje.. a 'theme for queens day in Amsterdam with Nick and me, where Nick was spinning it'.


    8. What Djs, producers, or any other EDM related names did You work in the past and which one did you like the most ?

    MackerMD: Besides Nick Thompson, I worked with 'Bass Boy' in the past (Bas Veeren), experimented with riffs with Crazy-J, but never fully made a full track with others. Simply because they only wanted small portions/ideas and make the rest themselves. I still hope to collaborate with other artists and make some nice music. I did some with Manic-D in a 'unique' way, a combination of trance and hardcore, which we call 'TranceCore'. An up tempo trance thing with lots of subtle variations in both melody and drums.. Of course there are other people I would like to make music with, some are realistic, others are not. Either they are too busy or 'too damn known' that I don't even dare to approach them. But other than that, I'm always open for new ideas, new artists, etc.. I liked working with Bas, Nick and Manic a lot.. others too, but 'you don't know these persons in the dance scene'. So no use in spamming their names. They are good musicians and will/have done a lot of good stuff in the past and plans for the future.


    9. What do You think about the EDM rookies producers and Djs, and what is the advice You would like to give them ?

    MackerMD: Keep making music and don't spread your just made material to EVERYBODY. Play your works in small venues, internet radio shows and ask for feedback on the tracks you make... (to quote a movie: Never give up ... Never surrender). There are plenty of 'wolves' out there trying to snatch your works as being their own. Make sure this never happens to you. Also, when you get material of others, never leak their works as you would not want your material to be leaked. Thus giving a good relation with the other artist, who can give you advice, ideas etc which can keep you going on in making music. So rookies out there.. KEEP MAKiNG MUSiC.. NON-STOP.


    10. Do You have any future projects that You would like to tell us about, so that makes us the first to know ? MackerMD: Well, I am planning on trying to make an album for small amounts of releases on vinyl on own paid costs. This should be an album containing various styles of music that I make, in a form of storyline-line, time-line-like way. Also working on tunes that others might be able to 'sing lyrics' for. Already had some ideas dropped at Elsa Hill, but all is still in early stages and unconfirmed if she has time/will to do so. But, I'm expanding grounds of music to create both 'long riff tunes' 'songs' and maybe some '(one) hit wonders'. It's quite expensive so I want to make something nice that others might like as well to 'get even' with the costs I don't wanna make [a lot] of money with it, just that people get to know me on what I do, make, like etc.. If you want to listen to some 'scoops' or 'previews' go check out my hyves page (http://mackermd.hyves.nl) and drop a scrap there on what you think of the ideas left there. About 2 hours of material is constantly available for preview/review and is updated and changed on a regular basis. Other material you can find on my myspace, where you can find OTHER experiments I do, that you don't see on my hyves page.. etc. NONE of those tracks are finished, just fine ideas, funny/quick ideas, tryouts, collaborate-attempts etc. So don't expect an 'anjuna' or 'armada' tune there.


    11. We have reached the final step of this interview but before this can You please say some words to the people who are reading this interview right now especially to the Trancesound members ? Thanks

    MackerMD: Thanks for the hour you took to read this book. It's a long bit of text to dig through, but after you've read it, you might understand a little bit more about my past in music making and enjoying music. It might explain to you, that if you heard my sets before, why it can be so diverse in genres, styles, tempo, etc. I sure hope that you bookmark this page for future reference, click on the links provided by the author who took a hell of a long time to prepare this interview, edit, post, So, TS people... -- I'll be back -- and see you around... out there.. somewhere in space...



MACKerMD



    Interview made by Mihai Clipa aka Milu (TranceSound.net forum moderator)




Links:

MACKerMD @ Hyves NL
MACKerMD @ MySpace