Markus Schulz talks about playing in Canada and his epic open to close sets at Stereo (Interview)

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Markus Schulz needs no introduction as he's a trance legend and label boss that has been regularly slaying his Canadian sets for many years with no signs of slowing down. What has changed is how prolific he's been in the studio lately with his consistent output of trance and vocal driven songs, encapsulated in his latest Watch The World (Deluxe) release. With a show coming up in Ottawa this week and another in Toronto at Rebel next week, EDM Canada caught up with Markus Schulz to discuss his elaborate prep that goes into his Stereo sets, his latest album, and much more. 

You got to play in Toronto and Montreal for two of the biggest festivals in Canada last summer - how did they go?

They went really well. It was the second year for me doing the Dreamsfestival in Toronto, and the first doing Ilesoniq in Montreal.

I was really glad to be able to do Ilesoniq, because a schedule conflict knocked me out from being part of it in 2016. And in Toronto, not only was the main show great, the afterparty at Uniun was incredible. The beauty about afterparties in general is that everyone has been to the festival earlier that day and heard all the big peak hour tunes, so rather than just playing the same tunes again, you have the chance to deliver something completely unexpected. So I approached it with an afterhours vibe, playing a lot darker and more rabbit hole-like.

Both cities are very special in my career story, and I remain thankful to have the opportunities to keep coming back and adding a building block towards a legacy in each with every visit.

You recently released a 2 hour snippet of your Montreal open to close set at Stereo - how long did that gig last?

It was ten hours! I started at 2 am and played all the way up to noon on Canadian Thanksgiving Day. We put two hours of it out through the Global DJ Broadcast World Tour, but I am still continually receiving requests from everyone to make the entire recording available. Santa might have to check that everyone has been a good boy or good girl first...

Stereo remains one of the greatest and most unique clubs in the world. There really aren't that many clubs in the world which share the same characteristics as Stereo and remain open today.

"I'll spend months in advance preparing; digging deep into Beatport and promos and on most occasions, I¹ll be listening with the mindset of "this I¹ll save for the solo set, and this one, and this one".

You are one of the only top DJs that still do open to close sets - how do you keep your stamina throughout the set? Does it take a lot of planning to plan out such a long set, do you do a lot of "crate digging" beforehand?

The DJ life in general has a lot of pitfalls, and the only way you can survive on a demanding tour schedule is to be sensible and look after your body.

When it comes to preparing for those marathon or open to close sessions, it¹s physically a huge challenge; as well as a mental one. Generally you start thinking about how to properly train your body for the endurance from a few weeks out - like increasing the length of my cardio workout, cutting out alcohol and so on.

On the night itself, I actually don¹t eat much beforehand, and don¹t drink any alcohol at all during the performance. This way, you basically sweat everything out of your system while you are jumping around on stage; and it makes a bathroom break less of a necessity.

For the solo sets, I try to imagine the overall night as three sets combined - you have the opening portion, where you play the deeper progressive grooves and keep the mood low; allowing the ambiance to slowly build as the crowd assembles on the dancefloor. Then you have the main portion which is the usual peak hour chaos and lighting, with the big tracks and hits that you would expect in an everyday Markus Schulz set-length performance.

And finally, when you have the room grooving in unison, then you enter the afterhours, or the rabbit hole, where things get weird and trippy with various techno tracks and classics.

For the music itself, I¹ll spend months in advance preparing; digging deep into Beatport and promos and on most occasions, I¹ll be listening with the mindset of "this I¹ll save for the solo set, and this one, and this one".

So when you slowly accumulate tracks like that over several months, you¹re essentially putting together the building blocks of the set, and the graft in assembling what goes well harmonically can begin. And because the solo sets are generally reserved for special cities or clubs, there is more of an emphasis on getting your own productions fine tuned and being ready to unveil for the first time, along with making special reconstructions and mashups.

I will say however that the one gigs which prepares more specific preparation towards a solo set is for Stereo in Montreal, because you¹re starting well into the middle of the night and playing well into the morning.

Your latest release is massive, 34 tracks. Can you tell me how you put together "Watch The World" Deluxe?

The deluxe album was gradually compiled almost as soon as the original Watch the World album was released.

Many of the extended versions of the original tracks were never released as singles, so they finally got their platform to be showcased. And over a period of around 16 months we started figuring out and recruiting the people who were best suited to remixing specific tracks. A lot of them would have lived exclusively in my live sets for a while, sometimes even up to a year; so when the time came to assemble the deluxe album, they were added to the extended originals.

And on top of that, there were also two brand new originals as part of this project. I had started working on New York City (Take Me Away) with Adina Butar just before the sessions for the original album were wrapping up, and it was a small thing we had done together for the Watch the World album tour in New York. But because it was so popular with the fans, not only from NY but from other cities that I was playing it, we went back into the studio and turned it into a full blown song.

The other exclusive original is a 14 minute instrumental piece titled Luce Prima, which was made for my set on the main stage at Tomorrowland for their Daybreak Session this year. The idea was that I would bookend the set with this track as the opener and the closer, and what you hear on Watch the World Deluxe is that effort combined into one track.

What's next for Markus Schulz? Any new update on your Dakota project? I'm assuming you're taking a break from albums for a while.

The next album is coming quite soon actually! It will indeed be the new Dakota album titled The Nine Skies, and it is based on the live show of the same name that was showcased at events such as EDC in Las Vegas and Transmission in Melbourne this year. The music presented is within an overall journey - where we begin as lost souls, and encounter the nine steps in life towards enlightenment.

You will be familiar with three tracks from the album already - the singles Mota-Mota (with Koen Groeneveld), Running Up That Hill (with Bev Wild) and In Search of Something Better. The next single comes out on November 13th, and that will also be this year¹s official theme for Transmission in Prague titled The Spirit of the Warrior. The set in Prague is also going to be filmed for DVD, which will be part of a special limited edition package for the album.

The Nine Skies has been a deeply personal project. I always describe the music I make as Markus Schulz, such as the Watch the World album, the live sets, Global DJ Broadcast and so on, as being for the fans - the people who mean so much to me and resonate on my frequency. But with this Dakota project, I needed to do this for me. I needed to look deep inside of my soul, travel through troubling waters and suffer through tears in order to make this show a reality. I can¹t wait for the world to hear the final product.

And as well as that, I recently finished a mix for the next installment of Talla 2XLC¹s legendary Techno Club CD compilation series, which will be coming out in the German market on December 1st.

You've got upcoming gigs in Toronto and Ottawa this month. How will those shows differ from your festival and open to close sets?

Rebel in Toronto on the 17th is going to be insane, because it¹s going to be alongside close friends Cosmic Gate, as well as Jason Ross who has made grand strides himself in recent years. And Barrymore¹s in Ottawa will be great too; I had such a fun time playing there before. Of course Toronto and Montreal are always going to be big time shows, but I value coming to the likes of Barrymore¹s in Ottawa and Beta in Waterloo because there is a lot of gratification in playing for the fans in those intimate environments.

Toronto is going to be a big event, so having the unheard Dakota tracks from The Nine Skies will be important material to showcase. And with Ottawa, it will be a case on reading the vibe of the crowd on the night; reacting to how they are feeling and taking them on whatever journey they desire.

It will be my final shows in Canada this year and I¹m determined to go out with a bang, because the country has been very good to me throughout 2017.

Who's an up and coming producer that fans should keep an eye for in 2018 and why?

If I could mention more than one, I would have to include the guy who for me is representing Canada so proudly with how his career is progressing, and that is Montreal¹s Solid Stone. He was quite a broad-ranging producer a few years ago, but decided that the deeper progressive sound was where his heart lay; and he has gone on to become one of the biggest contributors in that genre right now. I¹m really proud of how he¹s playing an ever increasing role in the clubs through our Coldharbour Nights worldwide.

The second instalment of Solid Stone's We Are One EP series is coming to Coldharbour before the end of the year, and you will have heard some of the tracks on the special Global DJ Broadcast Afterdark mix, as well as the recent World Tour from Stereo in Montreal.

And I also have to highlight the UK brotherly duo Arkham Knights, who are really hitting their stride these days. Their sound reminds me of the kind of tech-trance that was prominent in Tiesto¹s sets back when he was top of the mountain as far as trance fans were concerned.

Their current single Gravity is one of the biggest tracks in my live sets all year long, and they have already fueled my current sets with their next tracks which will be coming out on Coldharbour early next year. They had a great time playing at New City Gas in Montreal back in January, so I need to get them over to Canada more often.

My thanks to Markus Schulz for this amazing interview. Markus is coming to Ottawa this Friday at Barrymore's, and on Friday, November 17th at Rebel with Cosmic Gate. Click on the links for more ticket information. 

The Mat Zo remix of Porter Robinson's "Flicker" will be the best thing you'll hear all day

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Porter Robinson's "Flicker" got an A+ remix today delivered by one of the most talented young producers, Mat Zo. The track starts off without any big surprises as it gets a more distorted treatment, but pushes another level with a down tempo drum and bass beat that is simply impressive. At around the 3 minute mark we hit the crescendo as "Flicker" just growls at you through the speakers. Great track: 

If you live in Ottawa, Mat Zo will be performing at Barrymore's on Friday, September 18th. Click here for more information. 

My talk with Cosmic Gate about Wake Your Mind Sessions 001 (Interview)

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2014 was a busy year for Cosmic Gate. They released "Start To Feel", a 17 track studio album just before summer festival season, they started their own record label and radio show, and went on their first North American bus tour.

Never known to stop being creative and pushing the boundaries, Cosmic Gate started off 2015 with a bang by releasing an ambitious 2 CD mix compilation called "Wake Your Mind Sessions 001". It's a 150 minute mix that starts off on the deeper side and slowly builds up momentum until you hear Cosmic Gate's biggest dancefloor hits including their hugely popular Club Mix of "Going Home" featuring Emma Hewitt. 

EDM Canada recently had the chance to talk to Bossi from Cosmic Gate to chat about their latest CD release and to get a sense on how he views the current scene today. So sit back and enjoy reading this extensive interview with a true trance legend. 

EDM Canada: Can you tell the readers a little about your recent final show at the Guvernment? That must have been a special experience for Cosmic Gate and your Toronto fans.

Bossi (Cosmic Gate): Every DJ we talk to are sad to hear that the Guvernment in Toronto has closed. We played there for nearly 10 years and every show we've done there was good to super good. The last show we've done there was legendary and one of the best shows. The Toronto crowd once again showed why the Guvernment went so strong over the years because they raged, partied, and followed the DJ from A to Z. It's a shame and hopefully the new venue will come close to the vibe felt at Guvernment.

Yeah, hopefully.

You can only hope, you can't plan it. A vibe is something a club has and you only know it once the people are in there to find out if it's there or not. Money can't buy a vibe. So let's hope for the best.

Last year has been very busy for Cosmic Gate with your new label, radio show, album, and more. Can you reflect on your huge 2014?

It was certainly a lot of work. We released our album and went on our first bus tour, we started a new radio show which was a big extra from us. But we simply like it maybe because we're typical Germans and we gotta work and move things forward. We don't look back and we're so used to being on the road. We're out every weekend as we only take 3-4 weekends off a year. We're travelling, touring, and playing our music. So last year didn't feel that different but to release an album was something very special for us.

When it's a studio album you don't know how people will react because we put new influences into our production. But the album was received so well from fans and critics, so we were super happy.

You also recently released the club mix of “Going Home” featuring Emma Hewitt.

We released the down tempo version of “Going Home” on the album, but actually we originally started the club mix before the album version. But after talking to her people we realized we couldn't release it as one of the first singles. So we decided to create the down tempo version for the album knowing that the club mix will be released half a year later. We have a super good Gareth Emery remix of the track coming out soon and we're excited about that.

Now you're coming out with a new Wake Your Mind Sessions 001 compilation double album – can you tell me a bit about it?

It's a mix album for people that do not have the chance to see us at the club or they do see us and like what we do and want to hear more. For the 1st CD we started off things a little slower like what we do on our radio show with our “private playlist”. The 1st CD is more deep, progressive, while slow building things up. CD 2 is more our set when we party with the crowd with more energy. We have a lot of new music in there including our club mix of “Going Home” with Emma Hewitt and it's great listening to at home or on a road trip. It's a Cosmic Gate set brought to you in a CD mix.

You included a few chilled out tracks in the beginning of the album from the likes of 16 Bit Lolitas, Gus Gus, and Fehrplay – is this type of music becoming a major influence on Cosmic Gate?

We grew up with house, techno, and trance since day 1. So when people ask us if it's a new influence that we're now playing Maceo Plex, 16-bit Lolitas – we say no. We've always listened to this type of music. When designing this double CD, we knew we had 150 minutes so we went a little bit old school by building up progression into the mix with a proper build up. And how can you not have a proper build up if you're not starting with a lower BPM with a slower kind of mood? So the first CD is more is more housey, vibey while still having our touch on it. The first CD still has our sound that we stand for. But these type of tracks is definitely not a new sound for us and it's only becoming known now because of our promotion of the “private playlist” selection every week for our radio show.

Are you finding the crowd that you play for more than ready for this type of stuff mixed in in 2015?

It's not that we play this type of music in our sets because we only have an hour and a half to two hours. We also usually don't start that deep because we have opening DJs that end a little hotter in their sound. You probably won't hear us play Maceo Plex unless it's at the Space Terrace in Miami.

You just came back from the ASOT 700 massive in the Netherlands. Can you tell me your opinion on the current trance scene?

We felt based on the reaction from the crowd that it was the best ASOT in years. Sometimes as a DJ you have to push the crowd because sometimes they can be a bit flat. But at this year's ASOT the crowd was very energetic, they started clapping by themselves without having us to start it so it was super good.

After the show we talked to a few colleagues and they all felt the same. We don't see trance as this one thing as we see artists like Eric Prydz using trance influences in their tracks. It's not pure trance of course but we play it and fits into our sets. His tracks have a trancey vibe and for us it's all about the vibe and the feel of the track. We're unique in our sound and feel that trance music is anything from 138 BPM to elements of what Eric Prydz is doing at the moment. There are so many good producers making trance including Ilan Bluestone and Andrew Bayer – who are killing it at the moment. It's melodic and not cheesy.

Post by Cosmic Gate (official).

Are genres becoming less important now? Do you think artists such as yourselves are more free to experiment with influences outside of the trance scene?

It's about being free and playing tracks that you like. That's how we started and that's how we are more and more are. Of course we don't add tracks that people won't understand but it has to fit our style. There is really good music coming out like “We Got The Power” by Alex Di Stefano, which has an old school techno beat and break while still sounding very modern. It reached top 10 at Beatport and it shows that people are little more open minded in their style beyond sticking to only one genre. Sticking to only one genre is how the European scene was and we never really liked that. “Wake Your Mind” and “Start To Feel” was a statement telling people that we didn't want to limit ourselves.

And your latest “Wake Your Mind Sessions 001” is a continuation of that theme?

Yes of course. Why create a 150 double mix CD catering to only one sound? After half an hour it gets boring. So we started slower and built it up by layering in deeper beats that is still in the context of our music. We believe that's what DJ'ing is about.

What can fans look forward to in 2015 from Cosmic Gate?

Our “Wake Your Mind Sessions 001” is out, along with new singles like the club mix version with Emma Hewitt and our track with JES. We will be touring at all of the major summer festivals and we are slowly putting together another album that should be ready by Spring of next year.

So Cosmic Gate is continuing on the album release schedule rather than EP releases.

We are fans of albums but maybe we won't do another one with 17 tracks because that was too much. We released our last album in June and by August people were asking us when new music was coming out. We worked on “Wake Your Mind” for one year and 6 weeks later people were asking us about new music.

People don't understand how much work an album is because we write the music, and go beyond just creating the instrumentals of a track that is done within 3-4 hours. We are fans of albums because we can show our production skills and variety as producers. We can do singles and EPs but tracks like “No One Can Touch You Now” would never see release. Singles are more and less made for the dancefloor so an album gives us more artistic freedom. We get to try out different things and we feel the results are better. We also get to do more surprising things when we create music for an album.

My special thanks to Bossi from Cosmic Gate for taking the time for this informative interview. If you happen to live in Ottawa, Cosmic Gate will be coming this Saturday to Barrymore's, for ticket information, click the link below: 

Saturday, March 21st - Cosmic Gate @ Barrymore's

To buy Wake Your Mind Sessions 001 from Beatport - click here. 

Win 2 tickets + meet & greet opportunity with Marcus Schossow and Visionaire at Barrymore's!

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This is really a special opportunity for Ottawa electronic dance music fans as EDM Canada is giving the opportunity for a lucky winner to bring a friend this Friday to Barrymore's to see Marcus Schossow and Visionaire. Not only do you get to enjoy the show for free but the winner will also win a special meet and greet opportunity with both Marcus Schossow and Visionaire!

To enter this contest is very easy, all you need to do is:

1. Follow @edmottawa on Twitter.
2. copy and Retweet the following:

Giving away 2 tix + meet & greet opportunity to see @marcusschossow/@ItsVisionaire this Fri at @Barrymores! RETWEET this and you're in!

The contest starts now and will end on Thursday at 3 pm. So hurry up and enter! Good luck!

For more ticket information, click below:

Friday, January 24th - Marcus Schossow @ Barrymore's.

Bio of Marcus Schossow:

Marcus Schössow was a pioneer in mixing house with trance and thus creating the dominating sound in EDM today. Since then he has continued to develop his act and has single handedly created something that all producers thrive for – a distinguished and recognizable, unique sound.

Here's a preview of Marcus Schossow's latest release on Size Recordings with Mike Hawkins and Pablo Oli called "Ulysses":

For the first time ever, we see long time friends Marcus Schossow, Mike Hawkins and Pablo Oliveros working all together in what could be one of the biggest releases of 2013.

Bio of Visionaire:

Visionaire is a New York City-based electronic music producer and D.J. gaining massive recognition from some of the biggest names in dance music including Hardwell, W&W, araabMUZIK, Chuckie, Sidney Samson, Tommy Trash, Deorro & more. Visionaire has continued on to collaborate and remix artists including Kaskade, W&W, Tiesto, Bingo Players, Firebeatz, Alesso, Felix Cartel, Clockwork, amongst others.

Visionaire has an amazing Soundcloud discog that is 100% filled with free downloads. Enjoy his latest free track called "Sonata":

Let's start 2014 with a beautiful melody and a huge drop. Please enjoy and let me know how you like it! :) Free download: www.facebook.com/ItsVisionaire/app_220150904689418 Follow my thoughts: www.twitter.com/itsVisionaire Backstage pictures: www.instagram.com/itsVisionaire

Important Note: To win make sure you're on Twitter at the contest close because potential winners will be receiving a direct message and you must reply to win. To win you must give me your full name and email address to set up the guest list + meet & greet opportunity. Failure to be present to give me your winning information at 3 pm will result in a forfeit and another winner will be selected.

Review: Adventure Club in Ottawa (Tuesday, November 27th)

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The anticipation for Adventure Club was high in Ottawa for their sold out show at Barrymore's. Having made a big impact in the US Festival scene this summer Adventure Club's popularity has grown substantially in North America including in Ottawa as they sold out Barrymore's, which is a much larger venue than their regular spot at the underground Ritual nightclub. The demand for Adventure Club was so great this time around that the promoters even organized a second show the night before on a Monday.

Having arrived only a few minutes before Adventure Club took the stage I was immediately impressed with the fast ticket processing outside the venue. The promoters were checking in online ticket buyers with iPads in the line which really sped things up. It only took a little over 10 minutes to process a line that was 30-40 deep outside. What ultimately turned out to be the major bottleneck was the coat check but at least we were warm inside and could still listen to the music from openers (Rainman, JC Boom) at the back.

The amount of buzz for Adventure Club was unbelievable. The first few minutes of the set was literally drowned out by the excitement from the crowd which meant that you could barely tell what was even played at all. But that didn't stop the dance floor because as soon as the first dubstep drop hit the speakers almost everyone was jumping up and down with their fist in the air.  The first hour of the set was a good interplay between Dubstep and Trap music but overall I found it all a little too chaotic. The combination of the crowd noise hurt the sound quality and the overly enthusiastic mic interruptions left the musical flow of the first half of the set a little disjointed. 

Thankfully the second hour made up for it as the crowd noise lessened and mic interruptions were kept at a minimum. The track selection also helped as some of the music played in the second half received the biggest crowd reactions of the night. First off it's important to note that a lot of the people attending were well acquainted with Adventure Club's tracks such as 'Foxes' (played in the first hour) and 'Flight Facilities' became a massive communal sing along among the the true fans. The biggest non-AC track played was Zedd and Lucky Date's 'Fall Into The Sky' Ft. Ellie Goulding  which comes as no surprise as it features one of the most unique drops I've heard in the past 6 months. Other notable tracks played were cuts from Dada Life's 'Kick Out The Epic MotherF**ker' and Major Lazer's 'Jah No Partial' which were both individually mashed up with different electro/dubstep drops to mix things up. But my favourite part of the show was also my biggest surprise as Adventure Club carefully mixed in a few Gesaffelstein tracks into the set. He sampled 'Control Movement' and 'Viol' for only a few short moments each individual time but to use them at all in this type of event was a welcome surprise.

Overall Adventure Club delivered what the crowd asked for which was a cornucopia of the hottest in dubstep and trap music mixed in with their signature melodic styled tracks. The whole crowd treated the event more like a rock concert rather than a dance event as the DJ commanded centre attention. Is that a bad thing? I'm not quite sure but what I do know is that the DJ is the new rock star and the DJ booth is the new rock stage.