“I don´t specify my music. I simply play and produce what I love.”
Ahead of his remix on Constant Circles, we invited German producer Marc DePulse to be a guest on the radio show and onto our blog to find out more about what makes him tick.
Hey Marc! Welcome to our radio show & blog.. how are you at the moment?
I just had a super busy July, been playing lots of gigs all over Europe and finally finished two new singles and three remixes in my studio. So now I’m really fine because I´m having about two weeks off and will enjoy the silence for some days.
You have been releasing music for a long time now! Have you always been a musician? How did you get into electronic music?
When I was eight years old my parents told me to learn an instrument and they wanted me to play accordion. To be honest I really hated this time. Every Friday when my friends went out to play football I had lessons with a really unfriendly old woman. A few years later I became a member of our school choir and passed my A-levels in music at the age of 18. It all was just for fun but it became serious for me afterwards. A friend told me how to make music on the PC, at that time with the MS-DOS based “Impulse Tracker“. Of course it was a big plus for me that I knew so much about music already. I started with Hard-trance, Hardstyle and Gabber before my music became tasteful, hehe!
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When did it really start taking off for you – was there a key moment or release that you would say kick started your career?
Not really. I’ve been in this scene for more than fifteen years now and I was always working hard every day. If it´s producing my own music, mixing podcasts or writing blogs about my DJ and producer life – I´m a full time musician, working 24/7. In 2012 I quit my normal bureau job to focus on music 100%. After four years now I realise, that was the right decision.
You are from Leipzig in Germany, which is a fairly small city – do you still live there? Has it influenced or helped you musically?
Leipzig is not really small anymore. Lots of people called it “Hypezig“ because there are big things happening here. There´s been a hype for some years now. So many young people come here for studying and of course here we have a great quality of life. I´m living near the city centre, in front of a river, inside the wood – just to give you a picture. Lots of people already told me to move to Berlin, but I´m not a fan of big cities as I need a huge space to escape every week. I love Leipzig, I´ve lived here since I was born.
You have a super hectic touring schedule! What has been your favourite gig lately?
I had a great time the past few weeks and it’s hard to pick a favourite. But maybe this: I was playing in Georgia (Batumi) the night where the coup happened in Turkey. That was a special situation for me, also because the promoter told me that 10 minutes before I was playing: “Borders and airports are closed. Your flights are cancelled. We don’t know more at the moment….“ There were so many questions inside my head and it was a special challenge to play a fantastic gig then. But I did, also because the audience was amazing. After fighting to get me out of the country I finally made it to Brussels (BE) on Sunday, where I had another fantastic and familiar Open Air. To be honest I’m starting to forget some gigs now, but weekends like this I will probably remember for 50 years.
Wow, what a story! You also own JEAHMON! Records. Would you say it is difficult to set up a label? What advice would you give to other aspiring label owners?
It’s difficult to find your way inside the market when you don´t have a strong producer/remixer or at least label owner or agency behind. There’s a mass of music which is be released every day so the secret is to make something unique or even better than the others. I would never sign a track because it’s good for the business. I only sign music which I love and it’s not important for me if the artist is a newcomer or an established act. Having your own strong philosophy on how to run a label is really important to create your own hand script and make something special with the label.
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That’s really great advice. So how do you find coping with touring, producing and running a label? What do you like to do away from music?
There’s not so much space for free time. But I learned to have quality time when I’m not working. I like to go out by bike for long distances and of course meet all my friends here in Leipzig. It’s so important to clean your head and collect new inspiration. I guess every creative person knows that.
What releases do you have coming up in the near future on the label and also for yourself as an artist?
JEAHMON! just made a little summer break but will continue now with 2 or 3 releases until Christmas. For Marc DePulse I have looooads of music coming up: singles on Defintion:Music, Click Records, Einmusika, Traum. Remixes on Constant Circles, Einmusika, Freude Am Tanzen, Traum and Chapter 24. Additional to that I started a project with Several Definitions (Suara/Stil Vor Talent). Jeremy and I already finished four tracks and we’re still working on new stuff. Good things happen when two producers with the same taste in music meet each other. And I can tell you another little secret: there will be a new Marc DePulse album coming in 2017!
Tell us about your guest mix on CC radio – how did you put it together and what is included in there? any exclusives or surprises?
My studio mixes are always different to my club sets. Because I love music so much I use these heartbreaking tracks for my podcasts only and there are some of them inside the mix. Also two Marc DePulse tracks are inside: my track “Devotion“, which has been released on Third Son’s imprint Polymath and my upcoming remix for Giorgia Angiuli on Constant Circles.
Thanks so much for chatting with us and being on the radio show!
Marc’s remix of Giorgia Angiuli is released on Constant Circles on 26th September.
