On night one of EDC China, we had the privilege to sit down with trance veteran Markus Schulz. He opened up about his excitement for his upcoming set before getting deep into conversation about his alias Dakota. We then got into discussing where Markus Schulz finds and maintains inspiration day in and day out, talked a bit about production, and the secret sauce to snagging his attention as an aspiring producer.
Check out our exclusive interview with Markus Schulz at EDC China below!
RR: Markus Schulz, nice to meet you. Is this the first time that you have been to China?
MS: Hey, man. Likewise! I’ve been to China many times actually.
RR: Are you pumped about this set?
MS: Of course! I’ve played EDC’s all over the world but this is the first time playing EDC China. Really Looking forward to it. I know what the Asian crowd is like – they are incredibly intense. So I have a really intense set planned for them.
RR: We are fired up about it. It seems like each year you either release an album with Markus Schulz or the Dakota project. For listeners who don’t know the difference between Dakota and Markus Schulz, how would you describe the different aliases?
MS: Markus Schulz is written from vibes felt from the audience. Dakota is made from something more internal. It’s a lot darker, deeper and more forward thinking. I have to be in a certain frame of mind to write a Dakota track. It’s just me looking inside of myself rather than looking at the audience and taking in what I am feeling from the audience.
RR: You’ve released albums since the mid 2000s. I think your first was maybe 2005?
MS: Probably, yeah!
RR: Over all the years, how have you maintained inspiration?
MS: From the audience, first of all. When I first started, uplifting trance was the big thing. But that wasn’t in me. I didn’t have this uplifting happy mood. I grew up with a really rough childhood. They say that your first album is a lifetime in the making, meaning all of the memories and all of the feelings you have from your childhood up to that first album go into that first album. It’s almost therapeutic. So my first album was very dark. I blew up from that because everyone was making happy uplifting trance music. I came in with this real dark sound. From that I blew up, but at the same time as the success was happening and it was hard to tap back into the dark depressing mood because here I was living a dream now, you know? So my music has had to evolve over the years. That’s really where the Dakota and the Markus Schulz division happened. The Dakota stuff I will tap into when I am feeling really down about something. Markus Schulz I am writing about living a dream. I am up on stage and writing about just the most amazing moments that anybody could imagine. Being up on stage and looking at thousands of people. You know you get these ideas just from being up there and saying that.
RR: That sounds awesome. So New World Punx…we recently had a chance to chat wtih Ferry Corsten and we were talking about you two together back at EDC Las Vegas 2014. Your New World Punx set from then has been an all time favorite.
MS: That was a very special moment. That and Madison Square Garden show are the two New World Punx sets that Ferry and I will always remember. You know, Ferry and I musically are going in opposite directions. He’s one of my best friends in the whole world. He was the best man at my wedding. But right now we are not certain about what we want to do in the future with New World Punx. We have talked and thought about what we want to do, but first we’d need to find that common ground musically that makes it fun to get into the studio.
RR: What is the best way for any up-and-coming DJ’s to get your attention for Coldharbour?
MS: Just message me on Instagram or Facebook messenger. Any of the social medias. I check them regularly and I listen to them regularly. On the flight here I was going through my Instagram and someone had sent me a track from Denver maybe, and I was listening to it thinking, “Wow this is some amazing crazy good stuff.” I will definitely be reaching out to them once I get back to the USA, and that’s the way it goes. You send me a SoundCloud link and I am going to listen. You know?
RR: Love it! And what happens if it doesn’t make the cut?
MS: Well, you know there is so much music out there that the song will have to be really special in order to cut through. But try, try, try again because if you want it bad enough you will get it. It took me a lifetime to get where I am. It didn’t happen overnight for me.
RR: Now, just for some fun – if you were stuck on an island with only three plugins what would they be?
MS: Gosh, Sylenth: Because everything is so easy with it. Omnisphere: It is just so interesting and a great sample library. And lastly, I guess is just a good compressor. You can make just about anything sound pretty good with a compressor.
RR: For Sure! Thank you for sharing that. What is your DAW?
MS: I use Ableton
RR: Thank you so much for the time. We really appreciate it!
We wished that we could’ve had more time with Markus but he needed to get started with a Trance Family China Meet-and-Greet before taking the stage. As promised, the legend delivered on what was an intense EDC China set, where he played the new track “Ave Maria.”
Listen to Markus Schulz at EDC China.
Connect with EDC China:
http://facebook.com/electricdaisycarnivalchina
http://twitter.com/edc_china
http://instagram.com/edc__china
Connect with Markus Schulz:
https://www.facebook.com/markusschulz/
https://www.twitter.com/MarkusSchulz
https://www.soundcloud.com/markusschulz
https://www.instagram.com/markusschulz
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