Veteran producer Markus Schulz has long established himself in the trance world. The German born artist has collaborated with just about every trance producer in the industry and continues to display in every release why he’s at the top of his genre. We’ve seen Markus’ sound consistently evolve and in recent years we’ve experienced his progressive, uplifting style of trance that has dazzled fans around the world. However, that still hasn’t stopped Schulz for meddling in the darker side of the things. His well known Dakota project has long been a pinnacle of his career since the early 2000’s. With a heavy tech influence, Dakota unleashes the side of Markus that is rarely seen in his live performances.
In 2016 Markus released his most recent Dakota collaboration with Koen Groeneveld, “Mota-Mota”. The three and a half minute instrumental focuses heavily on rhythm and swiftly captivates the dark side of Dakota that fans crave. In order to learn more about his productions, RaverRafting was able to briefly catch up with Markus at Electric Zoo not long ago. Check out our exclusive interview below!
You mentioned earlier that trance has evolved, what did you mean by that?
Markus: You know I just think its evolved production wise. The melodies are always evolving, sometimes they’re more simple because there’s too many melodies that are so complicated and then they’ll circle back around to being more simple. That cycle is always rounding, but as far as production I feel like things have evolved from back in the day when we were using lots of loops, reverbs, delays, and stuff like that. Now everything is more tight and punchy, much less reverb. In addition the delays we use in productions are much cleaner. It just makes the beautiful melodies that are already in the music standout more. Normally you hear a melody in a track that would have been in the background and be very beautiful, however now you sort of make sure those melodies shine over everything. I’d say that’s mainly what has evolved in the production side.
Has anything else evolved besides the productions?
Markus: Well in terms of the vibes, I think that trance has always been and still is very intellectual. EDM was the gateway for a lot of people to come into dance music, but when they come to trance they’re definitely looking for something more. Trance inspired EDM and it was still there. All the kids that came into EDM are now finding that trance is the next level.
If EDM stays as it currently is, do you think trance will always remain a staple?
Markus: Trance won’t go anywhere, EDM is tired now to be honest. How many times can we hear the same thing? With trance there are so many layers to it. It’s a beautiful genre and the fans are the most loyal fans of all the dance music genres. Trance fans are the best.
You were mentioning before how trance has evolved, has your personal sound evolved as well?
Markus: Well, it depends. When I was doing the Dakota project the last six or seven months, I was trying to find that balance between techno and trance, but at the same time staying on the progressive tip. Now, I’m missing that old German trance vibe. Everyone always talks about the 2001 trance with the Dutch, but people forget about the 90’s trance with Sven Vath, IQ, Hard House Recordings, Cosmic Baby, and Kid Vicious. That’s more of the monotonous sound, but the melody comes from the monotony in it. It’s driving, but without those big epic hands in the air moments. There’s still hands in the air moments, but the momentum keeps going. That’s really what I’m looking for right now in my current production.
Photo Credit: Edward Aninaru Photography
Connect with Markus Schulz:
https://www.facebook.com/markusschulz/
https://twitter.com/MarkusSchulz
https://www.instagram.com/markusschulz
https://soundcloud.com/markusschulz
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