Maddix on Breaking the Big Room Mold [Exclusive Interview]

Maddix on Breaking the Big Room Mold

4/16/2019

How did you get in touch with the music world, then what made you go into EDM and create the Maddix project?
I grew up in a musical household. My mum plays djembe, the African drums, so that's what I played when I was a kid. At about the age of seven, I started playing the piano and later on drums. When I was a teenager in high school, I found out about dance music and was instantly hooked. First, I started to just fiddle around and eventually I started working under my own name, Pablo, but I felt like it didn't fit my music because "Pablo" sounds a bit Latin and that's not the kind of music I make. When I thought that my music had reached a certain level, sound-quality wise, I decided to change my name and after brainstorming for quite some time, I came up with Maddix.

The majority of your releases are big room tracks but you incorporate a lot of elements from other genres such as Psy-Trance, Hardstyle, Trap and Reggae. Where do you go to find such diverse initiations for your music?

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A post shared by Maddix (@maddixmusic) on Feb 20, 2019 at 5:23am PST

I used to listen to a lot of Hip-Hop and Rock music, but I've stopped listening to them as much in favor of pop, techno and just electronic music in general. When I'm in the studio, I'm usually just working and if I listen to music there, it's to compare a mixdown or something like that. I'm trying to come up with new stuff which is why I incorporate different sounds from other genres into my own tracks. I'm just trying to create something new - I don't want to make generic big room but something that stands out. Another reason is that I just love electronic music as a whole, and that means all the genre's out there to be explored!

Can we expect any of your more experimental tracks to see the light of day any time soon?
Maybe! I've made a few tracks that are completely different but for now, they're just for fun. There are no plans for their release but it's certainly a possibility to happen at some point.

Most of your tracks have been released on Revealed Recordings and you are now clearly a staple of the label. How did you first connect with them and how important is the label for you as a producer?
It was actually because of my release on Armada Trice, "Raise Em Up." Back in the day, I released this track when I was still pretty unknown, and Dyro supported it on one of the first episodes of WOLV Radio. After that, I received a message from Sebastian, who is the label manager at Revealed, and he said he really liked this track and he wanted to sign it on WOLV, which was in the same group as Revealed. So that's how I first got in touch with Revealed and where we started building a relationship.

The Revealed team helped me a lot with getting exposure. Having Hardwell play out my tracks on his streams and shows was a big part of pushing my music to the right people. Three years ago, I was no one and now, because of the label, I can go all over the world to perform. There are the label nights which help show off your chops and those can lead to becoming a headliner for your own solo gigs elsewhere. I think that the label really opened up so many doors for me and I wouldn't have the opportunities I have today without them.

Talking about Hardwell, you co-produced many tracks with him like "Smash This Beat" and "Bella Ciao." What was you experience like working with him and what are your dream collaborations for the future?
The experience of working with Hardwell is insane, I remember sending him an idea for "Smash This Beat" and just asking if he wanted to collab with me and he said yes! I was super happy, and we've worked on some other amazing tracks together since then. He is just a really good producer and I'm still learning from him every time we work together. Looking forward, I would love to work with Martin Garrix, The Chainsmokers, or maybe a pop artist like Madonna!

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A post shared by Maddix (@maddixmusic) on Sep 1, 2018 at 4:38am PDT

Revealed launched their Community Releases about a year and a half ago through Revealed DJ and had been a great platform to showcase up-and-coming producers. What advice can you give to young producer who would like to start a career now?
First of all, try to make music that is different from what the rest is doing. Second, work on your production skills as hard as possible to make your tracks sound really good. The one trick that helped me with this, when I was still struggling, was to just lock myself up in the studio and put like three tracks of a similar style in the project. Instead of trying to copy the track, I tried to copy the way they are mixed by listening to each layer like the kicks or the lead. I remember listening to a Dyro track and trying to make a comparable kick. I worked on it for ten hours and it still wasn't good enough! But I learned a lot about how to get your kick fat and so the whole process did help me in the end.

So, for young producers, try that exercise and be original in your ideas. Don't think about creating a signature sound - I believe it'll just happen at one point. In my case, I've been producing for about fourteen years and I just make music that I enjoy. Then one day, people started recognizing some signature elements and now you can see them saying, "Oh! This is a Maddix track!"

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A post shared by Maddix (@maddixmusic) on Nov 7, 2018 at 7:03am PST

What is the best memory you've ever had since you started your career?
Music production wise, it was when I got an email back from Hardwell saying that he wanted to work on the collaboration idea I sent him! Show-wise, there have been some crazy gigs all over the world. I can't name them all, but there are a few that come to mind like Club Octagon in Seoul or Japan for two club shows. In Japan, all the people knew my songs and when I cut down the music right before the drop, they sang the pre-drop vocal! It was really insane

I also played at Lakedance Festival last summer, which is a big festival in my hometown, and I brought a lot of friends and my mum. This was the first time they could actually watch me because I'm touring a lot in Asia, which makes it difficult to bring them. I closed down the mainstage together with KAAZE in front of thousands of people - it was an amazing experience.

Finally, what can we expect from you in the near future?
I'm working on a lot of new tracks! Three of them are finished and ready to go. I'm also working on some tracks with vocals, which takes a bit longer as you must find the right singer etc. I don't want to say too much about this yet, but in general there's a lot of great and diverse stuff coming that I can't wait to share with you all!

Thanks so much to Maddix for taking the time to answer our questions! Thank you also to Arthur for conducting this interview! Be sure to follow Maddix using the links below!