Not wishing to cause offence, I receive the plant and respond accordingly with the expected, “so tell me a little about the new material…” Without a moment’s hesitation, Schulz storms ahead with what could easily be a pre-rehearsed sales pitch. “I was mixing down a new EP for one of the artists I signed to my label – Basil O’Glue,” before the shameless plug continues, “he has a new EP coming out that has three amazing tracks on it. I mixed all three of them down in my studio this afternoon.” With his protégée appraisal out of the way, his attention turns to his own creativity as he reveals, “then there was this idea that I had for a track for my live sets that I carved out while I was on an aeroplane many many months ago and I never got the chance to really bring it into the studio and mix it down properly. So that was what I was doing as well.”
Though his direct approach may be somewhat disarming, his friendly delivery is flawless. What seems shameless when revisited was at the time appealing. As one of the industry’s hardest working acts, Schulz is a man who warrants praise and has just cause to sell his latest output.
While he may prefer to steer an interview in his intended direction, Schulz equally appreciates that an honest question requires an honest answer. Finding myself wishing to hear more than standard responses, I attempt to deviate from talking shop and instead attempt to appeal to Schulz the creative not Schulz the salesman. With the simple question, “Is music an infection for you?”, I find the key to Markus Schulz the man not the businessman.
“I have dedicated my life to this,” arrives the response. Far more than a simple passion, Schulz is aware that music defines his existence. Without asking any further questions, Schulz happily launches into his own personal therapy session while I sit back and take note. “My family is very musical. My father used to be in a band, then he became a DJ as well.” From family contextualisation, Schulz suddenly shifts to the self-examining, “this is who I am. This is what I am supposed to be doing.”
“Ever since I was a kid,” starts the retrospection, “I used to listen to music on the radio and dissect it to figure out sounds. At the same time I would be making mixtapes where I would be trying to put songs together. So this is all I have ever done and all I can do.” Having drawn his own conclusion, Schulz is clearly happy in his resolve. However his change in demeanour from poised professional to ponderer leaves an element of control in my hands. Having left the conversational direction at my mercy, I decide that Schulz is open to further probing.
Without hesitation, his journey of personal revelation continues to unfold. When asked if his own musical ambition stems from his early musical interest, he is quick to assert, “Actually my inspiration comes from all the hardship I went through as a kid. I had a very hard childhood growing up.”
Feeling guilty for having possibly delved a little to deep into the personal, I am pleasantly surprised by the change in Schulz’s vocal tone. From over friendly formality, Schulz is genuine and sincere as he continues unprompted, “my mother and my father separated when I was very young. For me growing up was very hard. What inspired me was that I would be sitting in my room on these dark days listening to these other DJs spinning these tracks. I would hang on to every single bassline, every lyric, every melody. It was personal to me. I think that is what inspired me the most, these feelings I could get when I was listening to these songs and what they meant to me.”
While Schulz has a crystal clear memory of which tracks meant what, he admits that even he is surprised by how he has now catalogued those tracks as history. “Ironically the tracks that I like to listen back to are songs I never liked to listen to as a kid. Some of the classic rock stuff. I used to hear them played all over the place and I was never really into it that much. Now I listen back to it and it takes me back to the place where I was, even though I never really paid attention to these classic rock tracks back then. Now when I listen back to something like the Steve Miller Band Fly Like An Eagle it’s like wow! It puts me right back to a place, but at the same time it is fresh as I never really listened to it as a kid.”
BY JEREMY WILLIAMS
