Mojado is the exciting new Neo-Techno project from the combined talents of Mr. Sam and Dimitri Andreas. The fresh enthusiastic sound of Dimitri Andreas has already attracted the attentions of the dj world. As a producer, his works have been unleashed on News/Musicman in the Benelux and as a dj he has performed at high profile events throughout europe such as I Love Techno, Made In Brussels or at Arena. Mr. Sam is very well known for his superb and highly acclaimed remixes. His fingerprints have been left upon the reworks he has created for such reknowned artists as Sinead O’Connor, Delerium, Blank & Jones, Corvin Dalek, Praga Khan, Timo Maas, Todd Terry to mention but a few. Now he is teaming up together with skillful dj/producer Dimitri Andreas to merge their influences and inspirations into a hot-fusion of styles to create clubmusic with unique atmosphere and harmony, resulting in quality tracks like Naranja, El Toro and Senorita. Both artists as well as Mojado recently signed to Black-Hole. Time for an UKTA Interview with those rising stars...
Q >> Hi Guys - thanks for taking the time to speak with us! How are you?
We are well !! Thanks. Alive & Kicking !!
Q >> Mojado is a collaboration between Mr Sam and Dimitri Andreas. How did you guys meet each other and when did the whole “Mojado idea” came up?
Mr. Sam: we met at the time I was working for a Record Company as A&R. I heard some tracks he did and I got in touch with him. I asked him for having some tracks for the label I had created and made a start with Lupp Records. After some time, I released his Dimitri Andreas Second EP, which was very sucessfull. The EP got compilations from Slam, Marco Bailey and plays all over by the biggest techno jocks. We both decided to produce a track together under our Twisted Clones alias. It was released on Lupp Records as a limited colored, one side, vinyl (the only one they did so far). The track was played by Carl Cox, Dave Clarke, just to name a few and it also featured on the I Love Techno 2002 Mix CD. That was quite a surprise for us. We did continue to produce some other tracks together and Naranja was born... The rest is Magik :-)
A while after I sended the promo of Naranja to Tiësto, I went to the first Tiësto In Concert and heard him spinning our production. I was like "what the hell is that... this is our record :-)!". Soon it got a full release on the Magik Muzik label. Then we produced El Toro, which became really sucessful. We've been played by all the top 10 DJ's, from Tiësto to Armin, Paul van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Judge Jules and Marco V. El Toro is one of the biggest techno track of the year 2004 in Holland. It stayed a few weeks in the top 3 chart and everywhere I heard the record, it was awesome. The funny story about it, is that El Toro was done in a few hours; this proves that sometimes only a few hours of work is enough to produce a hit. We were both very surprised with this sudden success.
Tiësto himself said Mojado is the perfect combination of the techno mind of Dimitri Andreas and the trance attitiude of Mr. Sam. Mojado is not just another techno concept on the market, we are pushing boundaries of sounds. We can build up a track around salsa music, hard techno or simply a tribal groove... or whatever, we are not limited to one particular style. The hybrid music of Mojado is dedicated to all clubbers and dj's and their special sound-style is destined to become a successful addition to the music of the clubs and give a soul to any party. For sure, the dripping wet club music of Mojado will make you wet... very, very wet. The next single, Senorita, will be released in a few weeks now. Tiësto supports this track for months now. Senorita will feature on Paul van Dyk's Politics of Dancing 2 Mix CD as well.
Q >> From 2005 Black Hole Recordings represents Mr. Sam, Dimitri Andreas and Mojado. What are your feelings about getting signed with such a big label?
Mr. Sam: it's always a pleasure to work with professional people. I'm working with Black Hole for years now and did the Mojado project with Dimitri afterwards. Being signed by a big label is always a good opportunity to be supported and marketed as well. Nowadays record companies are scared to sign new talents and artists. For many reasons it's a risk to do so. There are too many dj's and producers by now... good or bad; anyway the market is saturated like it was never before. Everyone wants to be a DJ and it's at the end a good thing for the whole scene. Before being signed by a big label, you need to be polyvalent. Producing records, djing, remixing, etc.. and it's not that easy to find real and complete artists nowadays. I know what I'm speaking about, I worked as A&R at News [Belgium] and did encounter this problem as well. At the end, we are both glad to work with a good team. Who not ? :-)
Q >> Your recent productions, like El Toro, Blanco and Senorita are very succesful. Off course everything started with “Naranja”. Did you expect it to become such a succes?
Mr Sam : No, but I felt that it was different from the other music we were listening at that time. Mojado has been created for the clubbers all around the world and that is our main goal; make people dancing and getting wild, nothing else. While producing any new tracks, we always keep this in mind. El Toro is a perfect example; on the one hand it's not a radio track, but at the other hand it isn’t 100% techno too. It is something we call the Mojado sound. Some people did try to imitate it, but this seems pretty hard :-).
Dimitri: We had a great feeling while making the record, but we never expected to attain such a great response. A couple of days after we gave Tiësto the disc with Naranja on it, he played the track on his first TIC; that felt really awesome.
Q >> Mojado and all track titles do sound very Spanish. Is there any particular reason for this and could you explain the meaning of the name “Mojado”?
Mojado is the Spanish translation of WET !!! We both love the Latin, Spanish vibes with all the particular things around it, the music, the weather, the girls, etc; that's why all track titles have Spanish names. By the way, our new album will be called El Toro; a taurus in the Arena...with the Senorita (Girl), Samba Brutal (no need to explain), Fuerte (the Fever). For the rest, please use your imagination...:-) Mojado will make every girl wet and all the boys hard; our music is sexy! Sometimes softer, sometimes harder but always Mojado !!
Q >> Reading through your new website, some interesting statements show up. You argue that we entered into the post-tech-trance are, while being forced to tolerate an ever-growing pile of uninspired consumer friendly remakes and revivals. Can you explain this?
It's quite easy to explain. About ten years ago, people were only producing one style of music. Some were doing trance, some techno, and some house. We basicaly never saw Jeff Mills producing a trance record, Paul van Dyk doing a house record or Master at Work a techno track. By now, things are different. I grew up with the first generation of house clubbers. I went out when I was young in 1988 (oh time goes by...); so I am familiar with the early begining of the whole scene.
The thing we need to understand is that a great part of the clubbers are about 20 years now which means that they don’t know that time. Their musical education is different from ours. I'm speaking for myself but I will be bored if I was always doing the same kind of music! I think people are fed up with the one style record. Typically this hard cheesy trance...which was quite ok a few years ago but times are changing and some people not. Mojado is concentrating all kind of music at the same time. We can make a record with a saxophone, a guitar, violins or with a tribal or hard sound (like El Toro) or even more trancy like Senorita. We don't care about the style, only the result is important in our eyes. You know it's like food; you can have wonderful Italian food and horrible French food and the other way around. No matter what it is or where it's coming from...only the feeling it's giving you it's important. Think about it....
Oh and about covers; it just makes me sick, all this wonderful records from the 80's & 90's being killed like that. Expect a few great covers, the rest is crap. This is a result of the lack of musical background, which I was speaking about.
Q >> You continue saying that the clubbers of today are the first generation of a new era; a era of original club music. What is your reasoning behind this and what how do you see the role of Mojado in this?
I explained it a bit before. The new clubbers must be seen as a unique new generation. We must build up something new for them as musical background for their future and give them the taste of quality records instead of all those covers and other cheesy stuff. This will help them in their future music taste as well. I simply don't like all this Retro House parties organised with old dj's etc..., because they are playing music from their own times but the young people don't even know it, so it's make a no sense at the end. People need to stop recycling music at the moment and start being innovative like the first generation was.
Nowadays we have great new producers which deserve my respect. Most of this new producers are around 20/25 years; we need to work with those kind of people. Now regarding Mojado, we are coming with a fresh new sound for this generation. Naranja and El Toro were both smashing hits but definitely different from each other, llike Senorita is also different from the 2 previous one as well. This is our vision, always pushing the boundaries. I would love to make a club hit only with a bell for example, if you know what I mean. With Mojado we want to proove that you can merge every kind of music, cultures or influences and make a club hit.We want to go more and more deep into this concept....trust us on this one !!
Q >> So Mojado is a project dedicated to all clubbers over the world; a mixture of all kind of music merged together to create the Magik. Is this also the main intention of your special livegigs, like you did @ Mysteryland, the Powerzone and others?
Yes, live performances sound more original than dj sets, in particular for Mojado. The experiences and fun we had while doing the ‘lives' are unbelievable. Playing your own music and playing it live is for sure the real thing!! Everyone can be a dj, playing records; but producing a full album with many club tracks known by many people is something different you know.
The pleasure we have from it is indefinable, you must experience it yourself ! Faithless is the perfect example; Faithless albums are really great. Their style differs from techno, to trance, from chill out to rock and their live performances are amazing. I saw them a few times and I was like speachless. Imagine them playing "God is DJ" live and you will understand what I am trying to say. With Mojado, we have the same feeling.
Q >> Soon the first Mojado album will hit the stores; an album dedicated to all clubbers with the objective of bringing back the thrill to the dancefloor. Can you give us an impression of the upcoming album?
The Mojado album will be released just before the summer. The album contains 14 tracks including our previous hits such as Naranja, El Toro, Senorita...and many new ones that we are caning till death in our live performances. The album will be mixed like a live performance. We will add some goodies to it. Our vision of the music will be in the booklet, you will get to know more soon and when you'll purchase it as well...and not download it, please !!
Q >> Next to your Mojado album, both of you are planning/producing an artist-album. Do you want to focus on your solo careers or getting a breakthrough with Mojado?
Mr. Sam: Both things are important; so we are putting our energy in Mojado as well as our solo careers. For now we have a Mojado album ready which will be released in June, so Mojado is the main goal at the moment. Dimitri is actualy doing lots of new tracks for himself and my album is finished and signed to Black Hole. The first Mr. Sam single will be released within a few weeks now. The single is called Lyteo and has been remixed by Rank 1; they did a great techy remix. At the moment, we are doing our dj sets as Mr. Sam and Dimitri Andreas and the Mojado Live together. This is pretty cool because you are not doing the same thing every week. Even when our albums will be released, we will keep on doing Mojado lives but all at the right place and the right time. Don't worry you will see us again in the future!!
Dimitri: Mojado is a project we started for fun, in the beginning we didn't had the plans to do live performances. But because of the succes we were asked to do some lives. It was really fun so why should we not continue this together? For us the most important thing is to make fun and with Mojado we succeed in doing this. We don't want to put all the pressure on Mojado because our solo-projects are very important for ourselves. As long as we enjoy producing and playing together we will definitely continue this Mojado-story.
Q >> Both of you are experienced in producing, remixing and doing your thing as a DJ. Any tips for upcoming talents on UKTA?
Mr. Sam: Try to make music with your heart rather than your head.
Dimitri: Try to be different. Be Inspired by other artists but keep on searching for your own sound and style.
Q >> You complain about the annonimity of invisible digital downloads and the desire owning gigabytes of downloading data. Don’t you see any future in the use of mp3 or digital music sites?
Yes off course, we need to follow the technology; we can't stay in the past. Everything is changing. I'm pretty sure the MP3 format will be (and already is) a good thing for many reasons. Stuff like I-Pod etc is amazing, the only problem is the downloading you know. It has been said a 1000 of times so I'll say it again but the peer to peer networks are killing the artists and the music companies as well. One day, if things won’t change, no one will be able to download new music anymore; simple as that. However I keep having faith that the problem will be solved and that everyone will take care of it. On the other hand, the Internet gives the the opportunity to buy the same record for someone living in south of China or in Paris. So I turns out to be good for the music industry if everybody is fair enough to eventually buy the music.
Q >> Is there anyone in particular that you would like to work with in the future?
Mr. Sam: As Producer, BT is by far the best, musicaly and technicaly...and Junkie XL as well. As for the singers I would love to work with Enya and Jan Johnston and my favourite …Rob Dougan [Rob if you read this ...get in touch with me..I would die for it].
Dimitri: Difficult question... there are so many artists that I want to work with. I would be happy to work with a good singer and some artist that plays live instruments to start a small group or somtehing like that. Making dancemusic but with a more acoustical touch is something I would really like to do.
Q >> What would be your top 3 of productions at the moment?
Mr . Sam :
01 Smeya – Eldfjall
02 White Label - Black Cherry
03 Mr. Sam – Lyteo
Dimitri:
01 Michael Forzza - Kahana [Ghoststyle]
02 Marco Lenzi & Nils Hess - Fusion [Floormusic]
03 End-JY - Fiesta [Intec]
Q >> Best track(s) ever?
Mr. Sam: BT – Remember, Massive Attack - Tear Drop, Rob Dougan - There's only me and 1000 more :-)
Dimitri: ahhh... I only have a top 70.
Q >> Best DJ?
Mr. Sam: Paul Oakenfold & Dimitri from Amsterdam.
Dimitri: Carl Cox, Marco Carrola.
Q >> Any other music taste/hobbies?
Mr. Sam: I love stuff like Dr. Dre, Snoop etc, and movie soundtracks [e.g. John Williams, Danny Elfman, Craig Armstrong]. I am also a fan of Rob Dougan [yes... I love what he does...], a French singer called Pascal Obispo, the older stuff of Björk and many, many others. The only thing I don't like that much is hard rock stuff.
Dimitri: I love a lot of music styles. Through the years I learned to appreciate other genres like Hip Hop, Rock, even some classical music or film music. I have moments that I am really not in the mood for dancemusic. Every kind of music is made for a reason. There is music for parties, and there is music for more calm, chill moments.
Q >> What are your plans for the future?
Mr. Sam: Off course the release of my Mr. Sam artist album this year, pushing Mojado, and doing many gigs and travelling.
Dimitri: I'm working on new tracks now. Going around the world and playing these new records would be great!
Q >> Which hardware/software do you use for producing tracks and doing your thing as a DJ?
Mr. Sam : I used to work with my PC but I must admit that Apple is far better. Just think different :-) Dimitri showed me how powerful it was. Let the force be with you :-)
Dimitri :I'm a big Apple-freak. Most of the tracks are made with Digital Performer and some hardware synths.
Q >> Would you like to say something to all UKTA-members?
Thank you for your support because without you, the fans, nothing would have been possible at all. So our first thanks are going to you, all music lovers through the world. Remember: "Live each day as if it were your last; learn as if you might live forever"
Mojado : www.mojado.tv
Mr. Sam : www.mrsam.tv
Dimitri Andreas : www.dimitriandreas.be
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Interview By : < Magik >