Our EDC Orlando pre-show coverage keeps rolling along.
It's no secret that Mau5trap has showcased some of the best artists in the game when it comes to dance music. A burgeoning new force in the electronic music scene has currently made himself right at home on the label, creating his own hybrid of dance music under the name No Mana.
No Mana will be stepping foot on the CircuitGrounds stage this weekend to bring his unique breed of music to the masses. We spoke to him earlier this week about his track "Tell Me", the writing process behind the song, what he'll be bringing to the stage, and much more.
I took a listen to “Tell Me” and I was really impressed. I can see, just from the tone of the track, why Mau5trap is a great fit for this music. How did your relationship with the label initially come about?
Thanks! Dillon, my manager, had approached the label manager with my music and they decided to move forward with one of my tracks, Momentarily, onto their We Are Friends Vol. 004 compilation album. They initially signed Momentarily and Tell Me. Working with them is enjoyable because I know they are very true to what they do and really take care of their artists. I usually have these level-up themed mini free releases, and they helped me with the fourth one. It wasn’t anything that was signature-bound, they just did it out of love. Since then, it was a pleasure getting to know them and their artists intimately, including Enzo Bennet, Draft, and Attlas and Rezz whom I’ve met in Toronto for Halloween weekend.
Can you walk me a little bit through the writing process of “Tell Me”? Were there any big challenges when writing and trying to bring the track to life? You can be technical and talk about DAWs, plug-ins, mixing challenges, etc.
The biggest challenge to me was keeping this project relevant to my ear. I didn’t want to get tired of it over the time I was trying to find a way to release this - which took like a year. I made sure I still liked the track upon the release date after time has passed since starting the project. So over that time, I did a lot of polishing and stuff. The technical things were the hardest, like equalizing the chords since they take a lot of space dynamically and in the spectrum - not to mention fitting the vocals in. The percussion changed like 5 times overall I think, mainly the kicks and claps. Then the whole mix down changed once I switched from my 5” to 7” speakers and got a subwoofer in the process. Writing it was easy though, that took me like 2 days I think.
You’ll be playing at EDC Orlando this weekend, huge congratulations. When fans attend a festival, they’re generally having music, visuals, and a number of other distractions thrown at them left and right. In your opinion, what do you think sets you apart from any of the other artists that will be playing out there? Essentially, what do you think will get fans to stop and say “guys, let’s check out this set!”?
Thank you! Yeah, it’s a trip that last year I was a complete festival-goer, so personally I think what’s drawn me to sets the most depends on, firstly, whether or not I like the music of the artist, and secondly, what I’ve heard about them live. But what makes me remember a set the most is how different the song selection was, how well-executed the set was, and the type of sound they have to offer. Maybe I’m saying this cause I’m music oriented and otherwise I’d rather look for cake, giant bananas and lasers. But I’ve always enjoyed the music the most in live settings, both as a fan and artist. The type of sound is something I hope to offer to my audience, as a majority of it will be my own ID’s, in addition to my own released music, my edits and bootlegs, and tracks I found when I was digging the depths of SoundCloud.
In terms of new music, I’m not sure if you have any new tracks in the works, but if so, what can fans expect?
Oh, I have lots. I think I have like 30 tracks in the works, but of course not all of them will make it. They can expect more house and more of the magic number, 128. Like Redux, Tell Me, Array of Sirens, etc. I don’t know. Some remixes. More saw waves. Then some experimental stuff later down the road, maybe.
This is the last question I ask to every artist that I interview. It’s a broad question, but what does music mean to you?
Music is conceptually one thing, but functionally a lot of things. It’s a time capsule for my emotions and feelings during interesting times in my life, and a companion that sticks around with me during everything that I do. To me, it’s a purpose. I make it, and it makes me. I’m here to make time capsules and companions that reflect what music was to me.
Be sure to catch No Mana take the stage at EDC Orlando THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7 from 2:45 PM to 3:50 PM at the CIRCUITGROUNDS.
For more music and info from No Mana, visit www.facebook.com/ihavenomanas
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