Exclusive ‘Albin Myers’ Interview
The Mighty Mohawk, Albin Myers played a smasher of a gig recently and like always the energy was completely unbelievable. The crowd danced their socks out as he churned out one banger after another. WMS Entertainment, brings him back for his 5th time in India and we at Bangin Beats had the opportunity to have a small chat with him. Albin tells us his insight on music, life and all that is Albin “Mighty Mohawk” Myers!
Hello from Bangin Beats!!
Q1) This is your fifth time in India tell us what do you feel about the culture & the country?
ALBIN: I like how the EDM scene has developed here in India. I’ve been coming here since 2010, and the whole “scene” seems to be blowing up and going from strength to strength & I’m glad to be part of the whole process.
Q2) What was it like when you came to India back in 2010?
ALBIN: Well it was great, but I got sick because of something I ate. I like Indian food but I ate something weird and fell unwell on my way back home, after reaching Heathrow in London, the trip to Sweden was the worst trip of my life (laughs) and what I did as soon I reached back home doesn’t need mentioning!! It took me 3 weeks to get back in shape and then I was back in India to play at Sunburn!
Q3) Sunburn is the premier dance music festival of India. What is the feeling of playing at Sunburn? Have you seen it grow as well?
ALBIN: I played 2 years in a row, in 2010 and 2011 and of course it’s grown. I don’t know how many people were there in the first year but there were about 90,000 people in 2011 and it’s seeming like it’ll be even bigger this year. Surely is one of my most favourite festivals! So many beautiful Indian people and all so into the music!
Q4) You’re called “The Mighty Mohawk”. Tell us the story behind it?
ALBIN: I’ve had it for about 6 years now, I think. Nikhil Chinapa and Srikant at Submerge were the ones who started calling me “The Mighty Mohawk”. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it works!
Q5) Would you be willing to collaborate with any Indian artists/producers in the future?
ALBIN: You never know. I’m thinking of doing something that is influenced by the Indian style of music, don’t know how but I am going to find a way to do it.
Q6) We were talking to TOCADISCO the other day and he’s used Tabla’s (Indian percussions) in his music, do you reckon we could expect you to use Indian instruments too?
ALBIN: Yes. I’m going to use Indian instruments and an Indian vocalist soon in some way.
Q7) You are pretty close to John Dahlbäck. How did the collaborations between both of you start?
ALBIN: First time I met John, I got the opportunity to remix his track, “Hustle Up”, which was a big thing for me back in 2008. I was a big fan of his and I was very excited to be remixing his hit track. Then we started to talk more often and did a track together and then another and then last year we started our project called, “MY BACK” and toured the States from coast to coast. There are still some unreleased tracks we have in our kitty which you might see in the future.
Q8) Sweden today is ruling roost when it comes to the music scene. Be it Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, John, You and so many more. What is it about Sweden and EDM?
ALBIN: Haha. All us Swedes get this question. Probably because for a good 6 months it’s dark and cold so we stay indoors instead of going on to the beach (Laughs). We have a history of music making, starting with the 70’s when we had ABBA, people still know their tracks even today and in the 90’s all the major pop hits by the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, N Sync and others were written and produced by Swedes and now in the 2000’s we have had an entire wave of house music producers.
Q9) What inspired you to Produce music and DJ? Was it a thought out decision?
ALBIN: I was very interested in making music. Started out when I was 13-14 years old, working in a program called Fast Tracker 2 which opened in DOS not Windows and I’ve been doing it ever since first as a hobby and then 6-7 years back I decided to take things to the next level and try and do it as my living.
Q10) What are your plans for the future?
ALBIN: In the future, I plan to make more and more music, better music, tour more and just keep on making music because I love doing that. It’s a lot of hard work but if you enjoy what you do you just keep on doing it.
Q11) Dubstep is big as a genre in the States, Skrillex is winning Grammy’s and there are a lot more producers being recognized for their work. What’s your take on it?
ALBIN: Generally, I used to listen to all kinds of electronic music when I was growing up, including Drum & Bass, Dubstep and all that kind of music. I think the new kind of Dubstep is fun, it’s like Dubstep going Death Metal. In the 70’s and 80’s it was Rock and Metal and today it’s House & Dubstep. Earlier you could see people with Iron Maiden, Metallica, etc tattooed on their arms and today it’s pretty common to see people tattoo DJ names on their arms.
Q12) In the 90’s every kid picked up a guitar and wanted to be in a rock band and now in the 2000’s, everybody wants to be a music producer, in this saturated market, What’s the best way to be discovered?
ALBIN: It’s very individual I’d say. There are no right’s or wrong’s, no do’s and don’ts. You just have to work as hard as you can and believe in yourself and connect with other people in the industry without being too persuasive. Giving out free stuff or bootlegs could be an option but there’s no set way. I know Avicii before he made it to record labels, released about 20-30 songs on different blog’s and he even won a Grammy last year for innovative ways of sharing his music.
Q13) How does Albin Myers start producing a track?
ALBIN: Every track is different, sometimes I start with a drum pattern, sometimes some other way. I love the synths in Logic 9, use ESX-24, ES-2 and a few more. I keep trying different synths.
Q14) Any new tracks we could look forward to coming from you?
ALBIN: My latest release is “The Beast”, other than that I have a few collaborations coming up but no set dates for the releases as yet.
Q15) Finally a message & a quick tip to the young & budding DJ/Producer’s here in India & all over the world?
ALBIN: Like I always say, its work, work, work and more work. You have to work hard and believe in yourself. You have to take the criticism that comes your way and try to evolve the whole time. There’s no easy way there, you have to work your ass off.
Thank you for the interview! We look forward to seeing you once again in India!
Interview by Kanov Bagai, Edited by Aditya Seth
Special Thanks to WMS Entertainment