With a debut album set for release on May 29th, SHA’s Craig chats with Berlin based Marc Miroir about the new release while we also have a podcast from Marc for you to enjoy…

MARC MIROIR

Hello Marc and welcome to SHA. How are you today?
Hey. I’m fine, thank you. I just finished my new single for Bondage Music, which will be released in September, and I’m very happy with it!

Your debut album “Hitting Home” is about to hit the record stores. What does this album mean to you?
It took a lot of time to produce my debut album because I wanted to do everything perfectly, we puzzled for a long time on every track. “Hitting Home”, to me, means “to arrive”, it’s not just that I have “arrived” in my chosen home city of Berlin, but also staying loyal and continuing the travel to my long time residency at “Airport” in South Germany. Further, it always feels like arriving home when I am in a club standing behind the turntables, whatever country or city, it is my home away from home for that night. This is the journey I wanted to draw on and make into music.

Listen to a preview of some of the highlights from Marc Miroir’s excellent debut artist album, “Hitting Home” (Paso Music) here:

Given you have been involved in music for over 15 years, why was this the right time to release your first album?
For me as a DJ, it was always important to release functional maxis and after testing them in the clubs we released them fresh. Through this process, of course, my own evolution continued and it was my next logical step to produce an album, a timeless piece of work, where I can break new ground. Besides, I had very good producers and singers to work with, so everything was perfect and fitted together.

“Hitting Home” is released on Paso Music, a label you run with Sebrok and Jo Spallek. This is only the second album the label has released in its 8 year history. What challenges does the label face when releasing an album compared to an EP?
It’s completely different to an EP. You need much more planning for an album than for an EP, you need very good promotion and label management to create a schedule that you can handle with all the different deadlines.

The album features several collaborations with artists like Hard Ton, Andres Henneberg, Kiki Moorse and newcomer Integer. Tell us a bit more about these?
I know all these artists from Berlin’s nightlife. With Hard Ton, I played together at Tape Club in Berlin, I asked him, and he said “Yes”. Kiki, I met at a house party; she came to our studio and we jammed for while. The Party-Train was born. Integer is a good friend of mine, as well as Andreas with whom I play out very often.

Which producers/artists out there today would you love to work with if the opportunity arose?
I love all the stuff by Martin Buttrich or Santé. Those would be great collaborations I think?

Also, Marc has put together this excellent EPK talking about the album:

I read that in your younger years, you organised parties in your native town Wurzburg. How did first get involved with music and what influenced you back in the early days?
As a teenager I was into Hip-Hop like the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy or Cypress Hill. Later, I was into Electro like the stuff from Aux88, Drexciya or the Soul Sonic Force. When I was 18 I turned to straight Techno.

Today you can still find Paso Music hosting parties in Wurzburg as well as Berlin while releasing original music alongside remix work from artists such as David Mayer, Asem Shama, Christian Smith and Steve Lawler. Your music has even been licensed for inclusion on the world-renowned Fabric series. You all must be delighted with the progress for the label since 2004. Did any of you expect such success and what would you say the secret of maintaining a successful label today is?
We started the label in 2004 to release our music and other good music we like. The success wasn’t planned. I think the catalogue number 14 was our international break through. We always attach maximum importance to the quality of the music and use artists we like and respect to remix tracks.

You moved to Berlin in 2007. How did the famous city inspire and shape you and your music as an artist?
In Berlin there are so many musicians and DJs. There is a huge variety between everyone, so you get a lot of inspiration you’re your colleagues as well as from the unique nightlife, with all the underground and overground parties.

You are renowned for all vinyl sets, is this still true in today’s digital age and what is your take on the differences between DJing now to when you started in 1993?
I still love playing vinyl, but in so many clubs you can’t find any turntables and if they are there they are often in a bad state. Also, most of the sound-systems in lots of clubs aren’t tuned in to playing vinyl, so at the moment I play mostly CD’s, but am still buying vinyl. When I’m booked to play a club where I know you can perform perfectly with vinyl, I do so.

Finally, what else can we expect to see from yourself and Paso Music in the coming months, can we expect some touring to promote the album?
After the album release there will be album remixes by Daniel Stefanik, Karotte, Einzelkind or Pascal FEOS. I just finished my third Bondage Music release and a remix for Enough! Music, which will be a vinyl only release. Also, we will release the third single by Martin Woerner and the second single by David Mayer on Paso Music.

Marc Miroir // DJ Mix Tracklist:
01. Matthias Meyer / Free your mind (Hive Audio)
02. Philip Aruda / Seeds of Brooklyn (&ME Remix)
03. Namito & Argenis Brito / The Bird (Systematiq)
04. Aldo Cadiz / Face Buuu
05. Simon Baker / Osaka Nights
06. H2 / Weekend (8 Bit)
07. Matthew Dekay & Lee Burridge / Wongel (Cecille)
08. Marc Miroir / Eco Quest (Karotte Remix) (Paso Music)
09. Marcus Meinhardt & Gunnar Stiller / Uponyou 050
10. Marc Miroir & Andreas Henneberg / Faces (Paso Music)
11. Doomwork / Natural Beat (Yousef Circus Edit)
12. Daniel Dubb, Adam K / In the Vibe (Rejected)
13. Nick Curly / Rebound (8 Bit)

SHA PODCAST 167 // MARC MIROIR by Shadigital on Mixcloud

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