.png)
Part mythical desert harlequin and part modern soul director, Mikey Lion is more than just a DJ – he’s a freak of nature and a controller of energy. The San Diego native has earned a dusty mystique over the past few years as the center of the Desert Hearts movement and as a house and techno provocateur with a stage presence that suggests he’ll ride this wave all the way to the top. If there’s one thing Mikey does well, it’s getting the party started.
We had the pleasure of interviewing him and this was the result.
Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from/how did you get into music?
My name is Mikey Lion, I'm from San Diego, California, and I co-founded the Desert Hearts Festival in 2012 and Desert Hearts Records in 2014. My mission in life is to spread as much love and positive energy as possible through my music and vibe.
How is your sound evolving? What artists and genres do you like to mix at the moment?
My sound has gotten faster and housier over the last decade of playing music professionally. I'm playing a lot of super fun music from the likes of Sweely, Kolter, Daniel Steinberg, & Seb Zito.
How do you feel your music influences or impacts your listeners?
I just want my music to make people feel good. I hope it makes my listeners feel warmth and good energy.
What can you tell us about your latest release?
This is one of the fastest tracks I've ever made. I was showing my friend how easy it is to make music these days because I wanted him to start making music again, so I just started grabbing loops and samples without thinking much about it and 20 minutes later I was like, 'oh shit, this is pretty cool!" It turned out super fun and sexy in my opinion.
Has your sound changed much in recent years? What is your musical criteria?
My only musical criteria is does it make me want to dance.
Do you feel confident now to play a more experimental sound?
At this point in my career I feel pretty confident to play experimental music if it makes me want to dance.
We all know that the digital revolution has affected sales, but has it affected creativity?
The digital revolution has certainly affected what we produce as artists. Everyone is trying to make it on the Spotify Editorial and Algorithmic Playlists, and those playlists heavily favor shorter songs, which is really a shame because now artists feel pressure to cut out all the intros, outros, and extended grooves in their tracks to fit a certain criteria that will get the most exposure. This is the first track in a while that I put out where I felt I couldn't cut anything out of it without ruining the overall vibe. We'll see how it goes as I release the full length on spotify.
Can you tell us what your future projects are?
I'm really invested in putting out my music for free right now. With how much saturation there is on Beatport, sales are down so massively that it doesn't even make that much sense to me to put my music up on Beatport and hope that I have a big hit. I'm instead releasing free music every month on my label, Desert Hearts Records, in exchange for DJs signing up for my mailing list. I'd rather be in direct contact with a new fan than have them buy a track anonymously on beatport. So far it seems to be working really well and fans really appreciate it.
Follow Marbs
Comentarios