If one were to mount an organised campaign within the dance music community for doing away with genre tags such as trance, progressive or house, Markus Schulz would be its poster boy.  Fusing elements of many different genres into his music, the ‘Markus Schulz’ sound is at once easy to identify yet hard to describe.  As sounds go, it also happens to be remarkably appealing to a wide range of dance music fans.

As the operator completes the international call and I hear Markus say hello in his warm southwest American accent it becomes obvious that he is very excited about something.  It doesn’t take more than the first question – ‘so, what’s new and exciting in the land of Markus Schulz?’ – to find out what it is.  Building on the successes of his globally broadcast (and aptly named) Global DJ Broadcast radio show, his Miami Sampler 2005 CD compilation and his artist album Without You Near, Markus is finding his talents both as a DJ and as a producer to be as in-demand as ever. 

He is also preparing to release a four-track EP of his own original work. He describes the forthcoming EP as “a real Coldharbour style record, back to what I’d call the Markus Schulz DJ sound”, differentiating it from the more ‘artist album’ style and structure of the recently released Without You Near.  “In making Without You Near”, he explains, “I wanted to demonstrate that I wasn’t just a DJ that made mixed CDs.  I set out to make an artist album as an artist, and so it has that kind of album feel to it.  With the new EP, I’m hoping to show a different side of my sound.” 

I dig a bit more into the issue of that easily-recognised-but-difficult-to-define ‘Markus Schulz’ sound, and figure the best place to start is by asking Markus to describe it himself.  “I suppose you could say that my sound really evolved within me, both in my heart and in my head, when I was living in Brixton in 2000-2001.  There’s a really big drum and bass scene there, and it was something that I hadn’t really been exposed to when I was in the United States.  Living in Arizona, with these beautiful landscapes and wide open spaces, it was quite a contrast moving to the UK, and the sounds I heard when I moved there had a real influence on my sound.” 

So what exactly is the drum and bass connection?  “Those big drum and bass basslines, you know, and complex percussion and melodies.  Especially when I’m playing at the larger festivals, I really think big basslines are important.”  I comment on the suggestion that he might play different styles at different events, and ask whether or not fans can expect to hear that Markus Schulz sound during his Australian tour. “That depends, really.  When I play the larger shows, I tend to focus on a techier sound with the focus on the bassline and percussion, with the melodies sometimes being the extra part.  Festivals get big, nasty basslines! My radio show on the other hand, I tend to focus more on layered tracks, with the sort of melodies and components that work with headphones on.  Festival tracks for me tend to be more upfront and in-your-face.”

Discussing the issues of track selection and set structure a bit more, it becomes clear that Markus plays records the same way he writes music – from the heart.  In contrast to many dance music producers who seem to rely on a tried-and-tested formula for broad commercial appeal, Markus puts forward a compelling argument for artistic integrity.  “The music that I do is what’s in my heart at that moment.  I’ve never sat down to write a song or remix and said to myself what sort of song it should be based on any external considerations.” 

I inquire tentatively about a curious entry on his discography, a remix of the commercial cheese-bomb Fuk Dat by Sagat released in 1993 – a song that few would ever associate with the Markus Schulz of today.  Markus reacts with a laugh. “I’ve always had a certain sound in my head, but it wasn’t until I moved to London that I figured out how to get that sound out of me and into the world.  I guess you could say that I’ve finally figured out how to make the noises I’ve always wanted to, to be myself musically and creatively, but it hasn’t always been that way.  I tried doing major label type stuff early on in my career, but it wasn’t really me.  I’m more comfortable expressing my emotion, you know, wearing my heart on my sleeve and driving my creativity that way, rather than moving in a commercial direction at the expense of creativity.” 

Fortunately for Markus, that honest from-the-heart creative output that comes so naturally to him is fresh and inspiring to many. “The Coldharbour sound in my opinion is the sound of the next generation of producers.  Trance died in 1999, and the Global Underground sound blew up.  Then trance came back, and now it’s dying again, and it’s this next generation that are blowing up.  Andy Moor, David West, you know, for me this is the next generation of producers.”  So what then of today’s big-name DJs?  “If they want to keep up,” Markus muses, “they’ll need to start playing the tracks of this new generation.   These guys are going to take over the scene, the future is very bright for them because they have a fresh and unique sound.”

Too quickly, our allotted time passes and the overseas operator interrupts to inform us that we need to wrap our conversation up.  Realising we’ve spoken much more about industry and music theory than we have about Markus’ first-ever trip to Australia, I sneak in one final question.  As has been the case throughout our conversation, Markus’ excitement and enthusiasm is readily apparent.  “I’m really, really excited to be honest.  I know I’ll be meeting a lot of new people, and I’m also really looking forward to playing to a country for the first time.  First impressions are important to me, and so I guess you could say it’s important that I make a good one.”

Don’t miss Markus Schulz on his debut Australian tour as part of Two Tribes and the Future Music Festival:

Fri Feb 24 – Two Tribes, Brisbane (BUY TICKETS)
Sat Feb 25 – Two Tribes, Melbourne (BUY TICKETS)
Sat Mar 4 – Future Music Festival, Sydney (BUY TICKETS)
Sun Mar 5 – Two Tribes, Perth (BUY TICKETS)