As part of the godhead of house music trailblazers alongside Dimitri from Paris and Roger Sanchez, Miguel Migs continues to push the limits of the electronic frontier. With a string of underground hits, remixes and original productions to his name, an unflagging performance schedule and endless days in the studio, the name and music of Miguel Migs remains a phenomenon.

From the west coast of America to Australia and throughout Europe, Miguel Migs’ special hallmark of soulful house is emblazoned on the hearts and mind of the dance world. As a triple Sagittarius, Mr Migs is destined by the stars to be charismatic, open minded, creative and determined; with such traits an obvious aspect to his performances and productions. “Both DJing and being in the studio is important to me,” the melodious tones of Migs’ voice croons. “It’s in my blood. I’m open minded in working with different styles of music. It’s about keeping your eyes open, your ears open – and connecting.” With a diverse background of American Indian, Mexican, Irish, German, Italian, Russian, French and Polish – what Miguel refers to as “a typical American mixup” – this assorted blend of cultural diversity is most prevalent in his music. From subdivided reggae rhythms, to funk inspired bass lines, the seamless melding of organic instruments to the house matrix, spontaneous improvisation and fervent melodies engulfed in dense chordal textures, Miguel Migs’s blend of cultural diversity coalesces into the ‘Master of Chilled House’ who the dance world has come to know and love.

Starting his music career at eighteen as a guitarist in African and Jamaican inspired band Zion Sounds in his home town of Santa Cruz, Miguel notes he chose the electronic path over the musician one because the studio and clubs were calling him. However, he attains that his guitar “chops are pretty rocky [as in shaky] these days.” He continues to love the classic rock sounds of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zepplin with the rock orchestral textures certainly remaining an influence in his music. “I’m not a lead guitarist,” Miguel asserts, “but I know enough to play on my productions.” His original tunes also make use of his bass, percussion and keyboard skills too. Professing admiration for many west coast jazz musicians including Chick Corea, Miguel intones that jazz is “a whole other level. I’m amazed by some of these cats. [There are] so many depths, layers, chord changes… it’s pretty interesting. For my music, it’s not about how many time signatures there are in a tune; it’s not about being complex. It’s about connecting.”

With the recent release of Those Things from his record label Salted Music under Om Records, the album embodies Miguel’s love for “keeping an open mind”. Ranging from deep house to hip house and featuring vocalists Lisa Shaw, Aya, Tim Fuller and reggae artist Junior Reid, Those Things has gained a great deal of praise and success since its release in May last year, with a remix of the album in the works for March 2008. When it comes to his DJ performances, Miguel notes that “there is no ritual. I literally go open-minded. I keep positive and create the vibe. There isn’t too much pre-planning. I like to take what’s at your fingertips. The fun part of DJing is being spontaneous and mixing it up so that every time it’s different. You’ve gotta take chances and turn people on by testing new music. Fans know the music and expect you to play productions and tunes they know you for. But it’s always interesting to always be changing. For the most part, my main love is writing and creating music. But I love the rush of live performance and entertaining.”

While Miguel has certainly enjoyed success as a DJ and producer, his connections to his musician past remains strongly within him, with his latest project live band PetalPusher gaining momentum in the public eye. As an eight piece band inspired by live instrumentation and music elements of old soul, funk, reggae and hip hop and fusing Migs’ electronic inspirations with organic instrumentation, PetalPusher takes Lisa Shaw and Tim Fuller as frontline singers and Miguel in the rhythm section on guitar alongside a crew of incredible instrumentalists whose pedigree include Tower of Power and Prince. Though still quite a new outfit, PetalPushers will no doubt remain a project that Miguel and the other members will continue to develop. “I appreciate all kind of music,” Miguel maintains. “I’m open minded in working with different styles. It’s important to work with someone you respect and find interesting and exchange ideas. The sky is the limit.”

With the Asian and Australian skies welcoming Mr Migs for the wave of summer events, Miguel notes that he definitely enjoys spending time in Australia. Looking forward to taking a few days out from the studio and soaking up the Australian sunshine, Miguel appears excited about his upcoming performances alongside vocalist cohort Lisa Shaw. Assisting in the celebrations for Australia Day, Miguel will be performing at house festival Sound Boutique at The Tivoli in Brisbane and The Arthouse in Sydney, followed by a gig at Alumbra in Melbourne. What can Australian audiences expect to hear from the Master of Chilled House? “I’ll play some of my stuff, mix it up, play some of the tunes my friends have given me and some upcoming releases,” Miguel promises. “But it will be spontaneous and go with the flow. I want you to be into the music.”

Want to worship at the altar of the Master of Chilled House? Miguel Migs will be playing the following gis this weekend.

26th Jan – Sound Boutique, Brisbane
26th Jan – Arthouse, Sydney
28th Jan – Alumbra, Melbourne

And check out this footage of Miguel playing live with Lisa Shaw at a Salted party last year…