While most affiliate “soulful, funky and sexy” San-Franciscan – Miguel Migs – with the label Naked Music, the young DJ and producer has gone far beyond getting naked. From lead guitarist and songwriter in local dub band, Zion Sounds, to the pinnacle of Naked Music productions; moving forth with his own label Transport and beyond with the release of his own offering – Colourful You. With Miguel Migs’ organic productions consistently elevating his presence in the music world, it appears that this is one man that ain’t likely to fall.



Creative openness has always been at the forefront of Miguel Migs’ mind. Marking the commencement of his electronic expedition in 1990, Migs embraced the juggernaut sounds of hip-hop, while the reggae sounds he had grown up with continued alongside, amalgamated with a diverse ear for soul music, rock and various genres. One year later, Migs was exposed to the deep, soulful house emerging from New York at the time, and it was here that his lengthy love affair with house music began. “Right away I was interested in who was producing it, making it and how it was made, so I started buying records right away. I got really into it and I started messing around on my friends DJ equipment and it kind of just progressed naturally” he says, acknowledging his “messing around” with producing and DJing before slowly building his way up to where is now.



Nowadays, the exponents of music that tendered to the ear of Miguel Migs are still influencing his sound; incorporating live instrumentation with electronic stimulation. “I like to put a lot of things like bass, slap bass and guitar, percussion, horn and obviously vocals, but I mean it definitely stems from the way I used to do song writing back when I played in bands, kind of a similar formula.” With the final outcome described by many listeners and Miguel himself as soulful, funky and sexy, Migs consistent, yet non-formulaic productions have gained him a high level of respect and recognition. It equates, in the end, to something subliminally felt, “like cooking or painting, you just sort of grab the brush and you start going for it and you don’t know exactly what’s going to come out, but you know you have a passion for it and you’re going to put your energy and your focus into it and see what the outcome is.”



His recognition is in some circles most associated with his work for Naked Music, having remixed the first Naked Music single “If I Fall” in 1997 and following on with an extension of remixes and releases, Migs’ sound has personified the face of Naked Music. Miguel, however, views his involvement with the label a little different. “I do stuff for lots of different labels. I guess the reason why I’m so affiliated with them [Naked Music] is probably due to the mix CDs because they’ve done considerably well and we’ve sold a large number of units over the world so I think a lot of people naturally just end up seeing me as doing a lot with the label” he says. Recognizing that he has completed many remixes, productions, two mixed CDs and an album with the label, Migs holds the esteem of the label in the hands of its creator – Jay Dennis. Stating that there are many talented artists that are behind the Naked Music label yet with Miguel being one of the few that was also travelling and DJing at the beginning of the label, “naturally people end up affiliating you more with the label.”



Working under various monikers on different labels has helped keep Miguel Migs not only musically fresh, but completely free, random, yet similarly focused. Writing under Petal Pusher and Nightsorce has enabled Migs to test the waters on many musical planes. “It’s nice to have different monikers for different reasons. Petal Pushers stuff is much more song orientated and very much on the Naked sound and a lot of the other stuff that I do that’s more dubby or maybe a little tougher I’ll do on labels like NRK, Yoshi Toshi and some of these other record labels. So it’s nice to have different sounds going on different labels…I’ve always kept a real diverse sound.” Inclusive in his work on various labels is his own experimental house label – Transport, which Migs describes as “very much in the old school sort of fashion”. “It’s very low profile, we don’t promote it, we don’t push it; we just let the music sort of sell itself. We let people that really like to go digging for that style of music, we let them go and kind of dig for it because we are not tryint to push it and sell a huge number of units. We’re just trying to keep it a real steady flow of kind of more instrumental, dubby, funky house music. It’s totally fulfilled its purpose for what we wanted it for” elaborates Migs.



At present, Migs remains focused on various projects that he has underway. After the success of his latest album offering – Colourful You – a work more akin with the description of a “soulful chilled out album more for your listening pleasure, to relax to” than an album catered to clubs and dance floors; Migs returns with a new mixed CD coming out on Defected Records entitled ‘West Coast Sessions’. Aside from this, as Migs states: “I have quite a few records coming out on labels like Transport, Large Records, NRK and a lot of stuff coming our for sure in the Spring.” Taking a brief interlude amidst his hectic schedule, Miguel Migs will be revisiting Australia this month on his third visit. On his Australian tour, Migs comments: “I had a good time the last couple of times I was in Australia also…I’m looking forward to coming out for sure and having a good time. Hopefully inspiring some people and getting inspired by people’s response and by their appreciation for music and for my appreciation for people that appreciate the music, there’s a tongue twister for you!”



Miguel Migs will be playing in Auckland, NZ on Friday 21st February, at The Stardust Summer Sound Festival @ The Shores on Saturday 22nd February in Adelaide; at C-Moogs on Tuesday 25th February in Byron Bay; at The Prince on Wednesday 26th February 2003 in Melbourne; at MOS Chillout Sessions @ Mounts Bay Sailing Club on Saturday 1st March in Perth; at Home on Saturday 1st March in Sydney and at Hippo on Sunday 2nd March in Canberra.