LAMP Weekly Mix #291 feat. Maxinne

We are really excited to present a rising talent for you from the UK, Maxinne. Starting her career as a DJ she is highly sought after in her home country in addition to Europe's unofficial playground for all things house and techno, Ibiza. She has an insane work ethic and between her own label Red Alert, being an advocate for equality in the industry and all of her own production she is making the world well aware of her talents. Having caught the ear of some pretty big labels in the industry including Knee Deep In Sound and with 2 EP's on the schedule for Mark Knight's Toolroom she is set to rise quickly through the ranks of the house music industry. I am absolutely loving this mix she put together for us so sit back and give your ears some pleasure. 

PZB: Hello Maxine and welcome to our LAMP Weekly mix series. Can you tell us what you have prepared for our audience this week?

Maxinne: Hey LAMP, thanks so much for having me as your guest! This week I have put together a mix of some of my favourite tracks I’m playing in my sets at the moment including my latest release ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ which is out now on Knee Deep In Sound.

PZB: As we are just getting to know who you are and your career give us a little background into your upbringing and culture and how it led you to where you are today. Where are you from? Where do you live now?

Maxinne: I’m originally from Brighton and now living on the beautiful White Isle Ibiza for my residency for Toolroom at Eden every Sunday and residency at Tantra in Playa D’en Bossa. I’ve always been into dancing and music and when I moved to London I bought myself a pair of decks and learnt how to mix as it was something I always wanted to get into. After I learnt how to mix I put myself out there to get my first gig and things have built up from there. Since I started I never stopped wanting to keep learning and I was always so curious about production so I started that in 2015 and had my first release with Toolroom a year after that.

PZB: Tell us about your background in music. Who are some of your major inspirations in the music community and what ultimately led you to two the world of house music?

Maxinne: My main inspirations are Mark Knight and Hot Since 82, musically they have given me a lot of inspiration with their sound and also the success of their labels is something I really admire. I’m really grateful to be working with them both today.

PZB: What came first DJing or Producing?

Maxinne: DJing and then production after.

PZB: I am very interested to learn more about your involvement in the #wearelistening platform through Toolroom Recordings. What is the platform all about, how did you get involved and how can others get involved?

Maxinne: The #WeAreListening was founded by Victoria the Community manager at Toolroom and its a platform, event series and mentoring programme from the Toolroom Academy. The aim is to encourage and develop new female talent in electronic music. I met Toolroom at their Academy event in Brighton after I first started producing and since then stayed in touch and got invited down to the first #WeAreListening event. Its been an amazing platform and led me to getting my music signed to the label and signed to their artist roster. If your a female working in music keep your eyes peeled on Toolroom’s socials for announcements on their next #WeAreListening event!

PZB: Tell us more bout the record label you run Red Alert. What are you trying to achieve with that platform and what inspired you to jump into the crazy world of music distribution?

Maxinne: Red Alert is a label which I’m building organically through producers I meet as I have received a lot of good unsigned music in the past so Red Alert is an outlet for that and also for my own music. The first release of mine got picked up by Toolroom to be released on one of their Compilations which I was really happy about. The label has had some amazing releases so far from producers Josh Kalker from Italy, Federico Ambrosi, Craig Dance and more. I would love to start a series of Red Alert parties in the future too.

PZB: With the label to manage and your own music to create I would imagine you have your own studio or place to bust out all of these tunes. What is your studio set up like and what are some of your go to pieces of Hardware and software VST if you don’t mind sharing.

Maxinne: My set up is currently in Ibiza and because I’m travelling it’s kept quite simply at the moment, its a Mac, and monitors. I do a lot of creative stuff on the road, trains, planes and wherever ideas come to mind. I’ve really found this has helped me to adapt to producing in different environments and get ideas down quite fast. My go to plug-ins are Minimoog, Sub Boom Bass, Massive and Isotope is great for when I’m mixing down my tracks.

PZB: You have had a few prominent residencies in the UK and in Ibiza. Connecting with your audience and building up a crowd is an important aspect of performing. What makes you decide to play a particular record during one of your sets? Is there a criteria other than pure subjectivity, for selecting what to play at a gig?  What are some key elements you always try to bring to a set to help build that relationship.

Maxinne: Thats a great question. My sets all really do vary with my set times, this summer I have been playing all different times from 10pm through to doing closing sets at 6am and I love both. When I prepare a set I always have a couple of starting and finishing tracks in mind and then the rest of the set I just go with the flow and vibe when I get started. There’s certain tracks that really work well in both early and late sets so I would usually always keep these in my playlists wherever I play.

PZB: Let’s say you’re working on a new tune and you’ve got the chance to program some remixes for the EP. If you could have your pick and money, time etc were no object who are some of you favourite producers right now that you’d want to have a go at reworking your tracks?

Maxinne: The EP I’ve just released on Knee Deep In Sound had two huge remixes from Darius Syrossian who I’ve always been a big fan of his music, and also Avision who’s an amazing Techno producer from the states! I’m really happy about this! They smashed it. Other producers who I would love to make a remix of my tracks would be Siege, Wheats, Mark Knight and Hot Since 82. I love their sound!

PZB: Our industry is constantly going through changes, and we as artists are competing for ears with so many others out there. On the flip, listeners are bombarded and overwhelmed with the amount of music out there. How do you try to connect with your audience, and what do you feel helps you stay relevant?

Maxinne: I’m always so grateful for the support I get and I love to connect with as many of my audience as possible, on Instagram chatting to people who have come to my gigs or after my gigs talking to people who have been on the dance floor! I’ve always been myself and stayed true to who I am and the music I love.

PZB: Outside of music what other passions and creative outputs do you have? What are some that you’d love to add to your mental vocabulary?

Maxinne: Gym, reading books and dancing are other passions I have. I’d love to learn more languages thats definitely on my agenda to learn soon!

PZB: Is there anything else coming up in your world that we should know or you want to tell us about that we should be keeping an eye/ ear out for?

Maxinne: I’ve just released a 5 track EP on Knee Deep In Sound last Friday, Ive got a two track EP coming out in September on Toolroom Trax and I’m working with Tube & Berger at the moment on a really special project for their label Kitball so will reveal more info on that soon. I’ve got some exciting gigs coming up too which will be announced soon.

PZB: Thank you so much for your time and the incredible mix you put together. Please keep us posted on future releases and we would love to see you in Los Angeles soon.

Maxinne: Thanks very much for having me guys and I would love to come over to Los Angeles soon!

Follow:

Soundcloud: @djmaxinne
www.facebook.com/djmaxinne
Instagram: @djmaxinne
Twitter: @djmaxinne