By ThinkInElectronic / Tuesday, April 08, 2014 / No comments /
Together with Maor Levi
Hello Maor and a warm welcome to Think in
Electronic. It’s a pleasure to be doing this interview with you . Thank you for taking time out to do it ;)
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How are you doing and if you were a candy
what candy would you be and why?
Im good Thanks! And if I would be a Candy,
then it would probably be Hershey’s Cookies N Cream, for days!
1. Before we start can you tell us a little more
about yourself, on a non musical front? Where did you grow up and where do you
currently reside?
I was born and raised in Israel In a Southern
city called Ashquelon, lived there most of my life so far, currently based in
San Diego where I work and tour around the States most of the time!
2. We know you have visited our beautiful
country. What is one thing that stands out in your mind about South Africa?
I was only in Cape Town, but it took a drive
from the Airport to the hotel just to be blown away by this amazing place,
people are so nice and the culture was very interesting! Not to mention
everything was cheap compared to other countries I’ve visited haha… It’s a
Beautiful place and I’m hoping to be back there again!
3. We all know that you are a DJ/Producer but
when did it all start for you and when did you know that music was the right
career path for you?
I never actually started out knowing I’ll be
making music, it started when I was 12 and discovered a few Israeli artists
like Infected Mushroom, Yahel and Moshic and the mighty Tiesto, that gave me a
hint about electronic music, I was more of a painter and used to draw comics
just for fun… one day I just found myself messing around with music on my
computer instead of studying… after that I was so hooked and when I delved more
into how the music was being made, I knew then that it was what I wanted to do.
4. Can tell us a little about your debut
production, what was it like producing it and what was the inspiration behind
it as well as what sort of reactions did receive from crowds, fans and other
Djs?
My debut production was when I was 15, I
signed my first record to the UK Label ‘Lost Language’ and started to get
recognized by DJs such as Markus Schulz and Armin back In the day. It was
surprising for me as I had really horrible equipment then, obviously as a teenager
I couldn’t afford anything so proper music equipment wasn’t my plan, I just had
to work with my basic tools, such as a really horrible computer, Walkman
headphones and hours of frustration haha!
I was very inspired by Deep and Progressive House
and Goa back in the day, from Artists like Sasha, Digweed, Shpongle and many
more… The reactions were great after I started get air time from DJs on their
radio shows, ever since then, it motivated me to continue and thrive for more
knowledge.
5.
Batman,
Superman, Spiderman which one best describes you and your sound?
Spiderman, because I can be & do whatever I want.
6.
From
Anjunabeats to Spinnin’ Records, tell us more about your new production Together
it is stunning, what inspired the track and where do you usually draw
inspiration from?
I’ve always been Melodic, but experimenting with basslines more
towards Electro for the past year. For those who don’t know, I’ve been working
with Spinnin’ Records for a very long time, ever since 2006 I think when I
signed my single under my ‘Maori’ alias which used to be more of my tech side.
‘Together’ is inspired by the 80s I get, the type of vocal and the melodies
behind it, obviously pushing it towards my current sound and I loved the final
result, so I’m glad I could do something different and get so much support from
people, because ‘Together’ we can ;)
7.
As a
producer you’ve produced both vocal and non-vocal tracks. Which do you prefer
producing and what are the challenges of producing a vocal track as well as the
challenges of producing non-vocal?
I used to do a lot of vocal chops and mostly
base my productions on vocal hooks rather than a full-on vocal track. My first
Vocal track was ‘Chasing Love’ featuring the amazing Ashley Tomberlin, but
these days if I am to work on a vocal track I guess I’ll go with a short catchy
topline chorus that will make you want to sing along. There are a lot of
challenges producing a vocal track, especially when you’re a DJ, the track
arrangement and timing are really important. When working on an album track
with vocals it gives you more freedom to do a lot on the arrangement. It’s
really a matter of taste I guess, but I like things simple and straight-forward…
especially with clubby vocal tracks.
8.
What are your thoughts on the current status of
EDM, Why do you there is a sudden influx of producers and less creativity? What
do you think is the future of EDM?
I’m happy and sad at the same time; happy to
see people embrace the chance and coming up with new sub-genres and lots of
talented newcomers these days, so it’s pretty fun to listen to, but what saddens
me is the recycling and non-originality that has been on the rise lately, I feel like people get the recognition they
deserve by using the same template all the time rather than innovating new
sounds, while other producers work really hard to try and be original. EDM has
its ups and downs, every year it gets worse or gets better, it’s really
something I cant personally predict… I’m hoping for the best haha!
9.
Now we know
you and Ilan Bluestone are very good mates, how did you meet Ilan, and what
dirt can you spill about Ilan?
Me and Ilan met back in the day in
Israel for the first time when Armin played in Tel Aviv. I met him through
mySpace where we used to share music and give production tips to each other, we
used to chat for months, then he hit me up saying he’s in Israel and is going
to the Armin party tonight, funnily enough I was also going to the same party.
We got really drunk together with all our friends and became really good
friends, after that its all history.
I went to visit him in London and meet the
Anjunabeats office crew for the first time in 2011 when I also played Ministry
of Sound for the Anjunabeats Volume 9 Launch Party. Good times indeed.
I took ilan under my wing and believed
in him when we both working on ‘On Our Own’ that got signed to Anjunabeats,
which got amazing response, I’m so proud of him right now because he’s doing
his thing and is on fire!
10. Can you share with us some of your dreams and
goals for the future?
To make more music, play more shows and most importantly enjoy my job rather than
looking at the business side of things all the time :) Oh, and to
release an album…finally.
11. Last messages for fans?
I love all of you, even my haters haha
Thank you so
much Maor for doing this interview with us we hope to see you play somewhere
around the globe sometime soon :)
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