We are very pleased to introduce a new member to the mobilee bookings roster: Martin Landsky. Martin is a highly sought after DJ and at the same time a very well respected producer, to which his impressive discography gives evidence. We caught up with him in a short interview to find out a bit about how his career began, what music means to him and how he would describe a perfect meal.
How long have you been deejaying for? How did you get started and how do you keep yourself motivated and inspired to carry on?
Uhhh … it´s been ages. I started to dj as a very very young kid at private parties, which was way before house and techno was invented. Professionally, I have been doing it for 15 years at least. It’s hard to say what keeps me going, maybe the music? =) But actually when you are a dj for such a long time, you go through light and shade. It has not always been easy to keep myself motivated, but in the end I always come to the conclusion that this is really what I want to do. Music, and the effect it can have on people and their minds is so satisfying, every time. If only teleportation had been invented already … travelling is really the one most exhausting aspect of djing, physically and mentally…
If you could make a chart listing the most important things in your life, where would music feature in the chart and what else would you include?
Music would definitely be very near the top of the chart, maybe not the number one though, as health and food are also quite important to stay alive. Music is the only thing in my life that has always been able to change my state of mind immediately. A certain song can make me happy when I am sad, or when I’m totally happy it can depress me so that I am on the verge of suicide. I can´t count the situations where music just made me cry like a river without any obvious reason. Music stimulates so many senses in me and not just my ears, it´s hard to describe, but I think I could almost live with music as my only friend…I know that might sound slightly pathetic, but that is honestly how I experienced music when I was young and I want to show and convince people of this elementary power that music is able to have (and I am not talking electronic music only here). However, back to the chart and before I get into real trouble…yes, my family, love, friends etc are also as very important to me…;-)
If you weren’t living in Berlin, where in the world would you choose to live and why?
About ten years ago I chose Berlin as the place I wanted to be my home, and for good reasons. I really can´t think of another place at the moment where I´d like to live as much. Of course, there are many nice places all around the world where I am happy to stay for a while, but not to live. If one day I move away from Berlin, it will definitely be to a sunnier and warmer place, especially in winter times. The winter is actually the most annoying thing about Berlin….
Some people have said that to be a good dj is nearly the same as cooking a perfect meal. What has to be in your perfect meal?
Yes that´s a good comparison, as djing is not about one or two great records that you play, but rather about the impression the whole set leaves behind. In the same way as a good meal is not about the one perfect course but about the whole menu. A good menu should tell a story through ups and downs. It should satisfy all your senses, it should fill you and it should surprise you. If a menu makes you try something you would never have thought of trying since you always thought you wouldn’t like it, and you end up enjoying it, then yes I would say “that was a perfect meal“! That´s the same with a good dj set - if it makes you dance, cry, scream, laugh and it surprises you with emotions from a particular kind of music you always thought wasn’t your cup of tea, yeah, hell that´s what I call a perfect dj set! … and you will never forget a great meal or dj set for the rest of your life …
What projects have you got coming up in the future that we can look forward to ?!
Recently I have done a remix for Burnski´s “Freaky” on Morris Audio and also a new 12” on Poker Flat “We Are Streaking”. I have also done a remix for Pan-Pot´s burner “Confronted”, which is going to be released on mobilee in December. I have some other tracks that are in progress for next year and right now I am working on a kind of album/compilation project for Poker Flat, which is still a secret, but will definitely see the light of day by February 2010…. Thank you very much… martin landsky
