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Emanuel Satie Interview
House | Thursday 29th December 2016 | Joe
Emanuel Satie is an award award-winning producer based in Berlin/Germany. His music has been released on labels such as Saved Records, Knee Deep In Sound and Get Physical. We touch down to talk about his journey, new music and NYE.
Where did your journey with music begin?
It began, as so often, with the record collection of my father. He had a big stash of soul records that fascinated me and made me learn the lyrics inside out and sing to them as a kid. Further down the road I semi-successfully learnt a bit of bass guitar and cello and more importantly had a short career as a rapper. My first gig was with 13 years old, I was actually quite good, but I retired on the height of my success at 15! LOL
I’m an in the box guy. Straight up Macbook Pro plus Ableton, a bunch of vsts and a big collection of samples. I do use outboard stuff too of course but I’m a big believer in the power of ideas and creativity, more than I believe in chasing after more and more equipment. It can actually be quite distracting.
Your rise in the scene has been swift, what inspires you when you produce?
There’s a good saying that goes a little something like this: "inspiration is for amateurs, pros show up everyday". I kind of live by that, I show up everyday at the studio, sometimes the muse kisses me, sometimes not. Usually inspiration comes from listening to music though. There’s always a new groove, sound or theme that triggers an idea of it’s own and gives me something to start with. Sometimes certain situations in life make me want to express certain emotions musically too, it always depends.
If you could make a new genre what would you call it?
Someone described my music once as wild house and techno. I like that a lot, I would go with something along those lines. It has to be wild and energetic with the funk and groove of house and the forward motion and bass heaviness of techno.
Next up is my EP on Moon Harbour, Matthias Tanzmann’s label. I also have a remix for him coming up. Matthias is a big supporter of mine and he’s kind of like a hero since day one for me, so I’m very happy to work with him. Next up is my follow- up EP on Nic Fanciulli’s Saved Records. This is a special one, I’m exploring new sounds and atmospheres here. Think soulful meets powerful. I can’t wait to release it. And lastly an EP on Edible, Eats Everything’s label. He is playing one of the tracks "Stoned Love“ a lot already and people keep asking for it. I have a good feeling about this one. I’m also working on the concept for a Body Language compilation for Get Physical and a remix for Black Coffee on the same label. Plus lots more going on in the background that I can’t speak of yet.
As always the freshest music I can find, plus my own unreleased material. I love to play in London, especially alongside great promoters and a line up like this, so this gig is a special one for me. I already started digging for music to play on the day.
Have you put out many quality dance floor hits, have you any plans for an album?
I do have plans for an album. At the moment I’m quite interested in working with musicians, vocalists etc. And trying out stuff that goes beyond the club context. I already have some tracks that I like a lot and that are more than just dance floor tools. I love the idea of showing people different sides of me from slower emotional stuff through to dance floor destroyers! I will take my time with this though, I want to get my first album 100% right.
Nothing. The music industry is how it is and if you focus on the right things it’s a pretty cool industry to be part of. A lot of people have bad things to say about the music industry, that it’s only about money and all that. Of course it’s about money, it is an industry, but I still feel that friendship and passion for music are highly valued. It’s a scene where you can creatively express yourself, be it musically or in terms of marketing and most people just want to have fun and enjoy this adventure. It’s normal that you have negative experiences too, but you just deal with them and move on, focusing on the positives.
If you were not a DJ / Producer, what would you be doing instead?
I went all in on music, there is no plan b, but if I had a second life in which I wasn’t allowed to make music, I would be an athlete. For all my teenage years I was a boxer. My main thing is to have something that I can push myself in, something that challenges me and makes me grow. If I couldn’t do it in music I would find another vehicle to do it, like sports.
2016 was a dream come true, I’m very grateful for all the support I received. It started with a #1 on Beatport overall and several more top 10 tracks. I started touring more and more, South America tour, Australia tour, a lot of gigs all over Europe in some of my favourite clubs like Fabric, Space, Watergate, Pacha and it ended with a bang by winning the Best Producer award at the 2016 Ibiza DJ Awards. Naturally my goal for next year is to keep this level up. Mainly I want to become a better producer and DJ, to be able to spread more happiness amongst ravers all over the world and I want to reach even more people with my tracks and push the sound I love as hard as I can. I can’t wait for 2017.
If you were banished to a desert island and had to take 3 famous people dead or alive. Who would you take and why?
Muhammad Ali, he was incredibly inspiring and entertaining, I would love to hang out with him. I admire how he was not only an outstanding athlete and smart marketer, but he changed society to the better. Not many people can do this. Secondly, I would take Sven Väth. I was an intern at Cocoon some years ago, where I met him a couple times and he seems like a really cool bloke. He’s still one of my favourite DJs and I admire what he built with Cocoon and his career. He’s more than a DJ, he created a movement and a platform that helped many many artists. Lastly, I would take Diana, Princess of Wales. She seemed incredibly real, courageous and genuine, a valuable addition to my island gang .
You can catch Emmanuel Satie @ Eastern Electrics this NYE
