Marcel Vogel Q&A
-Hi Marcel, how’s life treating you? Have you had the chance to enjoy some time off during summertime or you’ve been swallowed by the business, as many of your colleagues usually are during the sunny season?
- I suffer from the limit of each day. I have two kids, something that feels like about three jobs with DJing, producing and starting the label (Lumberjacks in Hell) again. It’s just so much. Hard to balance.
-So let’s get out the curiosity of talking about your most imminent project, which is the release of a stunning five-track EP called ’No Time’, out pretty soon. How’s it been to tune up with LYMA on this project? Are you someone who loves a good four-hand session or you normally prefer to produce on your own?
- Usually we work separately. I am a terrible musician. I need loads of space and time to find what I am looking for. LYMA, on the other hand, is somewhat of a prodigy. He always makes me feel very self conscious. Self aware that I still have a life time of learning to do. Apart from that, he is just a wonderful, inspiring human being that I love a lot. He’s very giving and inspiring. One of a kind. Extremely creative. You’ll hear so much from him very soon. Exciting times.
-You and us have first got in touch a while ago, before the pandemic broke out, to appoint which track of yours would have been released on our beloved Apparel Music B-Day 10 LP. ‘Take Me Back’ (with Tim Jules) was chosen to be the closing track of such a successful compilation and, 3 years on, it’s about to reach 1M plays on Spotify. Tell us your feelings and, if you got some, a little anecdote regarding such a brilliant creation.
- Haha, thanks. When I am making music, I follow the music. I was with Tim Jules that day. I had asked Dario Rohrbach for some simple percussion but he gave us also the bass line, so we made an entirely new track from it. Jules provided the keys. Then I got on the mic and for some reason I said the words “Take Me Back”. This is like the second time you can hear my voice. The idea that I am even allowed to use my voice came from Ruf Dug. We did an EP together, you know? Then I asked Khadija and Javontte to contribute and that’s what you can hear. The mix was done by Bobby van Putten, who also added the 707. So it’s a class act. Did you count? I think it was seven people all adding a little bit here and there and that’s what you hear. I am not sure how Giles Peterson got his hands on this but he played it on his show and I think that’s how we got heard.
-We know you’ve got a beautiful family. How do your wife and kids relate to your work, with the distance, with the fact you’re often away for gigs etc. Do your kids (at least your older one) understand yet what’s the purpose of traveling around the globe playing records in order to make other people dance?
- I am usually away for only a night or two. I think we have a good rhythm and when I am home I always drop them off at school and day care and pick them up. They probably see more of me than fathers with a normal nine-to-five job. The family part is working quite well. It helps that school and daycare are very close to our home and I have my studio at home.
-As you’re now based in Amsterdam, what can you tell us about the musical landscape of the city? In terms of evolution, novelties, or just simply if you can point out some changes that may have took place in recent years to the music scene of this incredibly inspiring place.
- Ah it’s great, that’s why I ended up here. We have the stalwarts like Rush Hour, Dekmantel etc. and a lot of record stores that just do it for me like Waxwell, Red Light Records, Seawolf and so many more. Amsterdam brought forth many fantastic and genre bending DJs, while being quite small. We have a multitude of nice venues, big and tiny ones and often cool things happening, plus one of my favourite concert venues in the world, Paradiso. I did this documentary in 2011 for my audio engineering bachelor at SAE. It’s pretty cool that a lot of these artists broke through almost immediatly after we filmed this.
