From Belfast to House to Techno and back, Montel is no stranger to the electronic music scene.
With a career of 15 years long, the Irish native Montel established himself firmly in the techno and his recognition continues to rise nowadays. When you experience him behind the decks, you’ll get to see the crowd move non-stop; his sets are exploring a range of tempos and moods & his productions keep on being supported by crucial figures of the techno scene such as Richy Ahmed, Anja Scheinder, Hot Since 82 …
We had the chance to interview the DJ and producer to give you an insight of his world and approach to music. Meanwhile if your ears have not been reached by his sound, ‘Within’ is a mouth-watering introduction.
1) Can you present yourself in a few words?
DJ & Producer from Belfast, U.K
2) How would you describe your music? Your style and inspiration? What are the influences in your approach to music?
I feel my music has a real retrospective sound to it… It’s true to the original sounds of house & techno. Classic drums and synth sounds, heavy basslines and elements of vocals. I always look to the past for inspiration, early house, techno and rave records.
3) A track that you listen in secret?
Haha, is this meant to be my ‘guilty pleasure’? To be honest, I never listen to house or techno in my free time. I think it’s really important to take a break and switch off now and again. I listen to lots of Jazz, Downtempo, Hip Hop and Drum & Bass. I also really enjoy good quality pop music from the 80’s & 90’s. With so many musical heroes passing away last year, I’ve found myself going back to lots of Bowie, Prince & George Michael.
4) Techno or House?
I need both!
5) Your first vinyl?
I’ve been buying vinyl since 1990, but that would have been Pop and Rock stuff… It was probably something silly like MC Hammer or Def Leopard lol. I probably bought my 1st House record around 93… But that was mainly out of curiosity for this new ‘genre’ of music. I was only buying 1 or 2 records a month. A lot of this would have been stuff from Italy, Holland or Belgium. I didn’t dive head first into buying vinyl and DJing til 96. Absolutely loads of tracks from then that i still love and play now. Junior Boys Own would have been my favourite label. I loved the U.S sound, so was also picking up stuff on Cajual, Relief, Strictly, Tribal and Henry Street.
6) What would you have been doing instead of DJ in another life?
I’d probably be a chef or some kind of cook. I love food and cooking, so I think thats probably it!
7) 3 tracks that you’ll still be listening to in 30 years?
Miles Davis – So What
Orbital – Chime
Nas – NY State of Mind
8) What has been your favorite destination traveled as a result of your DJ career so far?
I’ve been fortunate to play in some really cool places over the years like Miami, Singapore, St Petersburg, Toronto, Helsinki etc etc. One of my favourite places to play though is in Dubai. I’ve played there many many times b4, it’s just a cool city with a really nice mix of nationalities. Next month I make my first trip to South America where I’ll be doing several dates in Argentina. I’ve heard so many good reports about there, so I’m really excited about it!
9) We saw that many techno elite Djs such as Richy Ahmed, Anja Schneider, Hot Since 82 and many others are playing your tracks and fully support your work. Were you expecting such a success when you started producing music? How did this affect your career as a DJ?
I’ve been making music for over 10 years now… I feel I’ve got to a point where I’m making my best music yet and the support I’m getting from all the guys you mentioned shows that. It helps promote my sound and I’m thankful these artists like it so much!
10) What can we expect from Montel in 2017?
In the coming months I’ve releases on Bedrock and Kaluki plus gigs in Argentina, Europe and the UK. As the year moves on though I really want to keep progressing as an artist by signing music to the best labels I possibly can and DJing in new territories that I’ve never played. I’d love to play in Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Melbourne etc this year 🙂
