House Music legend Miguel Migs is set to play at Villa this month. Since his first releases in the ‘90s San Francisco based Migs has been on top of the house music scene both as an artist and a DJ. Alongside his own music he also runs Salted Music showcasing the work of new artists. OUTinPerth spoke to the acclaimed DJ while he was playing a gig in Hawaii.
The most recent release is the Defected Housemasters compilation. Was it a challenge putting together that collection of tunes?
Not at all, it was really just kind of going through a fairly vast back catalogue and picking and choosing random bits and just trying to get a recent diverse selection together to showcase a few different styles and also do a couple of new
updated remix versions just to give it something fresh.
When you look back at the work you’ve done earlier in your career how does it compare to the work you do today?
I really love the new stuff that I’m working on a lot. I have all sorts of new stuff that I’m working on right now that I’m really excited about. I think that you know back in the day doing music was a bit more difficult for me because I didn’t have a good set up. I didn’t have a fast computer and all the things that make it a little bit easier to move with your momentum while you’re creating in the studio.
It’s really difficult listening to older stuff because at this point you feel in a different headspace and also you feel like ‘I could have done that, I should have done that, I could have done better’, I don’t listen to any of that old stuff at all.
I guess it’s part of that experience with anything in art, its different for everybody, some people will look back and say ‘That’s the best stuff I’ve done’ and some people think, ‘Right now I’m in the right headspace where I’m doing the best work so far in my career’. I feel like I’m not quite there yet, I’m on my way to do the best work that
I’ve done!
On your most recent album Outside The Skyline there is a really amazing collection of people you work with, how do you select your collaborators?
Oh yeah there’s definitely some great talents and nice diversity on that album which was exciting to work on. It is really just a spontaneous thing. Sometimes some people get a hold of you sometimes you are randomly introduced to somebody… It’s a lot to do with timing as well.
It was really interesting to see people like Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King who we haven’t heard of for a while, and Meshell Ndegeocello.
Evelyn is great, she’s such a legend. It’s amazing those old songs of hers, those classics and she is also such a cool person. It was one of those situations where I was introduced to her and she ended up being a fan of my music. It’s really cool meeting your musical icons by having them telling you they’re a fan of your work!
Meshell was so cool too. She was so open and down for it and interested. She’s a completely pleasant person to work with. She’s such an interesting and unique artist. She’s got such a lot of depth to her and she’s a great musician. We spent a couple of days in my studio bouncing a couple of ideas off each other and writing and recording the songs we did together. We ended up doing two songs and I actually just did a new one with her just recently that I’m going to put on my next project.
You’re coming to Perth soon, what should audiences expect to see?
I haven’t been to Perth for a while, I played some festival there a couple of years ago. There are so many festivals out there, it is totally insane. This is a club that I haven’t been to so I literally just approach it the way I do any gig. I bring a bunch of music with me and literally just play it spontaneously. I just play music and try to build the vibe and share it out with the people. It can really cross through the spectrum of deep soulful funky and dubby.
Miguel Migs plays Villa on February 17, get tickets from www.moshtix.com.au
