The ancient art of remixing…

“I maybe don’t do as many remixes as I used to [2011 was a vintage Moguai year, with remixes for the likes of Beyoncé, Underworld, Xpress2, Afrojack and even Britney Spears], but I still enjoy the process. Looking at a piece of already-completed music and asking yourself, ‘Where can this go? What’s the best direction?’ It’s still an artistic process, but it requires different disciplines.

“Sure, it would be fantastic if I could list all the tricks that would make you a great remixer, but it doesn’t work like that. For me, a lot of it was about confidence. You produce a couple of remixes, they get a good reaction, and that makes you realise your ideas are pretty good. Music is often about ‘natural’ feeling – if it feels right, it usually is right. If it doesn’t feel natural to you, it probably won’t feel natural to anyone else.

“With my own music and remixes, I don’t worry too much about the final master because I completely accept that mastering is not my greatest love. As soon as a song is finished, I render each track, create a rough stem mix and then send it out to a good friend of mine who adds the final ingredients and makes it sound better than I could make it sound. If we’re talking about music as an ‘art’, then surely we have to accept that mastering is one of the great musical arts.

“There are some producers who want to be great at everything, but I’m happy to say that I’m not that guy.”