INTERVIEW: Interview with Pedro del Mar about his brand new Playa Del Lounge CD

Interview with Pedro del Mar about his brand new Playa Del Lounge,
Vol.2  compilation out now on Black Hole recordings

Following up to last year’s successful debut of “Playa Del Lounge”, Pedro Del Mar returns this summer with Vol. 2 of his already prestigious chillout mixcomp series. By creating and launching this album concept with Black Hole Recordings back in 2010 nobody expected that Vol. 1 was going to become such a success all over the world. So it has just been a question of time to finish a Vol. 2 for the 2011 summer season.

The album features 16 brand new tracks that are completely exclusive to “Playa Del Lounge Vol. 2” and all have been especially produced for this new episode. To realize this project Pedro Del Mar has been scouting some of the greatest talents on the international market and on Vol. 2 he showcases outstanding producers and vocalist from across the globe. Not only does Pedro present 4 new tracks of his own, he is also involved into most of the other 12 tracks as production supervisor.

It’s definitely once again great opportunity to request an interview with him to discuss the success of the first volume and learn from by firsthand the backstage process of preparing and releasing this awesome compilation that includes wonderful mesmerizing tracks that will bring summer breeze and relaxation whenever you will play it. Of course Pedro talks about many other things as well for instance if he believes that there is a special trance style that can be termed as Balearic and if he gets requests to play chill out/lounge sets as a result of the success of this fantastic compilation. Pedro del Mar is always a really interesting artist to interview as he always gives his opinion without hesitations and provides invaluable comments that support our clear understanding of the EDM scene.

Interview is written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias “ Flux Bpm On The Move”

Dimitri: First of all I would like to ask what kind of feedback you got about the first volume of Playa Del Lounge? Do you believe that the crowd loved it straight away and if yes why?

Pedro del Mar: Honestly Black Hole Recordings and me didn't have big expectations by releasing Vol. 1 back in 2010, we just wanted to do it. So it was a great surprise for us that we even breaked this concept with the first release and got massive media support for it. I can't judge if all Ambient lovers liked Vol. 1 but we've been really happy with the feedbacks, PR reviews and the sales.

Dimitri: After one year do you have the feeling that volume 1 was a successful project and manage to set new higher standards for the chill out/lounge compilations?

Pedro del Mar: I wouldn't say we set new standards for chill out compilations, especially as there are so many different types of chill out/ambient music. But yes within this kind of scene it has definitely been a successful release and it had definitely been more successful as we originally expected. We did not realize this project to reach a certain number of sales, but because of the passion for relaxing music, but no doubt it was nice to enter many chillout charts across the globe!

Dimitri: You specialize on the style of trance that many pronounce as Balearic. Is it possible to give us a definition about what exactly you think is that style and if there is a certain link between Balearic trance with the lounge and chill out styles??

Pedro del Mar: Well in fact I would not say my style is Balearic but I call it "Emotional" music. I don't wanna be limited to one certain style but I wanna take the audience on a journey through different emotional feelings. So my own sets do have influences from Balearic, Trance and even Progressive House. For me it doesn't matter if it is Trance or Progressive but the track needs to catch me because of outstanding melodies or amazing vocals. The style Balearic was founded and created by Roger Shah and used to be somewhere in between of Trance, Tribal with an edge of House. But music is changing very fast and especially Trance and House are merging rapidly these days and you can't judge anymore if a track is this or that style. Most of the successful EDM tracks these days are somewhere in between, just as an example "Swedish House Mafia - Save The World". You can't say what style it is...

Dimitri: Many producers nowadays try sometimes successful and sometimes really badly to produce Balearic tracks. Have you noticed out there any producers that you believe have a big talent to produce that style and do you like producers who specialize on certain style and stick with it by repeating themselves?

Pedro del Mar: I think it is usual that once a certain style becomes popular hundreds or even thousands of producers try to produce within the same style. I don't see anything bad in it. But you are definitely right: not every track that is announced as Balearic is Balearic. You need more than a guitar or a summer mood in a tune to be Balearic. I also wouldn't say that it is good to produce just one style nor to produce 10 different ones. It is more important to produce high quality. Many producers make the mistake to produce 10 tracks a month. No doubt it is do-able but if you ask me you need to feel the production and maybe you can't do it when you're just spending 2 days on a production. I personally don't wanna be limited within one certain style even though it is easy once you have a great set up with a great sounding to do new tracks in the same style, but i personally prefer doing whatever i like in this moment. But i don't say it is bad if somebody is "just" doing Balearic or Uplifting tracks. Producers should try whatever they want and whatever they wanna express with their music.

Dimitri: Is it often when you receive a new promo of a “Balearic” trance track to start immediately laughing because it is cheaply produced with all the stereotypical elements of that style thrown in? Do you always send to the labels your honest feedback and help them to improve their talent if there is any or you try to be positive without hurting the feelings of the young producers?

Pedro del Mar: Well this reaction is not only caused by Balearic tracks only. I'm getting between 400 and 500 tracks every week so you can imagine that around 80-90% is not of interest and many of them do definitely sound bad. Tastes are definitely different and I don't say that this or that style is bad in general as every style has its fans. But once a track really sounds bad from the sound and mixing quality then I’m really wondering if nobody has heard this? Not the producers or the label owners? Due to the masses of tracks I do get weekly I can't feedback all tracks but if I do it is always my honest feedback and I don't care if it is a top 10 DJ or a newcomer with his first release. I'm always feedbacking 100% honestly as this is the only way it should be and when I don't like a tune it is nothing personal against the producer, but just my personal opinion about a track.

Dimitri: I notice that in the releases of your labels at Shah Music you always include a chill out version. Is that a requirement to the producers or your suggestion or usually in the package of the demos they send you they include a chill out version as well?

Pedro del Mar: Yes that's right. We're including regularly chillout mixes on our releases. It is not a must at all but I love that style so i'm only suggesting if a chill mix could be an option. But it is no must have!

Dimitri: The 2nd part of Playa del Lounge is out now ready to become the soundtrack for this summer once again. How long it took you to choose the appropriate tracks for this CD and was this difficult mission to accomplish?

Pedro del Mar: It sounds crazy but I was working around 7 or 8 months on this album. Not every day but it has been a long creative process. I was scouting thousands of chill out productions from across the globe and discovered a lot of fantastic new artists. When you're listening to Vol. 2 you may realize that the whole album sounds more like a complete package a bit like taking the listener on a musical journey whilst Vol. 1 "just" included great chill out tunes. This time the whole concept has been much more detailed and I invested a lot of time and been involved as music supervisor into the most tracks. Originally I wanted to do again a mix of vocal and instrumental tracks but as we had that many great vocal tracks available I changed again the tracklist one day before submitting the masters to Black Hole. No doubt that it is a pity as so many great instrumental tracks I really love had to be removed but that is what I meant earlier in this interview. You need to feel the music so taking some time to experience a product is really essential and at the end doing this 100% vocal album is what I felt! It was indeed a very difficult mission this time but I’m really happy with the result and the 16 tracks featured on the album that are 100% exclusive and have never been released anywhere. All of them have exclusively been written and produced for this album.

Dimitri: 16 brilliants tracks included in this mix and 4 of them are brand new personal productions. Would you like to give us a short comment about each of them and if those will be released soon with clubbier uplifting mixes soon;

Pedro del Mar: Yes you're right, 3 of these 4 will indeed get a full club release with DJ friendly mixes. I can't say yet where these tracks will be released as I didn't have time to produce the whole packages yet, but I should know it soon.

When the sun goes down: I did this track exclusively as opening track for this album. There won't be any club mixes at all. I really love these emotional vocals as I think they're simply perfect for a chillout track. Just closing your eyes and feel it.

Windows to my soul: Fancy Vienna is a great album project from Belgium. The singer Tabitha as well as the producers Christophe and Erik already finished completing Fancy Vienna albums and they're actually in the process of signing it to some big labels. This common track here will get a full club release in the autumn.

Hold me Now: This is probably the best Pedro Del Mar track Pedro del Mar: i did so far. I'm personally really in love with the club mixes and even though nobody knows the track it is really always the best track during all my gigs across the globe. So I’m really looking forward to the release at the end of the summer or early autumn.

Hade: I think this is a very outstanding track. You may like or hate it. The vocals are in Arameic language and my Italian production partner Drooid and me didn't use any samples but we discovered a singer who is able to sing this very old and traditional language. Less then 500.000 people do speak this language today. No doubt that some people may dislike this track but I always try to be a bit different or to make something special even though the reactions are so so. And that's why I’m looking forward to the full club release later this year

Dimitri: You co-operate for this album with two fantastic songwriters and composers from Belgium Christophe Chatzis and Erik Vanspauwen well known with their project Ian van dahl. Would you like to give us your opinion about them and small comment about the tracks from them that you include in this great cd?

Pedro del Mar: Yes that's right! Christophe and me do know us for almost a decade and we've already been working together from time to time. He and his partner Erik are fantastic songwriters and they already had dozens of chart entries on all continents. Even though they had such a massive success over the last 15 years they're very relaxed and easy persons and do prefer staying the guys in the background and just doing what they like. This might also be the reason why they have been that successful and still are! It is always a pleasure to work with them and we're actually working on different other projects together. It is just too early to announce it yet.

Dimitri: Everyone is commenting that countries like Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and many Latin American countries provide the best productions in the trance genre. Do you agree about this and do you have an explanation why this may happen?

Pedro del Mar: It is generally right that especially Russia seems to have a never-ending amount of talented artists. I can't count anymore how many Russian based artists are signed to Shah-Music. One thing you should not forget is that Russia is such a big country. And I think the key thing next to the size of the country is that Trance is doing great in the Russian territory whilst for example most US producers to produce House or RnB styles. But is definitely impressive how many great talents do come from Russia or Poland.

Dimitri: Would you like to choose any particular tracks from this compilation as your favorites?

Pedro del Mar: It is very hard for me to talk about this or that track or to choose my favorite. Every track has its own story; most tracks are different from each other but still fitting perfect to next track. As mentioned previously I’m really happy about the complete package and personally like every single tune on the album.

Dimitri: I notice that the majority of the tracks are published from your own company. Would you like to tell us about the publishing side of the music at the moment? Is it easy for a small publishing company to survive against the large ones and do you think that is important for the artists to find a really good and secure publishing company to release their music?

Pedro del Mar: In fact all tracks are exclusively signed to Shah-Music and most of them are also published through our own SMP Musikverlag publishing company. Being independent or dependent has both pros and contras. On the one hand you're flexible and can do whatever you want to do, on the other hand the so called sync business (TV, film, cinema, games) are controlled by the big publishing companies. But being signed as an artist to one of the major publishing companies doesn't automatically mean that it is better but it is always an individual thing what is better or worse. We always preferred staying independent with our publishing company but also with our labels as it gives us 100% control about everything. And even though we are independent we do anyway work closely with a lot of other companies for

Dimitri: As a result of this compilation do you get requests to perform as a DJ with chill out tracks or still club owners know you and ask you to dj with progressive/Balearic trance tracks?

Pedro del Mar: From time to time yes but 99% of the requests are club sets and I didn't do a chill out only set so far. I really love the ambient music and can't imagine that I won't support this style anymore as an artist but also as a label owner, but I’m not sure if it will be a good idea to perform it as well live on stage. But the global promoters and club owners do usually know me as a club DJ!

Dimitri: Lets finish off this interview with your special dedication for this CD. To whom you wish to dedicate this compilation and why???

Pedro del Mar: I wanna dedicate this CD to all those people across the globe who just wanna escape for 80 minutes from the hectic daily grind and who wanna relax for a short moment. The great thing with ambient music is that there are no age limitations. Teenagers but also people of advanced age may like this style. You can listen to it after a hard day with the job, or whilst relaxing at the beach or by having a barbecue. But I really wanna thank all involved artists who stayed patient with me even though I asked so many times to change this or that in the tracks. And last but not least all the great people from all around the world who support me that great for so long! Thanks a lot!

Many thanks to Pedro del Mar for finding the precious time to reply in this interview and I’m sure that we will have the chance to talk again in the near future as he is always so busy and creative with projects that are worth talking about them.

Many thanks to Jeroen and Mark at Black Hole offices for the great co-operation and big support with fantastic music for my radio shows.

Playa Del Lounge vol:2 compilation tracklist:

01. Pedro Del Mar - When The Sun Goes Down (Chillout Mix)
02. Hysteria! - Winding Roads (Chillout Mix)
03. Santerna featuring Vadim Kapustin - Feeling Like A River (Chillout Mix)
04. Pedro Del Mar featuring Fancy Vienna - Windows To My Soul (Alexei Zakharov Chillout Mix)
05. Marco Torrance featuring Tiff Lacey - Playing God (Unplugged Mix)
06. Annbee feat. Shantam - Pink (Chillout Mix)
07. Daytripper featuring Patricia Chaviano - Until The Sunrise (Chillout Mix)
08. Pedro Del Mar & Spark7 featuring Jane Kumada - Hold Me Now ( Zetandel Chillout Mix)
09. Adam Tas featuring Monika - Miles Away (Chillout Mix)
10. W.O.R.M. featuring Anna Herz - Before The Sunray Falls (Chillout Mix)
11. Pedro Del Mar & Drooid featuring Myriam - Hade (Drooid's Full Vocal Chillout Mix)
12. Anthya - Soul Within Soul (Chillout Mix)
13. Lisa Rose Harrison - Without You (Chantzis & Vanspauwen Chill Mix)
14. illitheas featuring Tiff Lacey - Little Heart (Chillout Mix)
15. Airborne Cities - All I Need (Chillout Mix)
16. Chimera State featuring Lety - Necessary (Chillout Mix)

“Playa de Lounge, Vol. 2” is now available in all shops and on all known portals.

Additional info:
www.pedrodelmar.com
www.blackholerecordings.com