Hello and welcome to magazine Sixty Dean. Your label: Dazed & Confused is celebrating four years in existence. How would you describe the highs and lows of running a label in today’s environment?

Hi Greg, thanks for the opportunity, yes Dazed & Confused Records is now celebrating 4 years of existence, exactly on the 29th April were we will have our own label party in Malta. I started the label back when I was living in Berlin and the idea was to have an output for my music and music from artist that I liked, which didn’t have any labelling and just had great ideas to put out. From then on it just kept developing into having an office and a team in Malta, showcasing our artists through events and now pressing vinyl for the first time, this will be for the Summer Blue release. I feel very lucky to have gotten so far.

Link to presale of vinyl: https://www.diggersfactory.com/vinyl/703/dean-demanuele-summer-blue

Congratulations also on your great new release for Tenampa Recordings: Tabula Rasa EP. Can you talk us through how you produced one of the tracks from the EP, including any favourite pieces of software/ hardware that you like to use?

Thank you for the compliment and also for having the premier. The Ep was done through a special moment in my life, it was the moment when i decided to go back home to Malta, hence Tabula Rasa which amongst many meanings it also means a clean slate. Along these years I have been traveling quite a lot so it was important for me to have a mobile studio.
Since some years now I have been using the Maschine for my beats, it has made my life much easier. Some months ago I also got a Roland JD Xi synth which I used for my main synth sounds. I really love the raw sound it produces.

https://soundcloud.com/tenampa-recordings/sets/dean-demanuele

What is the electronic music culture like on Malta? Any favourite bars/ clubs you would recommend?

The scene in Malta is a small but lively one, I call Malta a holiday Island so parties and good life are a big part of our culture. The electronic scene is getting more professional and varied by time and people are getting into the music culture day by day. As a holiday island there are a lot of tourists that come by and that helps influence the scene a lot.
At the moment we are running a monthly event at Ryan’s pub which has been a landmark for music enthusiasts. There are a lot of cool places to go actually!

Tell us about your working relationship with Lee Van Dowski and which tracks produced together are you most proud of?

Working with Lee was very stimulating and a pleasure as a friend and a colleague, we spent over 2 years working in the studio together, day in day out. We both learned from our strengths and combined them to get the best possible outcome. We had many highlights but the ones I’m proud of are the mobilee releases, it was a very big achievement for me personally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwc0VD0RmhE

What are your main influences both within and outside of electronic music?

I like to live a normal life as much as possible, so my influences are coming from everyday sounds and situations. As time passes i’m getting more and more selective of my music and releasing music which mean something to me and transports me into a particular moment.
Recently I started doing Dj sets, as of before I was just doing live shows for years. I believe that this triggered something different in the way I think and produce, so I feel I’m constantly evolving.

Where are you looking forward to playing over the coming months? And tell us about your plans for the rest of 2017?

Over the coming months I’m really excited to play in a festival in Brno (CZ) called Spilberk Open Air. We will be having Hosh a special guest along the team. Apart from this I’m also excited to play in Berlin at Kosmonaut on the 5th August along the Inmates team and another one in Malta alongside my old friends Pig&Dan.

2017 has already offered me and a lot and I really look forward to keep on developing both the label and plans and my personal career.

http://www.dazedandconfused.info

https://soundcloud.com/dean_demanuele/dean-demanuele-illusions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueetFbM1cGU&index=1&list=PL3_DxaGa39VC-CQu8nYr9JHGjvYw6nTrs