Timo Maas has been rocking it lately with massive productions and remixes on renowned labels such as Cocoon and Ministry of Sound, but he's been around for much longer than most. After releasing his debut LP on Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto imprint he continued with a series of slammers on the biggest labels around. After a short break of two years to spend some time with his family and re-invent his style he decided to go back to his roots throwing himself back on to techno together with Santos under the alias of Mutant Clan.
This Balance compilation is his first compilation in a long time. The Balance mix series fascinated him and was the only format out there that was appealing enough to do the mix for. The result; Balance 017, is an epic trip through house, disco, techno and a handful of experimental jams on the side. Timo's undisputed skills and years of experience have left their footprints on this compilation, which results in an amazing compilation (read our review here). Reason for us to sit down with Timo and ask him about this compilation, his experience and the future.
Timo, first off, let's talk about your Balance 017 mix, which drops October 18th. Can you tell us more about its conception? The guys of Balance came to me early this year and asked if I would be up to do a Balance series compilation. It was quite a coincidence but in my long-term plan I was also thinking together with my management about doing a compilation. However, Up till then there was no platform that really appealed to me. So after hearing from the guys at Balance we immediately decided to stay in touch. Eventually the main reason to do this compilation is because they let me do what I wanted to do with it. That to me is the most important thing, they did not told me you have to play this particular style or stay true to a distinctive style. They just told me to be authentic and open minded, that is the platform I wanted, it offered me the best opportunity to display my style and spread it. I didn't do any compilation for a few years because there was no platform appealing to me to do a mix like this one for the Balance series.
Your compilation features straight-forward techno bangers to funkier more stripped-down house, how did you go about the track selection? It's a longer process, even though it's only around three hours of playtime on the two discs itself. I've been listening to many tracks, thousands of them even, over a period of 4 months. I think the trip you offer on a compilation is the most important thing and I had a vision on how I wanted this trip to be. According to this vision I tried to find the right tracks, and those pieces in that trip I could not find a proper track for I produced the music myself together with Santos. This is also the reason behind the many exclusive cuts on this CD: I needed those tracks to complete the trip I had in mind.
How did you mix the compilation? Did you use software or the good ol' black gold? I used different software packages for different occasions. We were mainly using Logic software wise, but also my new Pioneer mixer.
Looking back on the tracks you have released we see a impressive shift in style while other artists out there often tend to stick to a single thing they're familiar with. How do you yourself look back on this? I come from the underground, my history is different compared to many DJs as of today who make great tracks and then start DJ-ing and performing and so on. I come from DJ-ing, and I just started producing years ago because I was bored playing other people's records. I've been DJ-ing for over 28 years now and to find and reinvent myself I wanted to do the thing that I do love the most. I'm quite confident in the things I do. I love techno, I've always loved techno and all things more experimental. It also explains the different monikers I'm using: Mutant Clan, Rockets & Pony, Lost Veteranos. Myself and Santos (studio partner red.) have different projects for the different styles we like. It allows us to be more free and creative since it doesn't have the pressure or expectations people have from a Timo Maas release. I really enjoy that.
After 2006 you took a two-year break. Why was that? In 2005 I released the album Pictures, after that I became a father and needed some time for my private life. I wanted to reinvent myself too and that calls for changes. I used the time to find new partners and change things in my life. I was constantly touring but I did not release anything big. Just a few remixes, that was it.
In 2008 you resurfaced on the mighty Cocoon imprint with the Subtellite EP. How did this release came about? Subtellite was the first track I did with Santos. It reflected the intensity of our working relationship and also our friendship. It's an intense track and it was making it into everybody's record box really. It came after years of no club releases although my love was always with club music. I was still playing this stuff but at the time I was producing more experimental stuff, trying to identify myself music wise which was just perfect. Cocoon is one of the best known techno labels worldwide, Sven heard the track and freaked out on it. He played it all summer. I got lucky: after years of nothing I had the perfect track. It was the ideal scenario. I identified myself and it reached a lot of people. Amazing.
What more can we expect in the future? Any special projects you'd like to share with us? Oh yeah, there are several. I haven't done a compilation since a long while, but it's also been a long time since my last artist album. My last one was back in 2005, Pictures, and we are now in 2010. That's a period of 5 years which is really long. It's really about time to identify the new Timo Maas, like a fresh new sound apart from Mutant Clan and on my own label. I'm currently working on this with Santos and we got the first sketches and songs of it ready. We are currently requesting the different collaborations including some vocalists I would like on my new album. At the moment it doesn't sound like anything else out there which really thrills me. If everything goes according to plan it will be released summer next year.
You have a lot of experience and can look back on an impressive career. How do you feel the industry has changed and has it changed for the better? The industry I know from the 90's and maybe early 2000's doesn't exist anymore. It has completely reformed. The ways of producing, and distributing music, the internet, the physical sale is passed by downloads. I know this all from the club releases I've been doing. There now are others way of doing music though, doing club music for the connoisseurs out there and identify yourself with the music but still make a profit from it. It's interesting now, the process of finding myself was all about reorganization both creative and business wise.
You both DJ and produce, what do you prefer? Neither. I need to travel although sometimes it's very annoying. Waiting for planes and stuff... but I also am addicted to it. It's a very fortunate thing to do, to travel the world to make a living. Regarding the studio aspect, I just love music. What can I do...
DJ-ing has come a long way since the time you started with it, do you like the new available technology? I love the new technology but I am not using it too much. I think I have experienced in the past years that it doesn't matter. It's not about how amazing technical equipment and skills you have, it's about the music, it's about how you work the dance floor and rock the people.
What do you use on stage? The ideal setup for me is like 3 to 4 CDJ2000's. I know how to use those and can do all the things I want to with them. Mixer wise I prefer the DJM2000, that's just the perfect setup. The mixer just came out and slowly all clubs are replacing their CDJ1000's with the 2000's which is a blessing.
I'm not working with a laptop, I think it's boring when people are playing and don't have headphones one. They often just stare at the screen during their three hour performance and don't look at the crowd which you are suppose to rock. I played vinyl until last year, now I play CD's and sometimes I use a USB stick. I don't want to change, I don't see any reason right now.
