El Mundo talks creating his distinct sound, a day in the studio and collaborating with Zazou [Interview]

Dutch producer and DJ EL Mundo has been at the forefront of electronic music for over two decades. Since moving to Berlin he’s cultivated a sound that encompasses deep, rhythmic textures and suave melodic soundscapes. 

El Mundo entered the electronic music scene as a DJ in Nijmegen in 2002, and soon started producing music with Satori, gaining international acclaim as the duo El Mundo & Satori. By 2012, he pursued a solo career in Berlin, where he developed his distinct sound, met and began collaborating with instrumentalist/ vocalist Zazou, while founding his label, Quetame. Read our interview with the artist below, and stream his exclusive mix!

Set the tone for us. Why the arts?

When I started playing and making music it was not a conscious decision, I just did what I like and did it a lot (mostly in the attic of my parents :)). Just at a later age I started thinking about a career and the next steps. At that time I worked at a part time job in health care helping in the development of people and always had music next to it. And I worked on music when I had free time. Then at a certain point someone asked me to join a small company/venture in the people development business, which I really had to think hard about. But my feelings kept saying to me that the music would be something to pursue. So why the arts? Because it’s what my gut feeling told me, nothing more. I like to create, I like to have my own space to fool around, make mistakes and basically try to get in a flow. I actually don’t see myself as a proper musician. I’m more a creative guy getting around in the studio and just trying to make it work. And that’s what I love. Just fooling around, learning, getting stuff done and then to the next.

Which comes first when you’re producing – the sound or the idea?

The sound. As mentioned, I’m not a musician who just jams away. I need my inspiration from sounds I’ve heard. A preset, samples, jams from collaborators. From then on I will work with it. Also I don’t really believe in “ideas” which just pop up out of nowhere. The creative process is just a trial and error thing. The best “ideas” come from failures or pure luck.

Does your material feature any collaborations? 

A lot, I love to work with other people. Basically because other people inspire me with their personality and/or talent. Also, I believe in the fact that every person has different talents, so it works well to combine those and together you can create even nicer products.

What’s on your current playlist?

the new album of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, War on Drugs, Tamino, and Eefje de Visser.

Tell us about the chemistry you have with your fans on stage.

Well, on stage you won’t see me very outgoing. Maybe even shy. But I do like to have a real connection with people. When people give a certain energy I will give it back. And I love a good conversation about basically everything 🙂

What techniques do you experiment with to get your original sound?

There are a few. The use of tape in productions is something I do a lot at the moment. Also the use of mic recordings from Zazou brings a lot to the productions. Organic vs synthetic. Recently I’ve been working a lot with a plugin which simulates a room with certain mic recordings. It’s amazing for adding depth to elements. I’ve been tipped by my studio partner Willem about it.

Take us through a day in the recording studio.

The day starts with bringing our youngest to kindergarten. Then I’ll be at the studio pretty early around 08.30. I’ll set everything up and most of the days in the beginning I’ll have a call with Willem and we talk nerdy about plugins and experiences of our previous studio day. Then I’ll make a coffee and start going. Most of the time I have several projects running with different people. Which is a lot of fun, but also sometimes it takes some switching time. So it could be mixing down a track, working on arrangement, trying some stuff out, trying to finish stuff, going for a short walk. And then repeat of this with coffee in between 😀

Was there a specific moment in your life where you thought, “this is what I want to do”?

Yes, referring to the first text where I talk about a declined opportunity to join a venture. I was around 30 back then. At that moment my feelings said, work further in music 🙂

Any emerging artists on your radar?

Pixie, Niki Sadeki, Pandhora, Hugo Oak, Superstrings, Rasi Z, Ingolf Sebastian.

What gets your creative juices flowing?

Art, theatre, music, free time and a clear mind, nice people.

Take us through your collection of gear, tech or software that accompanies your creative expression.

In terms of digital plugins there is a very long list haha. In terms of gear, I didn’t have much gear over the years. Basically couldn’t afford it. One of the important gear I have is FOCAL monitors, my UAD sound card and a M2 chip laptop. Also certain synths like Novation Peak, Moog Sub37, Prophet, but lately I’ve been doing pretty much everything in the box.

Any side projects you’re working on?

My main projects are my DJ projects El Mundo and El Mundo & Zazou. I also work with 2 labels called Quetame and Transvorm. Quetame is more for Organic/Deep house music and Transvorm is more Deep / Techno label which I work with Willem de Mulder. A new side project is work on now is a project with Florian Rietze. It’s more dub techno related music. Florian is a friend who I met in Berlin a few years ago and he creates amazing music. Another side project I’m doing is with Dutch DJ West & Hill, where we focus on dancefloor emotional laden vibes. Finally I have another project with Hugo Oak, a talented singer/songwriter who helped mix his beautiful album with. We have some great tracks on the shelf.

How have you refined your craft since you entered the industry?

This refining all got together in having a proper studio. I was lucky I could buy a second hand office container and rebuild and place it in a nice creative hub called Havenloods/tuin in Utrecht. With this studio and with Willem, my studio partner there, we could grow our studio skills. From building the studio with gear, to measuring it and treating it acoustically to basically fine-tuning the craft of mixing in it. Also we have been taking studio/mixing lessons from Michel (Love over Entropy) and this really contributed to new insights and skills.

Breakdown the news for us: what can we expect from you this year?

A lot of new music to release, and new live set with Zazou.

Famous last words?

Thanks for this interview <3

Stream El Mundo’s exclusive PLAYY. Mag mix below:

Tracklist:

Singhara – Na Brisa

Sam Farsio – No Limits

Nohan – Poets of the Night (Eli Nissan Remix)

Satori – Maghrabi

Milam – Radiant North (Cloz Remix)

El Mundo & Zazou – No More Dancing in the Dark

Markus Homm – Abiola

Prince Terrible – Conmigo (Zombies in Miami Remix)

Mo Black, Gruwski – Voyager

Tripolism, Nandu – Sunrise

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