We caught up with yet another of Cyprus’ rising stars, Dj Greg Mak, for a quick interview…
OnThisIsland.com : So tell us, when did you realise you wanted to become a DJ?
Greg Mak : OK I’ll tell you the whole story lol…
OnThisIsland.com : …be our guest…
Greg Mak : Producing came before DJing. My uncle had this program called Fruity Loops (I was 14) and I was at his place one night having a tour on his PC lol. I played around with it and loved it. That’s when I started playing around trying to make something good. I come from a family with musical background, so it was a matter of time for music to pull me in. I did some vocal lessons, and picked up 2 CD decks and a crappy old Gemini mixer at the age of 15, because my thought then was, “if I understand how music is played in clubs, I’ll know how to produce it”. And, well I was pretty much correct. That’s how it started
OnThisIsland.com : That’s interesting, so once you understood how the music was played, what was your next steps?
Greg Mak : I always thought of myself as a music producer and not a DJ. Don’t get me wrong, I love both. But writing music/composing/producing is what I take more seriously. My goals were, to set up a decent studio (which is still expanding lol) and start producing more & more tracks, as that was the only way to improve. I also began DJing at some small gigs, some house parties etc.
OnThisIsland.com : Nice! So as for this expanding studio… it a personal space or shared with other producers?
Greg Mak : It’s my own place. I work better when I’m alone, and you never know when inspiration will hit you. You need a mini studio available at all times to jot down ideas.
OnThisIsland.com : Understood. So tell us about your music, what makes it different to the ‘big dogs’?
Greg Mak : Well everyone is different when you are listening to quality music. But what artists do lately is categorize music which kind of creates boundaries. E.g. electro house, progressive house, deep house. At the end of the day it’s still house music. I love all genres, as long as they’re quality. That’s why I dont think that way, I create a track with no boundaries. I wont be concerned if for example I’m making a deep house track, and I put a techy synth in.
OnThisIsland.com : So as long as it keeps the bodies moving ah?
Greg Mak : Either that, or makes them feel good. Some of my tracks are a bit chill-out to make anyone dance lol, but in the end its just music which makes u feel good…
OnThisIsland.com : Feel good music ! 🙂 You sed you started with small gigs, what gig has been your biggest so far?
Greg Mak : My biggests were last year. Played once in Turnmills (London), and a night in Scala (London) for Kinky Malinki. We had CJ Mackintosh & Micha Daniels in the house, so it was pretty big. Wild crowd, I miss UK whenever I think of those nights
OnThisIsland.com : If you could produce/play with any artist in the world who would it be?
Greg Mak : hmmmmm… hard one! im thinking…. I would most probably go for Jimpster. Hes an artist I look up to…
OnThisIsland.com : Good call! So what’s happening for you now? Gigs? Residencies? Releases?
Greg Mak : Recently I got signed with the Label Influential House for 2 of my tracks, House of Soul, and At Midnight. I done 2 remixes for them. “Dancing for the Dead – Onionz”, “Know So – Moonface”. Now Im working on a remix for Harnessnoise. Quality stuff! Im also spinning every Saturday at bar/lounge Toy in Nicosia. Keeping it Deep, Techy & Progressive as always. I released one of my tracks “Reverie” a
Greg Mak : month ago with Manuscript Records (Ukraine) which did some really good sales, and recieved excellent feedback from other DJs. Now im busy with mostly remixing other artists.
OnThisIsland.com : Excellent! Well we look forward to hearing your beats and tunes! Thanks so much for your time, and keep the passion!
Greg Mak : OK man thanks 😉
One of Greg Mak’s latest tracks got remixed by a very famous producer, JT Donaldson, and is gonna come out in April/May, keep an ear out for it.
