En dan heb je je missie al volbracht!
Hier het interview met mijn held, Mathis Mootz, better known as The Panacea. Het was een superervaring, dit had je me een paar jaar geleden niet wijs kunnen maken. Panacea is sinds het begin van mijn drum'n bass liefde al mijn favoriete dj. Niemand die diverser en innovatiever is dan hij. Naar mijn bescheiden persoonlijke mening dan. Zonder er verder woorden vuil aan te maken, hier het interview.“I’m like Britney Spears”
Interview with The Panacea
Although not a typical drum’n bass dj, Mathis Mootz (better known as The Pancea), always puts down an energetic show and makes drum’n bass crowds go wild every time. Right before his last performance in Holland at Drop! in Utrecht, he had some time to answer a few questions. On a cold stairs by a drafty door going for ‘the backstage’ from Club Poema, Mathis Mootz tells about his music, performing on Dour Festival and crying fans in Japan.
How long are you making music as The Panacea now?
It’s been since ‘96, so exactly ten years. Well, thats when my first record came out, I did do stuff before that, I did dj a little bit aswell. My first album came out in september 1996. You can say it’s been a while and the music changed and the music business changed aswell but I can do what I want nowadays, the people seem to appreciate that I’m not your ordinairy dj.
But also as The Panacea you create very different sounds, so with which album you are most satisfied right now?
That’s really hard. It’s almost like my signature that my stuff is diverse, but if you follow my sound you can always hear it’s me, because I put a certain energy in all my tracks. I want the listener to feel that the energy just jumps out of the track, it has to capture you in a sort of rave-moment. My music wants the listener to really listen, its not like elevator music or something! If I have to choose it would be Underground Superstardom, although that album wasn’t responded very well to when I released it. It was very much misunderstood, by the press aswell as by the people that followed me since Low Profile Darkness. It was so new, digging out all the old rave stuff and with almost a happy hardcore feeling in it, that it weirded out a lot of people. But nowadays people really seem to like it, there are even more releases from other dj’s that have a bit of the same sound. I was a bit ahead of my time. With all the work that went into this project and also all the artwork I have to say it’s still my favorite. Its so complete and it was such a statement at that time.
Wich artist influences you and your music most?
That’s a really tough question, I dont know if I can narrow that down to one person. I know that in 1995/96 I listened to Ed Rush & Nico and Doc Scott, because they where bringing something very new. That’s not very challenging anymore, and I have to say the influences change every year. Nowadays I listen to a lot of Limewax and Raiden, they are very important to me, but like I say, it changes from year to year.
Is a track the way your mood was the moment you made it?
No, I know people who make music that way, like SPL from America, a good friend of mine. When I make a track, it contains a lot of emotions allright, but I’m a pretty balanced person, I’m not that kind of guy that sits at home for a week and is depressed. I’m a jolly guy that is happy that he can do what he does for a living. I just sit down and make whatever comes up. Its not that when I have a bad day I make a very dark track, and when I have a good day I make a track with a happy hardcore piano and a girl vocal.
How was it for you to play on Dour Festival?
The Dour Festival was great to play at. I had a big stage and there where like over 3000 people in the tent, it was crazy. It was fun to walk around at the festival and to see other acts that day and then having to perform myself, it was amazing. I think everybody could see that I had a great time playing there during my performance.
How important is interaction with the audience during a performance for you?
You know, I’m like Britney Spears. If I don’t hear the audience scream, I’m lost. If they don’t give me energy, I’m really bored behind the decks. And it works the other way around too, if I have fun during a show, I give the crowd the feeling that they can let go of everything. I don’t want them to think about if a dancemove looked cool or something, it just doesn’t matter! Dancemusic was made to have a lot of fun and so it should be. I don’t know why people bring drugs in by the way. I know that people will never believe me, but I have never used drugs in my life. You just have to really feel the music, I know I do, so why don’t you just show that you are having fun dancing. You don’t have to look cool or something, I don’t have to wear an ironed DC skate t-shirt to look cool or have more fun…..you can wear a bunch of rags if you like!
What is the most bizarre thing that ever happened to you during a show or a tour?
One of the most intense moments I’ve ever experienced was in 1998 in Japan. It was my first time over there and I was just shopping in Osaka. Suddenly a Japanese man recognized me and he wanted me to sign the record he just bought a view minutes before, a record by me. This man was literally thinking he was going to die when he saw me, he couldn’t believe that he actually met me in a store, he really had tears in his eyes. So I put him on the guestlist for my show that same evening, it really made his day, or even his year. That was really bizarre for me, being for the first time in Japan.
How do you like performing here in Holland?
Because Holland is so close to Germany and I’ve been here so many times, it feels a bit like playing at home. Also because I know a lot of people here like Tyson and Limewax, and because I have family here and most of the time a nice crowd. Like the crowd with the Forms party in september, it was just big enough to create a real good vibe. Its nice to play at Dour Festival, but the intensity you get playing for a small crowd is even better. And the Dutch crowd dances a lot and as I said, I think thats a good thing.
How do you see your future in music?
We’re definitely going to keep releasing on Position Chrome, that’s very important for all of the artists involved. Drum’n bass used to be so challenging, every other month there was a new record released and it was almost always a success. But the major labels seem to have slowed down that process. It’s like they only release stuff that is guaranteed going to work and that’s a shame. Its like the drum’n bass scene stopped evolving a couple of years ago. We are just waiting for our sound to break through. It’s not that Dylan, Raiden, Propaganda and me are not being booked, we do have an audience. But it’s like, when you ask Andy C to a party you know for sure that the place is going to be packed. I hope that this will happen for us in the future. Until then we will continue producing our own sounds and we’re changing it all the time, as I think that’s the way it should be.
gepost door Lotte @ 21:52
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