M-SQUARED: DJ and Music Producer on Creativity, Intuition in DJing, Staying True to Your Sound, and Touring the World | Be Yourself Podcast

M-Squared

DJ and music producer — on whether music is art or science, how intuition guides a live set, why staying true to your own sound is the only long-term strategy, and what touring the world teaches you

Watch on YouTube M-SQUARED Music
1 hour 2 minutes
DJing · Music Production · Creativity · Intuition

About the Guest

M-SQUARED — DJ, Music Producer, Mood Designer

A globally recognized DJ and producer who has headlined in Vegas, Paris, Miami, Dubai and New York, toured as Kelly Rowland's official DJ, and performed for clients from Louis Vuitton to NBC

He is self-taught, classically trained on drums, and thinks about a set the way a builder thinks about a room — technical precision in service of the feeling people walk away with

On Stage
headline shows in Vegas, Paris, Miami, Dubai and New York, plus touring as Kelly Rowland's official DJ
Competition
Red Bull 3-Style and Viacom's Master of the Mix — two of the most demanding stages in DJ culture
Releases
Standards EP and Mind Design EP on Beatport, "City" ft. Viper and A Beck, collaborations with Reggie B and Demuir
Beyond the Booth
brings production thinking into business, including work with Ukrainian brands building a global presence

Key Quotes

“

learning your instrument learning your craft first and then start skill stacking on top of understanding inside and out your devices and and and what you use to perform and communicate

M-SQUARED
“

every time I release a song every time I get into the studio I get more data as to how I can do the next thing better

M-SQUARED
“

I like to call myself the mood designer and that's what I like to do is create a world be a World Builder while I'm on that stage while I'm in the studio I'm creating a world that invites people to want to be a part of that world

M-SQUARED

Episode Chapters

0:00 Episode Teaser 1:07 Word from the Host 2:00 How Did You Get Into DJing? 5:40 Were You a "Geek" in College? 6:50 Is Making Music an Art or a Science? 11:11 Red Bull 3-Style and Master of the Mix 13:33 Touring the World 14:40 An Advice to Aspiring DJs 16:11 Is There a Universal Recipe for Success? 18:15 Approaching Art with an Open Mind 21:05 What Feeds Your Soul the Most? 24:06 The Role of Intuition in DJing 26:15 How to Not Get Lost in Social Media 29:05 When Do Your Best Ideas Arrive? 29:47 Rick Rubin's Perspective on Creativity 31:25 Staying True to Yourself 33:50 Benefits Coming from Expressing Uniqueness 37:20 Inspiration from the Greats 37:30 Being Able to Inspire Someone is a Gift 39:30 Ryan Leslie's Inspiration for the "City" Video 41:44 Are More Tracks with Vocals Coming? 44:10 How to Partner Up with Michael? 46:10 Collaboration with Reggie B, Demuir 47:43 How to Release a Track on Big Label 53:00 Helping Ukrainian Brand to Go Global 54:57 Application of M-SQUARED's Production in Business 57:12 Favorite Software and Hardware 59:10 Creating Sounds 1:00:14 Do You Have a Muse? 1:01:35 What is Your Favorite Sound?

Full Transcript

BTW: This episode of the Be Yourself Podcast is produced by Beverly Media. Want a podcast that looks and sounds this good? Check out Beverly Production →
0:00 Episode Teaser
Michael I'm self-taught it's it's been my own experience it was a lot of mistakes those things have stuck with me for life and they're still with me m squar is internationally recognized as one of the world's finest DJs and producers known for his electrifying performances on Viacom hit show Master of the mix he has headlined events in cities like Vegas Paris Miami Dubai and New York he has also tour globally as Kelly Roland's official DJ performing for prestigious clients like Louis Vuitton NBC and even vice president camela Harris learning your instrument learning your craft first and then start skill stacking on top of understanding inside and out your devices and and and what you use to perform and communicate when does your best work appear do you always understand that you create is something freaking special every time I release a song every time I get into the studio I get more data as to how I can do the next thing better welcome to the new season of be yourself podcast the
1:10 Word from the Host
Serhiy podcast on expressing our true selves I'm joined by a special guest in djm square today this is one of the most inspiring episodes and conversations that I've had I hope you will enjoy it if you want to support us what we're doing here click subscribe and like button we're going to bring a lot more amazing guests who I will talk to both online and offline here in Kev Ukraine so thanks a lot for your support and enjoy the show with [Music]
Michael hey hey hey man how are you Michael great great happy to be here thank you so much for super grateful for your acceptance you know to be on
2:00 How Did You Get Into DJing?
Serhiy the show been looking forward to it it's my pleasure it's my pleasure thank you Michael right off the bat I think my first question because the name of the podcast is be yourself okay it's about self-expression and it's also about finding your path in life I'm I'm really really curious to know if being a DJ was your first choice or how did you wind up being a DJ can you give us a little bit of a backstory
Michael wow well thank you for again having me on your platform I really appreciate it to be able to tell my story and share this conversation with you so it's really a pleasure um I didn't really seek out to become a DJ per se but um when I was growing up Michael Jackson was my biggest influence uh coming up as a as a young kid so when I saw him do the moonwalk for the first time at the uh mtown 25 performance that he did um that blew me away and that inspired me forever and I said whatever I do in life I want to have an impact like that on the world on you know whatever it is that I do so um I went to school and studied computers and computer science and technology so I've always been into Tech I've always been into music I grew up around um you know all different styles of music uh my family would play you know reggae R&B um I I started discovering hip hop I started discovering you know grunge Rock from like the9 like the Nirvana stuff you know and all those sounds influenced my taste overall um coming up as a musician I was also in the band um going in school so I was classically trained on drums you know playing percussions snare drum Bas drum Etc um and I decided when I got to college I wanted to start just playing music uh from my dorm room not nothing serious and um while studying and playing music people would start to hear me playing from in my dorm room and it you know one thing led to another uh people started asking me to come and play their parties as a DJ I was like oh yeah absolutely you know um you know and I also forgot to mention coming up in in like growing up here in our Orlando Florida there was a a major radio station here called 102 jams that I always listened to as a kid and I would hear DJs um spinning on the radio but didn't know how they were making the sounds and the scratches and the cuts that they were doing so I heard DJs like DJ Nasty and DJ Pro style and I grew up recording their mixes onto cassette tape so I can study what they did but I still didn't have my own turntables yet I was just taking it in and learning yeah just the the process of how you mix two records together and that is really what inspired me to say Okay I want to lean in this direction of DJing I know there's many different ways to um express your creativity you know through music you can sing You Can Dance you can you know all the different elements of hip-hop you know graffiti breaking things like that I knew I wasn't really you know going to be drawn to the other ones but it was DJing I was mainly drawn to so I wanted to use that as like my platform so that's when I sought out right before I went off to college I bought my first pair of turntables and started you know going from there and then like I said thankfully uh people heard me playing for my little dorm room and ask me to come and perform at their sorority and fraternity parties and things continue to evolve and snowball from there so that's really how I got into dejing per
5:41 Were You a "Geek" in College?
Serhiy se yes but I mean but okay what was your specialty in the university in the in the college so I studied computer science and international business okay interesting so you were able to use this knowledge for in computer studies you were around computers all the time so you decided that you cannot code or program something but you can actually use the devices right that you were working with closely to create the music so you're are you are you good do you can you call yourself a gck in in a good in a good sense of the word in terms of computer style
Michael totally totally I I geek out when it comes to technology and when it comes to anything music whether it's um genres whether it's actual instruments and sounds that are being used in a track I love the layers I love talking about frequencies and spectrums and all of that I'm a total music and Tech geek 100% man I have DJ friends and this question that I ask them is I have I think it's it's got
6:56 Is Making Music an Art or a Science?
Serhiy It's it's like almost you can't answer it everyone's got own subjective opinion but do you think that producing music producing any any any type of art is more of a science or it's more of an artistic Pursuit is it a a science or an art what would be your response to this
Michael I would say it's a good healthy mixture of both but if I had to choose one over the other I would definitely say from my perspective in my experience it's definitely more of an art yes sir okay definitely I've been following what you've been doing uh as a flate and you got a lot of gigs just yesterday or a few days ago you selected DJ to play alongside like a fashion show right
Serhiy yes and that and that that is such a sensational application of your knowledge of your taste of how you energize people so I want to ask you was it difficult you said that people heard overheard you playing in your room dorm room and then started inviting you but as you were shifting to more of a cur commercial rails was it difficult to get noticed was because that like a lot of people want to become DJs a lot of people want to convert their passion into profession but only few of us are able to do so sure what what was your break what was there ever some some some one particular moment that help you just take off
Michael um first of all thank you for those kind words and I I as I look back at my career um there were a few you know very notable moments that I realized were really major milestones in my career that really brought more eyes and ears to what I was doing and to the world that I've been building building um ever since I began this uh music This Love for music in my journey um so I believe the one of the first things that happened exposure wise for me was being able to have a platform at Florida Atlantic University which is where I graduated from at College having that platform playing some of the biggest events on campus um one day uh fate had it where uh one of the biggest promoters um South Florida Miami area happened to be in the crowd um hearing me DJ and uh he approached me his name is uh di he goes by DIY D he's now a um major record executive in the music industry um so he's done an incredible uh job and he's also had an incredible career uh work he's worked with uh people like DJ Snake and cardi B and Osuna and and huge artists like that now uh in his career but at the time when we connected he was as one of the biggest Club promoters in South Florida and he happened to be in the crowd when I was DJing one night and invited me on to start playing some of his you know High um high-end parties and events so at the time I was doing parties for him for like artists like J Rule and Nelly and 50 Cent and G and it was it was insane um you know so I I'm super grateful to to Dy D for uh taking that chance on sh yeah really seeing the vision early and and really believed in me from the beginning so you know it it started at that stage and that gave me the exposure and the knowledge to be able to work different crowds and understanding how different rooms work and how to flow with the with the crowd and improv and do things on the Fly and you work around mistakes and things like that so that that was really where I cut my teeth was doing a lot of his high-end events um at the time down on South Beach and everywhere in between um I had the honor and pleasure and privilege of of doing uh from there um once I graduated I decided to just continue to build my name outside of
11:12 Red Bull 3-Style and Master of the Mix Participation
Michael South Florida area and uh move things to Central Florida and um started making a name for myself here in the local club scene downtown the different uh venues around here and uh eventually I got an invitation from Red Bull to participate and their their new uh DJ competition at the time called the Red Bull three style uh so I accepted the invitation thankfully I took on all the different DJs these were the best DJs around the country and uh took on all of those top DJs and uh won the competition and became the number one DJ in America for Red Bull so wow that was another major uh Milestone you know the judges for that competition were DJ Jazzy Jeff and also Quest love you know those those guys are legendary and they're also major influences of mine and major they're like DJ Heroes to me so I was really an honor to be able to perform in front of them uh for the first time and and and get their validation you know get their get you know their approval there on on that level so uh that and I also know speaking of the shows a monster of the mix was one of them you
Serhiy master of the mix master of the mix yeah
Michael so I make I made it as a finalist on that show that was also a very high-end uh DJ competition that was this time it was televised so this was on National Television bet VH1 Viacom and had the ability to really uh get that kind of exposure Nationwide uh you know millions of viewers every week tuning in to the show we had uh stars on the show like Kid Capri that was the main judge Amber Rose and Victor dupay and the other DJs that were awesome uh as well on the show and we had that uh incredible platform every single week to be able to Showcase what we do best and what we love to do so I was totally honored to be invited to be one of the uh contestants on that show to take it all the way to the finals and do you remember the aftermath of this show do you did you feel like something changed now you got more attention and people kind of send you more requests
Serhiy absolutely absolutely that was a major major turning point in my career it
13:34 Touring the World
Michael really elevated my profile and uh opened me up to the to the globe to the world uh began starting touring uh along with the Red Bull win uh as an ambassador for Red Bull I was also touring with Kelly Roland um from Destiny's Child who you may know also she works with Beyonce a lot and um had the honor of working with her and um also touring solo and just taking them my music Across The Globe
Serhiy I saw you in Paris I saw in Dubai dub Miami oh man all over like global Canada um Vegas New York um all the pretty much major party cities around America and and across the globe I've been uh privileged and honored to to be able to touch and still continue till this day uh to have a reach and a connection with those places through music get going to get back to the things you do for new aspiring DJs later I want to ask you about the things that you do to show people how you produce your your tracks
14:41 An Advice to Aspiring Djs
Serhiy but can we sort of draw the line here and say that if DJs young DJs want to be recognized or want to get this break they need to apply and participate in shows on national TV like that's no brain HT I
Michael I would say um any opportunity that's going to allow you the platform or exposure visibility to do what you do best to Showcase your art form I think you should definitely jump at those opportunities and uh really leverage those to continue to grow your brand and the money will come the the the all the different experiences that everybody sees that DJs have and the lights and the Flash and all that all that will come but focus on your art focus on the craft getting good getting great at what you do whether it's the technical side whether it's song selection whether it's reading the crowd reading the room understanding how music moves people and the emotional impact that music has on people and on you um that to me is like Paramount in the entire like development of who you are as a DJ as a performer as a producer um and one helps the other so you're always leveling up every time you learn something from either side you're getting you're elevating your your your overall skill set on both ends so it works works well together do I understand this correctly that there is no recipe because I've been asking these
16:16 Is There a Universal Recipe for Success?
Serhiy folks that who've made it even though where they've made it on the uh Ukrainian level for now it's pretty difficult to you know to go Global I gu a lot of friends are who trying to go Global you know but um the smaller the country the smaller the economy the harder it is right so networks network is a big thing for this huge but they all say that there's no universal recipe you're saying that you have to juggle with reading the crowd or working on your technical skill all this stuff do you is there something that you can single out to to to really focus on as the four four foremost priority
Michael I would I would say on the technical side really getting a handle on that so that that will help build the confidence in you so that no matter what scenario that you're uh tasked with what stage you're on what platform you're on you'll have that Foundation that you can really uh jump off from knowing that I know what I'm doing technically here whether it's a a controller whether it's turntables with vinyl or Sado vinyl or cdjs or it's an MPC or it's a um or it's just Ableton or just logic pro whatever that you have to your um disposal learn that inside and out so that will give you the confidence to show up as an expert show up confidently into in front of whatever crowd uh that you choose to be in front of whether that's virtual or in person I say that that's Paramount is learning your instrument learning your craft first and then start skill stacking on top of understanding inside and out your devices and and and what you use to perform and communicate your art with
18:18 Approaching Art with an Open Mind
Serhiy what are the sources of creativity for you how do for example the you your your track standards went to number one one spot a bitport right so that's an accomplishment
Michael thank you so much thank you
Serhiy and I you like when you you see I'm I'm I'm pretty artistic person myself I write poems every once in a while amazing and I I I always think that what I just created sucks you know is this some kind of impostor syndrome thinking that but then over time I get a lot like a lot of feedback that man this is genius so I'm what is your when your what when does your best work appear under which circumstances and do you always understand that you created something freaking special
Michael you know what I can totally relate to your perspective on feeling like oh man this isn't it like in the moment as you're writing something it you know I I think a lot of us deal with that and what I had imp imposter syndrome yeah what what I had to really come to an understanding is that um it's a level of Letting Go that that's I think is helpful in those moments and and a level of acceptance and realizing that hey you know I may not write the the first poem and the first draft of this poem may not be perfect but I need to get out what's on my heart right now you know and not for yourself not for the commercial success
Serhiy or for for yourself correct because that that's where that's where everything comes from that's the Genesis of everything is your perspective you you're sharing that so it has to come from you it has to be unique it has to be your own because there's no other you you're the only you so that's what helps you stand apart by default is that you're communicating from your heart onto paper or onto pen or onto Daw you're writing what you're feeling and you're just sharing that with the world so when you take all the other pressure off and just allow your creativity to flow naturally that's when I feel like you can always write your best
Michael and as you said the money will come that's correct you know and you just keep an open mind and and and keep your keep your ideas flowing just don't stop just don't stop even when you know the success comes even when you know never forget why you started why you sat in front of your computer to start writing that poem or writing that song or writing that um that melody or those drums or anything or even creating podcast
Serhiy yes that's also a form of art that is an art form that is 100% an art form
21:05 What Feeds Your Soul the Most?
Serhiy tell me what feeds your soul the most is it is it freestyling is it is it sitting alone in your studio not bothered by anyone is it just live performance so what can you give me like what really excites you the most maybe you can give me the difference between mean uh like how do you feel at your live performance or how do you feel and what are the state of mind when you're creating in studio what is the difference
Michael yeah I I think it all comes from for me is just everyday life experience you know um like they say you can't you know draw from an empty well you know so you you have to have uh those life experiences so you have to go out and live life you have to do things that you want to uh try and explore and take chances and uh take risks and um also you want to have time to yourself um I really thrive in my alone time um I thrive in solitude I love being by myself in peace playing the music I love making the music I love and just not thinking about the outside world just shutting everything else out and focus all notification are turned off off that's right do not disturb everything's turned off and it's just me and this blank canvas here and I'm saying okay how do I feel today or how do I feel right now let's transfer that to the computer let's transfer that to the Daw you know same thing live when I'm performing um I'm always doing a lot of improvisation when I'm on stage you know obviously there are some routines there are things that um technically I like to put together and uh uh produce and all of that and they're scratching and all that stuff involved um in my live shows but a good portion of it is just feeling the room and flowing with what the crowd's doing so little things like getting to the show like earlier before my set so I can hear what the opening DJ may be playing or what the crowds responding to Prior those things spark immediate ideas that I would have never had prior to arriving to the venue or to the festival um these are moments that are you know lightning in a bottle so you have to be able to open yourself up to exploring those scenarios being able to show up early and um just take in the energy of the crowd because it's a very cyclical thing the crowd's giving you energy and you're giving them back the energy you know I like to call myself the mood designer and that's what I like to do is create a world be a World Builder while I'm on that stage while I'm in the studio I'm creating a world uh that invites people to want to be a part of that world that's what designing the mood is all about
24:04 The Role of Intuition in DJing
Serhiy do you see yourself as someone who's taken in a lot to give back a lot are you empathetic with that something that rings the bell I mean do you do you how because when you read the room it's not something technical it's pretty much intuition I would call it in a way so maybe best DJs there's something that it can can be learned there's something that like a god-given
Michael totally and I think that can be developed uh over time and through experience and repetition if you have talent it's your it's your you have to you you you owe it to yourself to develop it right otherwise the talent can ruin you in a way yeah it's like a muscle you have to continue working it continue putting the Reps in continue putting yourself in these scenarios that make you uncomfortable so that you can grow from those experiences and then you can translate that into um a new set of skills a new just an entire new profile as you continue to build on those skills over over time but yes that that intuition that's where that comes from is years and years years this is I want to say going on almost 25 years of doing this professionally for me which I'm super grateful to still be doing what I love to do and and being relevant and and still being inspired and things still feeling new to me um in certain areas man it it's really a blessing and I'm super grateful to to uh be able to do this do what I do I love it man what you're saying it I just I just can't find better person to actually manifest what it means to really be himself and you know not fake anything and not rush to get to whatever phase of your life and for us young men who want to get rich want to get famous want you know all
26:21 How to Not Get Lost in Social Media
Serhiy these things things it seems like everyone's rushing with the with the uh explosion of social media especially when people are comparing themselves to others constantly yeah how do you deal with that how do you how do you how do you don't betray your style your inner voice how do you because I think you you've been under pressure of creating a commercial product that would sell better how do you how do you manage this
Michael yeah you know I think it's about your approach to things like social media and understanding that everyone is presenting their best life their best um highlights of their career it's not everything it's not showing all the bad it's not showing all the all the all the um lessons that they're learning it's just showing the winds and the winds so as long as we keep that in mind and know that it's really a highlight reel primarily whatever platform you're on um and understanding that and being able to separate and again close off all the noise and be able to focus on what you're building and you know sharing that with the world and allowing the people to uh to you know join into what you're creating and um I I think uh there's someone there's a book uh that I've been reading uh called digital minimalism by an author named Cal Newport um I really really um value his insight and perspective on social media he's someone that's never had social media ever and so he's been able to um share his perspective as an author and a podcaster on what it's like as someone that's still you know does the old school way of communicating like reading the newspaper and reading magazines and but seeing everyone else get so in you know entrenched in this world of their head down in their phone scrolling scrolling all day for hours and hours and he really saw and was able to um showcase the negative impacts that that can have on someone's mindset um and emotional U mental state over time um that over consumption of things like social media so it's important to do got a negative impact on creativity yeah Crea consider to be yeah consider yourself to be a creative person you should better be you should always have this time for yourself this these are where best ideas are born
29:03 When Do Your Best Ideas Arrive?
Serhiy can you can you tell me because I'm super fascinated by by by by this when are your best ideas coming to you do do you know like is do you have a routine maybe it's like when you're walking you listening to something you're talking to someone is it by yourself um what is this process how do you get inspired how do you create this stuff
Michael yeah it's a it's a combination of of a variety of things and scenarios um like you said like going out a on a walk in nature um being in the gym I get inspired um you know just um listening to other music that inspires me and being able to draw influence from those Styles you know man I think Rick Rubin said that he he believes that there are no new things there are no Innovations all new stuff is the is the combination of something that hasn't been combined presented in the new light that's it
29:51 Rick Rubin's Perspective on Creativity
Serhiy and as a person who combines who mixes all this tracks I think it makes a perfect sense uh for you what do you think about this
Michael yeah and and I love Rick rubin's perspective on creativity um and just how Unapologetic he is about his Artistry and being an artist and and and encompassing that taking that on um as your as your posture like that because that is if you're an artist that is that is who you are you know you are um responsible for uh protecting your Artistry and um creating from your soul and and if you decide to share that knowing that that's exactly what you're doing that that is your responsibility is you're sharing that and everything else is out is out of your control how they feel about it or what they say or any negative uh feedback or any of that stuff or even the positive feedback it's like you did your part by sharing everything else it's it's out of your hands after you've shared it you know if you decide to share it it's out of your hands just know you gave yourself a part of yourself to the world with with that creation whether it's a painting whether it's a song a poem a podcast Symphony whatever you name it
Serhiy yeah I love that he he claims that you you get you're always facing adversity as an artist as is a true artist he actually differentiates something that you he says that creating something for commercial use as a skill so I think it's more like a scientific approach right something that is technically you can you can actually get there it's a skill right like learn how to I don't know write a code for example yeah but with uh with the real pure creation he says that you will always face people who's saying that that's wrong that's wrong or that's bad that's bad and you still keep on doing this and I think this is what really really impressive how true artists uh keep it real stay true to yourself true to themselves
31:25 Staying True to Yourself
Michael that's so important yeah being able to communicate your art from your perspective um that's really what separates you from from the rest of the world because like I said before there's only one you no one no one has the same fingerprint everyone's fingerprint is completely different
Serhiy dude I mean that's so I mean you know it's like it's so obvious but at the same time we constantly forget this that uh like just be you man it's it will take longer more time for people to learn about you presumably but if you follow someone else's blueprint you're just going to be like like someone else
Michael yeah and I think there I think there is some wisdom in drawing inspiration from other people and seeing what they've accomplished and being inspired by that I think that's great but we also have to realize that their path was their path that's the path that worked for them and that does not necessarily mean it will trans translate into positive results for you because that wasn't your path that path that was their path so that's important to realize that we all we all have our own paths and and carve our own paths throughout throughout this life in general so um knowing that that path is only is yours and yours alone is very inspiring to me yeah there's a lot of there's a lot of Discovery there um about yourself in that process I'm I'm constantly
33:53 Benefits Coming from Expressing Uniqueness
Serhiy discovering something new about myself as I'm doing something unique you know something that is dear to my heart yes and the most rewarding thing is to kind of find followers they they they see what you're doing and they like what you're doing and you totally know the feeling it's like someone's becoming your I don't even know what is is the good word not a fan but supporter yeah and and you can hire these people for with me for me I like I have a company we produce uh videos so I have a video production company and guess what my best employees now are people who've been following my brand so they know that what I've been doing they've been listening to my podcast and now their most amazing loyal um employees that I have so there are so many benefits to just expressing your your uniqueness
Michael so true so true and I think that's incredible for you that you've been able to with those um genuine connections being able to build the amazing platform that you're building and you know you guys can work together I think that's a that's like you said very rewarding place to be yeah okay so now I want to ask you about the uh your first you have amazing YouTube channel folks if you haven't checked Michael's YouTube you can find it in in the description we going to leave all the links to m squ in in the description you teach I don't know if you teach but you show how you create your tracks when did you start doing this and what what prompted this idea
Serhiy well first of all thank you uh for that um yes I really um get a l lot of Joy from being able to show my process because I'm self-taught um primarily in what I've been able to do really um yeah I didn't go to school like I said you know to become a DJ you didn't have like someone showing you Ro I just I just learned from the greats I'm standing on the shoulders of greats you know guys like DJ Jazzy Jeff guys like DJ Am Kid Capri DJ Premiere Pete Rock um Mark Ronson uh the these are all people that have influenced me uh incredi um Ryan Leslie even and he was the first person to really inspire me to start um showing my process on on YouTube and the gratification you know that that that comes with being able to say okay no one really uh sought me out to say hey here's how I do this and I learned a lot of my stuff before there was YouTube before there was social media this is how do you do that is it even possible did you just click something and what it was a it was a lot of mistakes a lot of Errors a lot of just um you know trial by fire trying things breaking things seeing why how this is built why this does this and over time it may have taken longer the road may have been longer but it's it's been my own experience it was my own path and and
37:23 Inspiration from the Greats
Michael those things have stuck with me for life and they're still with me today those those those lessons I've learned from those experiences um so it was Ryan Leslie initially that that inspired me
37:36 Being Able to Inspire Someone is a Gift
Michael to start you know showing my process more uh on the production side as well as on the DJ side as well so I've really taken the last couple of years to just ramp that part of what I do uh up and take it up another notch and saying hey look this is how I created this track this is how I this what I use to DJ and perform live when I'm on stage these are the tools that I use and hopefully someone on the other side of that camera or on the other side of the screen will will be inspired um yeah like I was when I saw the people that or heard the people that inspire me and um we'll have that connection and they'll be able to draw from that and take it and grow what they do
Serhiy man being able to inspire someone is I think is one of the biggest gifts we can have as as creators I agree if if we Inspire someone to do something you know when people I'm sure you get this a lot when people come come to you and say hey man that was special and I got a few moments like that even with my podcast when people like came over and said hey invite more I I after I did the first interview with the DJ a few fellas uh came over and said can you please invite more DJs nice so started the Chain Reaction now have you and uh hopefully I'll get more DJs on my show but I mean this is this is just just such a such a blessing you know to to inspire s man absolutely
Michael um can you tell me about uh
39:27 Ryan Leslie's Inspiration for the "City" video
Serhiy the you know on Ryan Lesley actually it's interesting because I remember in 200 maybe 10 or or something I saw how he produced the track hello hello hello with and your your music video that hit 14,000 views already the this is my sitting right
Michael yeah I kind of feel there like similar Style videos right
Serhiy yeah that was that was directly that was a direct uh nod to Ryan Leslie that that moment that I took from um I think it was the making of the addiction video that he had uh on his YouTube and I always Lov that moment where he just was up late in the studio creating something from scratch and just came up with this incredible composition in this beat and he played all the instruments all the different parts he sang the vocal he you know just that entire process was was super inspiring for me and I just kind of wanted to uh just pay homage to that moment that because that was very captivating for me at the time when it happened so when I shot the music video from my H single call City it's featuring artist Viper and ABC we're gonna feature it here gonna shout out to them and um for jumping on the track you know I created the beat and I said I when I talking to the director um sarcasm The Savage and I really uh explained to him the moment I was trying to capture from the Ryan's the Ryan Leslie video and he did such a great job of um you know recreating that and getting us in the studio and having the the keyboards there and doing the whole like what time is it it's 5:30 you know like the entire uh sequence of that playing out was just so much fun to recreate and uh showing up with the suit and everything and it was it was so much fun making that making that video man I'm so glad you got to see it as well man
Michael the track is just I mean it's heartwarming I just like I'm listening on the repeat you know and it tells a lot when you some when you listen the track on the repeat
Serhiy appreciate that is do you plan on
41:44 Are More Tracks with Vocals Coming?
Serhiy creating more because you have a your track fabulous life is fabulous also apprciate it I appreciate it I'm I'm seeing that you don't have that many Partnerships with singers is this is this is is this something happening by accident or uh like consciously or and or and do you plan to uh partner up with more singers and create like songs like what people sing actually
Michael yes I'm I'm always open to collaboration um I did another record that was uh in the Latin world called ghanes which featured fto Blanco and no who are both incredible artists as well so yeah I'm always open to collaborations for me though it has to be organic um it's not something I can calculate or um you know try to orchestrate n you know UN in an unnatural way by chasing this or chasing that or or um followers or anything like that it has to come organically from both ends you know um I have to really feel that person's energy beyond the music um for it to connect I feel like you know in a authentic way to the crowd or to the audience so I just try not to stop creating I don't let things like you know get me off my path as far as creating and releasing music so I know that I can um take care of a lot of the different steps that it takes to release a track and make a track and things like that so I do my best to continue putting those like like I said earlier putting those repetitions up and continuously building my catalog um because that gives me data every time I release a song every time I get into the studio I get more data as to how I can do the next thing better how I can elevate my craft how I can continue to stretch what I'm doing and push the envelope and see what people like what people are feeling and you know things of that nature oh let's try this differently next time you know so that is kind of My overall ethos as far as releasing music working with artists yes I'm always open to collaborations I just like for them to be organic when they happen
Serhiy what is organic is this like you talking to someone like we're talking now and for example if I was a musician you we we feel like we're on the same page so this
44:04 How to Partner Up with Michael?
Michael is where it has to start right we got we got to share same vision yeah 100% And and not necessarily everything has to be on the same page like cuz we're all different people right so we all have different beliefs different Visions but I think there's always has to be a Common Thread somewhere uh in order for that spark to happen and that's always what I'm looking for where where does that spark happen between myself and this other artist that is it do we like the same style of music or do we geek out about drums and frequencies and sounds and you know the there's so many different touch points in or do we want to convey some philosophy or some idea
Serhiy exactly exactly are we coming together on a on a on a common um like you said a common idea or a common thought that we share or an experience that we shared uh from the past maybe something um personal um that we connect with
Michael so there's so many different potential elements that could come into play on how we connect organically but I I want to allow that space for it to lead to music because we may connect but it may not lead to music you know so I try not to put too much pressure on that situation I try to just allow it to formulate on its own and once we start you know something an example of what may happen is they may hear something I did or I may hear something they did and they may say hey check this track out and they may email me a track or you know send me a track and I'm like wow um I'd love to uh I love what the drums are doing or let's you know or same thing I may send them something I'm working on and they may say wow I'd love to play keys on that or they're just inspired to do it you know um for example a major
46:11 Collaboration with Reggie B, Demuir
Michael artist uh named Reggie B uh he's he's a Legend um in Soul music and R&B Funk like definitely check out Reggie B's projects um you know he's someone I you know just sent some beats I've I've played his music for years really just loved his style and still do and um he was just super inspired to to play Keys uh over you know some of my tracks and and that that really blew me away you know also another artist that I'm have a um huge um inspiration uh of his demor he's a You Know Jack and house deep house uh music artist and stuff very very funky very Soulful man I've always been inspired by his sound and um he happened to hear an EP that I had released that I self-released and um he reached out to me and and gave me some incredible feedback a positive feedback man and I was super honored to hear that from him because that that's someone I also um am inspired by heavily and um he reached out and and and we decided to um to do some music together and you know that that came from again it was an organic uh connection and and that's what I'm always looking for when I collaborate with with different artists you know um he he released um an EP of mine called Mind design on his label uh purveyor underground so which I was totally honored to do and we have more work uh coming in the future as well which I'm excited about
Serhiy I have a friend he's a Ukrainian DJ pretty well-known DJ he pretty much captured Ukraine he plays melodic techno house techno music and DJ fil mark shout out to film Mar and and I tried to help him to get some invitations uh some gigs from International promoters and I hit the brick wall because what you do you send tracks uh to uh their labels
Michael no no that that's talking about
Serhiy okay we wanted to release his track on some well-known label right yeah and well-known labels curious to know how do you pick labels where you release your tracks but uh I I felt like competition is so so stiff that you know without like a real human connection without the network it's really damn hard to to to to get a chance to be released on on well-known label so how how do you choose labels that you release your track tracks on maybe you have your your own one and maybe you can give a few tips to people who are really talented producers they create amazing pieces of music but you know that uh no one see or hear what they what they're capable of
47:49 How to Release a Track on Big Label
Michael yeah um you know I I want to say you know first of all I have to thank de um deir was you know the first uh label owner to really take a chance on my music that really showed um you know that genuine belief in my vision and what I do musically so I have to give him a big shout out um he saw he saw early and the first Domino to fall right that absolutely and I was super grateful and am super grateful for that opportunity and that relationship that connection um to be able to have released music on his um major platform um especially in the house music space it's it's been a tremendous um experience and seeing the feedback I mean um again that came from uh myself uh self relasing uh my music uh just making what I loved um not following any Trends not you know I just sat down and made a collection of music that I really really felt fell in love with and enjoyed and just wanted to share that with the world and uh once I put it out there um that's a huge step for us as artists right uh we create it but sometimes we hold it back and we don't want to you know take that next step because it's it's it can be you know intimidating you know to share create something and not show it to the world right you know I know I know it's it's it happens all the time unfortunately but um you know there are there are times to create things for yourself and and I think that's important too you don't have to share everything I think there's therapeutical even absolutely there's so many um benefits from just creating music from a cathartic perspective and being able to um dig deep and and not have to worry about the pressure of sharing that you just did that for yourself so um to answer your question I think the idea would be to continue self-releasing your best music that you feel confident about don't be afraid to reach out to the labels that you enjoy their music which is that's exactly what I do as well I also reach out to labels that I enjoy their music um and they that I connect with um and from there you know see what happens and just continue to self-release self-release we have so many platforms now on social media to share um your experience and Beyond the music um these Labels want to see your personality they want they want to see your look um they want to see that you understand the business of this of Music um that you've created a movement behind you um that it's you and you have people people that love your music that follow your post and follow your story and you're sharing your story it's not really even so much from what I understand it's not so much about follower count as much as people may think it's more so about are you building a world are you creating something that's truly you and does it connect with that person uh overall and and I think that that's kind of the the straightest you know the straightest line from A to B is is focusing on building a world around you and your music and present that authentically
Serhiy yeah present that to the world authentically as yourself and the people that it will connect with it will connect with the right eyes and ears eventually over time you just have to be patient no shortcut to success no shortcuts and this this big backing of what we were talking earlier just be yourself build a world otherwise build brand build your own brand
Michael yes with us with us here in Ukraine there's just some additional additional obstacle you know
53:00 Helping Ukrainian Brand to go Global
Serhiy that um in international uh labels or promoters it's some it seems like there is some kind of a bias you know towards uh you know just Ukrainian product that therefore I'm I'm right now I'm trying to actually uh speak with the DJs and uh translate you know create some media um pieces that would translate you know we use AI to put English language on so that nice you know people from the from other parts of the world can hear and listen to what our our DJs and artists are saying so in a way I want to bridge the world with the with the pool of Ukrainian Talent this is this is one of one of my missions with this podcast
Michael that's amazing yeah I I feel like my gift is uh being able to convey my ideas uh properly in a foreign language yes and I think that not utilizing it is almost ripping off the world the ripping off my my people or ripping the world so it's like when you are given Talent it's almost It's a Robbery not to utilize it not to use it 100% 100 yeah
Serhiy yeah um especially when you're using it for good and you're helping others you're helping to uplift other other talent and showcase other Talent which is amazing that you're doing this for your country and I think that's incredible man and I would love to hear uh some of the music that you're showcasing as well um so tell me more
54:57 Application of MsSquared's Production in Business
Serhiy about what you do uh I know that you produce soundtracks so because Torin our our mutual friend he he uses your tracks you you you produce music to accompany his video content is that is that something you do
Michael absolutely yeah as as a producer I love working with uh like soundscapes and having visuals or having um vocals to work around um doing things like remixes and um different edits and yeah I I love working with Toren he's he's an incredible person and I'm so glad that yeah shout out to Torin Ellis he connected us and made this thing happen so I'm super grateful and uh he just has an incredible platform and and I've had the honor of working with him and providing the music to his incredible voice you know he has a radio voice like you know some people just have like you know they can talk but torrin's got that voice you know and that's one thing you know if you're familiar with Gangstar and the the song um it's mostly The Voice by Guru you know that that's what it's all that's what it's all about it's about the voice and his voice is so unique and distinct and it's very commanding um to an audience so um I really had a a great pleasure of putting together the music bed to his talking points uh for his radio program and it's been an incredible um partnership working with Torin over over many years and and continue to uh collaborate with him so uh it's incredible
Serhiy it's almost like a sound design in a way I don't know is there term is there a term
Michael 100% yep sound design there's there's there's uh there's sync where you're uh where I like to create music to visuals uh whether it's a commercial which I've done before um television um so all of those platforms where music is um heavily leveraged to create that experience um that's what I do that's what I love to do I love to create the musical elements to accompany those moments or those experiences I that's very rewarding for me to do
57:14 Favorite Software and Hardware
Serhiy a few technical questions what's your favorite software what's your favorite um I don't know equipment
Michael it depends um for production I love Logic Pro X that's what I use I've used logic pro um since probably 2008 thanks to uh Ivan barus uh producer who you know he's been a major inspiration for me he he put me on to uh logic pro at that at that time I still love Pro Tools um I love plugins wise I love uh xln audios XO uh that's where you can select different sounds from like a Galaxy interface uh you can click drag and program your drums or different sounds and it's an incredible uh plugin very powerful um I love cable guys all of their plugins their um shaper box and that that that goes on almost all my tracks pretty much um you know for for effects and sounds and tricks like that um what else do I love I use a lot
Serhiy people are picking your brain I I feel feel like they're going to go go away with a lot of new stuff to try you know after this podcast
Michael I appreciate it yeah I mean I love uh on the DJ side I really love Sado DJ Pro that's what I use a lot to that that is what I use to DJ with primarily anything apple as far as laptop you know that's my main go-to um also um yeah I love um just you know turntables that that's also my go-to uh instrument to use when I'm performing live I love cdjs as well um I also love the Pioneer rev 7 has the uh the controller with the motorized platter so gives me that uh turntable feel on a controller so I I like to go between all those different platforms to to do what I do and and express myself artist
59:10 Creating Sounds
Serhiy do you manually create sounds as we as we can see in in the this is my city uh video
Michael yeah I'm always um inspired by guys like um Skrillex like these incredible sound designers um that mesh sounds together and layer sounds together to create a a snare drum or a kick or a special sound effect that can be Ed as a drum later on so I'm always experimenting and trying different things to um to enhance my sound and and and and do something that's going to Captivate the ear you know whether it's ear candy or um anything of that nature I'm always looking for some some element in My Tracks to grab people or have people get you know attached to like oh what's that you know I love that that feeling
1:00:04 Do You Have a Muse?
Serhiy yeah yeah yeah yeah on the personal side of things if you don't mind me asking do you have a muse or do you have something or someone who is who motivates you um maybe you write your song for someone or about someone so maybe you can tell me like H how big of a role people around you play in your creative process
Michael I mean I really don't have a muse at the moment I really don't have a new at the moment but um you know I'm always open you know to that opportunity I'm always open to that opportunity but I I just I just love to pull from my experiences um you know that could be along the way I may see someone you know in my in my travels around and that may spark something um you know created for me to to build on you know from a moment um across the board so that that's kind of how I I allow that to just happen um you know I take it as it comes you know
Serhiy yeah because as a poet you know I have some encounters romantic encounters for example this is where a lot of lyrics coming from a lot of texts coming from so but I I also believe that it's um it's in so if if we're able to find the source of inspiration it's better than not
Michael let go that's right right yeah that's right
1:01:35 What is Your Favorite Sound?
Serhiy man I want to end this conversation by asking you what one famous podcaster stepen Bartlet asked black coffee on his podcast okay what is your favorite sound you can take some time
Michael that's a great question and shout out to Black copy he's also one of my big Inspirations as well love what able to do his career um but um my favorite sound would probably just have to be a pretty chord um from uh probably the roads the fender roads might be no one's ever asked me that question so that's why I'm just yeah I know man something yeah because again this is something that I I really dig into and I analyze a lot is sound and and frequencies and I think something that's that's always been pleasing to my ear even before I knew what it was it's always been offender roads playing a pretty chord like a minor seven or an 11th or something that's gonna be like very very deep or Soulful that that that that I think like that or like a whit between those two even like again like drum sounds I'm very heavy on drums because I started out as a drummer before I became a DJ so I love a nice kick drum that's that could be sharp or boxy or or like fat or heavy um a nice snare with a nice crack to it um you know even a sizzling high hat like a real crispy high hat or dir dir high hat that sounds like a tin can you know like I love love love all of those sounds overall so I think those are like my standouts that's what I gravitate to when I'm making music I go to those those sounds that really uh have that character to them that I just described though I'm drawn to those the most
Serhiy man I'm gonna tell you people don't have enough vocabulary when it comes to talking about this these type of things I really appreciate I'm grateful that you're so eloquently just so thoughtfully even emotionally described so many things that you enjoy that you love this is something that U I'm always trying to get from my guests and you were really generous to be able to provide it man
Michael thank you so much for those uh kind words man it's really an honor and a privilege to be on the platform you know you're building something amazing your YouTube channel has been awesome to watch and all your different guests that you've had on man have been very insightful and uh I love what you're doing I love what you're doing thank for having me on as well
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