Music is a many splendid thing, equipped with a minimal number of boundaries and allowing for artists to truly inject themselves into their finished products. Despite the clear presence of genres, it’s not abnormal for a musician to marry, mix and weave a melodic tapestry of influences together to create a unique sound. In fact, that’s exactly what House DJ and producer, Manuel de la Mare does on a daily basis.
From his first introduction to music, a Zucchero tape and some flute lessons, courtesy of his mother, de la Mare has collected a wide range of inspiration for his own work, refusing to conform completely to any one genre or music style.
“I’ve never been into one thing only. From that first tape of Zucchero (that I still love) to Italian music, to samba, to grunge, to black metal, to jazz, to blues, classic music, techno, house, chill out…I can enjoy almost everything.”
While he may be a musical polymath, de la Mare has definitely found a place in the world of House, and based on his memory of his childhood in Tuscany, characterized by “digging holes, throwing balls of mud” and living free in nature with his friends, it’s almost a logical progression that he would find himself here, where he feels the music is “a sort of modern tribal ritual.”
“If you have ever watched a documentary about remote tribes in Africa or the Amazon, you see the same stuff. People dancing to a repetitive, hypnotizing rhythm. I have never read studies about the effects of house music on the brain, but I believe it must create some pleasant, deep waves that put you in connection with other people in the club.”
If House music is psychology, de la Mare is a doctor with an impressive resume, boasting the title of Beatport’s Best Remixer in 2011, along with a nomination for Best Deep House and Techno Artist the previous year. He’s enjoyed his fair share of Top 10 hits on the same site, collaborations with a variety of talented artists, performances at Ultra, a DJ residency at Hard Rock in Las Vegas, the list goes on. In fact, de la Mare’s packed an unbelievable list of accomplishments into a short span of his time as a well-known DJ, but he’s been doing the work for a lot longer.
“From the time I started making house music to when I was playing at venues like Womb, Ministry of Sound, and the Ultra festival, was only around 4 years, but I was not new to music. I took off literally for the first time in 2008, as I’d never taken a plane before. ’Til that time, I was spending all my days and nights in the studio, but the time I spent in front of Logic or behind the decks in some local clubs was already huge.”
It’s clear all that hard work more than paid off, as de la Mare’s made a name for himself with unique remixes as well as original tracks, though he’s recently dedicated himself almost exclusively to the latter.
“Remixes come very easy to me. It is something automatic. I listen to a track, and I know already how it will be as the finished remix. I’m not that fast with originals, but I find making my own music much more interesting, and that is why I almost stopped making remixes. Doing a remix still takes a lot of creative energy, and I end up using some good ideas for the arrangements and structures and sounds in works that are not really my own.”
We may have de la Mare’s eclectic background to thank for this movement toward completely original tracks, as well.
“I always press play on any song trying to have the ‘virgin’ feeling attitude. I do not want prejudice to stop me from liking a song. If it resonates with me, and I find some good quality, I’m going to like it. That is what is important to me, not the genre itself. So when I started making music, I had a similar attitude. Experimenting with different sounds is very fun. Lately, I changed this approach a bit. Let’s say that before, when I was making music, I was starting from the music itself. Now I start from myself. I try to make music starting from the very center of myself.”
With eyes on an upcoming season in Ibiza, a hopeful residency in Berlin, and an aim to fix himself at the center of the electronic music movement, it’s no wonder de la Mare’s attitude remains refreshingly positive.
“Whatever you want to do, you can do it, me or anyone else. You just need to put a lot of good energy into it. You can be lucky or unlucky, but that will not last forever.”
For the sake of House music, we hope Manuel de la Mare’s luck lasts until the end of time.
Keep up with Manuel de la Mare on his Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Shanna Gibbs writes stuff, watches Netflix and dreams about her triumphant return to New York. And she's on Twitter: @BananaintheCity.