“I’m inspired by classic disco, deep house, funk from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Next to that I’m an addictive music lover who listens to ’50s rock, and jazz, ’60s psych, beat, and soul, ’70s rock and punk and ’80s new wave and pop.”
Producer, DJ and remixer Mickey is bringing his cultured sound down under. ANDREW NELSON chats with the Belgian deep house don ahead of his appearance at Geisha’s Christmas Party this Friday, December 19, to find out about Sweet Baby, Santa beards and drum ‘n’ bass dads.
“My dad, besides being a business man was running parties and a d’n’b radio show in the late ‘90s. He lived with four deejays and musicians, so I was really involved in the scene since my childhood.”
It seems that Mickael Bursztejn (AKA Mickey) was destined to become involved in the music industry, but the electronic music world has matured a lot since the early days, when the likes of Derrick May could doorstop The Electrifying Mojo and blag him to play his track on the radio. Perhaps that’s why the young Belgian describes himself as a musician rather than a producer.
Bursztejn started off playing all the instruments on his tracks and also composed songs for other more traditional bands. “It’s clear that I have a songwriting background,” he explains, “and play guitar, bass, keys on all my tracks. I think it helps on writing not only a kick, snare club track, but more a club track with a proper song structure that makes it more interesting for me.”
Bursztejn was quickly enlisted on remix duties for the likes of Housse de Racket, Headman, and Claptone before being picked up by Berlin-based house label, Exploited, where he’s been allowed to demonstrate his true colours with a slew of sophisticated deep house cuts. Sweet Baby is the latest of these, a ’90s style vocal track reminiscent of De’Lacy’s Hideaway that recently made it into the Top 10 deep house tracks of 2014 on Beatport.
For a man in his twenties, the music Bursztejn produces is surprisingly refined. The lush, soulful tones of Deepest, for example are a far cry from the usual EDM fodder that the market seems to be flooded with at the moment. He believes this is due to his dedication in the studio coupled with varied and wide-ranging musical tastes.
“This is something that has grown over the years,” he professes, “I’m working almost every day in my studio, so it’s normal that your sound and skills make some progression. I’m inspired by classic disco, deep house, funk from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Next to that I’m an addictive music lover who listens to ’50s rock, and jazz, ’60s psych, beat, and soul, ’70s rock and punk and ’80s new wave and pop.”
But even though he has played at events in Hollywood, New York and the UK, Bursztejn is not ready to get ahead of himself by rushing into releasing a long-player that’s padded out with substandard tracks.
“No album yet,” he says. “That’s too early, I think. I have a new release coming up on Exploited Records. It will be out the end of January. It’s a track that brings me back to the underground let’s say, it’s a club banger. Next to that I’m working on a couple tracks with great vocalists. There’s a Bag Raiders remix coming up, and I’m currently working on another remix.”
But before all that, we have the small matter of the Geisha Christmas extravaganza coming up this Friday, something that Bursztejn is keen to get into the spirit of… “I’ll make sure I have a Santa beard by then,” he jokes, “I’m looking forward to this night!”
MICKEY
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, @ GEISHA
