Hello Mauro and a very warm welcome to Techno Mood! Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
Hello guys thank you for having me here ! I am Mauro Somm, Dj/Producer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’ve been on the scene for two years with an exponential growth because of my Techno music productions, I always aimed for a fresh modern sound on my tracks, specially in the synthesizers and a well polished low end sound. I got featured multiple times at Top 100 of Beatport Peak Time Techno Hype and the Global Techno Top, currently being the 3rd best selling Argentinian artist of this year ! I am working on a new super Modern Raw Techno original fresh style to bring the scene something more unique since I am finding myself loving this kind of vibe lately. At the time we are having this interview I am the best selling artist of Unrilis with my track ”Deep Control”. I am also having amazing gigs in Buenos Aires at Crobar Club, Bahrein Club and an upcoming one at Under Club ! Also my tracks got supported by a lot of Techno Superstars such as Adam Beyer at Tomorrowland, Popof (constant support from my brother almost everywhere he plays!), Danny Tenaglia at Music On Festival, UMEK at Sea Star festival and Verknipt Festival, Christian Smith, Spartaque, my brothers Sam Wolfe, Zafer Atabey, The Reactivitz, etc. I also give personalized Masterclasses for newcomers, for advanced producers that want to improve/level up, for every kind of level and I also provide mixing & mastering services! You can also check out my other music Alias where I make introspective Indie Music ”SOMM”.
How did you first get into electronic music and who or what were your biggest musical influences growing up?
I first got into electronic music because of David Guetta, my parents sold music compilations when I was a kid and they got CDs at home from him, I believe it was Blaster or A Little More Love and I just felt completely in love with the genre, the modern sound… It was like electronic music was meant to be in my life since always, I was almost between 6 or 8 years old when I had the first contact. My biggest musical influences when I was growing up are mainly Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, David Guetta (of course). I got into almost all EDM genres, like Electro House back in 2009 to 2019. Progressive House (Eric Prydz, Deadmau5, Dash Berlin, StadiumX, Nicky Romero, Axwell, SHM, Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman, Avicii, etc) from 2011 to 2018. Bigroom (Hardwell, Tiesto, Maddix, Blasterjaxx, Bassjackers, etc.) 2011 to 2018. Trance 2012 – 2019 (Armin Van Buuren, Above & Beyond, W&W, Dash Berlin, Markus Schulz, Andrew Rayel, etc ). The ”Bounce” music by Deorro, TJR, Vinai from 2011 or 12 to 2016. Then I fell completely in love with Techno Music finding inspiration nowadays mainly from Axel Karakasis, Planetary Assault Systems, Julian Jeweil, Drunken Kong, Adam Beyer, Wehbba, Bart Skils & ANNA. The sets from Richie Hawtin and John Digweed. The Modular/Sequenced sounds of Raw Techno, the classic sound of old school German Techno and Hard Groove.
Congratulations on the upcoming EP release ‘Back To The Groove’ on FORM Music with The Reactivitz. Can you talk to us about the record?
Well with The Reactivitz we put together a vision we both share. Modern Techno Music lately is lacking a little bit of groove and almost all the tracks sounding identical sadly. So we wanted to bring back what we both think is the main essense in Techno, that is the groove and house vibes, we came up with this idea of making a 3 tracks EP going from different Techno styles to bring some freshness to the scene. I really enjoyed working with Jonathan, he is an amazing person and a great producer that I respect a lot since I began listening to Techno Music.
How did you connect with POPOF and the label in the first instance?
Alex is the greatest and coolest human being I met personally on the Techno scene to date !
The first contact with him was when he played one of my tracks ”Deep Control” (Unrilis) at a huge event in Mar Del Plata, that unfortunately I didn’t go because I was super tired that night when I was touring. My Groove Selections team caught it on video, and when they came back they woke me up and told me super excited ”Heey Maurooo ! Popof just played your track in At Park, look !”. Then I decided to upload the video to my Instagram profile thanking Alex for the support, and that’s when we started exchanging messages on Instagram building a good relationship and he asked me for some bangers to release on Form ! 🙂
What was it like collaborating with The Reactivitz when making the record? What were each of your roles in the studio when making the EP?
Oh it was so good ! We were sending ideas to each other and each one of us just did our own thing, it worked like clockwork, I believe we finished the whole EP in one month plus 1 week of continuous work. The way we flowed together with the ideas was outstanding ! It is my first collaboration EP of my career and I felt super comfortable with Johnny.
Can you tell us about the electronic music scene where you’re living right now?
The electronic music scene in Buenos Aires is huge, we have big names already from Dj/Producers I want to name such as Victoria Engel, Nicolas Taboada and Beico mainly, I met the three of them and are really nice cool people. There are a lot of event producers and booking agencies in here, big venues & clubs I want to play. I am working right now mainly with Groove Selections, a super cool Event Producer and Booking Agency that is doing great parties in my country. They always believed in my work and product, opening their doors to me and giving me the best set times in their events to let me shine and play what I would play at a mainstage. Matias Lamanna, owner of Groove Selections, who happens to be my current Manager and good friend, is one of the most resilient and kindest human beings I have met 🙂
What are your favourite pieces of studio equipment right now? (Please name at least three)
I work in a super humble minimalistic studio setup with almost no sound treatment at all, just my Adam Audio’s T7v pair of monitors and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (that I want to upgrade to a more high end audio interface) and my ears.
I work a lot with softwares such as U-He Repro 1 since I find it sounds really mesmerizing and the sequencer it has is super easy to me and powerful, maximizing my workflow.
Also the Model 72 Synthesizer System and Modular, both by Softube are just a masterpiece to me !
Can you tell us about some of your favourite non-electronic music artists?
Linkin Park is one of them, the melodies, Chester’s voice and feel is just amazing. Michael Jackson, unsurpassed talent, matchless, the star of the superstars, more than a legend of entertainment in my opinion. Phill Collins & Rammstein. I want to make some honorable mentions as well: KISS, Soda Stereo (an argentinian rock band that deserved to be worldly known in my opinion), Red Hot Chilli Peppers, SUMO, Bon Jovi.
What have you got planned for the rest of the year?
For the rest of the year I’m planning to develop a lot more of this new Modern Raw Techno fresh personal style I talked about before, aiming to top notch Techno labels, playing all my sets with just my own songs. Planning a lot of gigs with Groove Selections and Supreme Connection, which is another great Event Producer & Booking Agency from Argentina that are super kind to me and believe in my product as well, shout out to Mazzeo (Supreme Connection) for this !
I am also going to have a summer tour in Mar Del Plata with both of these agencies in really huge venues from this beautiful city but I cannot reveal more information about this yet. Also I’m trying to set up an international tour in South America, it’s not easy, but I feel I am closer now.
Do you have any final words of wisdom for our Techno Mood readers?
Well I think that the best advices I can give to everyone that is reading this piece is that you have to believe in yourself, you need to have a strong mindset because this road can be really hard and painful, you will probably have a lot of inner struggles, very sudden lows and highs in your mood but you have to be strong and keep projecting yourself where you want to position your product and you. Create unique and fresh music, there is a huge market to be fulfilled by your grace and talent. Life works in unexpected and weird ways. Propose it, work on it, evolve, dare. One of my favourite phrases is ”Wish it so much that life has no other chance that just give it to you”. Thank you for the space guys 🙂
