Inside the head of Mastiksoul

Inside the head of Mastiksoul

21 August, 2009 | 8.08AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: 4kenzo recordings, kaos records, mastiksoul

Mastiksoul rescues DJs across the world every weekend, with his unfussy and functional house beats. Bumping and full of energy, you can always count on a Fernando Figueira record to rock the floor.

Yet despite his records shifting by the thousands, and tearing up clubs both big and small, little is known about the man behind Mastiksoul.

In this special feature, with his new album ‘Run 4 Number One’ having just been released (listen to a preview in the player below), we sat down with Figueira in his office in Lisbon and asked him, simply, to talk about himself whilst we took notes.

Hello my name is Mastiksoul.

If I wasn’t a DJ, I’d probably be an MP just like my father. I studied political science at university and my father always wanted me to follow in his footsteps. If I did, I’d probably be an MP in Angola by now, and maybe even President one day.

My family fled Angola in the 80s to escape the civil war, and we made a new life in Portugal. If I was a politician, I’d want to end the corruption that exists in politics, because I’ve heard so many stories that would scare most people - the kind of stories that make you realise that we’re being controlled by half a dozen guys with small dicks.

That’s why I make beats, to escape all of that. If my father were alive today, he’d probably disapprove of what I am doing because he never much liked my passion for music. But then, he’d be happy that I was doing good for myself - he was the kind of father that wanted you to be somebody.

I started out as a B-boy back in the 80s. I used to breakdance and then after I got bored of dancing, I became a DJ just as acid house came along.

I moved to London to continue my studies, and ended up staying for 12 years. I loved the city. It was a whole new world to me - fish & chips and kebabs. It was dark, dirty and nasty, and my kind of place.

Music introduced me to a lot of people, and that’s what I love about music. You can make friends through music. I met Tony Thomas for instance, in London, through music.

For a while we ran a label together called Moxi. He still runs it I think. Moxi is from a dialect in my country and it means ‘number one’, which I thought was pretty cool at the time.

My first release was in 1996. I used to have an analogue studio with Nord leads, samplers and a big desk, but it was a pain in the ass back then to produce like that. It used to take an hour just to set up the correct settings for a track that you had been working on the night before.

When computers came along it was much better. My sounds are all computer based now, but I still use analogue compresors and EQs. Prism valve compressors are my favourite. I can’t give up the analogue mastering for some reason.

I’ve released a lot of music over the years. When you’ve been around for as long as I have you build up a huge catalogue.

Back in the old days, I was a London tech house DJ. We used to make tech house, but it wasn’t the kind of tech house that’s around now. It was never played on the radio, and people didn’t really know what you meant when you said you made tech house.

Now things are a bit different, and my music is played on the radio, so I have to be really careful about releasing music. Back then, the goal was to put out as much music as you could. If a DJ’s record box had 15 of your tunes in it, that was what it was all about. These days, I have to be sure I only put out quality tracks.

I could release a lot more music if I wanted to. It’s rediculous the amount of remixes I get asked to do. It’s hard sometimes to turn down friends for remixes, but I have to choose carefully.

I probably get two to four remix requests a week. As soon as I pop up online, I get people pinging me for remixes. I guess it’s because people know that I sell pretty well. I’m no Deadmau5, but I do ok.

The thing is, people love my beats. I’m not saying mine are better than anyone elses, but my beats are consistent. You always know that a Mastiksoul track will do the job.

I have created my own style, and people who like it, really love it. I’m also lucky that I can do both more commerical stuff, or more techy stuff, so I’m in both camps, musically.

It’s funny, but I don’t do any promotion whatsoever for any of my releases. I’m of the belief, that if the music is good, people will find it.

For instance, record shopping for me is a process. I spend hours and hours on Beatport, digging well beyond the Top 100 and charts to find those bombs. So people will dig and find my tunes too.

I see a lot of people charting my stuff, everyone from Bob Sinclar to God knows who.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist. When I do my shit, I have to be really really happy with it. If I’m not feeling it, I will scrap it.

If I’m not dancing around the studio, then I won’t release it. Sometimes when I do something really good, I’ll call up my girl and say ‘damn girl, this is rocking shit. Come check this beat baby!” and she’ll think I’m crazy. But I’ve got to have that funky chicken feeling before I’ll release it, know what I mean?

Maybe it’s because I’m African. All of the music in my house when I was growing up was African, and that’s all my family listened to - I had no choice.

When I make my beats, I’m definitely influenced by those days. My music’s got an African touch. When I hear stuff that’s really straight and not funky, I can’t stand it.

My new album ‘Run 4 Number One’ is a project that might surprise people. There are a few tracks on there that aren’t the typical Mastiksoul sound.

The 11 tracks are across the board because I wanted to challenge people. People know you for a certain sound, and they think you can’t do anything else, but I’m a producer and I want to show people that I can do songs too, and I worked with some great singers on this record.

‘After Dark’ for instance, people thought it was Madonna singing - the label even asked me if I’d bootlegged her!

Not all the tracks are for the club on this record, some are better suited for the radio or car journeys.

There are some 80s vibes on there, as I’m an 80’s boy and I wanted to do something that had a little bit of the 80s in there.

Some people will probably complain and say ‘oh man, where’s the Mastiksoul sound?’ but I’ll tell ‘em, ‘nah, this is something different, get with it’.

I also put some of my biggest club tracks on the album, as I know the kids love my shit like ‘Jacobino’ and ‘Run For Cover’.

I’m a little bit tired of doing beats to be honest. I’ve done so many tracks, and I feel like doing some songs now.

Maybe the album could be better than it is, but it’s ok. So far, people have been cool about it. It took about a year to get off the ground, as I wanted to release it simultaneously in 30 countries around the world.

We’re working on some videos and are speaking to MTV about getting them featured.

I’m traveling a lot at the moment to promote the album, but I’m tired and sick of all the traveling. Every Friday and Saturday for three years I’ve been doing it. I’m fully booked till the end of the year. But I want to play more locally. I don’t think it’s healthy to be traveling always.

I’ve got a lot of South American tours coming up, but in truth, I only want to do one of those a year as they’re hard.

You know, I’m a bit of a fat guy and I need to look after my health a bit. With all the junk food and travel, it’s not healthy. People think it’s glamourous but it ain’t.

You get promoters putting you up in horrible hotels, the kind that says five star, but in truth, it’s just a bed and breakfast.

I don’t ever want to play in China or Japan again. One time I flew over there and it was a 20 hour journey altogether. I slept for seven hours straight, woke up, and still had another 10 hours to fly! That’s too much for me.

I’m not willing to cross oceans anymore. I want to have a chilled out life. I don’t want to be a superstar. Let them all be the stars, and fly around on private jets surrounded by 20 hookers. I’m not interested in that.

When I hear stories of DJs demanding to go to the moon and back, I think ‘nah, that ain’t me’.

Just gimme a nice hotel and a nice meal, and I’m happy. The only luxury I suppose I do have is cars. I really enjoy nice cars and I hate it when people pick me up in a shitty broken down banger, the kind where you can hardly fit inside.

I drive a Range Rover, a top of the line one with all the extras. I love it. The Queen of England has the same one. It’s slow as shit, but it’s designed for luxury not speed.

It’s so comfortable, I’ve fallen asleep at the wheel five times already! I wake up sometimes and think ‘damn, what the hell am I doing in the woods?’.

I’ve also got a couple of bikes, a Harley Davidson and a dirt bike. I guess motors are my passion.

I earn enough money to be comfortable, and I don’t want to lose touch with my friends. At the end of the day, I just want to go to the beach and have a beer.

We have barbeques every day, and siestas every afternoon after lunch where we sleep for three or four hours.

I then go to the beach and think about what we’re going to have for dinner. Then we’ll chill out in my games room and maybe go out for a drink later. That’s the good life.

I’ve been going back to Angloa recently to play. I was pretty weird to play there. I was playing house and techno on a beach in Angola, how can that be possible?

I’m going to play New Year’s Eve there too. I’ve still got lots of family there but I don’t really connect with them as I don’t know what to say to them.

The Angolans do treat me differently because I’m from there. I guess they’re probably a little bit proud of me.

I’m the only Angolan DJ to have ever had any success, I mean who’s from Angola?!

Eight essential Mastiksoul booty shakers

Mastiksoul ‘Candela’

A folk sample, a massive breakdown, and plenty of bounce, ‘Candela’ was a guaranteed big hitter when it was released at the end of 2008.

Mastiksoul ‘I Believe’

Druggy hypnotic vocals, devastating kick drums, and an incessant tribal groove, ‘I Believe’ is a perfect mid-set roller.

Mastiksoul ‘Moxi Yade Tatu’

Paying homage to his African roots, ‘Moxi Yade Tatu’ plays out like a tribal tea dance, with slightly eerie yet soulful vocals and chunky house beats.

DJ Sneak ‘Funky Guitar Rock’ (Mastiksoul Remix)

Mastiksoul reworks DJ Sneak’s ‘Funky Guitar Rock’ into a bumping, funky disco cut, with plenty of vocal rewards and clever instrumental solos.

Mastiksoul ‘Macaron’

One of Mastiksoul’s biggest hits to date, ‘Macaron’ destroyed many a dancefloor in 2007 with its funny vocal rhythms and pumping tribal drums.

Mastiksoul ‘Jacobino’

A huge hit for Mastiksoul in 2008, ‘Jacobino’ dominated the charts for many weeks.

Boza ‘My Big Thing’ (Mastiksoul Remix)

Wacky and forward-thinking tech house, the main synth hook on Mastiksoul’s remix of ‘My Big Thing’ ruins soundsystems thanks to just the right amount of reverb.

Mastiksoul ‘Just A Feeling’

Featured on the B side of Mastiksoul’s big single ‘Bofe De Elite’, ‘Just A Feeling’ has remained in many DJ boxes long after the A side has disappeared. A perfect DJ tool.

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