Get To Know: DJs From Mars
The guised talks debut onto PENTAPHONIA Records alongside label-boss Gabry Ponte on new single 'Deep Fear.' Here's how it went down.
Best known for transporting party-goers across the globe to an other-worldly state of dance music euphoria, DJs From Mars are one of Italy’s most exciting musical exports. For their latest single, the hyped-up duo beam down onto PENTAPHONIA Records with ‘Deep Fear,’ an epic re-work of Sidekick’s club classic in collaboration with label-boss and friend Gabry Ponte.
Tell us how the new remix of Sidekick’s ‘Deep Fear’ between yourselves and Gabry Ponte came to be?
The original track was always a highlight in our sets, we played it so many times and it always worked great. We reworked it several times throughout the years and mashed it up with other songs like we always do in our sets. We know the original composers personally so we asked Gabry if he was interested in making an official release with the opportunity to have the clearance agreement very easily. He was happy to work on this track because he also loved it a lot, so he worked on the demo idea we sent and he finalized it. Finally, after years of playing it as a bootleg, we’re proud to play it as an official release!
Do you feel any pressure around producing remixes/mash-ups when you are creating a new version of another artist’s work? Especially taking on a track with such iconic heritage like ‘Deep Fear.’
Well, our career is really based on bootlegs and mash-ups so we’re really used to work on other tracks, even without permission haha! This time, since the plan was to release it officially, we felt a bit of pressure because the result had to be really really good! Also, the track itself is a bit tricky, the original is already perfect in DJ sets, there’s no vocal to play with, so the only thing we could do was try to make it more powerful for today’s standards. Also, we added a couple of "plot twists” like the BPM change at the beginning, and the harmonic pads in the second break, to make it sound fresh. But we didn’t really feel the pressure because that’s what we always do, every day of our life.
You guys are one of the early signees to PENTAPHONIA Records. What are your initial thoughts on the sound that the label is curating and the vision for its future?
It’s a brand new label so we’re always excited to be part of something new! Their releases are really good, and it’s definitely matching our music taste of the last months: it’s mainstage music but still keeping that underground vibe that makes it cool. It’s like the early Future Rave releases by David Guetta and Morten, the sound was really powerful, but still not too cheesy. We really think PENTAPHONIA’s vision could be a game changer in the next few months and years to come.
When signing to and working with a new label, what are the green flags you look for as artists?
Well, we always think personal relationships are more important than streaming numbers. PENTAPHONIA has a great team, we already know most of the guys who work there, so the release process was really easy and smooth. Usually, we like to work with people who love music more than numbers and that’s what we look for when we start working with a new label.
What’s the last track(s) that you added to your USB?
Our bootleg of Bad Bunny’s 'DtMF' and a mash-up of 'Deep Fear' with Adam Port’s 'Move' vocals on top. It was really great to make a mash-up from our own release!
One glance at social media and we can see just how busy your touring schedule is! What are the home comforts that you miss when you’re away, but are always excited to return to in Italy?
We’re Italians so we definitely miss our food on tour! But it’s also great to taste new flavours everywhere we go, so it’s not a big problem for us. Also, since we always work on new tracks, we miss the loudness of our studio speakers! We work on the road, but we’re never too confident of our mixes when played on headphones. Sometimes we play a track that we produced while travelling and the result in the club is a complete disaster….so we always need the studio test before releasing a track…that’s what we miss the most when travelling!
If you could change one thing about the electronic music industry today, what would it be?
Probably we would hide numbers from social media and streaming platforms. It’s good to know what’s working, but in the last few years, we think a lot of artists are leaving the fun behind because they focus on the streaming numbers. We still remember that we started making music because we loved discovering underground tracks, and unknown artists, and that’s the vibe we want to keep also today. That’s why we love the “illegal” bootleg thing, because it brings us back in the days when all the DJs were looking at those white-label promos, not the most famous tracks, but the coolest ones. But we think that the market always has an auto-balance system, when music goes too far in some directions, the audience always brings it back on the right path by choosing what they prefer.
What are your plans for the rest of 2025?
Releasing more music, touring a lot, having fun, working hard, playing hard, enjoying the ride!
