Artist Interviews 🎶 Studio Tours 🎛

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, MitDemAll

Currently in Leipzig, he started as a shouter in a Metalcore band where he found his way into recording engineering and later sound design 🎶

Interview & Studio Tour

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

Hi, I am Jona aka MitDemAll from Leipzig, musician and producer.

I got in touch with the whole music production madness first at the age of 18. I was the shouter in a Metalcore band at that time. We practiced at a youth club where they had a small studio and a guy who run it. The moment I went in there, to do our first recording, I was hooked and tried to learn how to become a recording engineer. At some point I discovered that you could also make music with the software I used to do the recordings. (Cubase at the time)

I started out by making Hip Hop beats, because this was the other kind of music I listened to at the time, but my fascination for sound design and synthesizers soon drew me towards more electronic genres. I was fascinated by the idea that sound design could be a lead instrument.

Hardware was a way for me to get the experience out of the computer again. I really like producing "in the box" as they say, but I come from a band background so there was always the desire to play music live. The first years of producing music, I always had the thought of: How would I ever play this with a band... DJing somehow was never an option for me. When I saw people on Youtube performing live music with a few pieces of hardware this really resonated with me and I wanted to do this as well.

Since I moved to Leipzig two years ago I am trying to make music more the center of my live. I've played a lot of gigs with my new Live Techno Duo Sounds Friction, I organize a lot of shows, do some recordings for bands, started teaching drums and even got my first composer/ producer job for a commercial spot. So far all of these are side gigs and can't pay the bills but I think I'm getting there :)

Which piece of equipment in your studio is essential to your production process?

By far, Ableton live.

I use a lot of Hardware Synths, as well as "traditional" instruments in my production, but the computer is where everything gets recorded, edited, arranged and mixed. I also use a lot of soft synths and samplers.

What is the least expensive piece of gear that gave you the most results?

The Arturia MicroBrute was the first hardware synth I've ever got over 8 years ago, and to this day I still find new sounds within it. It appears on roughly half the tracks I produce.

My latest discovery was plugging an electric bass guitar into it.

Walk us through your process for creating and producing music.

Most of the time I start with designing a synth sound either on the PC or on my modular and start playing it. Then I'll record a few minutes of me performing it and edit it down. This becomes the basis of the main part or even the whole song. This way I don't have to "get out of the loop" when arranging.

From there on its only recording in more instruments in places the song needs them and letting the arrangement arise organically. Here everything goes: Hardware synths (sequenced or played live) Soft synths, Piano, Bass guitar.. I even record Acoustic Drums from time to time.

But all of this is not a straight process. Most of the time I work on new Ideas as long as the inspiration is flowing and let them rest. At the time, when I want to make a new Album, I look though my old project files and put in the work to finish the ideas I like best within a few moths. Finally one or two weeks of mixing and mastering to finish the whole thing.

What is a production technique that you always come back to?

Experimentation - try out something new and then run with it and try to build a working song around it.

Even if at first glance, it obviously isn't going to work out.

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How would you describe your style?

I think I fit into a very small niche between Melodic Techno, Ambient and Hip Hop. I am also hugely influenced by my upbringing in Metal and Hardcore, but this leads more towards me wanting to try more extreme things when producing, and not to elements of these genres appearing in my music.

What is a big challenge you have as an artist?

My biggest challenge comes from managing my mental health, and keeping up the work on my art, when everything seams pointless. I've suffered from depressions for maybe half of my life.

The only thing that worked for me so far is, to make the music for myself and stop thinking about "if you're gonna make it big some day". Make the music for your self and treat it with the importance it has to you personally. This might be putting in the extra work while producing, or finally promoting it more.

Has building a hardware setup changed your perspective on music or life in general?

Yes, building a setup, that is tailor made for me, has finally enabled me to play and improvise electronic music live. I love producing, but playing live is just something else.

But this was a long process of try and error, and I'm still working on it. The biggest challenge for someone like me, who puts together his tracks on a computer is to make a compromise between playing the songs like you already build them, and the limitations of your setup.

One tip on how to spark creativity?

This could be something simple like using a synth and fx combination you normally would not use, or something out there like using a cymbal stack and a brush to play them like bongos. (as I do on my latest single "Walls")

A book, movie, article, or album that has inspired you?

Share your Work! by Austin Kleon

Anything else you'd like to say?

My advice to everyone making music at home would be collaborate more with other musicians to get inspired or even go out to jam session. This changed my outlook on music dramatically.

Where can people find more of your music and connect with you online?

You can find me on most streaming platforms (like spotify,..) at the moment new tracks is getting a video release on Youtube first.

If you want to get in touch, Instagram is the way to go.

You can find we everywhere as: MitDemAll

Gear List

• Laptop

• Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 interface with

  • ArtTech 8 channel Tube preamp expander

• an old Samson midi Keyboard

• Arturia - Microbrute

• Elektron - Digitakt

• Elektron - Octatrack

• modular Synth, most notable modules:

  • Moog - DFAM,

  • Noise Engineering - Basimulus Iteritas Alter

  • Make Noise - Mimeophon 

  • Polyend - Poly 2

• and an OP1 that crashes all the god damn time.....

In Case You Missed It

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