Being stuck thousands of miles apart, one in the US and the other Sweden, engineering mastermind Marcus Schössow and production partner Matthew Felner have still successfully created two of 2020’s finest progressive peaches to date. Their ‘Floración’ track was a highlight from ‘Odd Ones Vol. 1’, the June V/A from Yotto’s Odd One Out label. This is set to be followed by ‘Rabbit Hole’, their debut release for Joris Voorn’s fledgling SPECTRUM label on 28th August. 

Whilst a nasty virus may have kept the producers on different sides of the Atlantic, they have still crafted a magnificent acid bubbler that draws the listener into the depths, and backed that with the gorgeously contrasting synth-laden ‘Arpology’, that When We Dip were lucky enough to premiere earlier this week. 

Check out Marcus’ exclusive Studio Tips for budding producers below and don’t forget to grab your copy of ‘Rabbit Hole’ here…

1 – Take a break:

Don’t mix on tired ears, rather go out for a walk or spend some social time outside the studio once you feel the idea is good enough. Our perception of loudness and balance gets lost after some time as our ears are trying to adapt to any sound around us.

2 – Trust the shit:

So you sold your mums collectable porcelain, took a job at a hipster café, adopted 3 cats and bought a pair of speakers for 10k euro, that’s great, you are on the right track. But most of your listeners isn’t going to have the same listening experience. So buy a shity pair of 3 euro in-ear headphones, get to know them and do some reference listening on them. I use my in-ear that came with my phone, they sound like garbage but they do tell me a lot of juicy gossips of my mix. 

3 – Distortion is your best friend:

Many times we struggle to get a sound cutting through the mix. Instead of a eq, try some distortion! Just make sure your volume level stays the same, otherwise you are just fooling yourself.

4 – Life is a contrast:

For anything to be bright, we need darkness as a reference. The same goes for your mixes! Instead of slamming on another EQ then try to filter down some other stuff that takes away the attention from the element you want to highlight in the mix.

5 – The evil analog delays

We all love them, put a tape delay in anything and it sounds great. It’s the butter on my bread, the cheese on my pizza and the ice in my whiskey sour. However, many tend do forget what havoc they create in the lower mid section. Try to cut away the stereo/side of the analog delay in the lower mids to get rid of the mud in the mix and save yourself some space for your much loved warm analog basses that loves a little extra space in the lower mids. 

The early Christmas bonus:

I love the PSP vintage warmer, it’s a little beauty that takes your heat from cold day in Antarktis to a sweaty techno basement in a seconds. So slam it on the master and never look back again… now you are ready to become a Berghain techno god.