Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentinian based artist ‘Mike Griego’ has become one of the most sought after producers with more than a decade of music under his discography belt. Persistently innovating & constantly striving to push new boundaries within the progressive space, he launches 2022 with a new remix of Kasper Koman’s “In Circles” on Juicebox Music. We had a quick chat with Mike Griego about it. Enjoy the read while listening to the full premiere exclusively on When We Dip.

WWD: Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. Tell us a little more about your early years of life in Argentina and how you initially transitioned into making & composing music.

Hi guys, thanks for having me! I started at a really early age thanks to my dad. He loved music, played guitar and sang at family gatherings, and in those parties he used to make me sing famous songs from tv commercials and stuff. I was too shy to be honest, but it definitely planted a seed in me and later on my teen years I started grabbing his guitar and played nirvana songs. I taught myself how to play them and by doing that I trained my ear as well.

WWD: What inspired you to move towards the electronic & dance music side from your post-punk rock scene and have you tried incorporating your guitar & singing skills into your current productions?

Well, at some point I was feeling a little bit trapped in a genre. I couldn’t express myself fully and the composing process felt too repetitive. It wasn’t hard for me to notice that by becoming a producer I would have more freedom to express myself. The band dissolved anyway for other reasons as well, so I had a lot of time to dive into the new thing. Guitar skills are hard to incorporate for me, it doesn’t feel right, but the choices I make in regards to harmony sometimes are based on my favorite post punk bands such as ‘americanfootball’ and ‘braid’.

WWD: We’ve gone through your fantastic releases on Cid Inc’s “Replug”, Hernan Cattaneo’s “Sudbeat” & earlier releases on Mitch Alexander’s “microCastle”. There’s a distinct style that we can hear across the board. Could you describe the vision for your sound?

I just like hypnotic emotional music. I won’t stay trapped in a formula, I like all genres and I try to incorporate as much as I can so long as it feels natural.

WWD: What have been your career-defining releases or moments?

I think my first Sudbeat EP, ‘Fourth Dimension’ was great for me and also ‘Idioglossia’ on microCastle. A song that helped me grow a lot is ‘Mocca Sunset’ which I released in Flow Vinyl. From the newer releases ‘Solaris’ and ‘Dysbiosis’ from Replug.

WWD: Being focused on creating originals, it’s rare to see you take on any remixes with your last one released in 2015. We’re thrilled to see you back again after 7 years and this time with 2 versions for Kasper Koman’s ‘In Circles’, out soon on the Indian label – Juicebox Music. Could you share your experience with this process?

Kasper is such a great artist, it wasn’t hard for me to feel motivated to make a remix. I just need to like the original piece or at least respect the artist and label to get some inspiration. I just can’t do it for the money alone, even though it’s an important part of the deal, an extra reward for your hard work. In this case the ‘Deep’ version came fast and early, and then after a few weeks I was able to come up with a dancefloor oriented ‘Nitro’ version as well.

WWD: After a long shutdown due to COVID, producers have been creating a lot of music without the feedback of the audience. With events coming back into the picture, have you been testing out many of your unreleased material and how has the response been

It’s been great honestly, having the chance to play your music gives the opportunity to fine tune the tracks, going back to the studio and making adjustments. So far so good, but definitely finishing more music now that everything seems to be getting back to normal.

WWD: Any plans of working on your debut album in the near future?

Ah, always in the works. I’m really demanding and it’s hard for me not to overthink the process. Hopefully soon. It’s up on my to-do list.

WWD: Name us 5 of your favorite & inspirational non-dance music producers.

I honestly don’t listen to non-dance producers. I could say Burial is one of my favorites. I most of the time listen to traditional music or rock/metal/punk/fusion.

1 – americanfootball
2 – deftones
3 – metallica
4 – nirvana / alice in chains
5 – thundercat

WWD: What are your plans for 2022 & beyond?

Making more and more music and releasing it. It’s hard for me to find the right place to send my music. The Progressive label is weird in a sense, because it’s so broad, but I’ll definitely be releasing a lot of music. I’ve got another remix for a collaboration from 2 awesome artists coming up later this year as well.

Release Date: March 4th, 2022. Buy Here

Mike Griego: Facebook // SoundCloud
Kasper Koman: Facebook // SoundCloud
Juicebox Music: Facebook // SoundCloud