On that fateful day of Ultra Music Festival 2024 we caught up with techno protege, Maddix, on the Ultra Yacht as he was preparing to take the stage for Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance (ASOT) takeover at the Worldwide Stage. We talked techno, trance, his experiences playing in America, and what fans could expect from his Ultra set. Psst it’s actually down below for your viewing pleasure.
EDMTunes: Scott here with EDMTunes and I’m here with Maddix. We are at Day 1 of Ultra Music Festival 2024. How does it feel to be here playing on the ASOT Stage?
Maddix: Man, I’m so excited to be honest. This is one of the key festivals in the world every year and it’s a good stage to be at too. It’s a big festival so I’m gonna play some new music. What else, what else could you want? You know?
EDMTunes: I remember talking to you years ago, when you were trying to get over to the U.S and then, finally, I think you got a visa to come over with the Hardwell team. How does it feel that you expanded your horizons from the Revealed team to doing techno and a little bit of trance now with ASOT? How has your progression been going from one niche to another?
Maddix: Yeah I’ve been with Revealed, I think seven years almost. They’ve always been so supportive, like, amazing people. At one point, I was working in a studio and I realized that the big room sound, I just wasn’t really enjoying it that much anymore. I would rather go to a techno festival instead of a big room show I would play for example. So, in that moment I realized, like let’s try and do something else. I wasn’t sure what. So I just left behind all expectations from fans. Whenever I went to the studio completely blind started working and yeah, the new sound was kind-of boring at first and it was progressing with every song. At this point, I feel way more freedom. And luckily, the new sound was released during covid. So it was a bit of a tough period. I was making all this new music with a new style. No one was expecting anything like this, or like what is this guy doing? I could never play it live, never ever. And then the first show it went off. I was like, okay, here we go. Um, and then fast forward to three years and here we are at Ultra.
EDMTunes: So as a fan and a listener of dance music, when is it that you started to feel your shift or your interest changing, into more of the techno world?
Maddix: I think the last like one and a half year producing, the big room stuff – I just started slightly changing. And I’ve always enjoyed techno but you’re kinda locked in as an artist and I felt like I won’t even call myself a techno artist because there’s like way more deeper stuff. And it isn’t my goal to be a techno artist. I’m just doing manics like energetic trancy techno, whatever there is coming next. Yeah, it’s just it changed at the moment and we had to make a decision are we gonna keep on going with a big room or are we just like going strong and I think we made the right decision.
EDMTunes: How does it feel getting the attention of names? Like, John Summit, he plays their tracks all the time, opens with ‘Gasoline’ sometimes. How did you get connected with him?
Maddix: He actually sent me a DM about Gasoline. It was like, dude. I love this song! And I was like, “oh shit it’s John Summit, he’s huge!” So yeah. And he told me “like, can you send me some stamps so I can make an intro version?” I was like, “for sure”. It’s been really good for my USA Market, because as I said, I got my Visa, one year ago and finally, I’m starting to tour a little more now and put my club shows. So John Summit is such a big name here in the U.S, that he really helped get the spotlight on some of my music.
EDMTunes: Who are some artists you’d like to collaborate with that you haven’t?
Maddix: Good question. Um well John Summit obviously would be a cool first name I think of now. Also some techno names like, Amelie Lens and Deborah De Luca. I think it would be it will fit quite well with a cool crossover, uh, kind of song, but they are proper techno artists. I’m not sure if they would want to collaborate with a more commercial artist, right?
EDMTunes: Would you see yourself playing at a Resistance or an Awakenings or something like that?
Maddix: I would love to. My sets have extended in time, a lot, since my big room days, I used to play one hour. Now, in New York, I’m gonna play a three hour set. For me it’s really cool because it can finally include more music from other people and play longer tracks and get a more proper techno vibe and I just love to do it.
EDMTunes: So what can we expect from your set today?
Maddix: New music. I’m gonna play four new songs, like one collaboration with HI-LO, Oliver Heldens, and yeah, some new solo stuff. Some stuff I’ve never played before I just finished a few days ago. So I’m gonna try it out. That’s what I’ll try for right?
EDMTunes: What do you have to look forward to for the rest of 2024?
Maddix: Uh, my touring schedule is absolutely crazy. We’re going all around the world. USA, Asia and big festivals. I’m really looking forward to EDC Vegas. It will be my first time in Vegas, so it will be my biggest show and a lot a lot of amazing shows. New York is almost sold out and I always love like if it’s a smaller venue, can you mix like 750 cap? But if it’s like, intimate sold out, they will know all your tracks and you can really create something special like, viewer connection with the crowd. So yeah, it’s gonna be nice.
EDMTunes: To close out, tell me about your favorite venue that you’ve ever played or your favorite show you’ve ever played?
Maddix: I think Bootshaus in Germany. Sorry if I forget about that, I do so many shows now that’s difficult, but Bootshaus is special. I did actually my own event there with my label Extatic. I’m not sure if you guys have ever been to Germany, but yeah, I think the crowd is something special. They arrive, if the doors open at 10, they arrive at 10 and they only leave when the last DJ is done playing at 6am. Yeah. And they won’t grab a drink and stand on the side. No, they go straight in front row. Absolutely crazy. There’s not that many places where you see a night like this.
EDMTunes: Hopefully you’ll see that vibe today at the ASOT Stage. Can’t wait to see your set. Thanks for talking to me today.
