- Over three hours of ambient and rolling rhythms from a master of minimal.
- Since his early days as a resident at the legendary Montreal afterhours club Stereo, Maher Daniel has been a stalwart in the world of minimal-leaning house music. It was there that he learned and mastered the foundations of his style: deep melodies, rolling beats, extended mixes, all put together with a wash of psychedelia.
Following a move to Barcelona, the Palestinian-Canadian DJ more firmly struck out on his own, appearing on Lee Burridge's world-conquering All Day I Dream label before starting his own, The Other Side, in 2016. The Other Side has become an important outpost for a kind of dance music that blends old-school microhouse sensibilities with the rolling basslines and three-dimensional sound design of Rominimal, notably through a series of collaborations with Ricardo Villalobos with the Changes EP trilogy.
During the pandemic, Daniel also started dipping his toes into ambient music, which starts off this epic, three-hour-plus mix before it plunges into rolling rhythms. He takes the time to stretch out here, mixing plenty of his own work with tracks from Jesper Dahlbäck, Cristi Cons, Dexter and, of course, Ricardo Villalobos, ending with a stunning custom breakbeat edit of Global Communication's ambient techno epic "14:31."
What have you been up to recently?
Well I'm currently posted up in Costa Rica, as I have had a bunch of South American dates, so I decided to be central and closer, so flew out here with my dog at the start of the year and now just been surfing and traveling on the weekends to play shows.
What are you grateful for these days?
I am truly grateful for my family and friends who have supported me without question over the years. They have been the driving force for me waking up on the daily and really just taking action for my own future and path. As we all know this industry is extremely hard to break through, and without the right support system, it can be extremely draining both mentally and physically. The last few years have been extremely difficult with our current climate so it was great to have that love and support from everyone around me just telling to keep my head down and keep grinding.
Where was the mix recorded, and can you tell us the idea behind the mix?
The mix was recoded before flying out of Barcelona with my home setup, it was a mix of vinyl and digital, recorded on two Technics, 2 CDJ-2000 NEXUS and a TAULRA 4 rotary mixer,
The mix for me is really something special, I took this opportunity to really showcase what I love musically and where I’m at. Getting started as a warmup act at Stereo in my earlier days I really learned to be patient and build a set, and I think this mix translates this, the art of warming up has been lost and I really wanted to embrace that in the first part of the mix. Musically it's a mix of ambient, minimal, minimal house, techno and breaks. Things I've been really feeling at the moment new and old. The start of the mix is a little showcase of my ambient project I've been working on for the last year and a half, and builds into a listening journey.
You recently started an ambient project which has become a big focus for you. How did that come about and how is the process different for you from making club music?
This project took shape during the pandemic. As an artist I've always wanted to get into post-production, cinematic composition and I figured this would be the best time for it. I've always been a huge fan of ambient and lo-fi music, something about it just puts me at ease and really relaxes me. Seeing it take shape on the screen creating tension and mood is really special.
The process is completely different, there is a story being told in each composition, this story is creating a mood, and bringing life to a moment in time. When writing dance music, the same factors also take place, but your focus is on the dance floor and how to get people moving around, dancing and connecting with the music. There is a formula, so to speak, whereas ambient music really stems from sound design and building from one or more unique sounds into a full composition.
You have a pretty close relationship with Ricardo Villalobos. I'm sure our readers would like to know—what's it like making music with him?
I'm extremely lucky to have a friendship and working relationship with Ricardo, when we talk about genius especially in our industry, there are not many that have his kind of body of work, and it truly is mesmerizing. It is truly an honor to work with him, I've learnt a lot from being the studio with him, and even just critiquing my work that I send him solo, there are things he hears that years of experience brings to the table. He is so humble and kind and really welcoming and it was something I will hold special to heart for years and years.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
Well this is a great question, as a lover of all things the ocean I think it is really important to raise awareness about two organisations. the first one being The Ocean Project, and particularly their 30x30 campaign which is to organise a global movement to conserve 30 percent of the worlds oceans by 2030! The second is 4ocean, a company that is spearheading the fight to ending the ocean plastic crisis. Without our oceans the human race won't be able to survive and I think it's important to raise awareness about these specific organisations.
What are you up to next?
As of now I'm taking it easy until the end of March in Costa Rica playing my shows I have out here in the region. Summer is looking to be super hectic and busy so I'm trying to get as much surf as I can.
TracklistMaher Daniel - Broken Crystals (Unreleased)
Maher Daniel - Unstructured Limits Stripped (Unreleased)
Maher Daniel - Unstructured Limits (Unreleased)
Maher Daniel - Glitch (Unreleased)
Maher Daniel - Astral Plane (Unreleased)
Maher Daniel - Keplars Journey (Unreleased)
Maher Daniel - Bell Dance (Unreleased)
Maher Daniel - Introspect (Unreleased)
Christopher Ledger - Bernoulli’s Error (Unreleased)
Fortunato & Montresor - Imagine (Elektrolux )
Topper - Agonysm (Unreleased)
Anamorph - Klimt Westwood (Unreleased)
Saav - Zankidoz (Unreleased)
Ricardo Villalobos - Arnotikar (Amir Javasoul & Pheek Edit) (Unreleased)
Area de 51 Feat Tea time - Global Heat (BORDE)
Luciano - Barriere de Lumiere (Felipe Venegas remix) ( Drumma Records)
Pantytec - Elastobabe (Soulcapsules Warrior Remix) (Perlon)
Dexter - Gotcha (Real Deal Records)
Rowan - Different Body Same Mind (Unreleased)
Cristi Cons - Ahead of the Curve
Christopher Ledger - Ossimoro (Unreleased)
Raff & Freddy - Listen (Pschent)
Jonny Rock - Unknown
Kat Williams - That Track By Kat (Skylax Special Edition)
Jesper Dahlbäck - What Is The Time, Mr. Templar - (P&D)
H.BURNER - Senses (Extended Mix) - KMS
Formost Poets - Moonraker (Accapela) (Airplay Records)
Christopher Ledger - Unknown (Unreleased)
Andy Catana - Your Kicks
O.bee & Tomas Station - The Dynamic Human Spirit (Jig It)
Miro - Paradise (Farmatronic Creeping Mix ) (Hooj Choons)
Pîrvu - Granfician în Cararmida (Valentino Kanzyani Remix (The Other Side)
Global Communication - 14:31 (Maher Daniel Breaks Mix) (Unreleased)