Just under one week away from the second annual Electric Zoo Festival on Randall's Island Electronic Night Life bring's you a special feature from Electric Zoo performer Markus Schulz.

Did you enjoy your Coldharbour Day Event?

Markus: Yes I really enjoyed it… I don’t think the whole day could have gone any better really.  With all the craziness that goes on every year I think it’s really great to have the opportunity to really focus on the label, spotlight it some, and maybe while we’re doing it take a little time to think about what direction it’s going in. It coincided near-perfectly with the 100th release and a fair few other happenings – it was a bit of a ‘planet alignment’ thing actually!

What was the best part?

Markus: The best part about it, well, let me see… I certainly really enjoyed the opportunity of putting together a longer set than I would usually play on the radio. Mine ran for 4 hours, which is double what I usually get to do on a GDJB World Tour set, and that affords you much greater range of music. I also feel that it was really cool that we were able to partner up with AHFM for it. They were reporting a blockbuster listenership for it on the day – a new record for them I believe – so that was really cool to hear.

What are some of the reasons you chose certain artists to perform along with you for the Coldharbour Day Event?

Markus: All of the DJs and producers that played on the day they have in some way strongly influenced and/or been instrumental in the direction Coldharbour has taken over the course of the last six years. If you look at lineup you'll be up to see all those names are very much a part of the Coldharbour family.

How did the kick off go for Summer of Schulz?

Markus: Coldharbour Day was our launch event… We then followed it up with the release of Coldharbour 100 – my ‘Perception’ track on August 3rd and then a solo set at Amnesia the week before last.

How did you Summer residency at Amnesia come about?

Markus: It was through a number of factors really… Firstly and foremost though I’m signed to Armada and have had a strong connection with Armin for many years now. He was the one that stepped up and said: “heh, you have a really good sound, come and be part of what we’re doing”.  It was through him that I started playing at the Armada night 3 years ago and last week I performed my second all-night, start-to-finish set there. To be do that, to hold a crowd that big and intense for 7hrs is a proper trip!  

Your next single off of the Do You Dream album will be “Perception” along with vocalist Justine Suissa. Can you tell us what it’s like to work with her?

Markus: Working with Justine was absolutely fantastic, something that I've been wanting to do for a long, long time now. I’ve loved her voice for what seems like forever and became more and more convinced over the last couple of years, that when it came time to do my version of Cass & Slide’s anthem, that she should be the one to sing it.

Of course you know about the tragic events that occurred at Love Parade in Germany. Being a German born DJ, how did you react to this news?

With horror, just the same as everybody else… You just never imagine that you’re going to wake up in the morning and by afternoon hearing news as awful as that. To be honest I was a bit mad, because we trust the organizers to make sure that everyone including the talent, fans and clubbers are safe.

How do you think that festival organizers can prevent situations such as this from happening in the future?

Markus: Well it is very easy indeed, with the benefit of hindsight to be able to say this, that or any number of things should have happened. I think it’s quite clear that to have a festival where there is only one major entry point has to be fundamental flaw. I think maybe more people need to be involved in safety planning in festivals.

What is your opinion on recent increase of hip-hop / R&B to Electronic dance music crossover tracks?

Honestly I don't think very much of it... It’s like trying to push a square block through a round hole.  A triumph of marketing over actual music making, it all seems very hollow to me… There’s clearly seems to be something of a market for it though!

Which artists do you predict will be making some very big waves in the coming months?

Markus: Rex Mundi is one of my guys who has made himself a hero in the past couple of years due to his releases on Coldharbour. He is so talented and every production sounds so different and fresh. I'd definitely love to spend lots of time in the studio collaborating on ideas with him.


Are you working on anything else that you would like to tell us about?

Markus: I’m always have to step careful here, as I’m always given warning looks by the team when answering questions like this! Let’s just say that in October/November I’m going to be releasing something that will be an absolute first for Markus Schulz… and I’m very excited about it!

Do you have any comments for your fans?

Markus: Thanks for the support and if you guys are going to Electric Zoo next month, I look forward to seeing you there!


 - Interview by Zaneta Soroko-Ortiz