Miguel Ramirez
Markus Schulz is just about to land in Australia, and he’s ready to take fans on a thrilling Mainstage experience at Ultra Australia 2020.
Constantly releasing heavy-weight productions and with a relentless drive to give the global crowd that energetic push and mesmerise them with a breathtaking intensity, the Trance hero is set to hit the Mainstage at Ultra Australia 2020 on Saturday March 7, 2020 at Parramatta Park in Sydney and Sunday March 8, 2020 at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
Ahead of his highly anticipated Mainstage sets, Trance Project caught up with the legend to talk all things Trance, his love for Australia and we find out what Aussie fans can expect from his massive sets.
See the full interview below and get tickets here!
We’re thrilled to see you back in Australia for Ultra Music Festival – how excited are you for the Ultra tour in Sydney and Melbourne?
I’m very excited! Even other DJs that are on the lineup, we see each other backstage at all the festivals and we’ve been talking, and everybody have said how excited they are to get down there, so definitely very happy!
You’ve played in Australia for so many years now – what makes the Australian crowd so unique?
Australia is always challenging and when you’ve been DJing as long as I have, challenges are so exciting! What I mean by that is, there’s songs and DJ’s that go off in Australia that don’t go off anywhere else, so it’s kind of like it’s own little world but at the same time it’s a code you have to crack and once you crack the code, it’s amazing! The crowd is amazing, their so responsive, and I’m really looking forward to coming down again.
You are one of the big headliners performing on the Mainstage! What is the overriding emotion you feel when playing to such a large festival crowd?
Everything must be tight, there’s not much room for improvising from the Mainstage, it’s a very well-choreographed and time coded show, so the pressure’s on! Playing in front of that many people on the Mainstage, you have to bring it, because everyone else is bringing it!
What do you hope your fans get out of your Mainstage set and what is like to play to such a large crowd on the Mainstage compared to a small club show?
The Mainstage set is interesting because playing new material is difficult. I will be playing my new track that I have with Adina Butar, which is titled ‘indestructible’, but for the most part, a Mainstage set is like a window of who you are as an artist. You play your biggest drops, your biggest hits, your biggest vocals, and especially when you don’t get to come to Australia often, when you do come, you have to bring all your biggest hits, so that’s the difference between playing a Mainstage set than playing a club set. When you play a club set, you can experiment a little bit, let your wings out a little bit and try different things, but on the Mainstage, you really have to be tight and bring it!
Now, what’s the best thing about being Markus Schulz?
The best thing is that I’m my favourite DJ haha, I can play all my favourite songs right at the time when I want to hear it haha!
Being in the music business for so long, how do you both keep things fresh with both your productions and DJ sets?
You know, that is a good question, because people have asked me, “you’ve done so much, what is there left to do,” and when you’ve been in the industry for as long as I have, I think the next logical thing is your legacy. Making tracks, not just so they can be on the radio or stream all over on Spotify, but make songs that actually withstand the test of time. Maybe 10 years or 20 years from now, people will be like, “oh damn, this song was so far ahead of his time.” I think at this point of my career, it’s working on your legacy and the music that you’re going to be remembered by.
What does Trance mean to you?
Trance is everything. Trance is life. When you hear that melody that just hits you right in the nerve, when you have that feeling just from a melody, that’s what keeps Trance so interesting and so amazing. These melodies are so powerful and at the same time they’re so uplifting and full of spirit. It’s such a powerful genre of music for me.
What can we expect from you in the near future, production-wise?
I’m comfortable trying to push the boundaries of Trance forward, I’ve never shied away from the fact that I do trance music, but at the same time the future of Trance is what I look forward to. I always try to rediscover or reinvent different things within the Trance genre, and I think that’s the beautiful challenge that I have in front of me right now. The future of Trance is what I’m all about!
Do you have any final words for all your die-hard Aussie fans?
I’m so excited to come there, and I hope that when I’m playing, everybody makes lots of noise, because we all have to represent Trance at the Mainstage at Ultra Australia 2020!
