Too many music producers fall into one of two categories.
They either strive to be a legend of a genre people have never heard of, or they solely aim to land commercial success by appealing to the masses. And what’s worst is that too many of these producers think you can’t do both at once.
But MEDUZA is proof that you can.
MEDUZA’s sound is firmly underground, drawing inspiration from house and techno’s earliest iterations while steadily climbing to stardom, racking up billions of plays.
With the release of their latest single and a massive live show at Outernet London on 22nd October, we decided it was high time we figured out their recipe for success in getting your underground productions billions of plays.
Snag Premium House Music Samples Without Breaking The Bank With Our Massive Curated List Of Warm, Punchy Sounds From Across The Internet. Click Here To Get 4k+ Free Sounds and Samples
Stream MEDUZA’s Latest Single Below:
Listening to these masters at work, it can be easy to see why they’ve earned the level of success they have. The infectious vocals, the builds, and the explosively energetic drops all work seamlessly to create some awe-inspiring music.
But seeing is much easier than doing it for yourself. So before we dive into the ways and advice Meduza has for making underground music that appeals to the masses, take a few listens to their track below to gain a better perspective on how these guys do what they do so effortlessly.
And then let’s dive into the interview.
What does ‘commercial-underground dance music’ mean to you?
Does this term exist? Underground music is still underground music, no matter if it becomes commercial or not. Being commercial for us means being on daytime radio with pop stars, etc., and opening up a pop audience to any form of house music / electronic music is a good thing.
If we as Meduza, as you call it make ‘commercial – underground dance music and this brings people into nightclubs and festivals for electronic of ANY kind, I don’t see this as a negative thing as some of the people in this industry think.
It’s a positive thing and it means sounds evolve, it evolves the entire scene, mixing different styles and trying new sounds and new vibes coming from other music genres.
This is music. Otherwise, every song would sound the same, with no evolution possible for the industry as a whole. If the entry point is “commercial underground”, a few years down the line you might find those very same people at a Ben Klock show, for example…
What aspects of commercial music do you think work best in underground dance music?
Taking what’s good in “commercial music” and mixing it up into the underground is what works better, trying to create something unique.
Sometimes is the way you write the toplines, sometimes it’s how to use a specific sound in the backing track and it can be the structure of the song. Every time and every song is different, you just need to try and try and see what works and what’s not.
Before releasing ‘Piece of Your Heart we didn’t know if it was working or not, we loved that and we released it, then people decided it was something cool and different for a crossover from house music into something for the radio.
Looking for the best drum samples? Dive into ‘The Ultimate Library of Free Drum Samples: 7k+ Percussions and Drum Loops for Every Genre’ – access your free sounds here.
Who do you produce for; the purists or the masses?
We make music we love and believe in, we don’t make music to please someone in particular or to be part of a specific world. I think everyone who makes music should do the same; otherwise, the entire music industry would be a copy of the copy of the copy and become completely generic.
We don’t release anything we think is not 100% perfect for us and our project, sometimes people will like it not, it is just a taste matter but it will always be something we believe in.
What did getting your first billion plays teach you about music production?
We understood 100% that what we made was right and that the audience liked it as much as we did. It was been the beginning of something new for us, the beginning of something special that we had the chance to evolve than for the other songs.
People recognized that our music was different in some aspects. It’s not always about streaming either, and we have records coming with Booka Shade, Matador, Eli & Fur, and many others. We are releasing these because we love them and believe in them, the public decides every time on every record….
Simple as that.
Are you interested in crafting unforgettable dance tracks? Explore ‘Songwriting in Dance Music: Tim Green Shares How He Writes Music That Stays with You’ – enhance your songwriting skills here.
Where do you go to find the inspiration behind your most popular songs?
Traveling, meeting new people and new cultures, and playing shows around the world, music is all about sharing messages and your experiences. We bring all of these things into the studio when we write with other singers or songwriters; we sit there with them and generally start from scratch.
We play some chords and start writing hooks, pre’s, chorus, and verses; we argue, we discuss and we try a million times with different ideas. But when we all agree on the same one we’re sure it’s the right one to release as our next single.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
