INTERVIEW: Markus Schulz in Dubai

Regularly ranked one of the top 20 DJs in the world, Markus Schulz has the CV that trance dreams are made of. Number one hits? Check. Celebrity collaborations? Check. Festival headlines? Check. World tours? Check, check, check. And the latest stop on this megastar’s never-ending tour is Dubai’s Zero Gravity on May 22.

Aside from spinning records, the 40-year-old German/American is best known for his radio show, Global DJ Broadcast, record label, , and artist management company Schulz Music Group. It’s little wonder he had time to speak to us, but he did – and FYI, he’s awesome.

Dubai’s nightlife is building a scene…
Over the past five years in particular. You can always gauge the progression of an audience with every visit, and from my own experiences the fans there are becoming more receptive. And being a Miami native, I certainly can appreciate the fantastic weather!

This is the time year when I start testing tracks…
Which will hopefully become essentials in my live sets for many months to come. So expect plenty of exclusives, and I’m sure there will be lots of anticipation from the fans there to hear my current vocal single Destiny with Delacey. I am overwhelmed by the response!

The golden-rule of surviving this tour schedule is to always travel light…
Meaning carry-on luggage only. Everything else you can buy while you are on the road. I have two laptops with me. One is my everyday laptop for producing, answering emails, speaking on Skype and so on. I have Logic and Ableton on there. The second laptop is the one you see beside me on stage, which has Serato installed. I only use it for timecode and visuals.

The turning point in my career was a two-year sabbatical in London…
I spent most of the 90s living in Arizona. During that period, I held a seven year residency. At the end of those seven years, the club closed, and my frustrations with the scene almost forced me to quit entirely. So I made the difficult decision to move to London.

London was the turning point, and everything else has been a slow climb. I took the mantra of making music for my sets, and settled in a new home of Miami re-inspired.

I love the music videos I get to film on location…
Nothing Without Me was done in London, and included singer Ana Diaz. She was amazing, and her vocal captivated the world. I couldn’t imagine anyone else singing that song.

Radio helped me through difficult childhood times…  
I’m very conscious that the radio show is helping people out there who are going through difficult times of their own. It’s very humbling to receive messages from fans saying that listening to Global DJ Broadcast has helped heal them through sickness and emotional distress.

For me, I try to envisage it as a one-to-one experience with the listener, because that’s how I felt when listening to the radio myself. It’s just you and me, hanging out, and I’m going to play some tunes to entertain you.

The song that changed it all…
The original Perception by Cass & Slide. It reminds me so much of my time in London, around the turn of the millennium. I had the opportunity to pay tribute to the original with my own version featuring the amazing Justine Suissa on vocals. The lyrics are so incredibly moving and powerful – “rise up together” is a slogan I think we can all live by.

My go-to floor-filler…
Would have to be my instrumental track Remember This. It acts as the bridge between the warmup portion, and the beginning of the peak hour chaos. What I’ve always tried to do is somehow present my soul and feelings into all of my tracks, and hopefully it’s something that resonates.

My track of the future…
One track that genuinely blew me away on first listen was Ten Walls – Walking with Elephants. I discovered it during my stays in Ibiza last year and have been playing it in my sets ever since!