At the end of 2019, it became clear that music is the answer for the Hamburg-based DJ & producer Greene. At that time he began to convert his creative ideas into his own music productions. It wasn’t for too long after his releases started appearing on labels as ICONYC, Traum, Awen & EIN2.
Driven by expressing his feelings and capturing the beauty of nature into his music the tracks he produces follow melodic technoid patterns and can‘t be defined by one genre only. His style is to be described somewhere between melodic techno and progressive house.
Not so long ago, Greene delivered a fantastic remix for North South Project. Out via our own label, Tanzgemeinschaft.
We took the time to prepare some questions for the master himself. Sit back, relax and enjoy the read.
Connect with Greene on Instagram | Facebook | Soundcloud
Hello Martin, nice to have you here at Tanzgemeinschaft. Hope all is well?
Thanks for having me Claudio!
Let’s start off with something non-music related. You are into woodworking we’ve noticed. You create these beautiful things out of wood. Where does that passion come from?
In my younger years, I started to work with wood from time to time. I somehow lost to create and be creative in my adult life. So before I started to produce music I continued to work with wood again. I’m really passionate about the material as itself, you cant work on a more natural material. In every work, I try to listen to the individual structure of the wood what it wants to become.
Find the nice works on instagram.com/martins_hlz.
Woodworking like you do and music requires patience. What influence have both on you. How do you feel when making music or these nice pieces of art in wood?
Mostly I feel the flow. There is not much space for feelings or thoughts. I am the process and after hours when I look or listen to my piece of work – I feel surprised at what just happened and in the best case proud.
Could you take us through a day in your life? From a possible morning routine through to your work? Do you have a fixed schedule? How do music and other aspects of your life feed back into each other – do you separate them or instead try to make them blend seamlessly?
I think creativity has its time, and cannot be put in a routine. Sometimes a new Trackidea flows and sometimes nothing happens or takes too much time to get into it. So there is no daily routine in my creative life. When I‘m doing my job or writing a new track I‘m totally focused so everything has to be divided. My only real routine is Qigong every morning.
Moving on to music. What’s your idea on the ever-changing music industry? Going from people to technology.
As an artist, you don‘t necessarily have to go with the flow except for your own one. Find your style and don’t copy. The copy will be never as good as the original. Especially in melodic Techno, I found many artists who copy each other. I think it’s more important to know who you are and what kind of music is inside you. When you found that – stick to it. Regarding technology I’m old-school. I mainly use my analog synthesizers to make music. Sometimes in combination with plugins. I want to be open to new stuff. That’s why I bought the Arturia Polybrute but also want to stick to the things that work out for me. It‘s not about the possibilities technology has, it‘s about how good you can handle it.
What motivated you in the first place to get into production?
I wanted to do something that keeps me on fire every day and simply wanted playtime. I thought when producing enough I will get it. But that’s not how the business works I figured out later.
What is your favourite piece of equipment in your studio? Tell us a bit about it. What’s the magic?
It‘s the Arturia Polybrute, a fantastic analog Synthesizer combined with touch-sensitive pads. Through these, I can put much more expression in my sounds and for me, it‘s great because I can feel it and don’t have to make some moves and clicks with my mouse. It‘s magic because it’s the first synthesizer done this way and is already a modern classic for me.
You’ve had a busy year with quite some releases. Which are your favourites and why? What made them special?
For me, the release on ICONYC stands out. This Release was done mainly with my Polybrute in one go from beginning to end. So the Main Lead Sound is never the same. It‘s also my first time working with Aves Volare which was a lot of fun.
What’s coming for the next 6 months?
I don’t often talk about my plans. I more often show the results. But what I can say is that there is much coming till the end of the year. Especially a release on one of the biggest independent records labels in electronic music. I thought it would take years to get signed there but it happened. So stay tuned.
Which body part of yours you’d love to exchange for a new one? 🙂
I think there is beauty in every part of every individual so there is no need to exchange anything except it really makes life difficult.
When thinking about music I would change my right ear because in relation to my left ear the capacity is not 100%. I hear things way not that loud as with my left ear. Don’t know how that comes but mixing with headphones is quite difficult for me.
Thank you
Greene’s remix for North South Project is also available for purchase/streaming.