Interview with producer Mike Hoffmann

Nick: Hello, Mike, and thank you for accepting this interview! Please introduce yourself in a few words. 


Mike: I'm musican, 34 years old, living in Leipzig, Germany. I'm married since 8 years and fan of the classical eurodance-sound. And since March 2013 musican and producer for the eurodance-act "Flash Point"


Nick: Please tell me how you've started your journey into the eurodance world

Mike: If I remember rightly, this journey started with a class trip 1993. It was the first time where i heard songs like "Mr Vain", "No Limit" and "What is Love", as some mates played this music in their ghettoblaster all the week. *laugh* It was the beginning of my love to the classical techno-trance -and eurodancesound until today.


Nick: How do you make an eurodance song? How it all starts and which is your basic process?

Mike: Normally, first i write the song on keyboard. And than i melodize the song in the classical eurodance-style. Here i'm starting with the choice of sounds. First kick, hat's, snare and bassline, than arps, pads, strings, leadsound, and than all other elements. In the 2nd phase i build the arrangement. Here can also some sounds change, until everything sounds great for me. The next step is the recording of the vocals. And then i'm starting with the mixing of the song.


Nick: Please tell me a little bit about the gear and the sofware you use. How important it is?

Mike: In my home-studio i'm using almost entirely software. The DAWs "Fl -Studio" and "Studio One", some vsti-versions from classical Korg-synths, the Synapse Dune and a large colletcion of sample-libarys from the 90's. I think, the gear is importent, because without the gear you can't produce music. But the best gear is just as good as the man or the women who is using that.


Nick: Could you please tell some "secrets" for the people who want to create eurodance music?

Mike: I don't know any secrets. I think, the most importent thing is to have a passion for this kind of music.


Nick: Which are your favorite 90s eurodance music acts?

Mike: I really like all the eurodancesongs with trance-elements inside. Songs from Snap, Culture Beat, Magic Affair, Jam & Spoon, General Base and also songs from Intermission, Captain Hollywood Project, Real McCoy, Pharao and 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor. But also i like almost every other eurodance-song. I think there are just a very few eurodance song that i don't like.


Nick: Tell us a few things about your eurodance project "Flash Point". Which are your future plans?

Mike: Yes. The idea to "Flash Point" was born on a eurodance-party in March 2013. We thought, we like it to hear all the old songs again and again. But also, we want to hear new songs in the same style like the old hits. But he old acts just release new versions of their old songs year by year in the current sound. So we thought, ok, when WE will make the new songs, we want to hear. *laugh* Our next step is to release a follower-song for "Follow Me" in late 2013 or early 2014.


Nick: Do you think the classic eurodance genre can return on the commercial scene one day?

Mike: No, i don't think so. I think the time of music for the masses is slowly drawing to an end. It comes up more and more subgenres, provided by specialized independent labels for listeners with an individual musictaste. Because, today it's easy for any musican to make pro music for a low price, to make cooperations with musians from all over the world, and for independent labels to provided the fans on the whole planet.
I think, maybe the classical eurodance-scene of one single country is very small, But the classical eurodance-scene worldwide is big, with hundreds of thousands or millions of fans. So i think, acts like Free 2 Night, Acting Lovers, Pulse Of The Beat or likewise Flash Point belongs to an next classical-eurodance generation, that is specialized for an individual musictaste of the  eurodance-fans worldwide. But not for the masses of millions people, provided by the big music industry, like in the 90's, where classical eurodance was a part of it.

Nick: Thank you, Mike! I wish you lots of good luck!

Mike: Thank you, Nick! The same to you!