Influences: Nathan Micay

“It’s ?nally spring and so it is time for my annual dive into band music. Long before I was the dashing DJ/producer I am today, I was heavily into guitar driven music..bluegrass, ‘indie’… whatever. However, things started to change when I heard Parsley Sound. There was something so exciting to me about their mix of electronics and familiar sounds like guitar and acoustic bass. Their self titled album remains a ?rm favourite and their messy collage style of music continues to have a heavy in?uence on my own way of doing mixdowns.”?

“Another transitional track for me. I remember exactly where I was when I ?rst heard this….sitting at my desk in 2nd year of uni feeling down and out because after using Ableton Live 8 for two months already, I still couldn’t’ make dubstep the way I wanted. Then I noticed this track being put out by my favourite label at the time, Hot?ush. It blew my mind. I had never heard anything like it. Despite its complexities, it really clicked with me on a theoretical level and I used it as a base to start writing music in a different style. Low and behold it worked and 8 months later I had my ?rst two vinyl releases signed. A lot of the music of this era has not aged well in my opinion…this track is a survivor though. I can still put this on and ?nd myself feeling like that excited 20 year old again.”?

“Somehow in my musical development I completely skipped over Aphex Twin. I only even heard of him at age 23. In terms of discovering the joys of electronic music, I’d say Four Tet and Burial were to me what Aphex has been to so many others. I felt like a kid in a candy store after ?rst hearing Untrue and then discovering Mr. Bevan’s other works. Eventually it led me to ‘Moth’ and all the goodness that is Four Tet’s early work. This track in particular had a big impact on me. I think it was one of the ?rst times I really understood the effectiveness of a good loop. Something I still struggle with now, like so many other producers. This truly is a masterpiece.”?

“The cheesiest of cheese. The shame of Canadian pop. The ?rst dance music song that ever got lodged into my brain at the age of 10. I have very vivid memories of hearing this on Kiss 92 FM in Toronto all the damn time when I was a kid. It was so catchy that I even taught myself the main riff on the piano, prompting my parents to make me switch to playing viola(true story). All jokes aside, it’s an incredibly effective pop song and the hopefulness of it had a lasting impression. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to make a sad song..and I do try. Somehow everything I make always ends up sounding optimistic with a dash of euphoria. I blame this track and my receptive young brain.”?

“They burned their money, pretended to shoot up the Brit Awards…..and made one of the best damn ambient albums of all time. I LOVE this album. I love the conceptual nature of it and how immersive it is. It was such a reference point for my writing process on Blue Spring. So many different sounds and in?uences. I’m a ?rm believer that dance music was meant to use anything and everything…I could never be happy using just the same old drum machine and a couple known synths. Give me a god damn steel pedal like this. Gorgeous. So outside the box and it works so so well. Love.”?

“As I mentioned earlier, I love concept albums. I don’t see the point of an album if there isn’t a story to go with the music. That’s one of the biggest traps that plagues dance music producers with albums in my opinion. So often it becomes a collection of tracks that could have easily just been three EP’s released over a year. Obviously Pink Floyd are not a dance music producer but their mastery when it comes to the concept album really has stayed with me over the years. The Wall in 1979 could’ve stood alone as a great album itself but no…they had to go make a movie, an insane stage show with a narrative and ground breaking visuals. With Blue Spring, despite our much smaller budget, we still tried to capture that spirit with a comic, coherent visuals and aesthetic choices.”?

“I watched this far too often. Give thanks for people like Japanese tennis star Shuzo Matsuoka. Never give up. Everyone is cheering you on.”?

“The in?uences of this ground breaking piece of work on my own album are obvious. So many sounds dancing around each other. So many in?uences. The whole thing is so manic, yet somehow controlled in a way that makes sense. It pulls you in and often I don’t even know where I should be paying attention to. The riffs are great, the ambience is 2nd to none (perhaps only to the KLF mentioned on this list) and it’s truly a listen with zero predictability.”