![]() I guess it’s an ego thing to say, ‘I know that I’m capable of doing it, so why make someone else do it?’ It’s the same thing with the money aspect of this job. If I ever want to do something outside of DJing it’s good to understand the whole thing.” It’s perhaps not surprising that he’s become so skilled at accounting that other artists are asking for help. “My management sometimes say I go a bit overboard, but I mean, it’s a mixture of curiosity to learn every process. When it comes to running his labels, aside from actually delivering vinyl to the record shops, Micay has his hands in all day-to-day aspects - like licensing the tracks, producing or remixing music, and creating the artwork, which he designs with the help of his brother. “I’ve also been teaching them about running a record label, and last week I was asked to teach about finances as a DJ, which I’ve also had quite a few big DJs hit me up about.” “They keep asking me back,” he says proudly. ![]() Not only does Micay support the project with the revenue from his records, but after being asked whilst playing a benefit party, he is now also teaching music production at the organisation’s school. The revenue from Original Schwitz goes to a local Berlin organisation called Give Something Back to Berlin, a community platform that aims to connect migrants and refugees with locals to help foster community integration. “With Eternal Schwitz, 60 percent of the total goes to the artist, because I feel like they weren’t being paid enough from the original, and then the remaining 40 goes to aequa, this community support group in Berlin that fosters learning environments for women and transgenders, run by my friend Sarah Lynch.” With the Edits series, the revenues from each release go to a different LGBTQ charity, the latest of which have been attributed to India’s Humsafar Trust. The revenues from each label are divided between separate charities of Micay’s choice. “I thought it wouldn’t work, but it really did.”įor over a year now Micay has been running three of his own labels the limited-edition vinyl only Schwitz Edits imprint, Schwitz Eternal (again, vinyl only), which re-issues long lost rave epics, and Original Schvitz, a label for his creative, urgent dance productions. “I played it at Panorama Bar in August,” he explains. ![]() One such track he discovered while digging away, was Enya’s “Only Time”, a number one hit in Germany from 2000. He says it installs a certain sense of nostalgia in the older audience members, which is an intrinsic part of his artistic character. Taking it a step further, Micay also researches old club charts of Germany to see what records were once popular. But I now I feel like people are more open to it.” “At first I used to play a lot of trance, and a lot of people on the Panorama Bar Facebook groups were commenting on it. It’s something he thinks Berlin crowds - who, it could be said, once held a tyrannical attitude towards DJs deviating from techno and house - are becoming more open to. “I played a couple of EDM things, not pure EDM, but cheesy big drum things that worked really well,” he says. And as we settle into our conversation he divulges into some of the “tricks” he pulled off over the weekend. Micay’s musical creativity and diversity is reflected more and more in his DJ sets. ![]() Across his career as a producer, his regiment towards fitness and strength has remained a constant, counterbalancing the areas of his life that have remained in flux, like where he lives or the type of music he makes.Ī few days prior to our chat, Micay DJed at Berlin’s Panorama Bar, a club that has become one of his staples within Europe. Although he says he’s not as bulky as he used to be, his build and physique is more than admirable. Upon meeting Micay in Berlin, I was struck by his physical presence. It also acted as segway into the next step of his career - moving to Berlin, changing his artist name, and releasing his debut LP - an even more radical, conceptual, gleamingly brilliant record. Yet, as an abstract body of work, it totally worked in capturing the mood and emotion of the film, all set within the framework on an electronic music record. Capsule’s Pride was a surprise to most a swing to the right, acting as another wide deviation in his career trajectory. After a series of seriously-well received releases on Aus Music, Micay delivered what was to be one of his final releases under the Bwana alias - a conceptual record based upon the Manga film Akira, released as a free EP through the Scottish label LuckyMe. He ended up touring with Skrillex, releasing on Diplo’s Mad Decent imprint, and his records were played out by the likes of Sasha. Originally from Toronto, Micay first started making music and performing under the Bwana alias. Nathan Micay’s artistic history goes back almost 10 years, and has touched multiple points in the electronic community.
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