MAMöro is a Lisbon based DJ/Producer who has a really distinct sound, beautifully mixed both afro-house sounds with a more techy approach included. With an upcoming release on Deep In Your Soul next month “Whispers”, we sat down with him recently to see how his summer has gone, his recent show in Ibiza at Cova Santa, and what’s to come for the rest of the year…
Hey MAMöro, great to meet you!! What’s good and bad in your world so for this year?
Hey there! Nice to meet you too and let me start by thanking you for this opportunity to present myself a bit more to the public. I’m a very positive person, so I’m forced to say that this year it was all good! I have a couple of good releases and a very nice collaboration with Idd Aziz coming up, a debut at Ibiza this past month and I still have some good plans in perspective till the end of this year.
Introduce yourself and tell us how you got to where you are today, what have been the key moments and milestones?
My parents came from Africa to Portugal when they were very young and me and my sister were all born and raised here. I had my first steps as a DJ when I was 18 years old and did for about 4–5 years. Then life took a turn and I had to go on another route. A few years passed, the pandemic struck, and we were all confined at home. I started to play again, first just for the walls and the cats, and then I started to invite some friends. Lo and behold after a few weeks I was trhowing house parties every weekend at my villa and more and more people started to show up. A friend of a friend from another friend, and so on.When the lockdown ended, it was mostly my friend who pushed me not to stop and to get back as a DJ. I guess they ended up waking the beast that was sleeping for a very long time, and that was the beginning of this second journey.
You’ve been blending Afro sounds with bass-driven tech for over a decade. How has your sound evolved over the years?
All combined I have around 10 years of experience as a DJ but only at this second run I started producing my own music, after realizing that nowadays you can’t be just a DJ who plays other DJ’s tracks. At the beginning I was producing pure and raw Afro House as we were used to hearing a few years ago but that is slowly fading away. Then I realised the Afro House scenario was changing drastically and i had to change with it, or I would also fade away with it… it’s simple math.
So I started looking for new tunes, something that I could identify has something of my own without sounding like somebody else. First I took out some Afro elements without erasing it completely, and then I started mixing it up with tech driven bass and synths. In my opinion the vocals are where the gold is because nowadays with the social media hype, stories, reels, the sing along trend… it’s really important to have the right hook. So this way you get something that sounds a bit Afro house, a bit tech and with a nice vocal hook, that can be appreciated by a larger range of people… the perfect recipe.
You just wrapped up some shows at Cova Santa in Ibiza. What was the vibe like, and how does playing there compare to other venues?
Even comparing Cova Santa with other venues in Ibiza, I must say Cova Santa’s vibe is really special. I felt that people were really connected with the music and with the DJs, always dancing and embracing the musical journey. Very few phones were sticking out in the air apart from the intro I made. You know you did a good job when the clock hits 06:00 in the morning, the lights go on and the dance floor is still packed with people begging for one more tune.
How do you prepare for a performance in a place as iconic as Ibiza? Do you approach the crowd differently?
There is something I like to do no matter where I play, and that is the intro. To Ibiza, I must confess that I made a special one with a high tension and powerful vocals to captivate people’s attention to what was coming…me!!
What’s the story behind your upcoming single, “Whispers”? How did you come up with those dramatic grooves and seductive vocal elements?
With whispers, the whole idea started exactly with the vocals, “the whispering”. So, as it isn’t exactly lyrical the whispers were to by played in very short and specific spaces of the track and I had to come up with a group of elements and groove to create rhythm, tension, movement and curiosity along the track to keep listeners hooked and interested … that’s why I normally like to be very dynamic in my productions.
Second phase it’s all about the keyboard and synthesizers going on and on working on the bass line and looking for that lead hook. Then I moved to the kick, shakers, hi hat, percs, fills etc., but I must say that the final automation process as a huge impact in the way the track sounds.
But wait until you hear the track that I am working on right now … save this name
“Expanding Tenderness” to me, it’s the best track I have produced so far and never before I managed to blend Afro House and tech vibes so well as I did on this one. Stay tuned!!
Your label, Mamoromusic – what is the vision behind it, and how do you select artists for the label?
Actually I created the label soon as I started producing, planning on releasing just my own music, but then I realized that maybe it was not ideal for that moment as a newbie in music production and releases and I started releasing on other labels. You can not be a one-man show, it will come to a point where you will just have to let a few things go and surround yourself with people that will help you to capitalize your carrier in a faster and effective way.
Later on I created the Pulse 360° event, and I was showcasing once a month mixing local and international DJs. It was under Pulse 360° that my partner and I started to bring new upcoming DJs under our wing and give them an opportunity to play on a bigger stage and with experienced international DJs.
As someone who’s been in the game for 10+ years, what advice would you give to emerging producers in the afro-tech scene?
Man, that’s a tough one because the market is switching dramatically and more than that, I don’t think that the market was ever volatile as it is now.
The best piece of advice I can give I guess is, try to find your own tune and be authentic, do not try to sound like somebody else and if you plan on being a DJ as well, don’t go out there playing with a hand on your pocket or a scarf on your head. Believe me, this is not football and nobody is looking for another Black Coffee or another &Me they want you to present something new. Something they haven’t seen or heard before.
What else are you working on, what’s next?
Well, I have a couple of very interesting projects on the horizon. EXODUS is scheduled to premier late this year. It’s a project in collab with my friend and partner Bruno Mira that will bring more than just a musical experience.
We are also planning on starting another project next year with my good friend and fellow DJ artist and producer Mickey Dastinz from Masaka, but not much I can disclose about that one at the moment.
Apart from that it will be studio production non-stop and waiting for more gigs to play and show my work.
Grab MAMöro latest release here
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