Miguel Migs

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

 

Miguel Migs feels like he’s been around forever. His introduction to me came on the legendary Naked Music releases before popping up (to me it seemed at least) on the likes of Transport Recordings, Yoshitoshi, Large and more.

 

His sound was then and remains timeless – an energetic sunny attitude, stunning vocals, often from Lisa Shaw and music that it’s hard to resist moving to. For me, he’s in that elite list of DJ/producers you can always guarantee will deliver and keep it quality. Having watch a rare video of him being interviewed or two in research for this feature, he comes across as a  humble and genuine man - reflecting his musical class.

 

Miguel Migs (born 1972) grew up in Northern California on his parent’s collection of classic rock, blues, funk, soul and reggae records – which helped set the tone for his musical inspirations. He infuses these creative influences into his own sound, which combines this wide range of styles, blending them together into his own unique artistry.

 

Migs emerged from the 90’s deep house underground scene to become the kind of artist who transcends the stylistic limitations of a genre so very few can. Migs always loved and listened to all different styles of music, in the early 90’s he connected to the soulful sounds of Deep House and the rest is history! By the mid ’90s he began experimenting with producing electronic house music. And by the time the new millennium dawned, a string of releases and remixes on numerous leading indie dance labels earned him an enviable reputation among discerning dance music fans worldwide. As Petalpusher, he’d also become a stalwart of the hugely influential Naked Music stable with his original productions, remixes and compilations.

 

His own label, Salted Music launched in 2004 and has steadily been delivering the quality tunes Migs himself is known for ever since. A regular on the UM mixes they rank amongst the most consistent labels around. Originally an outlet for his own works, it now regularly features up and coming producers alongside other greats like Julius Papp. Of the label Migs explained music I like to play as a DJ, those B-side dubs, that underground creative feel. I never set out for it to be a large record label, it’s something we do pretty much on a part-time basis for fun as a side project. but it’s also important to me to be able to keep pushing new sounds and new artists.”

 

His trademark style is a sophisticated melting pot of sounds. Informed by electronic elements but no slave to metronomic dance floor rhythms and tempos, it takes influences from rock, jazz, reggae, soul and more, with a heavy emphasis on high-quality song writing and equally high production values.