DJLarge

Man Power Flexes Across the Atlantic: Newcastle, England, electronic artist and Me Me Me label owner Man Power started DJing 20 years ago as a way to get free drinks at the clubs he was hanging at anyway.

“It got serious when people seemed to like how I did it,” he says. “I was a resident at a bunch of places and worked in a music project before the Man Power things took off. That just seemed to all happen due to a right time place thing I guess. I just yes to every opportunity or wild suggestion that came my way for a few years and that seemed to work.”

He describes his sound today as a hitch pitch of things that he likes.

“In the last year I’ve presented everything from techno, to house, to EBM, to experimental and ambient music, to trip-hop, balearic stuff and even an eight movement Symphony for Orchestra,” he says. “People often think I’m one thing because they only get to view my work through a small window of the way they encounter me, but I just really like a broad range of sounds and hopefully that comes through in what I make.”

He says that this is a great time for electronic music.

“There’s obviously stuff I can complain about, but there was stuff I could complain about  five years ago, and ten years ago, and fifteen years ago, so it’s better to just concentrate on what’s good,” he says. “There’s loads more to do but at least the trend is moving in the right direction for things like diversity on lineups etc. The important thing is it seems like there are more people care about it changing for the better than there are those that wish it to stay the same. There are so many new tools to make music and collaborate too. Young people are discovering older music more readily and developing broader and more varied tastes in a way that has almost demolished the concept of a mainstream. It’s very fun. The UK always seems to have more than it’s fair share of talent, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon too.”

Man Power just released the “Blood Money Power” single on his own Me Me Me label.

“[It] is a slice of ’80s leaning agit pop with vocals from Glasgow’s Junto Club and LA’s Club Tularosa,” he says. “In the next couple of weeks I’ll be releasing some Electro in my guise as MPX on the Ape-X label which is a label I have really deep connection with thats based in my home town. That’s gonna be followed up quickly by another Man Power release on Belfast’s Nocturne label, ran by Jordan who I just really like, and then that’s gonna be followed really quickly by a release on Echocentric which is a label based in Finland which is ran another really nice guy called Timo. All this is before we even get to march 2023.
I’ve made a bit of a return to dance music after some time away exploring other projects, but as you can see I’ve come back with a bit of a bang as far as being busy goes.”

Looking ahead, he has plenty planned for the next year.

“As mentioned, I’ve had a mild hiatus where I’ve been very keen to not be too busy and tour too much so that I had space for other projects (and some time with my family), but I’m not in a position where I’m about to dive back in with both feet, so the rest of the year sees me in the US, Mexico and Europe, and then 2023 looks like it’ll see me jumping from SE Asia, to tours in Brazil, Colombia, Canada, India and of course regular trips to play Clubs and Festivals all around Europe,” he says. “It was helpful and pretty necessary to have some time off, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss playing and touring and generally immersing myself in a culture which has ruled my life for nearly 20 years. It’s great to see how much interest there is for me now I’ve said I’m coming back, as you really do wonder if it’s gonna be waiting for you after a break. I feel really lucky and think I’m coming back as a bit of a new and improved version of myself.”

Man Power Flexes Across the Atlantic: The “Blood Money Power” single is out now through Me Me Me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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