Markus Schulz, iconic German-American DJ and Producer, is known for his weekly radio show called “Global DJ Broadcast” and has been active in the music scene since as early as 1991 and was voted America’s No. 1 DJ by DJ Times in 2012. Schulz has been a pioneer in the dance music scene – pushing the boundaries of the darker side of trance and house.
In recent times, Schulz has moved away from his trance roots and has been cultivating a new pop oriented sound that is much more accessible to the public and is rooted in a radio friendly dance structure. His release with Sebu, of Capital Cities, titled “Upon My Shoulders” is a beautiful track that features an infectious acoustic guitar melody combined with Schulz’s expert production skills and Sebu’s pop rock sensibility.
We at EDMTunes had privilege of sitting down with Schulz for an interview to talk about his upcoming album “We Are The Light” in depth and specifically the process with creating “Upon My Shoulders” along with his other upcoming projects.
Markus Schulz: The song was written a couple of years ago – Ferry and I were looking for some new music for New World Punx […] I want to write a song about being up on stage and connecting with the audience. We were trying to visualize it […] originally the song was called ‘Carrying my girl up on my shoulders’. Ferry and I decided to scrap it – then I decided writing ‘We Are The Light’ and I always thought that this song had something. I had become friends with Sebu and I visualized him singing it and I sent it to him and he sent it back and he changed it the lyrics to ‘Carrying you upon my shoulders” and all of sudden everything made sense.
EDMTunes: What is the concept behind “We Are The Light?”
Markus Schulz: Conceptually with the album – it’s a lot different the “Nine Skies” Dakota Project but at the same time very similar – they both came from the same place. The Nine Skies came from a place of despair – a lot of things going on in the world. I made that album about how I was feeling. This album, same kind of idea, instead of being depressed about it – it’s a statement about the EDM community. We need to be the light – we’re all together celebrating live and that’s the bright light that the world needs. They need to see how we’re enjoying life and all interacting with each other in a positive way.
EDMTunes: Who are you the most excited to collaborate with next?
Markus Schulz: I would love to collaborate with a Britney Spears or a Selena Gomez. I’ve always said this – if I ever collaborate with a pop artist, I want to bring them into my world. Put them in my mindset and then let’s create because I’m sure they have an artistic fire.
EDMTunes: What’s been the highlight of your tour so far?
Markus Schulz: We just finished the European tour and it’s been awesome – Tomorrowland, Mysteryland and Untold Festival were off the charts. I moved into a new place in Miami during the beginning of summer and have only spent 6 nights in there so far. It’s been that kind of summer – but it’s been amazing!
EDMTunes: Are there any plans for New World Punx in the future?
Markus Schulz: Ferry and I were talking about it. He’s been working on his own projects, he’s doing film scoring right now and I’ve been working on my albums but 100% we’ve been talking about it. When we do New World Punx 2.0 – we want a whole concept and we have some ideas that will blow everybody’s minds but it’ll take some time to get into the studio and redo our entire library of tracks.
EDMTunes: That’s awesome – we’re really excited for that. Thanks again for sitting down with us!
Be sure to check “Upon My Shoulders” below!
