Markus Schulz took some time off to answer some questions.

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Markus Schulz, Nº 8th DJ in the world on DJ Mag, A DJ and producer known by many for his unique brand of sound. Found and signed by Armada, he quickly latch onto the record label world and created Coldharbour Recordings which now houses top quality releases while recruiting the newest talents. In conjunction of his 3rd studio album entitled "Do You Dream". STC had the opportunity to sit down with him to answer some questions.

01. Morning Markus, how do you feel on your summer schedule ahead? You have a busy schedule which includes your summer residency in Ibiza once more and festivals in Europe. Before that you are heading down under in Australia. Are you looking forward to the gruelling trekking across the globe?
I sure am… I’ve had a bit of time off recently, just enough to recover and now I’m raring to get back into it! Like most people I always look forward to summer, but this summer, just that bit more. I’ve got a CD wallet full of new music, a lot of it my own, and some very special ‘feature-length’ (!) sets to play.  

02. You had the chance to play in front of your German faithful at Mayday and will be playing at Nature One at Kastellaun in July. How was the experience playing in front of the home crowd in Mayday? Are you looking forward to play in front of your home fans once more?
I loved it – a really terrific day. I cannot play enough in Germany and yes Nature One is going to be incredible.

03. The big question on everyone lips is your upcoming artist album “Do You Dream?”.  The album is scheduled to be released middle of June. Is there a comparison between your two other artist albums “Progression” and “Without You Near”? Or are each creation a step in how your style has progressed over the years?
I think that there’s a clear-cut progression between each one certainly. The music ‘mix’ that goes into each is always going to be different. If there wasn’t that element in there I would feel like I was treading water – which I wholeheartedly refuse to do. To actually pin down what that mixture is though is very hard indeed. There are several – and now I’m thinking about it in fact – many tracks on there that I personally would find hard, if not impossible to categorize. By way of example the first track ‘Alpha State’ is beatless and has some lovely slow arpeggios in it, but it could never be called ‘chillout’ or ‘ambient’ – in terms of the album’s overture its way too intense and scene-setting. Likewise there’s a track called ‘Away’ (which has the fantastic vocals of Sir Adrian on it). It’s got real pace and tempo and drive behind it, but nothing really overt in terms of riffs - just this really amazing rolling bass-line and the vocals that carry it. It’s not tech-trance, it’s not deep trance – I really don’t know how you’d classify it!          

04. What is your biggest inspiration in making the album? Cities you’ve travelled to, gigs you played in or that sudden spark of inspiration during those long overhaul flights.  Are fans in for a spectacle?
I’ll answer your last question first here. I think that the fans are in for a real spectacle! I’ve held a lot of the music on ‘Do You Dream?’ incredibly close to my chest. Most of the tracks, as they’ve been finished, have been locked up in the studio, so I’m actually hoping that as they all now come rushing out there it’ll be a very big spectacle as people breath it all in and draw their conclusions on it. In terms of inspiration, I’m inspired by many things. I tend to channel my city inspirations (which are strong!) into my mix CDs and save the others for artist albums. I do get hit by flashes of inspiration – sure, and in some quite unusual places! Gigs are always a great source too. Sometimes you’ll catch the floor going particularly crazy to one section of a track - maybe one where you didn’t quite expect them too - and you’ll store that away and think ‘hmm, good one – I’ll remember that!’

05. Were there any hiccups or obstacles along the way in making the album?
You know what, not really. I was pretty lucky in that respect. No broken into studios, no corrupted hard-drives - it just flowed along really well. It took quite some time though!

06. Is there any particular track from the album Markus fans are able to look forward to? Or does each track has its own vibe?
I’d say that almost every track has its own vibe. There are maybe just three that I would classify as ‘big room’ tunes; ones that you could possibly group together. The rest (I don’t think at any rate) can be tied in anyway – it’s why ‘Do You Dream?’ works as and end-to-end listening experience. It would be very hard to accurately predict what’s around the next corner! In terms of what the fans are looking forward to, I guess there is probably a fair amount of expectation around what Justine and I have done with ‘Perception’. Ultimately though I just hope that people are looking forward to hearing the whole thing!

07. Among the vocalists you have worked with on the album such as Khaz, Jennifer Rene, Sir Adrian & Susana to name a few. Who did you enjoy working with most and why?
Each had its own different experience attached and I certainly couldn’t say that there was one I enjoyed working with more than the others. One thing is that all these guys are consummate professionals. They are no rank amateurs in that list – they understand that the job is to create an original, well-charged vocal, and in each in their own ways they deliver it!

08. Were not forgetting your special remake of a favourite track of yours “Cass & Slide – Perception” with the vocals of Justine Suissa. Are you any way nervous of the general reaction from the fans?
You know what, I wouldn’t say nervous as such! Anticipation perhaps! After Dark Heart Waiting it’s the next single and the album is out in a week or so either which way I don’t have long to wait now!

09. What track in the album is your personal favourite and why? Or would that be a tough choice to make?
No personal favourites – it’s Markus’ law!

10. Do you owe it to your fans for inspiration during those hard days as you went along producing the album?
Completely – I couldn’t emphasize that enough! If I wasn’t doing this stuff for an audience by this point it would be pretty soulless! I absolutely love to get out there, behind the turntables and let tracks rock. There were many, many moments in the studio, when something happened and I thought ‘BAM - I cannot wait to see how that moment catches the dancefloor! That’s what inspires you and motivates you to keep on creating.

11. Tracks such as “Daydream”, “Without You Near”, and “Travelling Light” are some of your older creations. Is there any chance for fans to get to hear some of these tracks being played on the dance floors during the summer festivals?
Oh for sure they’ll be brought out! However, as I said earlier, with this wealth of new material that I’ve had building up for so long, the emphasis will be more on giving people something new. 

12. Are you looking forward to the Coldharbour’s 100 release on the label? Would that be a huge personal achievement for you?
It will be a big moment – yes. As with many landmarks in your life though you don’t start out thinking ‘I wonder what this or that will feel like when I get there’. Sometimes because you don’t want to jinx it, but more often because you don’t push your brain forward enough to imagine you’ll ever get there. The day I started Coldharbour I certainly wasn’t thinking ‘I wonder what the 100th release will be?’! You just hit the road, start releasing and then all of a sudden someone says, ‘heh release 92! What are you going to do for your 100th?’!

13. You have travelled to so many cities around the world and playing to thousands of people. Do you ever still get the nerves before you play?
Nerves no, butterflies yes! The excited, anticipatory kind!

14. Do you have any particular venue and sets of fans that you enjoy playing for? Or do you feed off the vibe from the crowd and work with it?
No particular venue, no. It is typically down to 3 or 4 things, all of which bleed into each other. The crowd/atmosphere, the club and the acoustics… When they’re all working at peak, it’s a ‘hang on for all you’re worth’ for the time of your life!

15. Lastly, What can we expect from you over the next couple of months? Is there another Dakota album in the mix?
I’ve got some very special things up my sleeve – as is so often the case though to talk about them now, would be to talk about them too early. In terms of Dakota, at this point though, I’d say more likely than unlikely!