This Saturday's guest – both at 180° Sea Terrace and Nolla – comes from Lisbon, Portugal. Tiago Miranda's taste is as brilliant as it is versatile and he apparently enjoys doing things without rushing – 7-hour sessions at Club Lux are a regular habit. Although he started producing just quite recently, his musical output has already been featured on DFA, Golf Channel and Italians Do It Better.

 

For those who are not familiar with you, could you tell a bit about your musical history – how and when did you get into DJing and producing?

 

– Hey, thanks for reading. So, I got into music through the influence of the cosmos, I guess like everyone else. My taste developed during a long tradition of listening sessions at home with my parents and friends. Later I got into drumming by watching my older brother do it. Bands were brought into the equation and then much later came the DJing and the solo production. I've been playing records since 1993 and started doing it more seriously or professionally when I arrived in the city of Lisbon at the age of 17. Solo production stuff started in 2007, though, very late in the process. So I was first a musician, then a DJ, then a musician again – all in good time.

 

 

You're recording under a few different aliases. How do these projects differ from each other?

 

– I think they don't differ that much, it's just a way to channel the creative burst and being busy while creating names and concepts and so on. I think more in terms of projects for different labels, just for the fun of it. Musically, I think they all share the same universe, you know? 

 

Is there a typical production process or do you try to alter your approach to making music from time to time?

 

– Yeah, when I'm having an output moment I don't even lace my shoes, cause I don't care for stuff like that anymore – I just play and record everything and have fun with it. Although normally at 5 PM every day I switch into the family mode and call it a day as far as music making goes. So, I always use the same amount of time per day and I'm always at the same place. I don't have a studio – I just use a corner of the house, so if I need to record, say live drums or something more complex like that, I try to get a studio in the city and pay by the hour. 

 

But I guess I have a lot of input moments, too, when I don't make any music at all (because I just can't) – I just listen or watch or do nothing, and that can take weeks or a month.

 

Lately you've released music on such labels as DFA and ESP Institute. What's coming up next?

 

– Remixes coming up for Pezzner, Vahagn, Soft Rocks, Cantoma, Secret Circuit and a few more that I am working on at the moment. Originals coming on Wurst from New York, Jolly Jams from Berlin and Hands Of Time from Porto – so stay tuned if you're into my music.

 

mix japan exclusive march 2011 -sample- by Tiago Miranda

 

You're known for all-night sets at Lux in Lisbon. How do you prepare yourself for such a session? Are there combinations of genres that recur in your sets or do the nights differ a lot from each other?

 

– The nights differ from each other, but there is always a combination of different genres. There has never been themes like ladies night, where you could only play this or that. Actually Lux is a heaven regarding that – very open minded considering the capacity of the place. But it was a long process to make people happy while playing the craziest shit on a regular Saturday night.

 

How is the dance music scene in Lisbon and Portugal in general, in your opinion?

 

– Really big, I guess, and you can easily sense it. Cars blast techno, house or kizomba, period. You can also go to all types of parties every weekend and kids just go to clubs nowadays, anyway, so I guess it will be around for many years to come. But yeah, most of it is not really my scene.

 

Any new producers you've gotten excited about lately? 

 

– Oh man, many people are doing great stuff. Lately I've been feeling a lot what Secret Circuit is doing, for instance.

 

Are there certain artists or records you enjoy listening to on the day after partying?

 

– No, not really, I just stay put when possible after partying.