An interview with Frank Maurel and Mario Franca

Portugal’s finest Frank Maurel and Mario Franca join forces on Brainstorm: a two-track EP of deep and propelling house music for Steve Bug’s excellent and consistent Sublease Music.

Frank Maurel is one of the best exports of electronic products from Portugal. His first forays into production were released on Kaos Records in 2001, and over the course of his 30-plus-year career, Frank has released on some of the game’s most respected labels, including Ovum, Transmit Recordings, Under No Illusion, and Natura. Live. , DJing at clubs like Womb in Tokyo, Pacha and El Cielo New York, Rex Paris and Space Miami along the way.

Following his recent collaboration with Natura Viva earlier this year, Frank has once again teamed up with compatriot Mario Franca on an impressive EP for Steve Bug’s Sublease Music.

Mario Franca is an industry veteran, beginning his career in the mid-90s playing in
clubs like Rocks, Europa Sunsire, Gare, Pedra do Couto. The first releases landed on KingStreet Sounds, Great Stuff Recordings, Brise Records and many more, with their collaboration Sequencer alongside Lauhaus topping Beatport’s Deep House chart in 2019.

His EP for Sublease is Brainstorm: two tracks of hypnotic, hard, and hypnotic house music that demonstrate why these two producers are held in such high regard.

Vision is a deep and compelling house cut, with bright, spinning synths and resonant vocals that create a dreamy atmosphere as the powerful drums propel the beat forward. Drive Beat has a darker tone, with metallic twists and metallic sounds creating a more twisted vibe, a vigorous synth line that stands out on the break and turns into a dizzying climax.

We have had the pleasure of interviewing them, and this has been the result.

Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from / how did you get into music? Was it all internet based?

We are from Portugal, (Frank) I’ve been working in production since 2000 and as a dj 33 years of career and in the 90’s I didn’t have internet to be able to be the same today. To be a dj it was mandatory to buy records because there was no cdj or digital music and you could only play vinyl on technic plates. It was then mandatory to know how to mix and not like sync today.

(Mario) I’ve been working in production since 2007, as a dj for 26 years also only from the decade of the 90’s, then I started to feel passion for music. I started like all of us mixing in vinyl.

Who have been your main inspirations (both musical and in “life”)? And how have they affected your sound?

(Frank) I’ve been through everything in these 30 years of career. Almost like everyone we’re after the great artists who are still here. Jeff Mills, Ritchie Hawtin, Carl Cox, Danny Tenaglia, Laurent Garnier, Ricardo Villalobos, Steve Bug etc… in the 90s I played at the club from beginning to end. Thanks to them influence our music. (Mario) Today he takes references like artists Markus Homm, Nick Curly, Steve Bug, Laurent Garnier etc..

How would you define your sound?

Our sound is Electronic, House, Techouse, Minimal out there…

How has your sound evolved so far?

With a lot of dedication in production and we continue to evolve our work every day.

What can you tell us about your last job? What inspired you? What do you want to convey?

Our latest work came out on Steve Bug label Sublease Music. Brainstorm Ep contains 2 songs, Vision and Drive Beat. These tracks are a reflection of our roots and we try with experience to show and spread our rhythm.

What can you tell us about each song that makes up your latest work? What is hidden behind?

Our last job was Brainstorm and the song Vision is a more deep house tech theme with some beats for the dance floor. Drive Beat is a darker tech house theme with great rhythm and hypnotic vocals.

How are you living the current situation because of COVID? Has your work affected you a lot? Do you think there is hope? I feel like the underground scene will continue to persist.

We were unable to work in clubs for 19 months in Portugal. It affected a lot because everything was closed and Covid shut down our lives. With this pandemic we had to produce more! For now, everything has opened again and we’re back to working in clubs and events. Hope is always just to inform you that electronic music has been around for over 40 years… House and Techno is forever!

What projects are you working on right now?

We have several themes finished together and ready to be edited!

SUBLEASE MUSIC SOCIALS

https://soundcloud.com/sublease

https://www.instagram.com/subleasemusic

https://www.facebook.com/SubleaseMusic

FRANK MAURELSOCIALS

https://soundcloud.com/frankmaurel

https://twitter.com/djfrankmaurel

https://www.instagram.com/frank_maurel_

MARIO FRANCA SOCIALS

https://soundcloud.com/djmariofranca

https://twitter.com/djmariofranca

https://www.instagram.com/mario_f_franca

https://www.facebook.com/djmariofranca