In the week that sees the West Coast producer initiated into the House Masters hall of fame, Miguel Migs talks us through some of the highlights on his first ever retrospective compilation.
Miguel Migs featuring Ledisi - Breakin' It Down (Original Album Version)
I remember writing this entire song on my acoustic guitar in the mid 90's, then sitting on it for a while and forgetting about it.Then I finally got it together to finish and record it. I had Ledisi come in to perform the vocals and she completely nailed it on the first take. I vividly remember recording the vocals in the studio with my old friend Henry and we both had goosebumps because her voice was just so beautiful and powerful. This was the first release on Naked Music to launch the record label and the response was phenomenal. A very inspiring time for me in ‘dance’ music, even though the Original Version was downtempo, all played live with some great musicians. It’s amazing how many people through the years have told me they are not really necessarily fans of dance or house music in particular, but they love this song. It crosses the boundaries and I’m all about diversity since I just love writing music in all its shapes and forms.
Miguel Migs feat. Aya - So Far
I have always loved Aya's beautiful and dreamy voice, as it is so delicate and seductive. We both love 80's, disco and soul, and all kinds of genres, so we love writing songs together and bouncing ideas off each other and we wrote this song together at my house in 2006. I was exceptionally excited to get in the studio to record the vocals with her because I knew it was something special. It had just the right blend of components and the song just simply made you feel good. One of those songs that was captivating from the minute the bassline kicks off to the first word she sings. Definitely one of those songs with crossover appeal potential.
Miguel Migs feat. Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King - Everybody
I have been a fan of Evelyn Champagne King for many years and of course her classic hits are simply timeless. It was such a pleasure to learn that she was a fan of my work also. We spent some time sending ideas back and forth and I wrote and sang a rough demo scratch version for her to check out and she loved it. She was so open to all of my ideas. The next step was recording the vocals together in my studio, and the outcome sounded sweet, a nice blend of classic Evelyn’s style, a balanced combination of some new school and old school elements. And she is such a cool person - full of energy, it was such a pleasure to work with her on this song.
Miguel Migs - Surrender
I wrote this song as my follow up single to ‘Breakin it Down’. Though I love to write original songs, I’m not a singer in the professional sense by any means, so when I write these songs and melodies I usually have someone in mind to perform the final vision, or at least a vivid direction as to what style I want it to be. Lagerald was singing background vocals with Ledisi in her band at the time and he had such a smooth laid back style, it fit perfectly with what I was trying to capture with this song. The lyrics are very personal and he really connected with the subdued and melancholy feeling of the song...
Blue Six – Pure (Migs Petalpusher Vocal)
Monique's voice is so powerful and her style is so unique, and this song just blew me away from the first time I heard it. The emotion she captured, the lyrics, the message, the melody, it was amazing to me. I wanted to capture the emotional aspect of this song with the remix and make sure to let the vocal shine on it. I vividly remember building the beats, the chords and melodies around these breath-taking lyrics with goosebumps in the studio. A song I always enjoy hearing and definitely one of my favourite pieces of work that I have done.
Miguel Migs feat. Half Pint – Life
Being a huge reggae fan, I was so stoked to feature Half Pint on a track. And being that I was a huge fan of his music since I was a young kid, I knew all his songs and always had loved his voice. I sent him the track and he was so cool and easy going to work with, he sent me the rough demo version of the vocals, since he wrote and recorded the vocals in Jamaica. I loved it right away and wanted to keep and use the raw vocals from the demo version. I wanted to keep the vocals stripped down because his voice has so much depth and character to it. I actually ended up changing the entire track based on the vibe of the vocal, and Rasmus Faber played some key parts on this song that helped tie it all together.
Miguel Migs feat. Meshell Ndegeocello - Tonight
Meshell Ndegeocello is such a cool unique artist and I wanted to create something slow in tempo with her to capture her gentle and soothing voice. I don’t always think about the dance floor appeal of a song at all, and I prefer to write music and songs using all the inspiration I get from all kinds of music... And this song rides the line between a few different styles, which is something that I often try and achieve. I remember being in the studio with Meshell writing and recording this song, it was sounding great and it was almost finished but we still needed to nail the final chorus. So she put on her headphones and said she wanted to take a walk outside around the neighbourhood to gather some inspiration from the surroundings. And when she came back in she said "I got it"... and indeed she did - the song was complete!
Miguel Migs – Petalpushing
I spontaneously wrote this one around 1999. There is no big story behind it, as it is just a sample based track I did for fun, but the groove and melody became intoxicating and that vocal hook played around and around in my head. Through the years a lot of people have asked what the vocal part actually says, and I guess some people have their own take on it because I have heard some pretty funny responses about it. He is actually saying “and we drink our cup of laughter". It was more about the melody and chords to me though... When I finished the track I sent it to NRK and they released it, and I remember them hitting me up soon after to tell me that Francois K had played this track 3 times during his set at a gig in the UK. Being an up and coming producer at the time, that was a very inspiring thing for me to hear.
Lisa Shaw - Cherry (Miguel Migs Salted Vocal Edit)
This song is a fun little funky joint with a very sassy vocal performance. You can hear the 70's and 80's influence in there and I always enjoy a fun and catchy vocal hook when it is done creatively and tastefully. Me and Lisa have been working together for many, many years now and we are pretty much family. I have always been a huge fan of her voice, such a smoky, full and soulful style and I love that she is so open minded to music, as I am. We love all different styles of music, so it’s always fun to explore new ideas and try new things. This one is a staple in our sets when we perform together and it always goes down extremely well.
