Artist Feature 001: Mandeh

Our new weekly feature here on thepurplebay will highlight upcoming, undiscovered artists who we feel deserve some recognition for their achievements thus far and highlight their potential for the future. In this inaugeral feature, we are please to present to you the French born artist: Mandeh. Having amassed a rapidly growing fanbase on social media outlets after only 4 months of publically releasing his tracks, Mandeh is well on his way to cementing his place amongst the top electronic music scene players.

Under the motive of ‘we need perfect vibes’ from his facebook fanpage, Mandeh describes his music as chillout, vocal house and deep house – catching onto the growing trend of acoustic melodies and carefully selected vocals over a recognisable baseline. Fortunately we had the oppourtunity to ask Mandeh a few questions, read the full interview below! (Note: English as a second language)

How old are you & How did you get into producing music / how long for?

Currently I’m 18 years old! I started to experiment with producing sounds at 16 years old, so it has been about two years. My friend Rhodz tempted me to get into the production of electronic music.

Who are your musical influences?

My influences are mostly French: Daft Punk, Joris Delacroix, Vitalic etc… But as German as Paul Kalkbrenner, Shed and relatively young artists like Jonas Mantey and other international artist like Kygo, FlicFlac… I have many influences around other musical styles it to be electro or not.

If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why?

Compare myself to an artist? It’s really hard to say haha! I do not know how to compare, I’m certainly worth nothing yet compared to the monsters of the deep music – bu aspire to achieve such successes in the future!

Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process / software?

Frequently in the shower I start to sing a melody and I say “hey I have to try this”, but if I’m listening to music, or other activities I take inspiration from each, without copying anything course! I begin to create a melody on the piano then I look for chords and after I start creating the drum part, guitar etc… I use FL Studio and other software as massive, kontakt and others.

What would you say is your signature sound or style?

I love trying to create perfect vibes that you fit into your ears quietly without it to be aggressive! And recently I try to insert acoustic instruments in my productions. In the end I try to innovate, not to bore the listener. When I use the voice as for “La Plage” and “Sandbank” (vocals by Laurie Webb) – I love creating the delay effect with a good reverb on a little sample of the voice, it’s like my guilty pleasure!

What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Now with social networking, soundcloud and all other platforms, we independent artists can grow a circle of “fans” much easier than ever before.
For now my music is completely free as it allows for more exposure. It’s still a taboo subject for many people, but in the end if I am told that I can eventually live off my music I do not hesitate for one second; it’s my dream to be able to sustain myself off the back of my music.

What do you think your listeners will get out of your music?

I think it depends on the desire of everyone, some can dance to it, others relax, travel, dream, sleep etc … As we say in France, ‘c’est de la musique posaaaay!’

We love your latest vocal deep house release titled ‘Sandbank’ – what were you thinking about when this song was developed?

I did not touch my music software for weeks and suddenly I do not know when exactly but I went home, and I already had the melody in my head so I recreate on FL Studio, and “Sandbank” was formed! Besides the title is not mine, I search for a title in relation to the sand, because the music is pretty sweet and my friend Stevie (Gonzo Lechat) give me the title, I thank him also for this contribution.

What are your future plans / goals / aspirations?

I want to play in clubs -but at the moment it is tricky to invest in all the live equipment, but that will hopefully come naturally as my fanbase grows for 2015 at least. I have lots of ideas for the future, an EP for example, a collaboration with singers / artist and to get my music played on the 30th August at the Cithem Festival sound expo in France.

Wish wish Mandeh all the best for his future releases and will be supporting him all the way – Listen to his latest summer track ‘Sandbank’ below:

FREE DOWNLOAD