AN INTERVIEW WITH MITSUBIO
Mitsubio's latest album Round Two is a journey through a blend of electronic, house, dance, trance, and synth music, all packaged together in a unique appeal. The album immerses listeners in a world where vibrant energy meets subtle mood shifts, creating a listening experience that changes with each song.
The production exudes some brightness, yet the album navigates different emotional areas. The way Mitsubio builds and layers these different elements gives the record a depth, and it never gets stale.
Each track gives its own distinct vibe, drawing on influences from vintage pop and dance music while experimenting with modern electronic feels.
There's a theatrical quality to the arrangements, hinting at a sense of anticipation.It's an album that invites you to get lost in its sound, shifting between moments of high-energy and more introspective, atmospheric styles.
Despite the modern, electronic edge, Round Two manages to capture a sense of nostalgia with its occasional nods to classic pop approaches.
The use of classic synths and hooks brings to mind the timeless appeal of earlier dance and pop eras, blending them seamlessly with contemporary production.
The fluctuations in atmosphere throughout the album make for an engaging time, as listeners are carried along with the ebb and flow of the release.
Available now on Spotify, Bandcamp, and all major streaming platforms, Round Two is a must-listen for fans of electronic music, dance-pop, EDM, and synth-driven genres.
With the release of such a well produced and put together record, we wanted to have a chat with the artist to find out more of how the album came to be amongst other things.
Here's what happened.
TSWS: What kind of meaning does this album hold for you?
- It means a lot. It's the culmination of a lot of musical interests I've had for a while, plus overcoming a good deal of procrastination which I've managed to get rid of, mainly through trying to live a bit more of a healthy life.
TSWS: How long have you been producing and writing music?
- I've been playing music since I was about six or seven, then writing music in bands as a teenager, and I started Djing when I was 19. I set my own record label up when I was 25, and had a hand in some of the production of tracks we released but never as a solo artist. So this part of my music career has only been the last five years or so.
TSWS: What artists or producers really influence you?
- Producers I always look out for are people like Coldcut, Alan Braxe, Hot Toddy, Inflo, Pete Rock; this is just a snapshot, it's a very long and chaotic list!
TSWS: Do you do this all at a home studio? What kind of software or gear do you use?
- Yeah it's all produced in my home studio, and then mastered by friend Fableist, who's got 25+ years of production and mastering experience. I don't master my own stuff, I'll leave it to the experts. The DAW I use is GarageBand, with an Akai MPK Mini Mk3 midi keyboard, and a handful of plugins, mainly Phil Speiser's The Instrument, for some amazing keyboard and synth sounds, and Valhalla Supermassive for Reverb. For the sounds themselves, Bandcamp throws up quite a lot of good loops and samples, and I also use a few field recordings for soundbeds and textures. Places I've been that have good interesting ambient noise like beaches, forests etc. I remember seeing an interview with Finneas on Jimmy Fallon, talking about producing Billie Eilish's 'Bad Guy', and he was saying that part of the main percussion line was the sound of a traffic light he sampled which he discovered when he was touring in Sydney. So there are great sounds to pull from everywhere in life - listen for the weird unique stuff.
TSWS: Who is in your headphones right now?
Right now? MJ Cole, and his amazing album from 2020, Madrugada. Otherwise, I can't get enough of Sault and everything that they release, and the work of Ironsides is on heavy rotation. I'm also listening to a lot of Neil Frances, Gilligan Moss, MRCY, Lou Hayter. There's so much.
TSWS: What is coming up next for you?
I'm releasing three tracks from Round Two with a remix each, and then hopefully a new album around about November 2025. That's the pattern from now on. Album every winter, singles and remixes in the following months, while writing brand new tracks too. And hopefully learning new techniques as I go.
TSWS: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Thanks for listening. The way that music is discovered and distributed these days is very fragmented, so for anyone to put on a whole album (even a short one) and listen to it and be into it is great.