EDM music is at the top of the popularity list in 2022. Famous music producer and DJ Ilya Truskovsky, also known as MAQ, has made a highly anticipated comeback in the EDM scene after so long with a brand-new release, ‘Catch-22’. The track is a rhythmic symbol of the artists’ truest thoughts and opinions about humankind and its future.
The aspiring artist has taken some time out of his busy schedule to sit with us for an interview. He has been kind enough to answer our queries about his music and upcoming works.
Hi MAQ! First of all Happy New Year, hope you’re doing well and congratulations on your comeback in the EDM scene. Thank you so much for doing this interview with us. Let’s get started:
DMR: Tell us a few things about yourself and what is the story behind your pseudonym MAQ?
MAQ: This is the Òwhen I was a little boyÓ-kind of a story )) and thatÕs exactly how it starts – I started learning music at the age of 3. My mom is a music teacher and my dad was a devoted music fan for all the hip bands of their time, like Beatles and suchÉ so it was kind of meant to be. Up until I was 17 I was going to become a solo piano performer, I was very serious about it, but then something happened in my mind and I started experimenting with synthesizers and composition and I got all carried away with the studio stuff.
Many years have passed I was writing a lot of music under different names, but at some point I started looking for a permanent pseudonym. It was a very long time ago! Around 2010 or so. I started looking for a name, because I started DJing at that time. I wanted something really short and snappy. And thereÕs not a lot of options with three letters, believe me. So I started channeling this idea, it was that time when I really was really into the new all the latest Paul McCartneyÕs latest records and also I was into the latest Mac computers and all the music creation on those computers which seems incredibly magical at that time. So that Mac-Mac had been turning in my head and I thought maybe I can just spell it differently and thatÕs how I got the MAQ title
DMR: So, you decided to make EDM music once again after so many years? What inspired you to do so?
MAQ: I was always doing electronic music but in the form of film scores. So that never left me. Then in the past few years something has changed inside me and I started rebuilding my studio and I was being all the latest synthesizers, I’ve created my modular system which is incredible and it will keep growing bigger and bigger. So I started experimenting with all this gear and I realized that I have a lot of new ideas, that I have changed, I have matured and I want to share my ideas with other, no matter what.
DMR: Why did you choose “Catch-22” as your comeback number? What is so special about it?
MAQ: Great question! I actually had and still have a few singles in the works, but this track particularly has captured all my feelings when our world has changed with the pandemic, with all the most powerful countries declining in life quality, and not because of the pandemic but because of some deep fundamental crisis going on, and the entire world started to become a worse place than it once was. These worrisome feelings reflected in this track and I just started to think about it more and more, where can this all lead? It may lead to a very sad ending, or not…
DMR: Tell us about the rhythmic structure and chord arrangement of the track. What kind of instruments did you use to create the symphony?
MAQ: The way I created the whole concept and the melodic/chord structure of this track was a live improvisation that I setup in my studio, having all the synths along with my modular racks all setup up and ready to go. So I started off with this rhythm that I’ve programmed on a few analog modules and then I was improvising and adding layers in real time. So there was the bass line, then the harmonies and than came that solo. That solo is unedited original performance, by the way. This process took two days, actually two nights, one night for the improv itself and the second night to cut all the most interesting material. Then I ha d about two months of working on the shape, structure and the mix itself.
DMR: How is its rhythm different from other contemporary ones? What is the primary distinguishing factor in the song?
MAQ: I’ve never thought about it. I never dissect anything that I do. So it’s hard for me to judge if it’s any different from others. I mean, that’s how any music is done, we process tons of music, some of that music we love a lot and that music represents our taste and it also represents a brine in which new ideas are born. So it’s everyone’s right to decide if it sounds like something else or it’s somewhat original. Personally for me, I think the form of this track is pretty distinguishing in it’s ever-changing shape, no repetitions, once you’re started – you’re in the flow till the end, and there is one big arch. I think I like that
DMR: Did you use only electronic beats or did you incorporate influences from other musical genres in the track as well?
MAQ: It was all pure electronics, I wasn’t going for any other genres. But I’ve always found it hard to understand what is this genre that I ended up with. I though it’s techno, but my experienced friends told me that it’s too emotional to be techno and they are right. So in that respect it’s more of a trance track. So … I don’t know )) Maybe someone will help me to properly identify it?
DMR: When did you start making music? Tell us about your starting years in the music industry?
MAQ: I started making music as a child. I was trained to be a professional solo pianist. But then I mutated. I started digging all the modern electronic and experimental music. I like the vibes of studios. This whole thing got me captivated so when I was 18 I’ve changed my path forever and entirely. Then destiny was very kind to me and I was blessed to meet a few people that defined many years of my life and some of them keep defining it until now.
I was involved in creation of a few labels when I lived in Russia. I started as far as 2002 when I became a co-founder of an incredible electronic label ÒDeja Vu recordsÓ. I had some releases back then and those were all CDs back then. The most important album of that era has been remastered and re-released in UK years later in 2017 and is accessible on all major platforms – itÕs a very special project to me: Solaris ÒPyramid ParadigmÓ, I wrote it with my best friend Vladimir Khlopovsky
Then a bit later, me and Vladimir have created another label ÒRombida recordsÓ and we had a few releases then, including a very special album ÒVoice of LamaÓ. It was a very successful project. We actually recording a real Lama Tenzin Sangpo who was singing his mantras. He asked us to put his mantras on western music, but the only demand was that we canÕt change the number of his repetitions of each mantras. The result was incredible! I have a lot of those kind of stories and it’s becoming harder to remember all of them
Then I have become a film composer and that became my main thing and it still is. After working in the film industry for about 10 years I have made a big move – relocating to Los Angeles, the capital of the film industry. This was my most important decision in my life which changed everything. I had to rebuild my life from almost zero and now that I’m rebuilt, reconstructed, reborn – I thought it’s about time to start making records again! )))
DMR: What or who inspired you to start making music in the first place?
MAQ: My parents and only them. I was surrounded by music from day 0. In this situation you simply have no other destiny.
DMR: Which EDM musicians and DJs have influenced you the most? How do you use their influence to shape your soundscape?
MAQ: Shpongle – this name needs no introduction, is it?
Agoria – a French genius
Guy J – another genius from god knows what universe, he’s a universe of his own!
YELLO – OMG, they are pioneers!
I can go on and on!
DMR: Do you work under a record label or have your own production company?
MAQ: I have started my own production company just because it’s easier to get some orientation in the updated word of streaming, but I will be looking to collaborate with other labels for sure!
DMR: What are your plans for the future? Are you going to release more EDM numbers in the future?
MAQ: There is another very important release coming in about a month or two, ItÕs going to be a 4-tracks single, which is a collaboration with an incredible Russian musician Vladimir Khlopovsky. IÕve made two of those tracked based on his incredible two themes, resembling the style of baroque period, but these themes are produced in an extremely electronic aesthetics. This is something not to be missed. It will be that rare case when modern electronics are seamlessly blended with eternal music of baroque.
Plus I have 4 other singles in the works and will be released later this year. All tracks are very different from each other. I’m super excited to finalize those soon and to get ready for new releases
DMR: What message would you like to convey to your fans and the newcomers in the industry?
MAQ: I’m convinced that the most important thing for a musician is to find as many people who thinks music in similar ways, people who would dig the same ideas and would want to keep exchanging in this endless cycle of creation-perception of music. Music is re-created every time it enters someone’s head and in everyone’s head it’s a bit different. This is the magic of music. It’s not about golden chains and limos, it’s about coherence between a musician and a listener. A lot of people has forgotten the purpose of music
