Name: DJ Mad Dog
Nationality: Italian
Occupation: Producer, DJ, label founder at Dogfight
Current Release: DJ Mad Dog's new single “Fire Bomb,” a collaboration with Omaks and Energic is out now.  
Local Recommendations: I live between Amsterdam and Rome. So I would say Nxt Museum in Amsterdam and Domus Aurea in Rome.
Things that I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: Silence. After all this noise, I need it more than anything. People probably imagine my life as constant chaos and sound, but actually I love isolation, empty spaces, night walks, moments where everything stops for a while. That's where I recharge mentally and creatively.

If you enjoyed this DJ Mad Dog interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, tiktok, bandcamp, and Soundcloud.



When it comes to experiencing the sensation of "energy" as a listener, which albums, performances, and artists come to mind?

Rage Against The Machine - The Battle Of Los Angeles. Raw, political, explosive.



I remember feeling that album physically, not just emotionally. The tension, the groove, the anger, everything felt alive.

Also artists like Prodigy, Aphex Twin, old gabber records, industrial music, even certain ambient soundtracks. Different worlds but the same impact.

You can feel when music is made because somebody really needed to express something.

There can be many different kinds of energy in art - soft, harsh, healing, aggressive, uplifting and many more. Which do you tend to feel drawn to most?

Intense and honest. I don't care if it's aggressive or emotional, as long as it's real. Fake energy doesn't move anything.

Sometimes a melancholic ambient track can feel more violent than a hardcore track because it touches something true. I'm always searching for music that has personality and tension inside it.

I have had a hard time explaining that listening to death metal calms me down. When you listen to a song with a particular energy, does it tend to fill you with the same energy - or are there paradoxical effects?

Yes. Aggressive music can calm us because it releases tension. Maybe it's like someone screaming instead of you.

People who don't listen to extreme music often think it's about becoming more angry, but for me it's usually the opposite. It creates balance.

When life becomes too heavy or stressful, intense music can actually reconnect you with yourself.

When it comes to experiencing the sensation of energy as a creator, how would you describe the physical sensation of experiencing this energy?

It's pressure in the chest and stomach, like something building up that needs to come out.

Sometimes it starts with a rhythm looping in my head for hours, or a distorted sound, or even just a feeling without melody yet. Then suddenly everything connects very fast.

It's almost physical, like tension turning into movement.

When it comes to composing / songwriting, are you finding that spontaneity and just a few takes tend to capture energy best? Or does honing a piece bring you closer to that goal?

The idea must be spontaneous. That's where the real energy comes from. Then you refine it without killing it, and that's the hard part. If you overproduce or overthink too much, the soul disappears.

Especially in harder music, imperfection is often part of the emotion.

How much of the energy of your own music would you say is already part of the composition, and how much is the result of the recording process?

Most of it is already inside the composition. If the riff, groove or atmosphere doesn't work in a simple loop, no amount of mixing will save it.

But production gives dimension and impact to that emotion. Distortion, dynamics, space, saturation, all those things can transform a simple idea into something physical.

For your current releases, what kind of energy were you looking for?

Something hypnotic and cinematic but still violent underneath. I like music that feels emotional without becoming soft.

In my recent productions I try to create tension instead of just speed. I want people to feel like they're inside a movie or inside a memory, not just inside a rave.

How do you capture the energy you want in the studio?

By not overthinking. If I start analyzing too much, it's gone.

Usually the best moments happen fast, late at night, almost instinctively. I try to stay emotionally connected to the idea instead of technically obsessed with it.

What role do factors like volume, effects like distortion, amplification, and production in general play in terms of creating the energy you want?

They're fundamental.

Distortion especially is emotional to me, not just technical. A clean sound can feel empty sometimes. Saturation, compression, imperfections, they create intensity and personality.

Even silence and dynamics are important because energy is also contrast.

In terms of energy, what changes when you're performing live on stage, with an audience present, compared to the recording stage?

Everything. In the studio it's internal. Live, it becomes wild and physical. You can literally feel the reaction of people changing the direction of the set.

Sometimes a track suddenly becomes bigger than it was in the studio because thousands of people are giving their energy back to you at the same time.

How does the presence of the audience and your interaction with it change the energy of the music and how would you describe the creative interaction with listeners during a gig?

They give it back to you, it becomes a loop. Sometimes they push you further than you planned.

Some nights you enter the stage tired and the crowd completely transforms you. Other nights you guide them somewhere darker or more emotional. It's a constant exchange.

What kind of feedback have you received from listeners or concert audiences in terms of the experience that your music and/or performances have had on them?

A lot of people tell me the music helped them during difficult moments in life. That's always powerful to hear because hardcore and harder music are often misunderstood from the outside. For many ravers it's not just entertainment, it's release, identity, connection.

Sometimes after shows people tell me they felt free for one hour, and honestly that's one of the biggest compliments possible.

Would you say that you prefer to stay in control to be able to shape the energy or do you surrender to it and allow the music to take over? Who ultimately has control during a live performance?

I start in control, but if the crowd goes crazy I lose it. That's the best moment.

The ideal set is when preparation disappears and instinct takes over. You stop thinking too much and react emotionally to the room.

The energy that music is able to generate can be extremely powerful. How do you think artists can make use of this energy to bring about change in the world?

By being honest instead of strategic all the time. People immediately feel when something is authentic. Music can create unity between completely different people for one night, and today that's already powerful.

I don't think artists always need political messages to create change. Sometimes creating a real emotional connection in a world that feels increasingly fake and disconnected is already enough.