Part 1

Name: Marijn Schiedon aka M-High
Nationality: Dutch
Occupation: DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist
Current Release: M-High's Return The Phavour EP, which includes a KiNK remix, is out Julys 22nd 2025 via United Identities.

If you enjoyed this M-High interview and would like to know more about his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, bandcamp, and Soundcloud.



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in DJing? How and when did you start DJing?

Absolutely. One of my earliest and most vivid memories is being at a wedding with my parents, it was for one of my dad’s best friends. They had a silent disco setup, and the whole thing was run off this tiny old Behringer mixer. I was just a little kid, but I couldn't stop touching it. I was fascinated.

My dad worked in high-end audio and hi-fi, so for my next birthday he gave me a small mixer. I’d hook it up to one of his vinyl turntables on one side, and on the other, I plugged in a little USB MP3 player through an aux cable. That was my first "setup," and from there the obsession just grew.

Later on, I got a tiny DJ controller that worked with Virtual DJ, and I started playing at school parties. I always wanted to be the sound guy, bringing the speakers, hooking them up, chaining them together.

At some point I even started dreaming about being a radio DJ. I built a little website, made a name, and began emailing all the local sports clubs in my town: “Hey, can I come play your event?”

Today, DJs are rarely just DJs. Very often, they can be producers who are also DJs or DJs who are also producers. Where do you see yourself on this spectrum, and what kind of potential issues or creative benefits do you see in this crossover?

I think I actually started out more as a producer than a DJ. But after years of playing out and gaining experience, you naturally grow into the craft. Over time, my DJ skills have really evolved, I’d say they’re now on a completely different level compared to when I first started out, over ten years ago.

One of the things that helped me develop as a DJ early on was playing commercial club nights as a teenager. That was actually my first job, spinning hip hop and pop in clubs where you had to blend totally different genres, BPMs, and vibes. It taught me a lot about reading a crowd, because you had no choice. You had to keep people dancing, no matter what.

I still think of myself, at heart, as a musician, a producer first and foremost. I love making music, experimenting with new techniques, and geeking out over gear. I’m kind of a tech nerd in that way. I love figuring out how to integrate hardware sequencers with my DAW, or vice versa. Music-making is really what I enjoy the most. But one thing leads to another, and the more I dove into sound, the better I became as a DJ too.

Over time I’ve come to truly appreciate the artistry of DJing, how you can take people on a journey with music. As cliché as that sounds, it’s real. You really notice it in cities like Berlin, where people are open to being taken somewhere by a set. I think ten years ago I wouldn’t have known how to do that. Now, I understand the beauty and purpose behind that side of DJing.

What were some of the most important insights you gained from teachers/tutorials, other DJs, or personal experience? What does it mean to be a “better DJ”?

It might sound corny, but the two most important lessons I’ve learned, whether in DJing or producing, are: be yourself, and don’t try to imitate others. I know that’s the kind of thing everyone says, but it’s only because it’s true. The more I’ve stopped watching what other people are doing and focused on my own path, the better things have gone.

There’s that saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and it really applies in music. When you do what you truly enjoy, when you make or play what resonates with you rather than what’s trending, people can feel that. And more importantly, you can feel it too. It becomes fun again, it becomes real.

For me personally, every time I’ve tried to jump on a sound that’s popular at the moment, it just doesn’t work. I’ll start something, but I end up scrapping it because my heart’s not in it.

But when I make something that’s just fully me, like the track “Ridin' Hi,” that’s when people respond.

That’s when they really connect, because it’s different, it’s honest. I realized I wasn’t helping anyone by making tracks that already sounded like what was out there.

I want to make things that are timeless, not just functional. Since I started leaning into that mindset, everything’s fallen into place much more naturally. It’s made me not just a better DJ, but a happier one too.

For you, is there still listening outside of looking for music for your next sets? If so, what do you prefer to listen to — and how does it nonetheless influence your performances?

Honestly, I’m just a massive househead. I still love listening to all kinds of house sets, especially more underground stuff from places like Romania and Germany. That sound really inspires me, and I often discover ideas or tracks I want to weave into my own sets.

But outside of house, I’m a huge fan of soul and jazz. I love just sitting down at the piano and freestyling some jazz chords. That kind of free expression always gets me going creatively. In general, I’m drawn to music where you hear something unique, something that couldn’t have come from anywhere else. I’m really into wild sound design and complex harmony.

One artist I love is Anomalie, it’s super jazzy, with these weird, off-kilter jazz chords. I’m a total sucker for odd music theory and love the challenge of trying to figure out what's happening in a track as I listen.



[Read our Anomalie interview]

Another genre I really connect with is deep drum & bass, not the loud or aggressive stuff, but the more expressive, liquid-sounding side. I used to listen to that all the time when I had to concentrate, during long writing sessions at university or when doing admin work like taxes. It helps me focus, but it also seeps into my subconscious creatively.

I wouldn’t say that the music I listen to directly influences what I make or play, I don’t hear a bassline and try to copy it. But I know it shapes me on a deeper level. It’s all in there somewhere, whether I realize it or not.

When digging, what are you looking for? Is the process all about taste for you, or is it about “going beyond taste”?

For me, there are really two kinds of music when I’m digging: functional tracks and fun records. I know in a sense all music is functional, but as a DJ, “functional” for me means music I can actually play in my sets.

When I go vinyl digging, if that’s what you mean, I usually try to stay focused on finding functional tracks. Otherwise, I end up leaving the record store with two full bags of amazing but totally unplayable records. I’ve learned the hard way to stay disciplined.

That said, I’m always hunting for those hidden gems, tracks no one else seems to have. I’ve definitely found a few €3 records that have become staples in my sets and absolutely go off every time. That’s the magic of it.

And then there's the “fun to have” category, the collector side of me. That includes old Kraftwerk pressings, classic albums, or iconic tracks like “The Bells” by Jeff Mills. Stuff I might not play often, but I just love owning and pulling out for the right moment.

[Read our Jeff Mills interview]

So yeah, digging is definitely about taste, but it's also about restraint, curiosity, and a bit of luck.

On the basis of one of your most recent gigs, tell me about how the preparation and decision-making process works during a gig — with regard to key records, transitions, and the direction of the set.

I rarely prepare in a rigid way. I don’t want to be the kind of DJ who shows up, plays a few new promos, and then dips. I always try to build a balance between older records I’ve found while digging, whether in a record store or deep-diving on YouTube, my own productions (I make new music every week), and a few promos that actually fit the vibe.

Before each gig, I make a fresh playlist. I name it with the date and the venue, something like 2025-06-15 - Fabric. I’ve been doing this for years, so now I’ve built this huge archive of setlists. If I played a record at, say, Kater Blau two years ago and it went off, I can scroll back to that playlist and pull it back up for a similar vibe now.

The idea is to always combine the new and the old. I want to respect the legacy of older records and not just rely on fresh promos that are guaranteed to get hands in the air. There’s a certain responsibility to also educate the crowd, to offer something they might not expect but will remember.

There must be endless ways of “matching” two or more tracks. How do you prefer to do it? What makes two tracks inherently “matchable”, and what constitutes a great transition?

To be honest, I don’t really overthink it, especially not when it comes to things like key. I never mix in key deliberately. In fact, I always turn off the Master Tempo button on the CDJs. (That’s the little red one, for any DJs reading this.) When Master Tempo is on, it keeps the track’s key the same as you pitch it, but it uses an algorithm to do that, and it degrades the audio quality. On a big system, when you stretch a track with Master Tempo on, the high-end gets noticeably worse. So for me, it’s a no-go.

Mixing in pitch isn’t something I chase; if it happens by accident and sounds great, cool, but it's not the goal. What matters more to me is picking the right tracks that feel good together, especially in terms of rhythm and groove.

One thing I do pay attention to is the swing of a track. Some tracks are perfectly straight, others have heavy swing, and when you try to mix those together, it can sound off, like the beatmatching is wrong. That’s because swing shifts the timing of elements like hi-hats, making them land just after the beat. If you try to layer that over a straight rhythm, it won’t feel locked.

So what makes two tracks “match”? For me, it’s about how the drums work together, and how the overall vibe flows, not about matching keys or staring at Camelot wheels. That’s your job as a DJ: knowing what works together sonically and emotionally.

How would you describe the experience of DJing, physically and mentally? Do you listen — and DJ — with your eyes open or closed?

I absolutely love DJing. It’s my favorite thing in the world to do, right alongside making music. Music is what I live for. I honestly can’t imagine myself doing anything else.

What makes DJing so exciting is that it’s never the same. Every gig is different, and that’s exactly what keeps it from ever getting boring. One weekend I might be playing a massive club in Ibiza with a crowd full of UK ravers who go wild for a certain sound. The next, I could be in the Middle East, in places like Qatar or Jordan, where people have completely different tastes, and I get to explore another side of my collection. That kind of variety is what I live for.

I didn’t use to be much of a traveller. I liked being home. But now that I’m on the road almost every week, I’ve grown to love it. The world has become so much smaller in my eyes. I remember thinking a trip to Australia would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and now it’s something I do a few times a year. Ibiza in the summer, the UK in the winter … It’s wild how normal it starts to feel. Long flights used to feel long. Now a six-hour flight is just routine.

Physically, the lifestyle can be intense, no doubt. But mentally, there’s no better feeling than stepping off stage knowing you nailed it. When you feel like you’ve really taken the crowd on a journey, it’s the best high in the world.

That said, I’m very conscious about balance. I try to live a yin-yang lifestyle. Weekends are all about gigs, travelling, and the madness that can come with it. But Monday to Friday? I keep it clean: I eat healthy, sleep a lot, don’t touch alcohol, and I train almost every day. Sauna, workouts, all of it. When your weekends involve 4 a.m. tequila shots at the venue and back-to-back shows, you have to offset it somehow.

That balance is key for me, not just for my body, but for my mind too.