Name: Michelangelo De Pasquale aka Maike Depas
Nationality: Italian
Occupation: Producer, DJ
Current Release: Maike Depas's Euphoria EP is out via The Innovation Studio.
Gear and Software Recommendations: I really recommend reading Patch And Tweak with a foreword by Suzanne Ciani if you are a beginner that wants to know more about synthesis and especially if you are a nerd like me about modular systems.
Another book that I really recommend to all the producers is Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail.

If you enjoyed this Maike Depas interview and would like to stay up to date on his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, and tiktok.



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in production and technology?

At a very young age, when I started writing music and playing the piano, I immediately had to deal with the technology relating to musical writing such as The Final Example, a software used in many conservatories in Italy.

From then on, I followed my curiosity towards the various DAW market references such as Ableton, Logi Pro X and Pro Tools.

What were your very first active steps with music technology and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

I experimented in the early years with Logic Pro X as a DAW for music production. As time moved on, I moved into using other DAWs such as Ableton, the DAW I still use in my productions, and eventually Pro Tools in order to interact with other market professionals.

Continuing to write music and studying the various DAWs marked a major turning point in my life as an electronic music artist and producer.

Were/are you interested in the history of production and recording? If so, which events, albums, artists, or insights stand out for you?

There are multiple events in the history of electronic music discography that have affected me and influenced my thinking as an artist. In particular, I was deeply affected by the idea expressed by the 20th century artist John Cage in his performance "4:33" : Everything we make is music.



In my productions I always try to use elements that are not conceptually musical, as for example in my recent single “Midnight Ride,” there is an element that characterizes the track and its title, which is the roar of a race car that I personally recorded on the circuit with my foley microphone.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches, and musical forms you may be very familiar with?

I manage to keep the playfulness alive in producing new music by always placing myself in a position of discovery and experimentation, looking for new approaches to create my productions that I am not used to pursuing.

For your own creativity, what is the balance and relative importance between what you learned from teachers, tutorials and other producers on the one hand – and what you discovered, understood, and achieved yourself? What are examples for both of these?

The notions that I learned through academic teaching were very important for learning a working method linked to classical and traditional musical composition which is still partly used today in many applications of contemporary music such as the rules of counterpoint.

Understanding the latter has greatly facilitated the autonomous learning of the various facets of the world of musical production as they allow one to have a universal understanding of what constitutes today's music in its deepest form. In particular I managed to acquire a great skill in modern arranging in various genres, and in particular in my genre, hard techno.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

My set up over the years has changed considerably based on the knowledge I have managed to acquire over time. At the beginning I tried to limit myself as much as possible with the equipment so that I could understand in depth every part that constitutes the recording in the recording room and the production of tracks via some DAWs, in particular Ableton.

Today I am very passionate about vintage and modern, modular and outboard synths; within my studio, The Innovation Studio, my set up is very complex and personal and consists of a predominantly keyboard approach using synths of all kinds and many drum machines which constitute my arsenal when it comes to creating the perfect rhythm section.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly influenced, changed or questioned the way you make music?

The tools that have most challenged my way of approaching the creation of techno tracks are certainly the Euro Rack modular systems, which are fundamental elements in the sound design of my tracks. For example on my latest EP, Euphoria, most of the percussion sections were created through some noise engeneering modules.  

I love the sensation of being able to lose myself within a world where there is no absolute control on the human part in creating new music.

Already as a little kid, I was drawn to all aspects of electronic/electric music but I've never quite been able to put a finger on why this is. What's your own relationship to electronic sounds, rhythms, productions like – what, if any, are fundamental differences with “acoustic“ music and tools?

One of the first techno music albums I ever listened to was Accident in Paradise by Sven Vath. I still remember today the sensation I felt in hearing sounds and musical structures never explored until then.



From that moment I decided that the time had come to start experimenting with new instruments in addition to classic acoustic ones such as the piano, my first instrument, and to try experimenting with synths and drum machines.

The main differences between acoustic music and electronic music, and their instruments, is that there are no rules that should be followed during the performance. The idea behind what you are writing is the most important thing that should be followed.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

As already mentioned previously, limiting yourself is essential in order to fully understand the tool and the workflow you want to use.

In my set up I tried to limit myself as much as possible and to do this I never write the first draft of the track in my studio as the various instruments are tempting and lead me to a production model that turns out to be slow and not very profitable; for this reason I try to work as much as possible in the box wherever I am.

Rhythm, sound design, melody/harmony, something else – when do the different elements of a piece come into play for you?

The different elements of a track are composed according to my personal approach to writing it. Personally, when creating hard techno I proceed with the creation of a complete groove which constitutes the foundation on which I lay the melodic / harmonic structure.

For example on “Midight Ride,” I built the drums using one of my favorite drum machines, the Roland 909, which processed inside my secret outboard golden chain, producing a very incisive groove.



[Read our feature on the Roland Tr-909]

In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. How does your own way of working with sound look like? Do you find using presets lazy?

I strongly think that music is a matter of expressing one's inner world, which is why it is not necessary to define it as something physical. But more than anything else it must be identified as a spiritual experience.

The idea that surrounds a track is the most important character as it makes it unique. I don't think that the use of a different instrumentation or workflow should be considered wrong as it doesn't come from a more complex path.

What, to you, are the respective benefits of solo work and collaborations and do you often feel lonely in the studio? Can machines act as collaborators to you?

Working as an artist and producer allows me to work both solo and also through collaborations with other artists.

Personally I have difficulty working alone in the studio for a long period of time, I always need another human contact who can provide their vision towards a project; I also believe that collaboration can be very useful for expanding your knowledge base.

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regard?

AI is a topic of great controversy nowadays especially in various fields of art. The future will include AI that will be used more and more by more and more people in all areas of our society.

As producers of electronic music, we will have to be able to exploit AI in our favor - as an amplifier in the creation and experimentation of new ways of approaching work without ever replacing our function as human beings and artists who have a heart, soul and feeling towards the music.

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/ instruments you would like to see and hear?

I would like to have the possibility in the future to be able to work remotely with other artists through a DAW that allows sharing the session in real time and that can apply them in real time without latency.

But maybe now I'm dreaming a little ...