From Glastonbury to HÏ Ibiza, Snowbombing Festival, and Secret Garden Party, Mas Que Nada Brothers have been there, done that. Now, the London-based DJ duo are stepping into music production, bringing their party expertise to the studio.
Their latest track, “Take Me Higher,” captures the essence of Ibiza’s vibe, transporting listeners from London’s streets to Amnesia’s sun-soaked terrace. With infectious piano melodies, it’s a club anthem made for carefree dancing and embracing island life. Quite fittingly, you can catch Mas Que Nada Brothers at Pikes in Ibiza every last Thursday of the month this summer.
Plus, with artists like Barry Can’t Swim and LF System under their belt, London’s Part Four imprint is the perfect stage for their new musical journey. Download/Stream it here: https://orcd.co/p4061.
Let’s get into it and learn more about the Mas Que Nada Brothers’ evolution from festival performers to music producers.
Hey, lads; thanks for joining us at Undrtone. What have the last few weeks looked like for you?
It’s been quite a hectic past few weeks for gigs. We’re based in London, so naturally, it’s where we perform the most, but also, we’ve had a few outside of London gigs, such as Bournemouth, Brighton and Kent. I’d say some of the highlights over the past month or so were warming up for Sosa at Source Bar in Kent and also playing to a sold-out Studio 338 in London for Fat Tony’s Full Fat Fest.
On top of the gigs, we’ve been super busy in the lead-up to our debut release, Take Me Higher, which came out on Friday, 29th March, on Part Four Records. It’s absolutely new territory for us, but we’ve loved every moment of getting a track out and receiving a positive response.
We want to know more about your journey from club promoters to fully-fledged artist; how did you get here?
Our music journey started with our club night Mas Que Nada, which we launched back in 2019. At this time, we weren’t DJing together, and our sole focus was to bring fun parties throughout London. During COVID, which followed not long after, we formed Mas Que Nada Brothers and, of course, were residents to our own night. Over time, we began to get bookings for other club promoters and then festivals. We’re extremely lucky to have been booked for some of the biggest club nights and festivals in the UK and Ibiza, including Glastonbury Festival, HÏ Ibiza, Pikes Ibiza, Ministry Of Sound, El Dorado Festival and many more.
As painful as it is, sadly, it’s becoming a big part of artists’ jobs to promote themselves. How do you guys push your brand out there?
We have always been quite good with the self-promotion side of things. I think that comes from being actors and performers in our previous careers. Being able to talk to the camera confidently is key in today’s modern world for self-promotion. It gives the viewer a chance to get to know you and know what you are about. We have always played ourselves on social media, whether that’s in the text or in videos, and we’ve continued to do so as we’ve progressed. What you see is what you get, and I think that’s more enjoyable for the audience.
Tell us about your latest release, ‘Take Me Higher’.
Take Me Higher is an ode to Ibiza, the place that has our heart. We’ve been going to Ibiza together for raves, years before we were a duo so it was important for us that our first signing meant something to us and gave the audience a feel for our sound. It’s a big club room track filled with infectious piano melodies and big builds.
We imagine you’re happy with the response to the record, but what’s the general consensus of listeners and other artists?
The feedback has been incredible. We didn’t know what was going to happen with it being our first release, but we’ve received so much love and support for the track from fellow DJs and, of course, our followers. On the evening of the release, we were stunned to hear live Pete Tong included Take Me Higher on his Radio One show. To have that recognition so early on meant the world. We’ve had some incredible names download the track and leave some pretty exciting feedback, so now we look forward to hearing it being played out in the clubs.
Mental Health is a growingly sensitive touch point for a lot of people in modern-day life. With an undoubtedly busy schedule, how do you make time to take care of what’s going on upstairs?
I think for any DJ or anyone working in this field for that matter, your mental health can take a real battering. The exhaustion and lack of routine can really knock the wind out of you so it’s important to keep an honest, watchful eye on your mental health, and for us, the mental health of each other. I (Kiel) regularly dip in and out of long periods of sobriety and have seen incredible results. It’s very easy to get caught up in the party and neglect the things that keep you ticking such as good food and a solid sleep so taking that break allows you unwind, bring yourself back to the real world and enjoy the things that you love.
As cliche as it sounds, everyone approaches the same task completely differently. What can you share with us about your creative process?
When it comes to producing, Ross and I begin the creative process separately. We take whatever creative urge or idea we have at the time and begin it from our very humble home studios. We then send the track to each other to work on and look at with a fresh vision. Once we’re at a place where we’re both happy with the track, we will meet in a studio to continue the track and finish it with a studio engineer who will help get the best sound quality and depth.
Do you have any advice you’d love to share with other artists?
Our biggest piece of advice to any up-and-coming artists would be to begin producing as soon as possible. It’s something we had spoken about for such a long time before visiting and regret not getting familiar with it sooner. There’s something so special about having an idea and creating something so personal and immortal from it. Listening back to tracks we have in the archives instantly transports you back to which ever place we were in our lives at that time.
Another piece of advice would be to get on that dance floor. Go and support your friends or favourite DJs, even when it’s not necessarily your vibe. You’ll be surprised what you can learn from other acts and crowd reactions. You also never know who you might meet.
It’s important to always have goals to work towards. What are yours for 2024, and how are you getting on?
We often set goals. Goals that are achievable but impossible without the real work behind it. We’ve already had a huge tick this year with releasing a track and having a radio one play so now, we think releasing more of our music is next on the agenda. We’re currently sat on a few finished tracks that we’re happy with so getting them on the desks of the labels we wish to work with is our next move.
Lastly, what can we expect from Mas Que Nada Brothers in the future?
We’re at the beginning of our biggest year to date so you’ll be seeing us across nearly 20 festivals this summer and almost 10 dates in Ibiza as we take on our residency at Pikes this summer for Back To Mine. We’d love to see more music from us being released over the next year and some of the our biggest bucket list club appearances ticked off, Warehouse Project, Manchester and Drumsheds in London.