Focus on Miss Hysteria | facebook.com/djmisshysteria
A dedicated, inspirational and passionate young women by the name of Malin Kolbrink has yet again been busy in her studio being inspired by wild notions, beauty and agression in order to concoct another exquisite release for Enzyme Records. Let’s find out a little more about what Miss Hysteria has in store for us this time around.
You have an EP which is coming to Enzyme Records in January is called ‘Nyctophilia’, what does that word mean, and how does that pertain to you?
“Nyctophilia litterly means: Love of darkness or night, finding relaxation and comfort in the darkness.
For this EP, you have to see that in the context of my music. I think you can put ‘dark’ emotions like anger, sadness with a side of melancholy, easily into music, and I think that is a beautiful thing and that attracts me to music. Dark, angry or sad music with a broad spectrum of emotions makes me smile and that is the darkness that I refer to in the title. That’s exactly what you will find in this ep – anger, darkness, wonder and melancholy.”
The rest of your EP includes a collaboration with Ophidian, Minckz and a remix from Mindustries, can you tell us a bit about those tracks?
“Ophidian is a real inspiration for combining melodies with dark music. We were talking about doing a collab for a long time and that time has finally arrived. We wanted to do something special with a theme that encompases both of our interests. The track we did together is about the concept of “nothing” in relationship with the universe. When you only see darkness, is there really just nothing? Or is this empty vastness filled with micro particles? The track has a real euphoric melody, I really cannot wait to play this one in the big rooms! Working on this collab also inspired us to do something really special coming this festival season. It’s something that has not been done before in this particular way!
The track with Minckz is obviously an angry one haha. Besides that, we really wanted to do something with hard, heavy kicks and aggressive vocals because us sweet and decent ladies can. It is about not using music to get fame, but to genuinely love what you are actually doing! As you Minckz are the co-producer of the track, I want to ask you a question!
Miss Hysteria: Minckz, what is the meaning of the track for you? What are your dreams and goals in music as a producer?”
Minckz: “Well, the meaning of this track is a couple of things for me. On the production side of things, I want to inspire aspiring female producers out there to get into their studios and start making some noise! Hardcore is so dominated by male personalities, some being ‘products’, some being wildly talented producers, but when it comes to women, the vast majority are unfortunately ‘fake’ in regards to music production. Some of us ladies are genuinely passionate about music creation and construction, and I am one of those women, like yourself. This track is also a call out to the ‘fake’ members of our scene – both men and women, to do their own thing and to empower them to not be ruled by a ‘ghost’. I personally feel like more men and women within our scene should make the effort to be influential in the evolvement of our genre. Anyone who is passionate about such a distinct sound should be pushed and empowered to get involved in keeping it fruitful, and they wont do that by looking glamorous on stage. All of the ‘ghosts’ in our scene are either money hungry fools who want to make a pretty face popular, producers who have lost inspiration in themselves and think making cookie cutter crap for someone else will help them get their mojo back, or are fading legends that are selfishly passing elements of their sound onto these clueless kids to maintain their ‘legendary’ sound and status. Stop making products and start investing in the rebels.
Production wise, I have a genuine interest in sound and the creation and manipulation of it. I actually wanted to be a Sound Engineer for the majority of my life, inspired by my father who was one. However, my lack of patience for the lengthy school process completely murdered that notion. I decided, like most of us do, to take on learning music production in my own time. I have a lot of problems concentrating so the learning process has been a lengthy one and has pushed the patience of some of the scenes best who have been coaching me but I still haven’t given up and the desire to learn is always there. I am working on my debut EP now, it’s a very special and extremely meaningful project so its construction will take time. I HOPE 2016 will be the year that you get to hear it.
Musically speaking, I just want to do something that I am passionate about at my leisure. I want to create music that takes the listeners on an emotional journey – to create something that inspires. As I work full time in the digital marketing, media and PR aspect of our scene, I will never be able to dedicate myself to music production full time. I’m actually launching my company geared towards various elements of digital media and communications (geared towards Hard Dance) later this month (www.iced-marketing.com), so I will be a very busy one-women show in the very near future. Making things more professional and streamlined in the background of Hardcore is the most important thing to me right now. I am out to make a bigger, more long-term impact on our scene, and with some of the worlds leading labels, promoters and production companies being my current clients, I think I am well on my way to doing just that. Back to you girl!”
Miss Hysteria: “Next on the EP, there is a remix made by Mindustries of my track ‘Damn the Dark’. If anyone comes to mind when considering a remix about darkness, it’s absolutely Mindustries! They delivered a very nice remake of the track featuring the original theme but very very…Mindustries-like with some fresh new elements!
The title track follows, and it’s about wondering all kind of things. I used so some vocals (and vocal effects) from people who really inspire me, like Carl Sagan, Bjork and Thom Yorke. The track features some pressing themes and a raging kick! This track is already present in some live sets and the ‘Masters in the Mix’ CD by Day-Mar! So you may have actually heard this one!”
What is your favourite part of the production process?
“Well, starting something new is always nice. Then you can be creative and there are no rules. Just play around a bit, experiment, and see what happens. Then follows the hard part, making a decent track out of the mess you’ve just created. Finishing (really finishing) a track is also a very happy moment! Which can only mean one thing – starting something new ”
With that question, I have myself wondering the exact opposite. So, what is it what drives you absolutely crazy during the production process? Something consistently infuriating I mean.
“When you are working too long on a track and really want it to be finished but find yourself missing that particular something…or you think that you’re ready but you know you can make a part of it better, then you HAVE to do it – no matter how many times you already re-worked it! You have to insert the details over and over again.”
How does a woman like you survive in a music industry that is so predominantly male? Why don’t you think more women step up like you have done in the Hardcore scene?
“Well, I always advocate that you have to do whatever makes you happy! So that’s the only lead I follow in music. Easy! I try to ignore things like politics and bullshit as much as I can. I personally think that music has become so much of an industry that it’s not about the music anymore and we have to deal with that. There are more and more female dj’s popping up these days and that’s a good thing, but it’s still a man’s world. Think about that. How come? That’s an interesting question.”
I think what you do for you “9-5 job” is really special and worth talking about. Tell us what it is that you do, and why it’s so important to you?
“I always thought that it’s important to do something different, besides music. I’m a part-time social worker with kids and young adults from 10 to 27 who possess various kinds of personal problems. I also try to develop new strategies with the municipality to make the pedagogic social environment better and stronger. It’s an extremely rewarding job, but it’s very time consuming which is one of the reasons I did not release so much this year. They are cutting finances everywhere so we’re fighting to keep some important resources for the kids.”
What does 2016 have in store for us lovers of Miss Hysteria?
“Next to dj-ing, I will add another level of performance to my schedule. It has something to do with the stuff I mentioned before on the Ophidian collab. I will focus more on producing music and I’m very curious about new developments in the scene this coming year. As many of you know, I’m not really into the ‘Up-tempo’ stuff, I would love to see more “Down-tempo” quality Hardcore. I will also begin to do millennium sets which I really love to do. You can contact Concrete Agency if you are interesting in booking me for a Millennium event. So, MORE music, and more MUSIC!”