Maas Appeal

It s good to see genuine people making music. If the people involved are in it for the music, and can t really afford to pay me then I end up doing the job for free.
Known to most as Maas, creator of sensuous, melodic techno on the Scottish Soma label, Ewan Pearson is talking about his new-found remixing experiences, and in particular his stunning overhaul of Jayrod s Space Travel on Dublin s D1 Records. The mix has the Maas stamp all over it otherworldly FX, deep, textured synth melodies and a nagging, funky groove and fits neatly into a portfolio that already includes a batch of epic electronic mini-classics, nearly all released on Slam s label.
While at university Ewan was already making electronic music, influenced directly by the indie-dance crossover and the bleepy techno of Sheffield s Warp label I was only 15 and too young to go to the first big raves and released it on local Midlands labels. When he started to experiment with deep, jazzy sounds he realised his new work needed an alternative outlet. Pearson drew up a shortlist of labels to send demos to, and Soma was right at the top.
I went up to Glasgow, played them my tapes, and that night we went to Slam s club. A few months later the Soma guys called me and said they wanted to release the tapes on the label: San Narsisco was the breakthrough because it fitted the style of the label. Soma have been good to me: between my first and second record I was still at college and they allowed me time to sort myself out. I was studying Philosophy and English, and I enjoyed writing, but I had to give it up for music.
From an early age Pearson was surrounded by music of all forms during his teens he was in a synth-pop band and believes this is the reason his music has more of a proper song feel than the output of most of his contemporaries. My Dad has always played the guitar and sing and used to gig around, explains Ewan. My mother got me into folk music, and my own influences are quite wide everything including bluesy and jazzy stuff. I like the idea of writing songs instead of tracks, and the combination and collision of different styles. All the really innovative artists Weatherall is a classic example have developed their own sound. Look at the way he used his dub background, and now he Ls working with singers like Beth Orton.
Pearson s own work benefits from an open-minded outlook, and each release on Soma has reflected his beliefs and mirrored the acid house approach of the label. Think of the difference between his deeper than deep debut San Narsisco , the tongue-in-cheek Juan is the Teacher which, in reality owed more to Francois Kervorkian than Juan Atkin s work, the disco fuelled fun of Another Saturday Night currently on re-release with two new mixes from Nail and Swag the break-led beauty of Look At Me Now, Falling , or the sum of all these components as documented on last year s Latitudes long player debut, and it is obvious Ewan shouldn t be categorised as a Motor City copyist.
The Detroit techno producers I like most are Carl Craig and Kenny Larkin, intricate music that uses breaks. I wouldn t try and do minimal techno because it s really not my bag, but in terms of genres I m quite playful, and on Latitudes I made the conscious decision to put out the best tracks and not just dancefloor tunes.
Don t expect the second album too soon though, as Ewan admits that other projects have taken precedence. These include the aforementioned D1 mix, a new version of the I:Cube track Comme des Espirits in return for the Parisian s stunning treatment of Look At Me Now and remix work for DJ Q, his ongoing Sulky Pup tech-funk alter-ego on Ideal and a breakz n beatz album as World of Apples for the Ideal subsidiary Giant 45.
Despite all this activity, Ewan insists quality is never sacrificed for quantity but is already talking about the forthcoming Maas album, and other Soma activity planned for 98.
I m very self-critical and I over-analyse everything , probably due to my philosophy background. If I m in any way dissatisfied with a track even Soma won t hear it. The next LP will use a lot of vocals and will be more difficult to categorise than Latitudes. Funk D Void is bringing out his second album, Envoy is releasing his debut, as is Scott Grooves, Inner City s keyboard player. Soma will surprise people this year, and even though it mightn t be possible to make a fortune out of this music Soma s quality control and comittment will pay off. Wall Of Sound proved that if you ve got the right records you can reach the Top Ten without the majors.
Ewan is currently touring the UK and beyond with Mark Jones mob and an assortment of other small dance labels under the Vapour banner. In these dark days of throwaway corporate dance-pop, the depth and scope of Maas live has to be heard to be believed.
When I play live I seamlessly include elements from all my tracks, offers Pearson. It s important to represent properly live what you do in the studio: my favourite gig so far this year was in Vienna in a small cathedral to a seated audience. I played all my deep, mellow stuff, and I think it really suited the venue.
Holy communion never tasted so good.
Another Saturday Night (Remixes) is out now on Soma. Maas plays the Soma Records Party at the Red Box, Dublin on February 21st with Slam and Funk D Void.