The UK drum ‘n bass heavyweight on building longevity as an artist, keeping fans excited and leveraging SoundCloud from day one to present day
Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything Next Pro offers to elevate their sound, reach the right audience and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile.
On this episode of Sound Advice, we’re talking to drum ‘n bass powerhouse Macky Gee. Macky is the man behind aggressive and fun-loving jump up anthems like “Tour,” “Aftershock,” “Psychopath,” and his recent smash with Leo Wood called “Power.” But this is no overnight success story. Macky has been hard on his grind since his youth – he started mixing records at 10 years old, got his first club gig at 16, learned how to produce and finally burst on the DnB scene around 2010. Now, he’s got nearly ten albums under his belt and almost 150,000 fans on SoundCloud, while headlining the drum ‘n bass stages at giant festivals like Tomorrowland and Rampage.
Macky’s also putting up-and-coming artists on with his Down 2 Earth Musik label, and has hard drives full of hundreds of tracks he doesn’t even know what to do with, which we found out when we called him up in the middle of the night during his Australian tour. In this conversation, Macky reflects on his personal journey in drum ‘n bass and the stories behind his biggest hits, plus offers valuable insights for up-and-coming artists on getting noticed and engaging with fans using social media and SoundCloud together.
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE, FEATURING MACKY GEE
LISTEN TO “I MISS THE OLD MACKY” BY MACKY GEE
THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE
- Macky Gee dials in from the road, fresh off a tour stop in Sydney, Australia, where we kick off the conversation by taking it back to the very beginning and learn more about what led him to fall in love with drum ’n bass.
- We get the details about his origin story as an artist, which started when he was a kid growing up in the UK and taught himself how to mix records at just ten years old. As a teen, the world of pirate radio opened a new door of possibility for Macky Gee, who would record tunes from radio as a way to study the craft and art of DJing.
- Macky walks us through his formative years as a DJ and producer, and how vinyl, KoolFM (specifically DJ Spice’s show) and drum ’n bass legends like Shy FX and Aphrodite played a role in shaping his tastemaking, passion and artistry alike.
- He shares the advice that DJ Spice gave him early on in his career, and how he was encouraged to make his own sounds, as well as reflects on his early experiences sending his original music to DJs and labels in the beginning stages.
- We hear more about how he met DJ Phantasy, the renowned drum ’n bass DJ/producer who has been a mainstay on the scene for over three decades, and how they first connected in Belgium at a gig.
- Macky Gee shares more about his latest release, “I Miss the Old Mackie,” and what the title means to him. We learn more about the backstory of the making of this track, including sampling his daughter’s voice.
- Reflecting on first getting on SoundCloud in 2010, and talking about how Macky’s use of the platform has evolved in tandem with his own career as a DJ/producer. Macky shares more about how he uses SoundCloud as a hub to share teasers and previews of upcoming tunes, as well as insight into the strategy behind releasing music on SoundCloud that may or may not come out on other DSPs.
- Macky details how he engages fans on SoundCloud specifically and how he uses the platform in tandem with other social media platforms to build excitement around new music, as well as how hosting free live events are a helpful tool to build community.
- Insight into the making of his upcoming album, and how he uses the SoundCloud private tracks feature to share demos with third-parties for feedback, from marketing and PR companies to labels or DJs he’s hoping to connect with. Macky also shares more about how private links help build trust around sharing unreleased music exclusively and how sharing a private link with a lower play count can help with building a more authentic and personal listening experience for the person you want to listen to your music.
- Macky draws from his wealth of experiences throughout his vast music career to share advice for up-and-coming artists, and the advice he shares the most frequently: find your own sound and create a buzz around it.
- We learn more about what musically is inspiring the next chapter of his discography, and what he is thinking about when writing his new album, which is due to drop in 2025. He reflects on how he approaches writing music for an album compared to a single, and what his own writing has taught him over the years.
- How he is always making music and how it gets to a point where he has so much music he doesn’t know what to do with it, so releasing consistently helps solve that problem while keeping his fans informed about what he is working on and exploring next musically.
- Macky Gee offers insight into how the community on SoundCloud helps him take inventory of honest, trustworthy feedback and helps him stay connected to the path he wants to forge as an artist.
- He divulges his favorite track that he has made (“Tour”) and the story behind it, as well as how it almost didn’t get saved, let alone shared. Macky Gee opens up about his view on what makes a tune an “anthem” or something that people respond really well to, and how he has learned, over time and through experience, to take the pressure off without compromising quality.
- Macky shares more about being a perfectionist in the studio, and how he approaches working through getting stuck on a particular riff or loop. He also shares more about how he approaches putting his signature on his sound, and how having a sweet tooth trickles into the music he makes.
- We learn how movie scores, such as by acclaimed composer Danny Elfman, are a part of his overall music diet and inform his creative process.
- How working with grime MC Tempa T came to fruition, reinforcing how he likes to experiment across genres, and weave in disparate influences into his music.
LINKS AND EXTRAS
Follow Macky Gee’s journey on SoundCloud.
Stay up to date with Macky Gee’s imprint, Down 2 Earth Musik.
Dig into the archives with Macky Gee’s first-ever SoundCloud upload, 2010’s “Cannibal Girls.”
Check out some of Macky Gee’s earliest influences, including ShyFX, Aphrodite, and Kraftwerk, to name a few.
Listen to Macky Gee’s latest full-length, ‘It’s a Gee Thing.’
Follow DJ Phantasy, one of Macky Gee’s longtime mentors and collaborators.
Dive into the Jungle/DnB’s New Era playlist on SoundCloud.
Never miss an episode and follow the Sound Advice playlist on SoundCloud.
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF SOUNDCLOUD
- Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
- Learn more about searching your own Likes on SoundCloud.
- Learn more about using private tracks on SoundCloud.
- Learn more about getting started with Insights on SoundCloud.
- Learn more about Advanced Insights, available to Artist Pro subscribers.
- Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with a Artist Pro subscription.
- Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.
To discover additional features a SoundCloud Artist Pro subscription offers, visit here. To catch up on past installments of Sound Advice and make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, visit here.
CREDITS: Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee
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