Danny and Arthur aka Moto Blanco, the British duo, have worked with PRO MOTION on remixes for some of the biggest names in the business like George Michael and Mika. They usually keep out of the spotlight so we feel very lucky to have gotten an insight into their world! Check out the interview, I hope you can all understand our British accents!

MIKA -- LOVE TODAY (MOTO BLANCO REMIX CLIP)

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GEORGE MICHAEL -- THIS IS NOT REAL LOVE (MOTO BLANCO REMIX CLIP)

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MOTO BLANCO INTERVIEW

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You guys have been in the business for 20 years now. What keeps it exciting for you? What makes you want to keep making music?

I just think music. It’s either in you or it’s not. It’s always changing and it’s something we all love anyway, it’s not just a job. That’s the main thing, really. Music is music , food is food, soup is soup. We live and breathe it, we’re playing it everyday. Not just our stuff, all styles of music. I can’t imagine a world without it to be honest.

In 2004, you moved into the mainstream, you started doing remixes for big artists like Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, and Rihanna. How did it come about that you were thrown into that?

We’ve been mixing other people for years and years under different names, so it’s not the first time we were mixing big artists. But it took off with that name with, I think it was one of the first people was J. Lo, actually. And Rihanna, we did one of the early ones, we did “S. O. S.” It’s just because we’ve got good management, really. You have to be in the right place at the right time, as they say.

Is there anybody left that you would really like to be commissioned to remix?

We’ve done them all now. No, not really. Obviously, ones that are not with us anymore, is the obvious choice . Stevie Wonder, I’ve always wanted to do Stevie Wonder. The greats would be nice. No offense to the young, up and coming people that we’re doing, but you know what I mean. I mean, you can hang the contract on your toilet wall and say “Look at that.”

What has been your favorite track to remix for an artist so far?

The obvious choice would be The Marys (Mary J. Blige) because they’ve given us a lot of international success. Like ‘Be Without You’ or ‘Just Fine’ We are lucky, we do get really good songs. A lot of people say ‘It’s great what you do’ but we’re starting with good song anyway. You should hear the things we turn down!…. No i’m just joking!

How does the process of remixing as a team work? Does one person take one part of a song or do you do it together?

It’s 50-50. I’m really good with a kettle, I must say. It’s a team effort, Arthur is the brains of the outfit and I’m the good-looking one. Yeah, it’s a joint effort really. A guy called John Cohen who works with us musically, who’s really good. And there’s a guy called Julian Jonah, that also is around and helps us with cleaning jobs and whatnot. It’s a good little unit.

What software do you guys use to create the remixes?

Basically, it’s Logic. And all the plugins we can get our hands on, really.

Because you work as a team, do you ever have any differences of opinion of the direction a remix should take?

We’ve actually got quite a large studio where we work and we’ve actually got a boxing ring outside. If it gets to the point where we really can’t figure it out, we just get the gloves on, oil up and get in the ring. I’m in the blue corner he’s in the red corner and we just have a fight. The only rows we have are about his outfits. He comes in wearing some shocking outfits, so I have to put him straight.

Where is your favorite place in the world to play?
We played on a mountainside in Switzerland once and it was beautiful. And the actual DJ booth was in a cave. It was like something out of “James Bond”. And it was strictly a party for models and like very, very rich debutantes and stuff. It was quite amazing.

What are some of your favorite tracks to play when you’re out DJing?

I still say Frankie Guarda is still one of the best records we play at the moment. A mashup of Lady Gaga “Just Dance” and a Pryda track which really works for us well. A track by Leggz and  Femi B called “Take Me Up” with Inaya Day on vocals, which we think is unsigned which is a crying shame. We try to and throw in some things that people are not going to know with things they’re really going to know. Danny loves to play a disco record now. Gotta get a disco record in.

What sort of stuff are you guys working on at the moment? What have you got in the pipeline? I know you just remixed a Shakira’s She Wolf.

We did Pixie Lot, her new single, a new track for HedKandi, We’re working on a new one at the moment, but we can’t tell you what it is, because we’ll have to kill you. We’re keeping busy.

Thanks Moto Blanco!

MIKA LOVE TODAY (MOTO BLANCO REMIX)