Mars Shadow

My Story

1. Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of?     

Puh, that’s a difficult question! 😄 I’ve honestly had so much fun working on all of my projects, so it’s really hard to pick just one. But if I had to choose, I’d probably say “Quantum.” It might not be my biggest track in terms of numbers – if we can even talk about “hits” at this stage 😄 – but it’s very special to me because it actually made its way onto the dancefloor. It also reflects a lot of what goes on inside my head. There’s a lot of emotion and a lot of me in that track. I was going through a pretty difficult time personally while it was being produced, so I think some of that naturally found its way into the music. That’s probably why Quantum will always be a special one for me.

 
2. What's the biggest misconception about Producing?

I think producing is a lot like life itself – it has its ups and downs. The big difference is that with music, you can't just function.

You need your head, but you also need your soul. At least that's how it works for me. There are days when everything just flows and I have a whole world in my head that I want to turn into music. And then there are days when you can sit there for hours and nothing feels right.

I think that's probably one of the biggest misconceptions – that you can simply sit down and “make a track.” Technically, maybe you can. But creating something that actually means something to you is different.

I'm a very visual person when it comes to music. I often have places, stories or entire scenes in my head before a track is finished. I want people to close their eyes and feel like the music takes them somewhere else. And for that, I can't just switch into producer mode and function. I have to feel it myself first.

Maybe that's also why I don't mind if something isn't technically perfect. I'd rather make something imperfect that makes you feel something than something perfect that makes you feel nothing.

3.How would you describe your production style?

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That's actually quite hard to describe, because I don't really want Mars Shadow to fit into one specific box.

If I had to describe my style, I'd probably say emotional, cinematic and progressive. Whether I'm producing Progressive House, Trance or something deeper, there is usually one thing connecting everything: I want the music to take you somewhere.

I love huge atmospheric breaks, melodies, strings, vocals, little details in the background and creating those moments where you can close your eyes and almost see a scene in front of you.

At the same time, I don't want every Mars Shadow track to sound the same. I'm still developing, experimenting and learning with every production. Sometimes I want to go really deep and hypnotic, sometimes I want something huge and cinematic, and sometimes I just want to make something that works on a dancefloor.

Maybe that's the best description of my style: I don't really produce a genre – I try to produce a feeling.

4. What type of music styles do you usually Produce?

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Mostly Progressive House and Trance, but also some Melodic Techno and occasionally House.

Progressive House and Trance are probably the two main worlds I come from, but lately I've also been exploring deeper Progressive sounds and Melodic Techno more and more.

I really enjoy taking elements from different styles – the depth and hypnotic groove of Progressive House, the emotion and energy of Trance, and the darker atmosphere and drive you can get from Melodic Techno.

I don't really like putting too many boundaries around Mars Shadow. Sometimes a track starts as Progressive House and ends up somewhere completely different. 😄 If I like the feeling, I follow it. The genre comes afterwards.

5.Analog or digital and why?

Digital, definitely – simply because that's the world I learned producing in.

I have huge respect for analog gear and I completely understand why people love the character and the hands-on feeling of it, but for me digital gives me the freedom to experiment without limits.

I can have an idea in my head and immediately start building around it, change things, destroy them, rebuild them and sometimes accidentally discover something completely different along the way. 😄

And honestly, I'm still relatively new to producing, so there's an enormous digital world I haven't even explored yet.

6. What do you like most about Trance music?
 

The emotion. Definitely.

That's what made me fall in love with Trance in the first place. A great Trance track can completely change how you feel within a few minutes. You can close your eyes and suddenly you're somewhere else.

I especially love those huge breakdowns where everything opens up – the pads, melodies, vocals, strings, all those little atmospheric details – and then that moment when the energy comes back and everything hits together.

For me, Trance can be euphoric, melancholic, hopeful and sad at the same time. Very few styles of electronic music can tell a story without actually needing words.

That's probably what I love most about it. Trance doesn't just make me want to dance – it makes me feel something.

7. How long have you been making music?

Haha, that's actually a funny story. 😄 I've been playing around with music since I got eJay on my very first computer.

Later I even spent a lot of time messing around with Clubworld on the PlayStation 2 – so I guess you could say my “studio” looked a little different back then. 😂

At some point I started taking proper music lessons with a teacher here in our small town, mainly learning keyboard. Over the years I moved on to different DAWs and kept producing, experimenting and learning, but I never really took the step of sending my music to labels. It was mostly something I did because I loved doing it.

During the Covid period, that started to change. I began taking production much more seriously, and eventually I had this simple thought: Why am I actually keeping all of this to myself? Why not share it and see what happens?

That's when I really started treating music as more than just a hobby and eventually began sending my work out into the world.

So I've been making and experimenting with music for a very long time – but seriously pursuing it as Mars Shadow is still a relatively new journey.

Looking back, it's pretty crazy to think that it went from eJay on my first computer and Clubworld on a PlayStation 2 to actually having my music released on labels.

8. What's your typical work process?
 

My work process usually starts with a feeling or an image in my head rather than something technical.

Sometimes it's a melody, sometimes a story, a place, a title or even just a certain atmosphere. Once something catches me, I start building a world around it.

I usually experiment a lot. I add things, remove them again, change the arrangement, listen with headphones, come back later and suddenly hear something completely differently. 😄 I'm definitely not someone who follows exactly the same formula every time.

The breakdown is often especially important to me. That's usually where I try to tell the emotional part of the story and create that moment where you can close your eyes and disappear into the track for a while.

After that, it's about making sure the rest of the production carries that same feeling while still having enough energy to work on a dancefloor.

And sometimes the final track ends up completely different from the idea I started with – but that's actually one of my favorite parts of producing. You never really know where the journey is going to take you.

9. Tell us about your studio setup.
 
My studio has grown quite a bit over time, but I still like to keep the whole setup practical and focused on actually making music.

Cubase is the heart of everything and where most of my work happens. I use a wide range of software instruments and plugins, especially for building atmospheres, pads, strings, melodies, effects and all those tiny background details that I probably spend way too much time on. 😄

Hardware-wise, I use an Arturia KeyLab Essential 61 Mk3, Novation FLkey 49, Native Instruments Maschine Mikro MK3 and a Novation Launch Control XL 3. My audio interface is a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, and for monitoring I use JBL 305P MKII studio monitors together with Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro headphones.

I've also recently added a Shure MV7X microphone and an Elgato Facecam MK.2, because one of the things I'd really like to do in the future is more live studio sessions and give people a look behind the scenes of Mars Shadow.

I'm definitely a bit of a gear nerd and I love trying new things, but I've also learned that having more equipment doesn't automatically make better music. At the end of the day, Cubase and all the gear are just tools – the most important part of my studio is still whatever is happening inside my head.

 
 10.Can you share one production tip?

Don't overthink perfection.

One thing I've learned is that you can spend forever trying to make every little detail technically perfect and completely lose the feeling that made you start the track in the first place.

Of course, mixing, sound design and all the technical stuff matter, but every now and then I stop and simply ask myself: Does this actually make me feel something?

If the answer is no, another hour of EQ probably isn't going to save it. 😄 Sometimes you need to go back to the original idea, melody or emotion.

So my tip would be: learn the technical side, but never let technique become more important than the reason you started making music in the first place.

11. What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
 
Oh wow, that's a good one! There are honestly so many. 😄

A lot of my inspiration comes from producers from what I personally consider a prime era of Trance – artists like Running Man, Saint Rush, Fast Distance, Carl B, Kamil Polner, Amex and many, many more.

There's something about the music from that period that has always stayed with me. The melodies, the emotion, the long breakdowns and the way tracks were allowed to really develop and tell a story. It wasn't just about getting to the drop as quickly as possible.

Of course, there are also plenty of current producers I respect and learn from, but those older productions definitely shaped the way I think about electronic music.

I don't want to copy that era – I want to take some of the emotion that made me fall in love with it and translate it into my own sound today.

12. What are some upcoming events or projects you are excited about?

There are actually quite a few things I'm really excited about right now.

I've recently started working with established vocalists, which is a completely new and exciting chapter for Mars Shadow. Working with an actual singer from the beginning and developing a track together brings another level of emotion and personality into the music, and I'm really enjoying that process.

There are also some very exciting collaborations with other artists already being planned, but I probably shouldn't give away too much just yet. 

At the same time, I'm working on a lot of new music and continuing to explore where I can take the Mars Shadow sound next – deeper Progressive House, Trance, Melodic Techno and especially more cinematic elements.

I feel like Mars Shadow is entering a new chapter right now, and honestly, I'm probably more excited about what's coming next than anything I've released so far.

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13. Where can we find out more about your music?

The best places are definitely my SoundCloud and Instagram.

SoundCloud is where you'll find a lot of my music, including previews and sometimes things that haven't been officially released yet. On Instagram, I'm constantly sharing teasers, studio moments, upcoming releases and little glimpses of what I'm currently working on.

From there, you'll also find links to all my other platforms like Spotify, Beatport and the rest.

So if you want to know what Mars Shadow is working on before everyone else does, Instagram and SoundCloud are probably the places to be.

And finally, a big thank you to Exist in Sound for giving me the opportunity to do this interview and share a little more about myself and the world behind Mars Shadow.

I really enjoyed answering these questions – some of them actually made me stop and think about my own journey for a moment. 

Thank you for the support, the interest in my music and for giving artists a platform to tell a little bit of their story.

It genuinely means a lot to me. See you somewhere in the music! 

Thomas / Mars Shadow