Miguel Migs grew up in Northern California on his parent’s diverse collection of classic rock, blues, funk, soul and reggae records – which helped set the tone for his musical inspirations. He infuses these creative influences into his own sound, which combines this wide range of styles, blending them together into his own unique artistry.
Migs emerged from the 90’s deep house underground scene to become the kind of artist who transcends the stylistic limitations of a genre so very few can. His musical journey began after picking up a guitar in his early teenage years and his first outlet was writing songs and playing in Dub/Reggae bands. Although Migs always loved and listened to all different styles of music, in the early 90’s he connected to the soulful sounds of Deep House. By the mid ’90s he began experimenting with producing electronic dance music. And by the time the new millennium dawned, a string of releases and remixes on numerous leading indie dance labels earned him an enviable reputation among discerning dance music fans worldwide. As Petalpusher, he’d also become a stalwart of the hugely influential Naked Music stable with his original productions, remixes and compilations.
But even bigger things were to follow.
His well-received 2002 debut album Colorful You came out on the legendary Astralwerks label, and Migs began to attract attention from the broader music community, remixing big-name artists as diverse as Macy Gray, Lionel Richie and Britney Spears (yes, really). After years of relentless non stop global touring, his 2007 follow-up album Those Things saw him collaborating with big-hitting names like hip-hop legend Sadat X and Reggae icon Junior Reid among others. The album was nominated for Best Dance Album in the Independent Music Awards, and was also included in Virgin records yearly ‘Virgin Recommends 24 ECD’ promotion not to mention the single So Far went into the Top 5 in the Billboard Dance chart and #5 on the iTunes dance chart.
‘Those Things’ was released on Migs own label, Salted Music. Founded in 2004, he launched Salted Music as a creative outlet for, in his own words, “music I like to play as a DJ, those B-side dubs, that underground creative feel. I never set out for it to be a large record label, it’s something we do pretty much on a part-time basis for fun as a side project. but it’s also important to me to be able to keep pushing new sounds and new artists.”
Migs’ reputation is such that when it came to recording his last album Outside The Skyline (which debuted in the iTunes top 10 dance chart and received rave reviews by top publications) he was able to pull together an impressive line-up of collaborators including original disco diva Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King, reggae legends Half-Pint and Freddie McGregor, first lady of musicianship Meshell Ndegeocello, Berlin based jazz singer Georg Levin and bossa nova phenomenon Bebel Gilberto who all make an appearance on the album, alongside two vocalists who’ve been regular co-conspirators through the years, Aya and Lisa Shaw.
The result is a sophisticated melting pot of sound that has trademarked Miguel Migs. Informed by electronic elements but no slave to metronomic dancefloor rhythms and tempos, it takes influences from rock, jazz, reggae, soul and more, with a heavy emphasis on high-quality song writing and equally high production values.
Despite achieving levels of success – both critical and commercial – Migs remains a genuinely humble, self effacing individual. A globe-trotting DJ, nominated on a Beatport poll as ‘Best Deep House Producer’ who, rather than constantly follows the trends or hype, prefers to let his music do the talking. Thankfully, his music more than does the talking – it speaks to people. Just listen.
