Caramel Mafia Interview
HCM. How did you come by your stage name?
Caramel Mafia. Actually, I got booked for my first gig before I even had a DJ Name. I wanted to have a name that tells a story and also explains what I sound like. Back then I had a few friends who always called me Caramel and since this was around the Myspace-Times, I had the screen name Mafiaboy. I played around with names a bit because DJ Caramel sounded a bit lame to me. I ended up combining Caramel and Mafia and loved it and the rest is history.
HCM. When did you discover your love for music and what made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in music?
Caramel Mafia. I was always surrounded by music since my parents were massive music fans and my Dad was also a musician. I was spent a lot of time with him in my childhood at his rehearsals and backstage at some events where he would perform with his band. As a kid, I would listen to the radio for hours and later watched MTV. When I left school I became a Radio presenter at various stations like KissFM and Yourzz.FM and since music was a fundamental part of the job it was just a matter of time until I took my first steps into the DJ-Industry. Not to sound shady but when I started clubbing I often thought “Man, I could do this too. Maybe even better.”
And one night I was out clubbing in Berlin, after a few drinks I asked the promoter if I could DJ at one of his next events. He said yes and one month later I was opening for his party. I had never DJ’d before that at all but people liked my selection, I practiced, worked hard, got better and here I am.
HCM. What are some of your greatest challenges as an artist, and what is your greatest attribute when it comes to your work ethic?
Caramel Mafia. I’m very passionate about what I do and I work hard, but I feel very privileged to do something I love and get to tour and play live. I’m always trying to better myself and get better at my craft. There’s always room for improvement and I’m always striving to become the best version of myself.
HCM. What impression would you like listeners to be left with after hearing your music?
Caramel Mafia. I want people to forget their hustle of the day and have a good time. If they come to see me live I want to make it a night to remember.
HCM. What are your plans for the near future?
Caramel Mafia. Right now there are a lot of projects planned but since the worldwide outbreak of the corona-situation, we had to put them on hold. But if the situation goes back to normal anytime soon I will be playing some amazing festivals this summer. Since most of them haven’t released their lineups yet I can’t say anything more for now.
But it will be amazing. Besides that, I’m planning on coming back from the hiatus with my club night “Ratchet” and some very interesting collaborations. Besides that, I’m doing my Dating/Sex -Podcast “030-Bootycall”, which I want to take to the next level. And some more Mixtapes are planned this year. Even with other genres. House and Voguing Fans will definitely love them.
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