Riding high off the back of a hugely prolific inaugural year – a year which saw no less than four critically acclaimed label releases and a hugely successful debut showcase events in Tel Aviv, Lisbon and Los Angeles – internationally celebrated record label and artist collective Scenarios steamrollers into 2023 with continued vigour, with the unveiling of its next huge single Side By Side. Out now, Side By Side marks another delectable offering of immersive, avant-garde house music from the burgeoning imprint, which continues to carve itself a reputation as one of the most exciting labels on the international house music circuit.
Produced by founding crew members MAGA, Sean Doron, Emanuel Satie and Tim Engelhardt, the featuring artists make their combined intentions known from the outset, conjuring an uncompromising blend of hypnotic kicks, whirring synth lines and exquisitely layered samples. A refined production with a mesmerising groove that drives the record across its duration, Side By Side captivates from the off and sees the four Scenarios artists add to the label’s flourishing catalogue with yet another seismic dancefloor weapon. We sat down with Scenarios founders MAGA and Sean Doron to find out more.
MAGA and Sean, before we get into your new huge release, Side By Side, could you please introduce yourselves to our readers? Where do you answer us from?
We are the founders of our nearly 1-year-old record label, collective and event series Scenarios, we are touring artists and music producers, for now, a little more than a decade.
You both are founding crew members of the internationally celebrated record label and artist collective Scenarios alongside Emanuel Satie and Tim Engelhardt? Could you tell us more about this platform, what exactly does it consist of?
Yes, we are, indeed. The idea was to build a special collective and a family together where we can all learn from each other. Since day one, the idea has been to build our music profile together and stay eclectic with our vision.
Established in April 2022, Scenarios has taken the electronic music world by storm over the past nine months. What balance do you make of this last year in terms of the growth and development of this project?
Thank you, we like to hear that. It’s been a very fruitful year in terms of growth. We are getting incredible feedback from people from every angle in the scene and we have already wrapped a few showcases around our favourite cities in the world such as Los Angeles, Tel Aviv and Lisbon. We are now in Tulum, Bali, Berlin, Japan and more so it’s very exciting.
What did 2022 mean to you personally and professionally?
2022 was a year of growth, the big ‘come back to normal life’ after weird Covid times. It’s been so good to be back on the road again, playing around the world and of course the first year of Scenarios. It was a big one for us both personally and professionally.
At the end of November, you presented your single Looking In The Sky, the first track the whole crew produced together in the studio. What feedback did you get from your listeners?
We have received really nice feedback from major artists that are already playing the track, and the record is going really strong on Spotify and has already been added to 4 different Spotify editorial playlists. People really love the vocals from Paul Brenning.
Now you welcome 2023 with the release of your new single, Side By Side, which marks another delectable offering of immersive, avant-garde house music from your burgeoning imprint. How do you feel now that your latest work has seen the light? What can you tell us about the creative process of this track?
When the group is producing a track, there is one person handling a piece that they feel most comfortable working with. We then switch the person in the chair to work on the next segment. We sit and discuss it and either move forward with the next segment or continue to edit until we reach a collective agreement. It was made in our studio in Lisbon and we are already getting really strong early support from our fav artists.
This release comes just one week ahead of Scenarios' huge showcase event in Tulum on January 20. What can we expect from this great event?
Lots of fire and dancing in the jungle together with our friends and family, our Scenarios crew and a very special guest.
I am very interested in how you work collectively on Scenarios while preserving your personal stamp and your individual identity. Even more in a panorama in which it seems that differentiating yourself and having your own sound is more difficult than ever. How do you get it?
Having our own sound comes with years of production experience across four very different artists. All of us have our own individuality in our various personal productions, but when we come together these aspects prevail in subtle ways; offering a completely new approach to music that some may have never heard in the electronic music scene.
And what do you think of the current music scene? Is there any artist or music group that you recommend us to listen to?
I think music is evolving all the time and so does every single artist. There is so much good music out there. Honestly, I like to look at music from the past because I feel it always has a special print and colours that stay alive. At least for the good records!
What would you like people to feel when they listen to your singles?
Definitely, the idea is to make our listeners feel that our music is timeless
These last few years have not been easy for artists. The pandemic forced many projects to be paralysed, concerts or sets postponed, or releases delayed. Do you feel that we are at the beginning of a new stage in the history of music, or have there not been as many changes as some people say?
At this time, some of the changes overall had an impact on a global scale. The industry as a whole has changed in a multitude of ways. However, on a personal note, I had a lot of time to reflect, produce, reminisce and challenge myself in ways that I never had the time to do before. The changes and delays allowed me more time to process things and create this label embodying a dynamic union between four unique artists from different backgrounds aiming to produce something truly special and unique.
No less than four critically acclaimed label releases and a hugely successful debut showcase event in Tel Aviv. For you, this last year has been very important and you have celebrated many successes. What can we expect from Scenarios for 2023?
We can definitely share with you that we are planning to release every month and a half, we have so much music in the pipeline ready for 2023, in terms of the showcase we aiming to go towards Asia for two showcases during April. We can’t really share too much more with you right now but stay on the lookout for Ibiza.
And where would you like to see your record label and artist collective five years from now?
I want to see us keep growing all as one and sharing our story through music, outstanding collabs and beautiful showcases around the world.
