Show Me Love

Mobin Master is widely regarded as one of Australia’s foremost producers. And making his decision to enter the music world wasn’t a difficult one.

“I was actually brought up on music,” he says. “My father is Iranian and he wasn't allowed to get into music - things like singing and dancing were frowned upon in that political regime - but we won't go into that side of things! But he encouraged us to get into music and enjoy piano lessons but I got booted out of that!

“So that's where it all started; a long time ago my father bought me a $1000 keyboard, which was great - I was well into that. Then I bought a synth and got really into that and taught myself guitar, and then (I) played bass in a band and did some singing and things like that. I only got into dance music later on.”

Indeed, he got into it properly, as his signature track, ‘Show Me Love’, spent a record 52 weeks in the ARIA charts.

“You don't really expect to be successful; you don't expect to achieve anything really. What I do, which is different to a lot of producers out there, is that I ask friends and musicians to check out what I'm doing and if that isn't happening I'll go back to the drawing board. It's also important to check things in the clubs - I still love going out! And ‘Show Me Love’, I mean that was just amazing. I still go into clubs now and I hear it playing. Of course I didn't expect it to be this popular, but the fact it was and still is, is great.”

Today, he is all about getting exposure. “Basically I want my music to be heard. My ambition is actually to work on newer stuff that has more meaning on the lyrical side, something that might move people. I want to tell a story in my music. I'll be working on that in the second album I hope. It will be a tribute to the 1990s; like the first one, I'll have vocals and instruments and try and do it from a musician's point of view. It's got hooks and elements of dance in there; and some of the other tracks have a whole bunch of jazz musicians that I directed. I have a great deal of respect for musicians; musos are amazing at what they do. I even had a guy who played one of my tracks - he has a master’s degree in music so he's great!”

So now that the ‘Get Lucky’ debut album is out, he is already thinking about his next studio project.

“In terms of what is coming up, I think the basic premise for the first album is that it's a stepping stone; people have shown me love and it will consolidate how people know me. The second album will be in a dance vein but it will have somewhere between ten to 12 full vocal tracks in there; we might be working with Jan Johnston who has worked with Paul van Dyk and John Digweed. She has a really angelic kind of voice and I think she will be great.

“I've got another friend who has been under my nose for years who is just a genius. I'm not good at lyrics, but once we sat down in the studio and he came up with this great idea in about 15 minutes. It was a song about a girl who was in love with this guy; now we've written something like 15-20 tracks and we have to work out what's coming out on the new album. The key is to have lyrics which can relate to dance music and give some meaning - guys like Armin are really good at doing that.”

As for his upcoming tour, Mobin says that basically, it will be a DJ set with Karina Chavez singing some verses.

“We will do three tracks live off the album as well as a lot of new tunes and remixes with newer versions that we will roll out in the next couple of months. We look forward to seeing all of our friends and fans around the country!”

Catch Mobin MasteR with Karina Chavez at The Met Friday June 11 for the Playboy Club 50th Anniversary party.