Ladies On Mars has been one of the most prominent artists on our blog this Spring. Behind the moniker we find Argentinian Jonathan Douglas Braverman.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires the Nu Disco sensation is rapidly becoming a household name halfway across the world.
A producer since 2006, starting out in 1999, Braverman has the experience and the talent that makes him transcend as an artist.
We were lucky to catch him at his studio in locked down Buenos Aires.
- Hi Jonathan! Thanks for taking time out for us.
Your carreer began in the Minimal Techno/Tech-House area. How did you progress to that destinctive Disco sound you’re achieving today?
I was always a Disco Boy, you know. From the age of 4 that I’m a fan of Michael Jackson. Those Disco sounds from Off The Wall and that funk, RnB from Thriller hypnotized me at the first listen.
Sometimes I wonder: what was I doing producing Minimal Techno / Tech-House for almost 10 years!? Haha! Sometimes I don’t understand it, I think they are stages, part of the evolution as Ladies On Mars, made me who I am today. They were different moments of my life, I think that’s why the music came out more techno, darker, without so much color, for me the music has colors, it depends on how you feel is how you produce.
The Disco / Nu Disco scene wants to sing, dance, remember, feel happy and embraced by music, wants to travel to the past but with its feet in the present.
Ladies On Mars
- Is the Tech style producer gone for good, or do you still dabble in that genre?
Mmmmm, I think so. I think that in Disco music, Nu Disco I found my place to express myself and be understood. That does not mean that tomorrow I will not do a song more House or with a more Techhouse sound, but I do not see it soon.
- How’s the Disco/Nu Disco scene diefferent to the Tech-House scene when it comes to the crowd?
Hmm what a question! The Nu Disco scene for me is more difficult, since if you put on a song they don’t know or don’t have a good groove for, they stop and let you know. They have another vibe; it is a scene closer to Pop and bands than to the electronic Techno. They are very different.
The Disco / Nu Disco scene wants to sing, dance, remember, feel happy and embraced by music, wants to travel to the past but with its feet in the present.
- How do you achieve that sense of travel when you go live? Do you plan a lot ahead and research your crowds, or do you load a ton of tracks and go with the flow?
Well, that is something that comes from when I played techno and minimal, I have been playing with Ableton for more than 15 years, it is already part of me. It is very difficult for me to go to Traktor or another platform since, unlike others, I started producing so the Ableton is my natural tool.
Generally, it is a mix. I have some things prepared, of course, an armed project, which allows me to flow and let myself go according to the crowd. After so many years of playing and knowing my music, I can let myself go.
- What influences you most when you make your music?
My mood definitely! It all depends on how I feel the day I sit in the studio to produce and the music I have been listening to lately. A particular sound, everything influences me. I’m a sensitive person.
After so many years of playing and knowing my music, I can let myself go.
Jonathan Douglas Braverman, Ladies On Mars
- What is a typical day in the studio like for Ladies On Mars?
Before quarantine or after? Haha good. I didn’t change too a lot haha. I usually wake up at about 8 or 8:30 am now (before I woke up at 6am). I put the water to prepare tea and brush my teeth while the water heats up. Then I feed the cats and go to the studio.
What I do first in the studio is check the emails and see all my social networks. Then I plan my day. I have a file where I write down what I have to do, what I have done and what I’m missing, etc … you know. I am my own secretary … haha.
Then during the day in the studio I let myself flow. Sometimes I start the day with an idea of making music and then I end up simply answering emails or doing something other than music.
I usually spend a lot of time in the studio more than 12 hours a day!
I leave the studio when my partner calls me to eat or when it’s bedtime haha … I’m a workaholic!
- How does a Ladies On Mars production normally start out?
Hmmm, it usually starts with inspiration. I am listening to a lot of music, or so I try, I listen to new, old music, everything. I think that’s where I start later when I’m sitting in front of my computer with the keyboard, the first thing I do is work with the bass, although many times I started with the drums and some other times with the keys. Depending on whether I do an original song, a remix, or rework, that will greatly affect the way I work.
- Tell us about your current configuration?
My current configuration is very simple and humble (I hope I can improve it soon)
I have a 2017 Imac 21.5” which is the “Mother” of my studio, regarding the hardware I have a Korg Monolgue synthesizer which I use for basses and some synths and fx, a Roland TR-8 drum machine that I use for some batteries that are connected to my Allen & Heath ZEDI10fx mixer and a clear condenser microphone for voices. Regarding the software, I use Ableton Live to produce and Logic to master. I also use Virtual Synths. I’m a fan of Roland’s cloud service! I love those synths!!!! And I also use Waves. Regarding Midi controllers I use the launch control XL and launchpad but I only connect them sometimes (since they are generally from my live setup)
- Which producer has had the greatest impact on how it is produced today?
There are several but I think Purple Disco Machine, Dr Packer and LNTG. They are the ones that marked the sound a lot and influenced me to make the sound I do today.
- Three of your songs that define you best as an artist?
All of them? Hahaha Well if I have to choose, I would choose:
“Hold On” editor for the Tropical Velvet label, I think it is my most danceable track and with that bass and Techno beat inside the Disco that to this day when I listen to it at full volume it gives me goose bumps.
The remix I made for Michael Gray “24/7 Party People” that was released by the Midnight Riot label, is another of the tracks that define me, the breakdown of that track has many capable of background fx sounds which was what The more it cost me to do, that people can travel with that theme and get into the song
And the remix I made for Ruff Diamond feat TAZ and Wanja Janeva “Extra High” for the SupaEarth label is definitely a song that cannot be overlooked, one of the best basses I’ve made so far.
Bonus:
“No Ones Gets” the rework by Diana Ross, I think it is one of those that define me as an artist soundwise, because it is the most current and closest sound that I want to get to.
- Where do you see yourself going musically in 2020?
Musically? I think that reinforcing my Nu Disco and Disco sound definitively, it is a year to further define my sound. I will spend a lot of time in the studio making new reworks, edits, remixes, etc …
- You took charge of your business during the COVID19 crisis and have been releasing a host of incredible reworkings. It tells us a bit about the start of the series and what to expect.
Yes, it cost me at the beginning since, like everyone, I was taken by surprise and I needed a few days to focus and digest everything that was happening.
The beginning of the series was a bit of everything, out of need, since there were no events to play and as you know the income of all the DJs and producers dropped a lot because of this. And on the other hand the desire to create and share with everyone and try, that with my music they can have a good time. The idea originally was to launch 1 rework per week but sometimes it takes me a little longer and it is every 15 days.
- When COVID19 ends, what is the first thing you will do?
I think the first thing would be to go for a walk in a plaza and see the people I love and hug them tight! It is definitely the first thing I will do! And of course go to play for an amazing people!!! need that vibe!
- Your latest rework is of Andy Gibb’s ‘Shadow Dancer’. How was the musical voyage different on that one, compared to the others in the series. They sound akin, but this one is the most Disco of the all.
I think that each song has its own trip, some inspire me a more house and club trip, others a bit softer and mid tempo. Andy’s rework inspired me to make it more Disco and not so Club something more mid tempo worked better with this classic.
- Ten seminal songs in your life?
Wow! it’s very hard to say, with no chance to think it through:
Michael Jackson – Don’t Stoll Till You Get Enough
Bee Gees – You Should Be Dancing
Purple Disco Machine – Body Funk
Seamus Haji – Boogie 2nite
Diana Ross – The Boss
Groovejet – Spiller
Shakedown – At Night
Black Box – Ride on Time
Modjo – Chillin
Tiga – Hot ‘n here
Thanks for taking time out to talk to Discoholics Anonymous, Jonathan!
Ladies On Mars is planning more reworks to be released in the near future on Midnight Riot! Tropical Disco and Re-Loved. All of which we’ll keep you posted on.
We’re stoked to present this unique and exclusive Ladies On Mars mix!
Check out Ladies On Mars’ Bandcamp.
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