ID 007: 666CMG
You may be familiar with his hit edits of Headie One’s ‘Can’t Be Us’ or Clavish’s ‘Public Figure’; 666CMG has taken the techno scene by storm with a set of consistent releases and his standout sound mixing contemporary rap samples with electronic beats, clocking up over 700k plays on SoundCloud alone so far. His latest project and first EP ‘Ethereal’ has set the bar for what’s to come in the future for the artist who was born and raised in Letterkenny, Ireland, and we’re stoked.
Literally speaking, the 5-track album eases in quite delicately and light (Ethereal) and shifts into more of CMG’s signature upbeat rhythms in ‘Big Stepper’ and a people’s favourite ‘Sprint On My Nikes’. We caught up with him on the production process, his inspiration and his beginning in music.
Listen to ‘Ethereal’ on SoundCloud, Apple Music, Spotify and other platforms now.
Tell us about your musical background. When were you first introduced to dance music and what inspired you to begin producing?
My first introduction dance music that I can remember was listening to a Classic Euphoria CD of my brothers. After that I remember finding “NY Stomp - The NY House Track” on YouTube and becoming obsessed with house & techno. I was DJing before I ever thought about producing, but I really wanted to be able to play tracks of my own in my sets so that’s when I started teaching myself how to produce.
What would you say influences your music the most? What inspires your sound?
My tracks take influence from the likes of Mall Grab, Skin On Skin & Special Request but I get inspiration from all genres of music, I’m a huge rap fan as you can probably tell from a lot of the samples I use.
How has your own music taste developed over time? Who are you listening to nowadays?
It definitely changes a lot, before lockdown I was big into hard techno and played a lot of it in my sets, but when there was no gigs it gave me a lot of time to really dive into different genres without the worry of finding new tracks to play out. I’ve definitely steered away from that a bit now, but you can still catch me playing quite hard sometimes! Some artists I’m loving at the minute are Baxter, Oots, CRUSH3d, STÜM & Ben Prophet.
Your first EP ‘Ethereal’ is out now on all platforms. Tell us a bit about the process behind this project and how the idea came to fruition?
I started it in January 2022 after taking a break from producing for a while. The goal was to make something I wanted to listen to myself, without thinking about what people might want to hear or something to fit into my sets.
Where do you usually source your samples? What software and tools do you prefer to work with?
Mostly from things Im listening to day to day, or from tracks & freestyles I used to love when I was younger. I use Ableton and a MIDI keyboard!
There’s a lovely flow to the album. It starts of with a nice light build and leads into a solid finish with the likes of ‘Big Stepper’ & ‘Sprint On My Nikes’. How did you decide on the final song track list?
The track list flows in order of when each song was made, which works out quite well. Every song reflects how I was feeling at the time I was making it, starting out quite slow and moody and builds into something fast and strong.
Have you ever come up against a mental block when producing? If so, how did you overcome it?
I’ve definitely came up against some mental blocks before. I like to put any ideas I can down and leave them for a bit, then revisit them later when I’m feeling up for it. Also helps listening to different genres and coming back to it with fresh ears.
Your hit remix of Clavish’s ‘Public Figure’ has over 400k plays on SoundCloud. How does it feel to know your music is touching so many people worldwide?
It’s mental! I never thought my music would reach that many people. The support has been amazing and I’m so grateful for everyone listening, liking and sharing my music.
You played up in Belfast over the Easter Weekend. What was the vibe like up north and where can we catch you soon?
Belfast was sick! The crowd were well up for it and I can’t wait to return. Shoutout to the Exile crew for putting on a sick party.
I’m stoked to announce I’ll be making my first Irish festival appearance this summer. Stay tuned for where and when!
Follow 666CMG on Instagram.
Bookings: rachael@speedmanagement.ie
Based between Barcelona and Ireland, the electronic alliance who were both raised in Boyle, Roscommon, have curated a six-track collective featuring extraterrestrial melodies, deep breaks, and kicking snares.