Funk master Mikey Lion is known for captivating audiences around the world with his groovy and psychedelic sounds inspired by his ethos of “house, techno and love.” Today, June 4, the tastemaker delivers tons of sonic flavor on his debut album, For The Love, marking the 100th release on Desert Hearts Records.
The LP takes listeners on a journey through dance floor heaters, euphoric soundscapes, trippy melodies, breezy jams, distorted synths and enchanting vocals, truly transcending audiences into a kaleidoscopic dimension. Indeed, For The Love showcases Lion’s signature sound as well as the music Desert Hearts is known for.
Desert Hearts—which creates intimate gatherings focused on art, music and community—is a multifaceted brand with a label, a music festival and global parties, all led by Lion, Lee Reynolds, Marbs and Porky. The four leaders of the renegade community of misfits and party people are noted for bringing their groovy music and colorful and psychedelic aesthetic to 100 shows a year around the world, including Ibiza, Los Angeles, London and Berlin. While the group’s events are best designed for a live experience, the House, Techno and Love community has successfully brought their distinct vibes to the virtual space amid challenges caused by the pandemic. This concept of navigating success and suffering is succinctly showcased across nine tracks on For The Love.
Here, Lion shares the psychedelic trip that started it all, launching Desert Hearts, his introduction to electronic music and more.
Lisa Kocay: A psychedelic experience helped spark the inspiration for both the Desert Hearts brand and your debut album, For The Love. Can you discuss how that experience was the catalyst for it all, and how this theme plays into the LP?
Mikey Lion: “During a psychedelic DMT trip, I communicated with all the plants and trees in my parent's backyard, and they were elated that I finally understood that they were just as alive as I was. At the time I was throwing a party called Jungle where I would cut down their branches and use them as decoration for my party. When I realized this, I started to profusely apologize to the trees, but they stopped me and let me know, ‘It's ok, what you're using us for is to create a positive impact in the world. You can use us any time you want.’ To me, this was like the secret of the universe given to me by the trees I grew up with my whole life. From that moment on, I knew my purpose was to spread as much positive energy and love in the world as possible.”
Kocay: How did you turn the lessons you learned from that experience into reality?
Lion: “My partners and I threw the very first Desert Hearts party just two months later with the intention of spreading as much love as possible. The mission really resonated with everyone, and here we are nine years later. I owe everything in my life to that experience sending me down this path towards love.”
Kocay: Can you share any stories on how some of the tracks were created on the LP?
Lion: “The final track on the album is called ‘Talking To The Trees,’ and it's inspired by that core psychedelic experience I had. It was also inspired by a track called ‘Sofiel’ by Francesca Lombardo that I was listening to during the trip. The crazy part about it is that I once told this experience to Francesca Lombardo, letting her know how much the song helped me during the experience. She was kind of taken aback and then said, ‘Do you know who Sofiel is?’ ‘No,’ [I said]. ‘Sofiel is the Angel of Nature.’ Our heads just about exploded from the synchronicity. It was kind of like another little wink from the universe.”
Kocay: This album showcases how you’ve come into your own as a producer. What was that experience like and what were the influences for this album?
Lion: “This album is a culmination of everything I've learned and loved over the last nine years of running Desert Hearts. I wanted to make something that spans the entire spectrum of dance music that I like, from house to deep and tech.”
Kocay: How did you pick the name of the album? What does For The Love mean to you?
Lion: “I named the album For The Love to pay homage to this mission that has given me everything in life today. Whether it's my family, my friends, my community or my career, it all stems back to doing things ‘for the love.’ The main goal in my life right now is to figure out how I can become the most effective healer with my music and the energy I'm putting out into the world. This album is definitely going to help me do that.”
Kocay: You launched the Desert Hearts community in 2012, which focuses on house, techno and love. How did you create and build this unique, loving, good vibes community, and how has it given back to you over time?
Lion: “When we first said we wanted to throw a party with the specific purpose of creating as much love as humanly possible, I don't think any of us knew just how powerful that intention was. We've never had investors, so we've never had to rely on doing things someone else's way. We've always put the vibe of the party before anything else and hyper focused on what that would look like. The energy we were putting out must have resonated with the right people because the community that Desert Hearts has fostered is arguably the most beautiful in the world. It's a place where people can feel safe to let their freak flags fly and express themselves and their art in a positive way. This community has given me everything I have today and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.”
Kocay: Since the pandemic canceled shows, you brought the Desert Hearts community to the virtual space via Twitch. How were you able to transfer the Desert Hearts experience to an online format, and what do you see for the future of Desert Hearts after events come back?
Lion: “When the pandemic hit, we didn't know what we were going to do because our festival normally funds our business and our employees throughout the year. We decided to get super proactive and start streaming five days a week on Twitch, with each partner taking a night of the week and playing for eight hours. Despite the pandemic hardships, it was one of the best things ever for our community, because all of a sudden our fans had a place to hang out with each other online five days a week. There's only so much interaction a community can have on social media, but the chatroom-style communication on Twitch basically provided a home for our entire community to hang out online. Fans started donating and subscribing to our channel, and the next thing we knew we were covering all our costs to keep the business afloat just from our fans giving back. As the pandemic comes to a close (thank god), we're still streaming during the middle of the week because it's such a great way to interact with our fans, plug dates and debut unreleased music that's forthcoming.”
Kocay: Has the pandemic changed your production and creative process? If so, how?
Lion: “The pandemic gave me a lot of time to reflect and reprioritize goals. I kind of took my time and made music while I was inspired and didn't force anything.”
Kocay: How did you initially get into making music, and how has that shaped the music you make today?
Lion: “I started DJing on turntables when I was 13-years-old as a scratch and hip hop DJ. Once I got older and discovered house music, I started experimenting with Ableton. Through working with different producers I learned how to produce on my own. I just try to let things come organically in the studio and whatever comes out happens that way.”
Kocay: Do you remember the first electronic music song you heard that made you fall in love with the genre?
Lion: “Not so much the first song but the first time I ever experienced dance music was also the first time I ever took ecstasy. I was 17 at Coachella 2006 during the debut of the Daft Punk Pyramid. At the time, it was the single most influential moment of my life because I knew that that was what I wanted to do. I pretty much stopped being a hip hop DJ at that moment and became a house DJ, even though I had no idea where to begin.”
Kocay: If you could go back in time to when you first started making music and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Lion: “Just keep making music no matter what. Even if it sounds like s**t, you're still learning from the experience and eventually you'll get better over time. Don't be afraid to work with other producers because you don't think you're on their level. Everyone is happy to show you their tricks of the trade and how they do things compared to you.”
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June 04, 2021 at 05:00PM
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How DMT And Talking To Trees Inspired Mikey Lion’s ‘For The Love’ LP - Forbes
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