No Bullshit Talk with Andre Mayborn

Andre Mayborn, aka The Magician of Dubai as our dear Hekske and myself call you! delivering the kind of deep grooves we’re more and more numerous to enjoy, where do you come from Magician?

I was born near Moscow city in May 1985 when Russia was still called the Soviet Union and having a Pink Floyd vinyl at home was an unattainable luxury. Luckily my dad, being a radiotronics engineer at that time, had his own collection of self-assembled sound amplifiers, music players and lots of vinyl which formed my perception of the quality sound at a very early age. When I was 8, I started taking piano classes and at the age of 11 it became a meditation routine for me as I was already composing complex melodies while sitting for hours in a sunlit room of my parents’ apartment but unfortunately never wrote them down so in a few years those melodies would vanish from my memory as suddenly as they were once born inside my head.

Oh nice! Means you’re a natural born composer! When did you meet Electronic music?

approximately at the same time ! This beautiful moment inevitably triggered strong emotions, dreams and aspirations inside of me as well as shaped my connection with music and defined its major influence on my future life path. It all started with Robert Miles and my further exploration of the emerging rave and trance music scenes, techno and house, IDM and trip-hop genres. I was listening to music non-stop – every new CD purhcased in a music store, every trance radio show I tuned in was a magical journey that would transport me to beautiful realms with my imagination leading the way and filling myself with endless joy and happiness. Those were the times when my appreciation for electronic music producers, DJs and storytellers was infinite and I have always admired their talent to touch the soul and establish a deep connection on many levels.

…and so, when and how did you start to mix yourself ?

Although I had always dreamed of becoming a DJ, my professional DJ career didn’t begin until 2015 when I turned the age of 30 and was already living in Dubai. This was the time and place where I discovered and instantly fell in love with downtempo, multicultural electronic and organic music. I also feel that exploring and working with these genres does not only reflect my own character and the current stage of my life path but also gives me endless opportunities to create meditative journeys, drive the audience towards the state of flow and establishing a deeper connection with themselves as well as convey important messages and share revelations that could be felt and comprehended non-verbally but through the universal music language.

You soon did more than simply mix, right? Tell us more about this festival you curate…

Indeed ! The same concepts were taken as a basis for AnimaTerra Festival, a music events project which my friend Ara (aka Daerian) and I founded in 2018, first in Dubai and then we brought it to Moscow. The word ‘AnimaTerra’ comes from Ancient Latin and literally means ‘Soul of Earth’. The key idea of the festival was to gently combine downtempo music, storytelling and the visual arts in an attempt to provide the audience with soulful experiences that would help reconnect with yourself, raise awareness and feel the creative energy within. With each event we tried to create a trusting atmosphere and add a storytelling element in every process and experience, be that the carefully defined lineup sequence and the music flow, the visual performances, decorations or the entourage. We’ve always paid special attention to the musical narratives and the effect that they produce on our audience. For example, when we see people dancing at our events, we often notice that their movements are very meditative and they seem to be fully immersed in their imagination, with the music and its positive vibrations flowing through them – that’s a kind of an effect that we are always striving to achieve. We’ve been lucky to have many talented magicians and storytellers playing at our events since inception – AIWAA, San Miguel, Dandara, El Mundo & Zazou, Robbie Akbal, Just Emma, Zuma Dionys, Timboletti, Tebra, Jota Karloza, Lui Mafuta, Andre P and others, and we are super grateful to them for
the support and we cherish deeply every journey that they have shared with us.

Ultimately, how would you define what’s Music to you? And djing…

Today I can confidently say that music and DJing is both storytelling and meditation for me. In a sense it is a way of life, way of thinking, way of dreaming, way of sharing. With a rapidly growing accessibility of the music production tools and technologies in the recent years, many talented music artists have emerged, producers whose perception and taste of downtempo and organic house music is tremendously deep, sophisticated and purely unmatched and I’m very grateful to them for creating and sharing their incredible works with the world and for the opportunity to be able to express my storytelling talents and transform these beautiful vibes and messages in the music journeys and sets that I create. I have myself been exploring music production in the past year and am now working on my first EP to be released in 2022. I’m very excited about it and looking forward to refining my unique music style and elevating the narrative of my journeys to the next level.

Next to music, next to all you do! do you have another realm, a secret garden maybe ?

Besides creating music journeys and organizing events I’m currently exploring myself as a writer of short stories and I also create artist stories for a few music labels and events. I’m also providing transformational guidance and coaching to other people. I’m currently specializing in Human Design, positive psychology and mental practices (ex. Reality Transurfing), the transformational Leela Game, EI, strengths-based development and selfdiscovery coaching.

Nice!!! Here are topics for another interview some day! Thank you Andre for sharing your story with us! I’ve been delighted to get to know you better! And happy new year !

Andre Mayborn – Website

AnimaTerra – Festival

Andre Mayborn on Soundcloud