Plastik Funk joined us at the Big Joe® Lounge for Miami Music Week/Winter Music Conference/Nexus Radio Lounge 2018.
Plastik Funk used to consist of Rafael Ximenez-Carrillo and Mikio Gruschinske, they first landed on the map with their 2003 debut EP called “Do It Right” and have since gone to remix the likes of David Guetta, Robyn, Shaggy and Deadmau5. However, these days Rafael is the only one spear-heading the Plastik Funk brand- at least on the front-end, he explains:
“It’s just me, I mean we were two and we are still partners. We have a label and we have another company but he (Mikio) had some health issues. Now everything is good because he stopped touring. He had some problems with his back and we just decided that whoever was more the “DJ” which was me- should continue the touring thing. And we didn’t realize this [at the time] it was like a new start of Plastik Funk. It was just a decision we had to make, but now last year and this year seem to be the best years of all careers. Yeah, actually it’s pretty good.”
Plastik Funk discusses his latest collaboration with Mr. V “The Life” (Armada Music), which has been well received by the likes of David Guetta and Martin Garrix as well as other big names in the industry. We wanted to know how his latest track came about;
“I’ve had the vocals for Mr. V for at least three years now, and you know Mr. V is like one of the house legends but the right idea was missing. And now a couple months ago we just started working on a new idea and it just came out perfectly. We also did a remix with a friend of mine from Italy; he worked on a remix of it. So the package was just perfect and I’m super happy with the results. It got premiered by David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, and Martin Garrix so the support is there, I’m super happy with it for sure.
Rafael also indicated that he has several collaborations in the works, including a massive remix for Robin Schulz which recently hit 300,000 streams on a single weekend. He’s also working on a new single for Armada called “Cream and Sugar,” and a collaboration with the goddess of house music Barbara Tucker.
To learn more about Plastik Funk, including which DJ or artist he’d like to perform at his wedding (if he had to re-do it again), which country or island he would retire in, and what advice he would give his 15-year-old self. Click on the interview below for the full audio ↓
