We all knew that we would celebrate out 10-year anniversary in a meaningful way. There were couple of ideas that were floating around, we wanted to make a best of Madonna Remixers United compilation, just re-release fan favorite remixes. The other idea was to bring back all the fan favorite remixers and make a new grandiose release, like back in the old days. However, this would be more difficult to pull off than we initially thought. CELEBRAT10N should have been the highlight of our 10 years of remixing. It’s supposed to be an eventful milestone, something to celebrate. But the road to that anniversary was more difficult than anything we faced in the past.

We must start with January of 2020. Due to global pandemic we all had to be locked in our homes, with just our technology to keep us company. We all felt isolated and somewhat depressed. “Lonely Hunter” was already in development and a lot of remixers couldn’t finish their works. So, things were starting to fall apart already then. Our big international project became a relatively small international project. Something had to be done about it. The system that we have built over the years, was showing cracks. Not every creator was eager to participate in MRU release, they could do anything they wanted and release on their own social media page. No need for external promotion from MRU. We had to figure out how we can motivate our team members and keep our fans excited & happy. That is why, after the release of “Lonely Hunter”, we decided to concentrate on a smaller individual releases, like “WHO'S THAT GIRL? - ODM remix EP”, or “D&S CONJUNCTION – Marco Sartori & Dubtronic Collaboration Remixes”. Less pressure on the creators and new content for Madonna Remixers United fans. Over the years we released several projects like: "M-TRANCE - RisingSun Remixes", "Cravings - DJ Tenzen Remix EP", "CLOSER TO YOU - Mission Groove Remixes", "CONFESSIONS ON A DANCEFLOOR - Lukesavant Remixes", "Who Needs The Sky? - ARIHLIS Remixes", "Like A Prayer - Maxi Single", "EROTICA - Lukesavant Remixes." CELEBRAT10N in a way a return to form for us. In hindsight it was a good strategy to wait and see how a small remix project would be received by general audience and only then release something major.

We sat down with Mary, one of co-producers of CELEBRAT10N to discuss the release of this compilation.

 

Hi, Mary, I’m sure not everyone knows who you are and why we’re doing this interview. So, can you tell our readers and M fans, a little about yourself? How had you got to know M? What made you become a fan?

Hi, you are right not everyone knows me. Some do from my involvement with many Madonna Facebook groups and pages… and friends. But not everyone.

Madonna came into my life in 1985. She was already making a mark in USA but in England, it was this year she hit us big.

Her “Like A Virgin” song and video were played at my friend's house on MTV (my family were poorer then, so I didn't have MTV at home). I was mesmerized by her; her clothes (the lace gloves, leggings, crucifixes, bows, red lipstick) gave her a fusing punk attitude look with sexuality and confidence. She was rebellious; I just couldn't take my eyes off this beautiful girl with striking looks, energy, and appeal. I was obsessed by her belly button too being on show. She was a new breed of 80's female artists.

Soon after that year, “Into the Groove”, “Desperately Seeking Susan” and “Crazy For You” were in the charts. I had joined the mountain of Madonna Wannabes dressing up like her during this time.

Over the next year's and to date, she has brought so much more to me and all of us. Always testing boundaries and having an opinion. I am really looking forward to seeing her Celebration Tour at the opening night in London on 14 October. A real party of her greatest work and eras. No one can ever replace her.

Jumping ahead, tell us how you got involved with MRU? What led to you becoming one of the executive producers?

This is a very long story; I will keep it to a minimum.

I had always followed MRU and their remixes for years on Facebook and SoundCloud. In Madonna’s Empire and numerous Facebook groups I was sharing their works and loving their remix projects.

I met Channing (Lukesavant) because of him commenting on an artwork I did around the time of the Project 3 Series. He asked if he could use it as part of the Classic Part of the release. At this point, I didn’t know Channing was “Lukesavant” and after talking to him then I realized, I dropped my phone in shock! I couldn’t believe it was Lukesavant. I was extremely nervous but also flattered.

Fast forward a year or so, I had started to be involved with Madonna Club Volante releases in Madonna's Empire with Tommy. Those early releases were mainly just remixes that were already accessible made into a compilation, but I was starting to get “recognized” by some remixers for my support and some sent me new remix demos.

Channing approached me and asked if I would be interested in making a NEW remix project for MRU. I thought about it and said I would like to work with Roman for it; it was a big job on my own and I felt I wasn’t confident enough. We worked well together, and that project was called “SAVE MY SOUL”.

With Channing’s guidance I started to approach existing MRU remixers and I was overjoyed when some contacted me back. In no time at all I found myself also being bold enough to go one step further and introduce myself to “new remixers". Off the top of my head, I managed to get Peter and the Blue, Chris “RisingSun” and plenty of others to come on board. Roman also was doing the same and speaking to Russian remixers. Plus, Roman's artworks were exceptional! Channing taught a lot about how everything comes together and was an amazing teacher. After that project, I went on to do more for MRU (some with Roman) and my own projects. To this day I cannot thank Channing enough! I learnt so much and I am forever grateful. I've met the most fabulous Remixers and built a rapport. They are always my friends. I love them!

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This is a short excerpt from our interview, the rest will be published later

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