Meet FaderPro Roger Sanchez MiniMix Contest Winner, Mandez!

September 3, 2018

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Alongside the massively popular Roger Sanchez DJ course with Toolroom Academy, we launched a MiniMix contest with a set of Pioneer HDJ-2000 for the winning mix! We caught up with winner Paul Fay to talk about his winning mix, favorite FaderPro courses and his Mandez artist project.

How did you get started making music?

“I am from Dublin, Ireland and I first got into making music in 2015 when I did a 4-week beginners Ableton Live course and learnt all the basics on how to get a track down. I got in touch with a few other producers just to sit with them for hours and hours to see how they do things, I picked up a lot from them but never got any tracks down. At this stage I realised how much detail actually goes into producing so it scared me off a bit. [laughs]”

Why did you enter the FaderPro contest?

“I entered the FaderPro MiniMix contest because I knew it would be a great opportunity for me to express myself as a DJ and let other people listen to what style of music I was into, and to get my mix listened to by other up and coming DJs who have the same drive as me, also because Toolroom were partners with this competition and I’ve been a huge fan of the label since i can remember so it was great to get some recognition from them”

What were your favorite courses?

“I had purchased Dale Howard and Josh Butler courses in early 2017 as i wanted to jump back into producing, i picked up lots of inspiring tips and tricks from those artists but my favourite course would have to be Josh Butlers. how he goes about creating his signature sound is very inspiring to me and it is something i am still working on for myself to create my own sound that is unique to me.”

How did you feel when Toolroom picked you as the winner?

“Honestly I didn’t expect to win because there was so many great mixes uploaded for the competition but i was chuffed to be chosen the winner! I am loving the new headphones by the way i’m looking forward to testing them out!”

When did your Mandez artist name begin?

“The Mandez project didn’t start too long ago actually, in August last year I made the decision that I was going to take my music production a lot more seriously, so I applied for the Toolroom Academy music production course. I moved to Maidstone, Kent for two months and studied with the label, built myself a new artist profile and thats where Mandez came about. I got to study in London twice a week with the legendary D.Ramirez as he tutored me for the 8-weeks and I also received valuable feedback weekly from the Toolroom A&R team. All exciting stuff!”

What’s next?

“Since finishing the course I moved back to Dublin and started producing but I wasn’t happy with anything that I was producing. It was my own fault because I was been over critical on myself and my work and just wasn’t happy with anything that I was making, I just couldn’t get the sound I was after, which is very important to me. I want people to recognise my track if they heard it played so thats why I am taking my time to fine tune my own sound. But I’m pleased to say that I have got my motivation back and have been working hard behind the scenes a lot with some unfinished tracks that I hope to release in the near future!”

Check out Paul’s winning mix below and catch him at the Toolroom party at EGG London in December!