Filmmaker and music-lover Mark Schmocker releases documentary about what it’s really like being an electronic music producer

Written by Maya-Rose Torrão

Australian film-maker and creative director for successful soul-house outfit Two Friends, Mark Schmocker, has just released a short documentary that gets up close and personal with some of EDM’s greatest producers, featuring Adventure Club, Elephante, Just A Gent, Two Friends, Didrick, Hellberg and Exit Friendzone. The electronic music scene is always surrounded by this facade of partying and glamour and with the release of his short documentary ‘In Perspective’, Mark Schmocker aims to offer viewers an insight into music production along with the realities of being a producer. “I had this idea and knew I wanted to basically capture them as people as opposed to artists. [I wanted to] explore their everyday life rather than the glamour,” Schmocker explains.

Schmocker travelled throughout Australia, Europe, US and Canada, visiting various homes and studios while attempting to pick the brains of musicians and look into how their personal trials, tribulations and lifestyles and how these things affected their music production. Offering a raw image of how producers operate delving into their ‘off camera’ normal lifestyle which may contradict those classic EDM hype images we see broadcasted so often

The independent filmmaker funded and edited the entire project himself and it came to light that the 25-minute film was also important for Schmocker’s own introspection as it formed part of an exploration of not only the music producers’ selves, but of Schmocker’s, too. Schmocker says, “It was a response to answering a personal question, developing a personal exploration and seeking answers for myself.”

“The biggest take away is that [the musicians] are doing well because they are throwing themselves into something they love.”

“Despite other documentaries telling us that [musicians] were born as a prodigy, the more I look into music and the industry, [I find] it’s mainly people that work really hard and have a strong idea of what they want to achieve.”

Check out this personal account of what it mean’s to be an electronic producer below, in Mark Schmocker’s ‘In Perspective’.