The BARKING MAD label head goes it entirely alone in the studio, building a piano led house groove out of the years he spent living in Brazil and Spain.
Toronto based producer and label head Peter Mac is back with “Solo Contigo,” a piano driven Latin House single released on his own imprint, Barking Mad Music. It is his first outing since October’s “Distant Lovers,” which landed him a debut on DJ Spen’s Quantize Recordings and a run to number one on Traxsource’s Soulful House chart, and it finds him leaning further into the Afro Latin Brazilian sound he has been developing over the past year. Peter Mac continues to work with MN2S Label Services for distribution as Barking Mad Music grows.
The Story Behind “Solo Contigo”
Peter Mac has been making a lot of Latin House lately, and “Solo Contigo” grew out of a piano groove he could not shake. “I do a lot of Latin House tracks and I love the piano groove and thought this would fit with the track, and it worked out really well,” he says. The pull toward that sound is a personal one. “I have been doing a lot of Latin type of sound lately, it reflects the many years I lived in Brazil and Spain.”
A Solo Studio Session
Where “Distant Lovers” paired him with South African vocalist Earl W. Green, “Solo Contigo” is entirely his own work. “No vocalists or co producers, this is 100 percent my production,” Peter Mac confirms. It fits a working method he has stuck to since he first started producing: find the groove first, then build everything else around it. “I try to figure out what the main groove will be. This time it was the piano idea.”
Released on His Own Label
“Solo Contigo” arrives on Barking Mad Music, the label Peter Mac launched himself after his events and booking agency was sidelined during the pandemic. “Barking Mad Music is my label,” he says simply, and by now it is the natural home for most of what he makes. Since launching with the deep tech cut “SLICK” and growing to include the more melodic focused Barking Mad Melodic, the label has built a catalogue rooted in Deep House, Deep Tech and, increasingly, Latin House, with releases including “El Ritmo Oscuro”, “Havana Que Rico” and the label’s earlier chart highlight “Bass Beats,” which reached number six on Spotify’s Brazilian house chart.
Quality Over Quantity
Peter Mac has released across a huge number of labels over the years, among them Quantize Recordings, Category 1 Music and Soul N Pepa. These days he is far more selective. “I’ve learned a lot in this time. I’m releasing much less now and concentrating on quality over quantity, and I’m basically just releasing at the moment on my label entirely,” he says. It is a shift that tracks with what he told MN2S after his Quantize Recordings debut, when he credited the label’s support in helping him build those relationships in the first place, and with his description of Barking Mad Music’s own guiding principle: keep the music original, and do not chase what everyone else is doing.
What’s Next for Peter Mac
Latin House will take a back seat for now. “I’m itching to do some Deep House releases now, which is my favourite genre. Will lay off the Latin stuff for a bit,” Peter Mac says, pointing to where Barking Mad Music is headed next. “Solo Contigo” is out now on Barking Mad Music. Follow Peter Mac on Instagram and Facebook, or head to linktr.ee/petermacofficial for all his latest updates.