Hello Bill, could you please tell Madonna fans, as well as fans of MADONNAREMIXERSUNITED, who is the man behind Mission Groove? Why have you decided to take on this name (Mission Groove)? What does it mean to you?

  In April of 1999, I decided on the name Mission Groove for 2 reasons, all of which are pretty simple. 1) My mission in producing music is to groove and make grooves. 2) Instead of using my name, I wanted it to be about the music so my name didn’t get put at the forefront.  I wanted a “brand” instead of a person.

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It does sound a bit like “Into The Groove”, but as I understand, it had nothing to do with that.

Let's talk about your social media presence. A lot of your social media posts show you and often a big known pop singer, DJ or well-known celebrity.  How have you come to know these famous people?

When I lived in LA in the early 90’s, while in college, I interned for a company called Fan Emporium (based in Connecticut) where I handled correspondence for such artists as Wilson Phillips and Mariah Carey (both were just starting out with their debut albums).
In the mid 90’s, I started working for William Morris Agency in the music department where we had such clients as George Michael, Annie Lennox, Jody Watley, Joan Rivers, Aretha Franklin and Charo.
In 1993, I interviewed Donna Delory for the Madonna fanzine, MLVC, based out of Toronto.  I just so happened to have gotten the interview because during that short period, Donna was managed by Levin Management in NYC who also managed Michael Bolton, an artist that Fan Emporium also handled.  I had already been earlier that year to their office and met the staff.  They agreed to arrange the interview since I knew them. I was in NYC in to see the Girlie Show at Madison Square Garden the day prior. Donna was such a treat – funny, sweet and looked positively radiant. We talked for about an hour and a half.
Fast forward to 2000, Donna gave me a ticket to Madonna’s performance at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC.  It was a private concert where the audience was mainly comprised of radio station contest winners, music industry folks and those that knew anyone in the band. After the show, I went to the after party where Donna introduced me to Niki, where we began a friendship. Niki was in need of some assistance with having an assistant at the time and I started helping her out. Today, I am still her assistant and she has become a friend who has been one of the biggest blessings of my life. At one point she has even said, ‘You know we’re probably going to be living together when we get to be seniors.” 
In 2019, I thought to myself that I would really like to see Bright Light Bright Light (one of my very favorite musicians) to do a project with Niki and/or Donna.  I friended Rod (Thomas) on Niki’s Facebook account and we began talking about this possibility.  It was but a few months later that he sent me a demo of a song, “This Was My House”.  I forwarded it to Niki and Donna. They loved it and agreed to work with him on the project. While they were in Brooklyn to do a show together (corresponding with one of the Madame X concerts by Madonna), Rod just so happened to live in Brooklyn. They met up with him near his home and recorded their vocals for the single.  It was released a few months later on his album, “Fun City” and was the first single from the album.  It made me so happy to be able to bring them together to work on that track!

 

  Wow, what a story. So, you’re somewhat a celebrity, in certain circles, you’ve been around the industry “veterans”, you know some famous people, that are quite close to Madonna. Why we haven’t we heard much of your music before? You haven’t participated in any of MADONNAREMIXERSUNITED projects in the past? How come is that? Where have you been all this time? What made you take on a large-scale project (such as this) now?

I hardly think of myself as a celebrity. I often feel my music productions go unnoticed so I have mostly made mixes just for myself but then share them on my website, social media and SoundCloud. I have done a few official mixes for artists such as Cher, Kwanza Jones, Levi Kreis, Jenna Drey, Naked Highway and Manila Luzon.

Honestly, I had not heard of Madonna Remixers United until maybe a year or two ago. I felt awkward and presumptuous to approach anyone that managed it because it seemed

1. they would likely not be interested and I have a big problem with facing rejection (in it's many forms) in life.

2. MRU only does Madonna mixes and I didn’t want to be pegged as someone who can only or does only mix Madonna music as I mix other things as well. Madonna is my absolute favorite though and I have mixed several of her tracks before over the years. (Many are up on my SoundCloud.)

 

  Thanks to all the promotions, advertisements and media posts, all the fans who follow MISSION GROOVE & MADONNAREMIXERSUNITED have already noticed that this album already has a title. Why this title? Where does it come from?

I chose “Closer to You” because I wanted to bring fans closer to me, to my work so that they can get acquainted with my productions. It is also part of the lyrics to “Your Honesty” which was the first song I worked for the album exclusively and is the lead track and single on the album.

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  Now some of “beginner remixers” take a “safe” route, when it comes to remixing Madonna songs, trying to appeal to mass/broader audience. Sticking to fairly well-known Madonna songs, such as Like a Prayer, Vogue, Frozen or Music. You on the other hand decided to remix "lesser-known" tracks. Was that an intentional choice? Do those tracks hold a certain value to you?

Yes. I love a variety of Madonna tracks that aren’t singles or are not as “popular to the masses” as others. I chose to mix those because of my affection for them combined with the fact that I like to stand out and choose different tracks that aren’t as focused on so people can absorb a re-imagination of a song they weren’t expecting to hear.

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  Listening to some of your mixes, one might say that your music is quite progressive, a lot of heavy beats, quite fast paced club remixes. What’s the general vibe of your album? Do you stick to a specific genre, or the music genre doesn’t define you?

Most of the tracks on the album are a combination of tech house, tribal and progressive. Grammy award-winning electronic dance music DJ/producer Tracy Young has been my mentor all these years and I’ve been greatly influenced by her style.

I don’t like being identified as just played this or that genre. I mix sounds that I find that I believe work well together and not placed in any one genre or sub-genre category.

 

  To someone who isn’t familiar with your music, how would you describe your remix style? Who inspired you, who are the people you look up to and draw your inspiration from? Surely someone had a major influence on you?

Yes, I’ve been greatly influenced by Tracy Young's style. We met in 1998 where I heard her spin at a gig in Atlanta. We kept in touch all these years.

I am also a big fan of DJ Paulo, DJ Escape, Peter Rauhofer, Trouser Enthusiasts and Dave Aude.

 

  You’ve been making music and producing for quite a while, yet only now (it would seem) the quality of your music has been elevated to a new level. Your remixes sound more professional and well produced. What caused this change? Or was it just the fact, that you’ve taken on this project, you finally could spread your “wings” and show to the public your full potential?

I am also trying to learn and grow with techniques in productions. Guy Scheiman told me a couple of years ago, I need to concentrate first on the quality of mastering then the construction/flow of the mix(es). It just takes time, attention and effort to work on refining those techniques to translate into improved or polished finished projects. I’m glad people are noticing the improvement in my productions. I firmly believe you can never learn enough (about anything in life, really) so striving to improve holistically is main goal of mine.

 

  When it comes to “Closer to You”, we already know that there will be three promo video remixes. But what in general should we expect from Mission Groove in the future? Will there be a follow-up to “Closer to You”? Will you be a more active participant in MADONNAREMIXERSUNITED projects in the future?

Well this all depends on whether Channing, Roman or Mary invite me back to work on a project(s). I’d love to contribute more work to MRU projects in the future. I’ll still continue to work on official mixes when asked. (My last official project was with the new, fabulous artist, Kiva). She interviewed Niki in LA and then we started talking after that. Coincidentally, my colleague, Rob Moore, was working with her already so she asked me on to be a remixer for her song, “Turn Me Loose”. I’ve been asked to do a project now with other remixers such as Edson Pride and Dave Aude. Super excited to see where my journey takes me!

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  And so are we! I'm sure that fans will love your remix compilation, and we (at MADONNAREMIXERSUNITED) will be more that happy to work with you on the future projects. Thank you very much for your time. And on behalf of everyone at MADONNAREMIXERSUNITED we wish you plenty of inspiration and loads of success!