A fixture of New York’s nightlife for over a decade, Evan Michael’s perspective comes from years of working behind the scenes at some of the city’s leading independent venues.
Photo credit: Evan Michael – Facebook
That experience informs a production style that blends rhythmic melodic house with a techno edge, earning him releases on labels including Secret Fusion, Sprechen, Street Tracks, Epicure Records, and Heimlich Musik.
Now entering a prolific new chapter, Evan Michael is expanding his catalog with a steady stream of releases, including the recent ‘Time Is Now’ EP and the newly released ‘Kind of Alpha’. As he continues to refine his sound, his focus remains on creating music that works equally well in the booth and on the dancefloor.
In this conversation, Evan Michael reflects on his return to production, the influence of New York nightlife, and the creative direction shaping his next body of work.
EG: Hi Evan, welcome to EG. Great to have you here. How have you been? Where are you speaking to us from today?
Evan Michael: Hey, thanks for having me! I’ve been good, mostly just staying busy in the studio lately. I’m coming to you from Midtown Manhattan.
EG: Congratulations on the drop of your latest EP, ‘Time Is Now’. What has the initial reception been like so far? Is there a concept or trigger driving this particular record?
Evan Michael: Thank you! It’s been incredibly rewarding so far. Since I’ve started putting music out again, getting immediate feedback from other DJs who are playing the tracks out in their sets has been a fantastic feeling.
The title ‘Time Is Now’ reflects exactly where my head is at. I’ve spent the last couple of years really honing my craft and dedicating a lot of time to the studio. Conceptually, it’s about a sense of urgency, just pushing myself creatively and capturing that specific late-night tension where a room feels completely dialed in. It draws from a mix of deep and progressive house, disco, and breaks to build that momentum.
What’s also been exciting is the life the remix package has taken on. Epicure Records brought together an incredible group that bridges diverse global scenes. Having Shubostar deliver that cosmic, psychedelic perspective, Vanity Project stripping things back with an acid-driven club version, and Gisèle Kérozen bringing a raw, kinetic touch, has been massive. Seeing those different interpretations out in the wild is definitely a highlight.
EG: Speaking of new music, your next EP, ‘Kind of Alpha’, just dropped last week on Heimlich Musik, featuring remixes from Johannes Klingebiel and Alberto Melloni. What was the starting point for this release?
Evan Michael: These tracks were actually some earlier material that I finished when I was first getting back into the studio and focusing seriously on production again. I’ve been a big fan of the Heimlich Musik collective in Vienna for a long time, they throw awesome events and put out incredible music. I love their whole mindset around deceleration, blurring musical borders, and creating a genuine sense of togetherness. Their catalog has great stuff from artists like Curses, Local Suicide, and Ameli Paul that really reflects that philosophy.
I ended up approaching Oberst & Buchner with the tracks to see if they would resonate, and they were on board with the vision right away. The project was really about blending punchy, straight-ahead house rhythms with deeper, expansive soundscapes, and the release has grown into something that feels intimate but still works for a club.
For the remixes, I was excited to bring in Alberto Melloni. He has a really cool background as a live musician integrating Italo, disco, and techno, and he stripped the title track back into a minimal, peak-time roller. They tapped Johannes Klingebiel, who was a natural fit since he’s already part of their catalog family. He brought in this brilliant balance of darkness and optimism, packing it with playful synths and a ton of vintage, analog warmth.
EG: The titles ‘Kind of Alpha’ and ‘Chameleonic’ suggest two very different energies. What were you exploring emotionally or creatively across these tracks?
Evan Michael: They represent a duality in how a night evolves. With ‘Kind of Alpha,’ I wanted to build a commanding presence on the floor, using steady, hypnotic percussion and dynamic synth layers. It’s all about balancing that heavy, late-night club momentum with a sense of melodic introspection.
‘Chameleonic’ goes in a different direction. It starts with immersive textures and a warm, pulsating bassline, acting as a bridge between deep house and a more broken, leftfield vibe. But it has these two distinct, ravey synth lines, and the lead energy gets a fresh injection in the breakdown. Creatively, I just wanted to see how far I could push the contrast between a track that moves straight ahead and one that takes you on an unpredictable turn.
EG: Before returning to production in the last year, you spent more than a decade deeply involved in New York nightlife as an in-house promoter. How did that experience shape your understanding of dance music and club culture?
Evan Michael: It’s been wild to watch how much things have shifted over the years. Being on the backend of promoting events while regularly playing support slots as the scene evolved is really what shaped my approach.
When you’re doing that work week in and week out, you quickly figure out how to properly warm up a floor at a slower tempo. You learn to read a crowd and pick records that match the headspace of the exact moment, rather than just forcing a sound because it’s trendy.
For me, it just comes down to trusting your own curation. You need a real, personal connection to the music before it ever hits a proper system. Luckily, New York crowds are spot on; they’re open-minded and down to see where a night goes. If you truly believe in what you’re playing and know how to pace a night, the room is always going to come along with you.
“My focus is shifting toward building a much larger, more cohesive catalog”
EG: You stepped away from releasing music for a period before returning over the last year with projects on labels like Street Tracks, Sprechen, and Secret Fusion. What pushed you to come back to producing seriously?
Evan Michael: Producing is what I’ve always wanted to do. Even when I was working behind the scenes, mostly focused on the marketing, branding, and curation side of things to build up events and the profiles of different venues, writing my own music was always the thing in the back of my mind. I love DJing, but I always felt like my main contribution needed to come from the creative side, actually writing the music. I needed an outlet to build a community of people who really connect with what I’m doing, and to spark a genuine reaction when things peak in a room.
I used to just write tracks whenever I could squeeze in the time between industry roles, but once I stepped away from the intense day-to-day schedule of that side of nightlife, a huge amount of bandwidth was freed up. It finally felt like the right moment to give it 100% and treat the studio with the seriousness it deserves. Having that headspace has allowed me to just lock in, which is why everything has been coming together so naturally.
EG: Was there a moment during that return where you felt you had finally found the sound or identity you had been looking for?
Evan Michael: It really came together for me with ‘Kodiak,’ which was the title track of my EP on Secret Fusion. Before that, I was experimenting with a few different directions, but everything just clicked on that track. Taking a more focused, stripped-back approach in the studio allowed me to hit this specific balance of a warm, steady groove with a shimmering melodic synth line. Capturing that kind of energy was a major breakthrough, the first time I truly nailed the sound I’d been chasing in my head.
The rest of the EP balanced it out perfectly. While the A-side had a more melancholic, nostalgic drive to it, the other tracks leaned into a progressive direction that was a bit more playful. It showed me that I could write music that works in a club environment but still carries a lot of genuine emotion. Once that record was done, I felt like I finally had the foundation I wanted to build on.
EG: Your music balances club functionality with something more reflective and atmospheric. When you’re in the studio, what are you usually chasing emotionally?
Evan Michael: I’ve always been drawn to tracks that carry a lot of weight, something that feels deep and honest but still has enough punch to drive a room. When I’m writing, I naturally gravitate toward minor scales and deeper chord progressions because I want to build that specific type of late-night tension. It really comes down to pairing the club styles that have shaped me over the years with a heavy, expressive mood, creating these thick sonic layers where people can just lose themselves in the moment.
That mindset honestly ties back to having a really eclectic background and listening to a wide range of music across all kinds of genres. For me, the common thread has always been an appreciation for raw energy and that unpolished, expressive feel in a performance. When I’m in the studio now, I still try to bring that same organic dynamic to the table. I want to deliberately lean into those happy mistakes and imperfections, rather than letting a track sound sterile or completely quantized.
EG: New York has changed a lot over the past decade, especially in nightlife and underground culture. From your perspective, what has the city lost, and what still keeps its spirit alive?
Evan Michael: We’ve definitely lost some of that easy spontaneity where you could just find a raw space and put a night together with little oversight. But looking at where we are now, that evolution has made event spaces safer and really elevated the scene as a whole. Leaving that era behind has forced the entire city to level up. New York has evolved into one of the absolute biggest global hubs for dance music, and the sheer volume of talent and unmatched variety of line-ups available on any given night is incredible.
What keeps the spirit alive is that the core energy here doesn’t just disappear. Even with real estate pressures and changing spaces, venues here still stay open far later than spots in the rest of the country. There’s a competitive drive native to New York that forces everyone to keep pushing what they’re doing. As long as the city maintains that round-the-clock freedom, people are always going to find a way to reinvent the night and keep things feeling fresh.
“It just comes down to trusting your own curation”
EG: Looking ahead, where do you want to take the project next? Is there a direction you feel yourself naturally moving toward?
Evan Michael: My focus is shifting toward building a much larger, more cohesive catalog. That’s really taking shape with a debut album I have in the works for later this year, alongside a few different EPs lined up with labels overseas. It’s also been great collaborating with more remixers on these upcoming projects, it’s incredibly rewarding to hear how other producers reinterpret the original ideas and bring their own perspective to the release.
Ultimately, I just want to create music that slots seamlessly into my own sets right alongside the records that inspire me. Instead of just dropping isolated tracks, it’s about delivering a solid body of work that feels completely natural to play out.
EG: Thank you so much for your time, Evan. We wish you all the best with ‘Kind of Alpha’ and everything ahead. Take care!
Evan Michael: Thanks so much, appreciate you guys having me! Catch you soon.
Evan Michael’s ‘Kind of Alpha’ is out now via Heimlich Musik. Stream and download your copy here.
Follow Evan Michael: Spotify | SoundCloud | Instagram
