Maze 28 is a young successful sound producer with his own unique sound. There is not a single person in the club dance industry who does not know the name Maze 28. His style and powerful groove have caused a stir in the entire club industry.
What we already know about Maze28… His name is Mario Zefi, 21 years old, he is from Albania and he started studying music at the age of 11.
Let’s find out a little more about Maze 28.
-Mario hello! I am glad to meet you and thank you for agreeing to the interview!
– Hi Sveta, thanks a lot for having me!
-Could you please tell us about your nickname, how did you come up with it and what does it mean?
-My nickname is a combination of my first and last name: Mario Zefi (Maze), and 28 is from my birthday (28 June). The “Maze” part was an idea a friend of mine found in 2019. In 2020, when I had to release my first-ever track “Motion,” I didn’t have an artist name, and thought of going with Maze, but considering there were other artists with the name Maze, I decided to add 28 to avoid any confusion.
-What inspired you to create music? Did your family support your efforts?
-I got into electronic music when I was 11 years old, mostly listening to mainstream EDM. However, over the years, my taste in music shifted towards underground music. As I got better at perceiving the music around me, I began to appreciate the character of underground music more, which inspired me to start listening to more music from that side. More specifically, in 2019, I experienced a total shift from mainstream to underground. Regarding my family, their support came gradually over the years. Now, there is even more support from them, since my name has become prominent in the progressive house scene, which makes me happy.
-Your career skyrocketed when the EP Redux/Flux was released on the Mango Alley label. Indeed, this release became a hit in 2023 in the progressive house genre and marked the beginning of your unique sound. Maybe someday your sound will be called Maze House 😄 but how did you come to this sound in particular progressive house?
-Yes, Redux/Flux did exceptionally well last year; that release opened many doors for me. I produced those two tracks during March-April 2023. In February 2023, I departed from the melodic techno world with the idea to venture into progressive house—a life-changing decision for sure. Flux and Redux were two of the first four progressive tracks I made last year (the other two being Space Glitch, which was released in December 2023 on Mango Alley, and another track which I’m going to keep exclusive for my sets only). Honestly, it was a period of lots of experimentation since it marked my proper beginning in progressive house. While making these tracks, I had a few things in mind: the tracks should be groove-oriented, without melodies, and have a dark vibe. And I guess I managed to achieve that! I am happy that my sound inspires producers all around the world.
Mango Alley had been my favourite label for a long time, so it was amazing that I managed to sign the EP there. I remember the hype that built around this EP very well; many big DJs were playing the tracks as promos, such as Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren, and Ruben Karapetyan. It was exciting to see the tracks receive such positive feedback from the crowd. Upon release, it was amazing to see so many people share the tracks, and both of them stayed in the Top 10 on Beatport for a while.
Now, Maze House doesn’t sound bad :P, but I call my music “Peak Time Progressive” because most of my tracks are high-energy, fitting properly into the term “Peak Time”.
-You had a gig in Sri Lanka on March. Tell us about your tour… I’m sure you had some expectations. Did they come true? The country itself? A party? Crowd? The atmosphere?
-It was a long and exhausting trip from Albania to Sri Lanka, but it was worth every moment. Sri Lanka has been supporting my music since my debut progressive house EP, Redux/Flux, so visiting there was an unforgettable experience. While I expected Colombo to be beautiful, its actual beauty surpassed my expectations, and I truly miss the time I spent there.
The hospitality I received was amazing, and of course, I am grateful to the Generic Beats team for ensuring that my stay in Sri Lanka was both safe and memorable. I had the opportunity to meet producer friends of mine like Rockka & Kyotto, as well as other local talents in the scene, and of course, Subandrio. He, along with Stan Kolev, are both my favourite artists, so it was an incredibly fulfilling experience
On the big day, I was filled with excitement to perform in front of such an amazing crowd. Watching everyone dancing and smiling to the sounds of my music filled me with adrenaline during both of my performances on stage. I had prepared a set consisting solely of my own music, including some of my most well-known tracks and, of course, plenty of unreleased ones, which I played exclusively for the first time in Sri Lanka.
I can’t wait to return to beautiful Lanka, but next time, I’ll make sure to stay longer.
– You’ve joined in to MA For Artists… Congrats! 🙌 What does it mean for you and what’s your upcoming plans there?
-As mentioned earlier, Mango Alley has been my favourite label for a long time, so when I was invited to join their new agency, I couldn’t refuse. The MA For Artists roster includes me and other talented progressive house artists. Together, we represent Mango Alley, the world’s leading progressive house label. The agency manages my role as a producer, particularly handling original and remix requests I receive from other labels.
-We know that you have recently graduated from a colledge. What specialty have you been assigned? Will you use it in your future life or have you decided to devote your life to music?
-I got my Bachelors degree last September on Multimedia & Digital Television and this summer I will finish pursuing my Masters degree on same field. Ofcourse my desire is to devote myself to music but music business is risky, it my go well or maybe not, that why I decided to go to university and get both Bachelor and Masters degree.
-At your age, you have achieved a lot. What is your secret? And what would you like to wish the readers.
-I was lucky I had lots of time to focus on producing, lots of work and dedication to learn and go where I am now. There were times I was from morning till late at night working on music, that’s how I learned many stuff regarding production, mixing and mastering. Luckily we have Youtube today so there are thousands of tutorials out there regarding music production. But in our case with progressive house there aren’t many progressive house channels but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch tutorials for other genres. That’s how I learned most of my stuff, watching melodic techno tutorials, edm tutorials, even Lofi hiphop tutorials. Knowledge is endless, so everything new we learn from other genres can be handy. Also what helped me was asking for people to give me feedback on my music, because everyones perspective is different, that’s one big help for sure.
Thank you Mario and see you!
https://www.beatport.com/release/redux-flux/4123366
https://www.instagram.com/maze28.music?igsh=ZjBxNG1xNmViNmwy