10 Iconic Maceo Plex moments

Unequivocally one of the hardest-working electronic artists in the game, Eric Estornel’s (aka Maceo Plex/Maetrik/Mariel Ito) music career seems like the stuff of legend. Getting his start as a DJ at the age of 16 in Dallas, Texas, and working his way up to music production at 19, the musical machine that is Maceo Plex has gone on to release 68 singles and EPs, five albums and performed in over 40 different countries since the turn of the century.

Maceo Plex's musical wisdom and unstoppable, genre-spanning production always revolves around his dedication to futurism and crafting sounds that continue to devastate dance floors around the world.

Check out 10 of Maceo Plex’s most iconic moments from his illustrious-career below.

As an unmistakable musical mastermind with tracks bursting at his seams, Estornel needs three monikers to handle his production process. His early career as Eric Entity, then Maetrik, started in 2000, releasing music on labels such as Immigrant Records, Iron Box Music and Treibstoff.

Feeling pigeonholed by the dark, complex sound design associated with his Maetrik byname, Estornel established his electro music moniker Mariel Ito between 2005-2006 before later adopting his now recognized Maceo Plex name in 2009. Forged with the purpose of creating a deeper and groovier house-like productions, the sound of Maceo Plex struck a chord with audiences everywhere and launched Estornel into stardom.

This year, after a five year hiatus, Estronel has revisited his darker Maetrik alter-ego with ‘Return’, an appropriately named two track EP with a pitch black and beautifully demonic impetus.

This fine Maceo Plex moment is brought to you in part by Damian Lazarus’ seminal imprint Crosstown Rebels; a nine-minute track complete with a delicious guitar riff, crisp claps and a monstrous Reese synthesizer growl. Linking up with Lazarus when he moved to Spain in 2010, the record label served as a crucial launching pad for Estornel’s Maceo Plex project, releasing his debut LP ‘Life Index’ in 2011 along with a slew of other fantastic singles and EPs between 2010 - 2012.

‘Can’t Leave You’ is a profound example of Maceo Plex’s ability to create cutting-edge music (with a dash of pop-appeal) that is deep, soulful and accessible without losing sight of forward-thinking production habits.

Described simply as “Maceo Plex’s music label for deep, dirty and beautiful music”, Ellum has been the home to numerous releases that have had a major impact on the global dance music community. Established in 2011, Ellum has graced us with singles and EPs from the likes of Shall Ocin, Agoria, WhoMadeWho, Maxxi Soundsystem, North Lake, Danny Daze and more. Ellum continues to roll out tunes that consistently put dents in the dance floors they meet.

In 2013, Maceo Plex graced the cover of Mixmag's December 2013 cover, which also came with a stunning cover CD featuring tracks from Pan-Pot, Kiasmos, Moonstarr and a number of deep tracks from Maceo Plex himself. Check out the hearty hour-long mix CD in the stream below.

Maceo Plex has topped the charts plenty of times, but in December of 2014, he managed to snag the No. 1 slot on Beatport simultaneously for three different genres with tracks from three different releases.

The Maceo Plex track ‘Solidarity Daze’ with Gabriel Ananda took the gold for Tech House and his contribution to Drumcode’s Conjure Series titled ‘Conjure Dreams’ topped Beatport’s Techno category while simultaneously landing the No. 1 spot in Electronica for his remix of Royksopp’s ‘Sordid Affair’.

We love a well-rounded man

Maceo Plex established his own Ibiza party named ‘Mosaic by Maceo’ in 2016. The break out residency won Ibiza Parry Of The Year at the DJ awards and now, following its second year, has managed to popularize more leftfield sounds (by Ibiza’s standards) and bring various pioneering electronic artists to the island's forefront - changing the musical layout of Ibiza as we know it.

Over the past two years, Maceo Plex has enlisted the likes of Recondite, Silent Servant, Len Faki, Moodymann, Young Marco, Palms Trax and Jon Hopkins.

Check out our 10 favorite tracks from Mosaic’s closing party this past summer.

During ADE 2016, Maceo performed under the iconic RIjksmuseum in Amsterdam. The shrouded path, traditionally used as a historic bike passage, was transformed into a raging, jam-packed live music mecca.

The “venue” had never hosted an electronic music act before, and its towering columns and breathtaking, endless dome structure begged for a divinely powerful, larger-than-life act. And that’s when you call in Maceo Plex.

The performance was breathtaking beyond anyone’s expectation, its live streamed video buzzed through the music scene on a global scale and added another level to Estronel’s stature as an undeniable, underground behemoth.

Maceo is never one to turn down a challenge, and this time he wanted to test his vitality, skill and true perseverance as a DJ.

In the summer of 2016, Plex played 10 sets in 10 different locations in just 24 hours across the White Isle. The excursion was part of his Mosaic concept, to which he honored by playing each session in a different genre.

Estronel described it as: "Different kinds of music that fit into one idea of journey or piece of art".

Absolutely epic.