M.O.S. crafts two-hour set straight from the soul…

M.O.S. is an electronic music duo formed by Paul and Ilia, operating in the space between organic and progressive house.

Their releases have appeared on labels such as Anjunadeep, Colorize, UV, and All Day I Dream, gaining measured traction while maintaining a consistent, understated aesthetic.

In 2020, they extended their practice with the launch of Melody Of The Soul Records, a platform that has since grown to over 60 releases and reached the upper tier of Beatport’s Organic House label rankings.

On their Balance Selections mix, the duo lays down two hours of carefully crafted music.

Featuring a number of unreleased M.O.S. tracks alongside collaborations with D-Nox, PROFF, Kamilo Sanclemente, and others, the mix is a considered journey through contemporary progressive.

Tracklist

1) M.O.S., PROFF – Scarlett Sails (Extended Mix) {Thunderlab}
2) Miguel Ante & Jeff Ozmits – Polarized (Extended Mix) {Melody Of The Soul}
3) Rauschhaus – I Am The Ocean (Extended Mix) {Melody Of The Soul}
4) Oliver & Tom – Colombo (Extended Mix) {Melody Of The Soul}
5) M.O.S. – Tolika {Thunderlab}
6) M.O.S., Kamilo Sanclemente, Andre Moret – ID (Extended Mix) {White}
7) Reskide, Last Passenger – Horizon (Extended Mix) {Melody Of The Soul}
8) ID – ID {White}
9) M.O.S. – Immensity (Extended Mix) {Anjunadeep Explorations}
10) M.O.S. – Find You (Extended Mix) {Colorize}
11) M.O.S., D-Nox – ID (Extended Mix) {White}
12) M.O.S. – Dark Hills (Extended Mix) {Colorize}
13) D-Nox, M.O.S. – ID (Extended Mix) {White}
14) ID – ID {White}
15) Durante, Emi Galvan – ID (Extended Mix) {Anjunadeep}
16) M.O.S. – ID (Extended Mix) {Plaisirs Sonores}
17) M.O.S. – ID (Extended Mix) {Plaisirs Sonores}
18) M.O.S. – Running Man (Extended Mix) {UV}
19) M.O.S. – Dissociation (Extended Mix) {Warung}
20) M.O.S. – ID {White}
21) M.O.S. – Open Hearts (Extended Mix) {UV}

Name: Paul and Ilia
Location:Prague and Moscow
Alias/Producer name: M.O.S.
Labels affiliated with: Anjunadeep, Melody Of the Soul, UV, Colorize

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Paul: I vividly remember listening to my father’s CDs and LPs, including legendary bands like Deep Purple and Queen.

I also remember my mom buying a Benny Benassi album for home, and it absolutely blew my mind.

My uncle was a big fan of trance music, so I was introduced to Tiësto and Paul Oakenfold quite early on.

Ilia: I grew up listening mostly to rock music (The Beatles, Pink Floyd). Later, in high school, I became engrossed in alternative heavy music (Metal, Nirvana, System of a Down). I taught myself to play guitar back then.

My parents aren’t musicians, but my mom graduated from a music school with a piano degree and I’m sure she could pick out any melody for you by ear.

My dad plays guitar and does it quite often for fun. That’s why there’s still a real piano in my parents’ house, and a couple of acoustic guitars hang on one wall.

Paul: These were probably my uncle’s trance music CDs, I was about 10 years old. But we also recorded a legendary radio show called Garage FM, which aired every week and included absolutely incredible music selections.

Ilia: To be honest, my wife was the one who sparked my interest in electronic music. She had a lot of DJ CDs at home, and we’d listen to them together.

The track that really stuck with me back then was Cassius  – The Sound of Violence (Narcotic Thrust Remix).

Paul: Oh, I remember that moment clearly. It was 2005: an party for teenagers at a local club. I found myself on the house dance floor, the DJ was playing Roman Fluegel “Geht’s Noch?“, strobe lights were flashing, people dancing like a hell and it completely blew my mind.

It was love at first sight and I knew for sure that I would become a DJ.

Ilia: Oh, it must have been Nick Warren‘s show in my hometown in 2012. Amazing, unforgettable night.

Paul: I was truly impressed by Shingo Nakamura‘s album, Solace, which was released on Monstercat. It’s a fantastic album – I highly recommend it.

Ilia: I was really inspired by Ben Bohmer‘s album, Begin Again.

Ilia: We have a small studio in Prague. Let’s give you a quick tour.

The heart of the studio is the Mac Studio (it’s to my right), with an RME Fireface UC2 sound card underneath, a simple patchbay from Berhinger, and a power strip for the pedals.

The Mercury X reverb, Meraki Red Delay, and OTO boom pedals are right under the monitor.

Next (to my left) is the legendary Moog sub37. We recently acquired a Novation Peak, which currently sits next to the Moog. Neumann KH310 monitors rest on beech stands at the ends of the desk, and Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro hang neatly on the right stand.

For acoustic correction, we use software and a link to the microphone’s SoundID from Sonarworx. 

Paul: I have a much more modest home studio with MacBook Pro, Yamaha HS8 monitors and Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro headphones.
We work primarily with software plugins in Ableton Live.

It’s simply faster and more convenient. We use the same software as many producers – our favorites: Diva, Serum, Spire, Soundtoys, UAD, and Valhalla.

Ilia: Yes, but hardware synths and pedals always add character to our tracks. We love writing solos with Moog and Peak and running those sounds through the pedals.

Ilia: Our recent joint performance was in Budapest at the Anjunabeats after party and I hope we can team up again for a performance this summer.

Paul: One of the biggest upcoming shows will be (I’m not afraid to say it) in the Asian homeland of Progressive House: Colombo, Sri Lanka on February 7th.

If you’re nearby, welcome. There will be a lot of great music.

Paul: Many of them are of course unreleased. But if we’re talking about already released tracks, we were undoubtedly impressed by the track Dream Controller by Ezequiel Arias and Durante.

Paul:

Illia: