Audiation
Exclusive interview with the 1st lady of Dirtybird
Colours fly as we delve into Holi What type of music allows you to focus? Freejak discusses his rise in Dance music
Audiation
For the love of music.. Magazine presenting a variety of genres and exclusive industry content. Music magazine giving exposure to the freshest music sounds and talent, as well as discussing industry related topics. We aim to showcase the amazing unheard talent in the International & Underground music scene. For the love of music you will most definitely be able to find something you enjoy in our eclectic selection. Whether your groove is house, garage, dance or soul; we will cater to your desires. www.AudiationMagazine.com
"Music is the voice of the soul. It is much more than sound. Music can be a comforter, party maker, career path or a way of life. " Mizz Ruby, Company Director "Music joins people together from all around the world, without music life would be pretty boring." Rokuro, Associate Editor.
"The birth of one's child is the only feeling that comes close to getting lost in music." Cessle, Associate Editor.
"Music is a form of art that reveals a truth in a world full of mystery." Sarah, Staff Writer.
"No matter what's happening in life, it's usually great music will keep you going.." Malachi, Staff Writer. "Music is life. It's a universal language that has no barriers. It unifies people around the world. It brings people joy. " Andy, Contributing Editor
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2am WLUW Dave Gee - The G Spot
THURSDAY
8am Empire London Pintsize & D'Elle's Big Breakfast
WEDNESDAY
2pm Select Radio UK Danny Blaze National Anthems - Club Classics
TUESDAY
9pm Ministry Of Sound Essential Garage
6pm South Star Radio DJ Junior UK - UK Garage & Bass
MONDAY
10pm Empire LDN Heartbreak – UK Garage
4pm Vision Radio UK DJ Pyro - House & UK Garage
12pm WLUW Sarah Becker - Independent Music
FRIDAY
9pm Kiss FM UK Majestic – UK Garage
8pm Empire London DJ X-Ray – House & UK Garage
8pm Silk City Shakedown Show - House & Garage
2pm Silk City WisK & OSG - House, Garage & Bass
10am Silk City Wally B & Johnson - House & Garage
SUNDAY
9pm Kiss Fresh Mike Delinquent – UK Garage & Bass
8pm Shine EssnVee – House & UK Garage
2pm HouseHeadsRadio Adam Dmize - House
12 am - Kiss FM UK Wideboys - Lovers off Music & Bass
SATURDAY
UK Time Zone
4pm Select Radio UK Lizzie Curious – Funky / Tech / Groove
3pm Pure Music 24/7 AK Steppa - House
RADIO
Audiation
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Holi Festival of Colours For those of you who are yet to have had your attention averted to the funfilled colourful experience that is Holi Festival of Colours, rest your upon the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this summer and witness bright blues skies transform into multi-coloured rainbows with an explosion of powder paint. Since the first Holi Festival of Colours in 2012 which sold out in 4 minutes and had 3500 guests, founders Max Riedel, Maxim Derenko and Jasper Hellman were right in thinking big, as within 2 years the the festival is now on a world tour with festivals planned in around 30 major cities throughout 2014. The concept is derived from a long standing Indian tradition where every year Gulal (a coloured powder) and loud music intoxicate the people as a way of welcoming in the spring, living the spirit of the indian festival. This combination of music, colours and a festival atmosphere helps the festival to sell itself and you can be sure there have been people who have bought tickets on the strength of the videos on Youtube alone. This September the festival returns for its London leg of its worldly tour running over 2 days with a line up that out does the one from last year, with the promise of even more colour than before. What sets this festival apart from others? Aside from the obvious fact that on the hour, every hour, the crowd all gather and count in unison with the countdown ready to paint the sky an unforgettable rainbow. What sets Holi Festival of Colours aside from other festival exercise baring the obvious? Its the vibe that's projected within its grounds. The feeling of living within a (its funny to say it) an almost colourless Utopian society, because for them few hours each and every festival goer is a colourful mess, with the vast majority having very little concern for vanity and ones social appearance. And rightly so. Festival season is supposed to be that time of year where you are allowed to let go, be free and enjoy the experience. Where better than an environment that allows you to, in a sense, regress and go back to being a kid. Simply put you are a first hand liar if you can say that as a minor you never had naughty thoughts of being part of a crazy food fight/paint fight, if you haven’t already been in one.
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With the music focus all aligned to just one stage it leaves little room for music snobbery, but London 2015 has a line up that is sure to keep everybody happy. A music policy of feel good music that covers the spectrum, easily allowing moments where the crowd can all sing in unison to a familiar soundtrack. This year's line up sees Aussie sisters Nervo top the bill for Saturday’s affair having worked with a an array acts such a Steve Aoki & Afrojack accumulating over 3 Million likes on their Facebook page. Berlin based duo Booka Shade headline the Sunday, an act who have carved out a reputation as one of the most celebrated electronic acts to come out of Europe within the last two decades. Most notably known for club hits “In White Rooms” and “Body Language” they add the icing to the cake that already boasts Dubvision, Teemid,Marco Almanza and the unforgettable Bombay Boogie Soundsystem. An event that consists of so much colour infused with music in a festival environment, is not done so without an incredible amount of hard work and imagination. Audiation magazine decided to catch up Holi Festival of Colours Co-founder Maxim Derenko to find out how it all began.
A COLOURLESS UTOPIAN SOCIETY
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Heya Maxim, thanks a lot for taking part. Holi Festival of Colours, is truly an experience. so first and foremost, what is your favourite colour?
how do you deal with the pressure of ensuring that the same high standards are met each event?
What is your role with the Holi Festival of Colours team?
We are setting the bar very high for ourselves. We always want to create a great experience and unforgettable moments for the attendees. And so far this works very good :) The people are happy :)
I am a Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer.
Who has been your most favoured act to work with?
How did the idea for the 1st Holi Colours in Germany cultivate?
We had the honour to book a lot of great talents. I do not have a specific favourite - I like them all :)
I love them all :)
My partner Jasper has been travelling to India and experienced Holi in India. He was so amazed by this festival that as he came back we started the planning right away. The very 1st Holi Colours Festival in Berlin sold out in a number of hours, since then you taken the format across the globe. How does every event differ in each country?
One sentence that sums up what Hol Festival of Colours means to you? The most colourful day and unforgettable experience
The events are very similar all over the world. The people celebrate the joy and the happiness together and love the festival. How big a team do you now have to help with with all the production? This number differs from production to production. But a production like London for example needs around 300 people working on the festival at the festival day With the music policy being that of a mix genre and the focus being on just one stage how does it affect the type of acts that you choose to book? We are booking an electronic line up mainly With the numbers growing each year, 99
Solsine burst onto the music scene last year with a sound that was refreshingly unhindered by genre boundaries. Having produced separately for some time, the duo united to focus their sound and already that process has garnered significant results, with the garage swoon of debut track ‘Deeper’ lighting up the airwaves. They have recently written songs for Rudimental, performed on Tim Westwood’s Crib Sessions and supported Laura Mvula and Ella Eyre, so the future looks bright for the London-based duo. We caught up with them ahead of the release of their second single ‘Time’ to chat about how things came together for the duo.
other aliases. How did you originally find your way into becoming producers? Raph: I had two simultaneous roots into it really. I started off DJing Hip Hop in my early teens and then discovered Garage in the late 90s. Once I got into that I started messing around on Fruity Loops and Reason, making pretty simple loops and beats. Around this time I was also learning about analogue recording gear in my dad’s studio, sequencing on an old Atari and recording ideas onto tape! As digital got more advanced and affordable these two routes came together.
Ben: I come from a musical background with both my parents being music teachers. I What are the origins of Solsine – how made tunes on an old Atari too and saved up did you come together? for an Emu sampler which I paid £1700 in cash for. It was 32MB memory which is Raph: Ben and I met years ago when he laughable now. I fell in love with Drum & Bass started going out with my sister. After a after going to MetalHeadz nights and had while, we began making music together and some releases in that scene under a released stuff under different aliases. We different name. I branched out into different formed as Solsine last summer when we styles around the time I started working found our new sound and have been working with Raph. with a close-knit group of featured singers who perform live with us. You’ve both produced separately under
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You’re not tied down to any one genre. Was this a conscious decision or an organic process, and is there any genre you haven’t tackled yet that you’d like to?
Since your inception in 2014, what have been some of the highlights for you and the favourite places that you’ve performed?
Raph: There are a couple that are highlights for different reasons. We performed at Ibiza Rocks last summer which was fun, it was great to hear our music on such a big sound system and it was our first trip playing abroad. Not too long ago we put on a launch at The Social which is definitely one to remember. It was packed, the atmosphere was electric, and we had Raph: Yeah, different genres evoke different people singing along… At one point I remember looking up to see a club full of emotional responses and have a potential people going nuts and thinking we might to create a different energy. Limiting actually be on to something. yourself to one genre is like a painter only using a one colour palette, and whilst making those colours work is a real skill, I’d What do Solsine bring to a performance that other acts don’t? soon find it a bit repetitive. Ben: We've both always been into a range of different music so it all happened naturally. I wouldn't want to listen to Garage or any other genre all day and night as it can feel really limited. We like a mixed selection and I think that's reflected in our music. Whilst it has a unifying sound it can't be described as any one particular style.
Energy! Lots of it. We didn’t just want to be two DJs behind a booth, so from the inception we were thinking about how to deliver a proper performance. We have Ben: I've always been inspired by Drum & different featured singers on each track so Bass and Old Skool as it's what I grew up with. I've been influenced by bands like The it keeps things varied and they each have Prodigy and Massive Attack for having their their own particular style. We’re also conscious of how it looks tonally. I think the own unique sound that doesn't fit neatly first thing we did was buy a strobe and into one genre. some lasers to translate some of the musical elements into some visual support. Raph: Yeah similar, I think when I was younger I had certain alliances to different We’ve since expanded on our lighting gear. genres of music at different times, almost as a badge of identity. Then when I started Where do you see Solsine in five to make music I noticed that often there is years’ time? such a thin line between genres that committing to one genre at the expense of Ben: We'd like to start on the festival others is completely ridiculous. Often circuit as our music's always been bringing a snare hit forward - or pushing it geared toward that scene. Hopefully back a beat - when making a track would we'll have a few trips to Glastonbury and transform a House track into a Garage one for example. Since this realisation, I’ve tried Coachella in the bag. to take inspiration from everything and build elements into the music we make. Throughout your lives, who has inspired you as an artist?
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Raph: I have no idea! I think this project feels so fresh and new that I’m thinking shorter term than 5 years. We’ve been getting some great gigs recently and the immediate future looks positive so anything could happen I guess.
in Dalston on May 22nd, and putting on our own night at 93 Feet East on the 29th May with a wicked line up!Our second single's being released next month which features one of our staple performers Nadine Wild Palmer.
From your own experiences, have you got any advice for artists starting out?
‘Deeper’ featuring Hannah Symons is out now.
www.soundcloud.com/solsine
Raph: Be hungry but patient. Listen, train your ear, hang out with sound engineers or producers whilst they work to see how to get your ideas out of your head Interview by Andy and sounding good. Failing that watch lots of studio tips on YouTube and see what you can learn. You’ll most probably get it wrong a lot in the beginning but when you get to a point where you can hear what needs to change in a track you’ll feel liberated. If you had to pick three tracks to define who you are as artists, what would they be? Raph: Well currently we only officially have two singles up so those ones! Our first garage influenced single ‘Deeper’ showcases one side of our sound, our next jungle infused single ‘Time’ is definitely a nod to our music making roots and the third track you’ll just have to wait for... What does the rest of the year hold for Solsine? Raph: We’re back at Ibiza Rocks this summer, peak season this time! Beforehand we're doing a charity gig for Water Aid at Boxpark on May 10th, supporting Scroobius Pip at The Victoria 12
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My Pretty Blue - Shallow Waters Meet 'My Pretty Blue' aka Ryan Munroe with his first release 'Shallow Waters', an electronic blend of organic sounds and catchy melodies, galvanised by a classic soul vocal hook which was written by the British composer and performed by Oliver Cruz. Munroe, who was raised in one of the more lively parts of Surrey, has had a long and reputable music career and has been praised for producing and writing for a number of artists. Among those, which include Professor Greenand JLS, the musician has had a history of landing official club remixes for some of the biggest acts including Amy Winehouse, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, Destiny's Child and many more. In 2012 he went on to produce Sneakbo's single 'Sing For Tomorrow' which independently charted in the UK top 100 after securing Radio 1's 'B' playlist supported by the likes of Ferne Cotton, Nick Grimshaw and Chris Martin (Coldplay). Having commanded his career this far, Munroe is now twisting his talent by bringing together his musical influences such as Motown, Soul, Indie and EDM by creating the sound of My Pretty Blue, a Movement for passionate listeners who crave refined music styles.
Beginning with a lovely guitar riff, then in comes the beautiful mesmerising vocals. A great feel-good, rhythmic track for the summer. 13
INTRODUCING: Modec Producer and DJ based in Leeds, UK. I predominantly create noise, but if we were to put a genre on it, it would probably lie somewhere between house and techno music, taking influences from the early stages of Detroit Techno up to the newest form of Jackin' House. I studied music at College in Southport where my love for playing around with various plug-ins and VST's stemmed from. I then went on to study Music Production at Leeds Met where my passion for electronic music production really took off. The amount of analogue synths and pieces of production hardware that became accessible opened all kinds of doors to playing around and developing the sound that I have now. Two of the lads from Rudimental studied at Leeds Met so at my graduation ceremony they also received their Masters In Music Award, fun fact for you.
are thinking of taking it seriously I would always recommend buying analogue synths over VST synths as there's more scope for developing and performing. To really make your tracks stand out, I prefer mixing in the box, as you can really get some cracking EQ and compressor plug-ins that out date some of the outboard gear. To be honest, producing a record is an ongoing learning curve and it really is just a case of learning and developing as you go. Final tip is to always get constructive feedback on your productions, good to have more than one pair of ears when working on a new project.
2015 has opened all kinds of doors, now I'm I've met and worked with some of the signed to an agency based in Bristol known greatest characters and found myself as Nightcap. This year I've made my debut at working with some cracking people at In:flux XOYO, who are keen to have us back down Audio which is the record label I co-run, and with my own night Auxiliary, and I'm also Auxiliary which is one of the many cracking playing my first festival when we travel house and techno nights here in Leeds. down to Bathfest for a stage takeover, Some seriously cool plans in the pipeline for which should be incredible as the line up for both the label and the event so make sure this is huge. you check them out. It's early days in my career as a producer I have used various pieces of production and DJ, so really grateful and thankful for all software from Cubase, which I would never the support this far, and with some plans recommend, to Reason, Ableton and Logic yet to go ahead, it's seriously exciting Pro. I would personally recommend Logic on times! the basis it's user friendly and works great with other bits of tech like Maschine. If you 14
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What type of music allows people to focus? Getting closer to summer! Still kicking it in Rome, but by the time this issue is out I'll be chilling back at home in Chicago. Yup, that puts it into perspective. Semester abroad: check. I'm sure our readers vary in ages, some long-gone out of college, some being the current student, and some studying towards entering university. Overall, I'm sure everyone knows the feelings once finals season rolls around. With the high stress among my campus, I noticed everyone reading their notebooks/laptops while listening to music. Even while I write this, I am grooving to my own Spotify playlist. So, I was curious, what type of music allows people to focus? Although some responses were that they don't listen to music while studying because it distracts them, an overwhelming genre were classical, indie rock and Spanish! Although there are many playlists already created on Spotify, I went on a mission to find the best songs to listen to while trying to focus or study. Here is what I came up with! Audiation Magazine bringing about that small motivation to get the job done. These are tested and approved..
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1. Constant Conversations Passion Pit 2. Vivir Mi Vida - Marc Anthony
3. Intro - The xx
4. Dungen - Du E For Fin For Mig ( Only the first 3 minutes, the rest is heavy guitar!)
5. So What- Miles Davis
6. Slow Dancing in a Burning RoomJohn Mayer 7. It Had to Be You - Harry Connick, Jr.
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The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, a Smithsonian Affiliate, holds its 2015 Gala Benefit Concert on June 10th at The Kaye Playhouse, featuring the renowned vocalist Dianne Reeves and a special guest. The National Jazz Museum in Harlem Jazz and Community Leadership Award will be presented to the late, acclaimed filmmaker Albert Maysles. The Legends of Jazz Award will be presented to master bassist, Reggie Workman. The mission of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is to preserve, promote and present jazz by inspiring knowledge, appreciation, and the celebration of jazz locally, nationally, and internationally. The Museum offers more than 80 free public programs each year. The Museum is about stimulating hearts and minds through jazz and reaching out to diverse audiences to enjoy this most quintessential American music. The Visitors Center is the hub for the young and old, novice and scholar, artist and patron, enthusiast and curious listener to come to live performances, exhibitions, and educational workshops. The Museum's long range goal is to create a permanent Smithsonian affiliated national jazz museum in Harlem. The artist leadership of the Museum consists of Loren Schoenberg (Artistic Director), Christian McBride (Associate Artistic Director) and Jonathan Batiste (Artistic Director at Large). 18
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"‘Everyday is Record Store Day’ at DnR Vinyl! DnR made #RSD into a celebratory party." Hark 1karan
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J.Phlip aka J Phlip tha Bird aka Jessica Phillippe. A truly talented artist with an incredible track selection consistently delivered with such an intrepid style, whilst also possessing the ability to amaze audiences playing vinyl and CDJ’s. Truth be told, I struggled in finding the words to start this article and in choosing which direction i would go with it. This surprised me considering the focus of the next few pages are about a friend and an artist of which I hold in such high regard, that she sits in my top 3 favoured acts of all time, along with Joseph Capriati & Claude Von Stroke. This theoretically should have been the easiest article i’ve ever written, but the fact is it wasn’t the case. The reasons i struggled? Simply due to me not wanting to come across as being blatantly and evidently bias sharing my experiences whilst delivering a truthful perspective.. I remember the 1st time I became aware of J.Phlip and this came in 2012 at a Dirtybird party held in the Oval Space, East London. It goes without saying that the line up was incredible with the likes of Breach, Justin Martin, French Fries and the man I had gone to see, my favourite act of all time, Claude Von Stroke. I’ve still got the flyer with the set times, proper raving Memorabilia. Little did i know that the the DJ that was going to impress me most that night was the one J Phlip. A DJ that I like so many others, and I’ll say no names, have been guilty of thinking was a bloke (humblest apologies). This is not down to her appearance far from it. Its all due to her stage name not instantly highlighting that she is a female like say the names of Nicole Moudaber or Kim Ann Foxman, in what is still a predominantly male industry. This can set an artist on an even playing field and pit them against their competition or peers in a position that simply lets the music and talent do the talking. It was from this day at the Dirtybird BBQ Warehouse party, which at the time was the largest DB line up ever, that I had been captivated by her talents. The deliverance of proper jacking dirty grooves, coming at time when Shazam was pretty much non existent and I had only my brain to savour the memory of a track J Phlip played in the hope that somebody could one day inform me. Much to my dismay nobody was able to tell me until i’d seen Jess the following year at Village Underground in Shoreditch.The track subsequently was Hugz by French Fries released on ClekClekBoom in 2014 and is just an indication as to the bumping booty tech style she delivers. ‘A good DJ plays music, A great DJ plays with music.’ When you think about that statement and exactly what it means, its hard to disagree with. A good DJ can play you a set that you will enjoy, but don’t get me wrong it can be of fair quality and will entertain a dance floor. But a great DJ will leave you in awe, dropping tracks they’ve relentlessly searched for, playing with the music at just the right time with such a natural understanding taking you on that journey you crave. J.Phlip does seem to fit this mould. Yes, this may be my own personal opinion but as always with anything, the proof is in the pudding. Whether it’s an excitable ice cream and jelly you crave or a warm humble pie your to be gifted, you need not look too far. Her bass jumpin, booty workout sets have earned her an array of
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supporters across the board with the inclusion of a one time personal flasher. Her deliverance from behind the DJ booth is one that visually gets the crowd going because Phlip is not an artist afraid to show she’s enjoying her craft and that feel good factor only projects onto the dance floor right back at the artist. Not so surprising flasher. Her deliverance from behind the DJ booth is one that visually gets the crowd going because Phlip is not an artist afraid to show she’s enjoying her craft and that feel good factor only projects onto the dance floor right back at the artist. Not so surprising as she plainly describes her style as “Music that I think sounds cool between 123 and 130 bpm”. Such is the reason why her name features on some of the best events across the globe, constantly adding to her ever growing fan base. 2014 was no doubt good year for J.Phlip coming off an unforgettable festival season with stops at Ultra, Cochella, Electric Forest, Dirtybird BBQ and playing an epic closing set at Movement in Detroit, before ending with her 1st ever solo tour. 2014 also saw the release of Phlip’s tech heavy banger “Say my name” receiving huge support from the like of Eats Everything, Danny Daze & Huxley. The art of being a good track selector naturally falls hand in hand with production and its fair to say she does have an ear for good music. After all it was J.Phlip who bought Catz n Dogz to the attention of Eats Everything’s iconic dance floor hit “Entrance Song” which was later released on Pets Recordings. Not to be outdone by the industry heavyweight she can call friends she does have a catalogue of her own of which she can boast a string of releases on tables such as Krush Groove, Jackmode Music, Pets Recordings and of course Dirtybird. Her 2008 release of rumble rumble still has a prominent feel to it where it wouldn’t sound dated being played in an arena tomorrow. 2015 she’s J.Phlip jump back in the studio working on new material and continue with a busy booking schedule. This summer Jess returns to the shores for WE ARE FSTVL in the South of England where she takes to the stage for a back to back with the UK’s Huxley a week before her birthday. We decided to catch up with our Audiation cover birthday girl.
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Hello J.Phlip thank you very much for agreeing to take part in this with Audiation Magazine. First things first, how did you get your stage name & what was the first piece of music you listened to today?
virus synthesizer, suddenly my love for engineering and music collided. I took a physics of music class and built a talkbox and a ring modulator. Eventually, just nerding out turned into trying to actually make some songs and all that. It was just a natural progression of discovering more ways i could explore creatively with sound and music and noise.
Thank you guyyys! J.Phlip is just a funny shortened version of my real name: Jessica Phillippe. If I remember correctly it was Matthis and Lyle, my co-workers at Barfly in How did you get involved with the Dirtybird camp and become the 1st Champaign, who thought of it for my first gig playing the “Fresh Face Sundays.” That lady of DB? was back in ’03. It just stuck I guess. There is a long timeline story of absolutely Today I put on some Dead Ghosts… they are ridiculous stories about how i joined up with a garage rock band from Vancouver. I really those guys. Its a loaded question, but I just enjoy listening to a bit of rock music on the kinda crossed paths with them back in 04’/05’ and became one of their homies. weekdays. Especially in the day time, with the windows open feeling some fresh air. It’s They are amazing people and they were loose, and human, and it feels good to hear really supportive of me. They started letting me come DJ some of the parties in SF and some vocals. It grounds me and resets me then signed a track from me and just took from all the electronica and beats that I’m me under their wing and let me be a part of surrounded by all weekend. I’ve also been the journey. People always seem to call me rocking the new Grimes, LA Priest, and the 1st lady of dirtybird, I’m not sure why, its Ho99o9 today. a silly name. I’m just one of the dudes. I love those guys and being a part of dirtybird has Your 1st release with the Dirtybird been the best experience of my entire life. collective ‘Rumble Rumble’ came back in 2008, but where did the urge to DJ and produce come from? How did you Originally from a small town Chapin, Illinois. how did it compare moving to get in the game? Berlin? Music has always been a really huge part of my life… but the urge to start DJing literally Champaign, Illinois lol. And its actually a small city, not quite small enough to be started the day my friend Sterling showed me how to match two records on a pair of considered a town. Also, I moved to Chicago and San Francisco before moving to technics and how to use a mixer. The urge to produce also came along when I started Berlin so it wasn’t like I hadn’t lived in a big city before. The aspect of living in a big city meeting more people who made tracks or was never really challenging because of were in bands or emceed or were just where I grew up. It felt totally normal to creating noise and sound on anything move into a much larger city after I left possible. Just being surrounded by people Champaign, but I really enjoyed and cherish who were doing music in different ways the experiences I had in the city where I’m peaked my interest in trying it out for myself. A guy I dated was really into gear and I remember the first time he showed me a 22
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from. In Champaign we had to get together with people and create our own fun, because otherwise the stuff you wanted to get into might not be happening. That was really cool and you got to know people really well because you had and wanted to bond together with like-minded folks. ChampaignUrbana also has a very diverse demographic. I love where I’m from and I love the people that I crossed paths with during those times of my life. Moving to another country was definitely a crazy experience though! But you just do it. You just figure stuff out. I feel really lucky that I had the chance in my life to do something like that because it was a huge growing experience and all that jazz haha. Being a part of this electronic music community actually makes moving so much easier. Everywhere you go you have friends, label mates, friends of friends, DJ pals, industry pals, fans/friends… it really is like an international community. There’s so many cool peeps around. And if you really don’t know anyone, you can always just hit the parties and try to make some friends.
I’m just stupid like that. How would you describe your style of music? Music that I think sounds cool between 123 and 130 bpm that might fit in a particular genre or not. Who/what would you say have been your biggest influences in the style of music you create and how you deliver music within your DJ sets? I phase through different influences and era’s but here’s a few that have aways been around for me, and a few that are more recent: All my friends. All the Dirtybirds. Matthew Herbert. The Other People Place. Boddika. Caribou. Koze. Jimmy Edgar. Daniel Avery. Aus Music. Italojohnson. Arca. Audion. Paranoid London. Dexter. Jamie XX. James Blake. What DJ still manages to blow you away every time?
The Librarian. She plays genre’s of music You’ve had the chance to do what you that I don’t fux wit but I love getting down to love and do best in many corners of the it because its always totally different than globe but how did it feel doing our 1st any of the stuff I’m always hearing. And how solo tour? she puts it together is just magic, the tempo’s and genre’s she fits into one set are I had every extreme emotion possible during insane. As far as house music vibes - at the that tour. I was really blown away by the moment I’m really feelin’ Italojohnson. support and love people showed. I was beyond happy that it was successful. I came This coming May you be playing at home from gigs with tears of happiness WeAre FSTVL in the UK, where you be sometimes. It was MAD FUN! But there going b2b with Huxley. How does it were also moments when I had more differ when going back to back with an anxiety than ever in my life. It was hard on artist and will you be conferring with my body physically. Touring like that and Huxley preparing in a special sort if trying to keep up with work and life felt like way? total madness at times. It’s all just about learning and growing and trying to find a I really like playing b2b here n’ there because balance with it all. I just take it as it comes it gets my brain thinking in new and learn everything the hard way because 23
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ways with the music. It feels really fresh because I can’t do the same mixes that I know worked together at other recent shows. Or the other person might play a track that triggers me to dig up some track I totally forgot about. It can be super exciting. I feel like Hux and I should just wing it. I know our music will work together and so I think just total spur of the moment will be the best way to do that set! Dig dig dig and surprise each other. It’ll be a blast!
EDM's Portrayal of Women
Don’t get too caught up in what everybody else is doing, or whats the hype, or who’s “blowing up”. With social media and all the blogs and magazines and stuff like Boiler Room, it’s really easy to get your head caught up in all that, and it can be a complete mind-fuck, especially if you’re trying to make this your full time job. You’re going to watch a lot of people blow up before you, people you might know and people you don’t know and people you think suck and people you think are dope. None of this matters, what matters is you and what you do. Try to stay positive even when things are tough. Everybody has a different path, and nobody else’s path is blocking your road. It took me a really long time to figure this out.
Why do we not have loads of rugged hot males on all these imagery?
Artwork with lots on show or full on barbie figures. Flyers with models posing.
The fact is, attractiveness sells. I'm sure if we had a half nude woman on our cover, our magazine would be What advice would you give to aspiring flying off the shelves regardless to DJ’s and Producers? what it had to do with music!
If you wasn’t a DJ what would you be doing? Pool hustler. Catch J Phlip doing her thang this month at WE ARE FSTVL
Interview by Cessle
The industry is very male dominated, and women do have trouble to get their voices heard in the business world. We need to shout louder! We need to prove to all men out there that we have the ability to be equally as professional and successful as men. I do agree with the fact that some sounds do have that soft / sexy sound that can inspire imagery of women, maybe rough bass could be a new market for rugged male artwork .. It should reflect the track One thing that is for sure, this issue needs to be looked into more, it's probably less of a big deal as we grow more modern, women are making more of a stand, but we still need to keep working on this.
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Three Kings High - Hail Three Kings High have been bubbling under the surface for the last couple of years, releasing tracks here and there and taking their live set to as many towns and cities across the UK as possible. Now, however they release their first full length feature “HAIL”. At 12 tracks deep it is proof that the Kings are able to deliver more than just singles and EP’s, and this is a true reflection of the sound that fans have been hearing at their shows. Included in the record is “Nothing Left To Lose”, originally released in September 2014, this track garnered radio play and reviews, and the Kings have now included an extended album version. Also included are live show favourites such as “Frienemy” and “Blood Is Blue”, which bring the high tempo, Sleaze-Rock to the album, whilst “Excuses, Excuses” and “All The Best” show their maturity and diversity in song writing, allowing a change of pace whilst keeping up the vibe of the record. Three Kings High are an amalgamation of Bristol’s diverse influences with big riff heavy guitars, anthemic choruses and indie sensibilities. Through this record, the Kings have made every effort to translate their live shows into a studio recording, ensuring the energy and impact is immediately felt. It is this live sound that has allowed the Kings to play Punk nights in London, as well as Soul venues in Newcastle, and have the crowds become fans of a band outside their normal comfort zone.
Catchy lyrics and edgy riffs accompanying rhythmic beats with a little funkiness.
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TOUR DATES: Sat 7th March: London - The Garage Fri 27th March: London - The Finsbury Sat 28th March: Sheffield - The Washington Fri 3rd April: Liverpool - Lomax Fri 10th April: Ipswich - Cult CafĂŠ Sat 11th April: Bristol - Mothers Ruin Fri 17th April: Burnham - Royal Clarence Sat 18th April: Cardiff - The Full Moon Fri 24th April: Bournemouth - Winchester Sat 2nd May: Bristol - Mr Wolfs Sun 3rd May: Canterbury, City Sound Project Sat 16th May: Newcastle - Head of Steam
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DGTL Festival 2015
there is space to congregate 18’000 people. When you draw thoughts to a festival in the UK your first thoughts, Amsterdam is said in many circles to be the regardless of weather would be that of European central hub of dance music. A city grass and mud and a handful of idiots. Mind with a population of around 780’000 you a handful of the right type of idiots is people which each and every year plays always great My DGTL experience? Nothing host to in excess of 300 festivals. Being an of the sort. it was a full on concrete individual who is no stranger to art of experience. Very little grass in site. The only chasing a passion to its very end, as I have festival I know of where I can say it’s safe an addictive personality. It was too hard to enough to wear white shoes. As for the vibe pass up the opportunity and miss out my itself, it felt as if each and everybody had first trip to Amsterdam and European come all for the same reason, just to enjoy festival experience. The lure of names such the music and meet new people. It could as Jamie Jones, Noir, Ten Walls, Sydney just be the weed helping to create that Charles, Dusky, Boddika & Art Department relaxed ambience or just the European way, were enough to cause me to suddenly but who cares it only added to the rearrange plans, feeding my addiction to experience and made it greater. Both days bass driven groves. Amsterdam is no more of the 2 day festival were sold out with than a 40 minute flight journey across the 17’500 attending on the Saturday and a English channel, so the choice of flying solo further 15’000 attendees on the Sunday. and meet friends out there was easily made. Over 60 acts across 6 indoor stages, one of With my copy of the set times which had which was a plastic greenhouse with visuals kindly given to me within the press release of the whole affair catered by Okinawa 69, I’d already decided beforehand that I would Heleen Blanken and Dirty Brown Visuals. arrive early to check out some of the smaller European acts on show. I’m a firm believer that the opening set is one of the most important sets within music programming. It plays a key part in getting a party off to a good start and setting it at the right tone. It’s how many of the scenes top DJ’s learnt their craft so I was pretty eager to get a listen to illenoise who did not disappoint. Amsterdam is well known for it’s tourism attractions with their relaxed law on cannabis usage, so upon arrival in the Dutch capital it was a quick stop in a café before I embarked on my journey. After all you are allowed entry with up to 7g of cannabis and it would be a 10 minute ferry ride to NDSM Docklands where DGTL Festival 2015 was being held. The grounds of the NDSM Docklands is situated in a clever and ideal place for events a it is away from general housing and
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CESSLE: I’m the muppet in the blue hooded jacket, clearly enjoying myself.
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This is something that I’m choosing to point out because to put it plain and simply, the visuals were on point, along with the quality of sound. There was one moment, stood up on balcony that surrounded dance floor of the Digital stage, where during Hot Since 82’s set that as the beat dropped the stage was canvassed with blue and orange lights as the crowd erupted in awe. Even those toward the back end of the stages felt close enough to feel the density of the bass lines. It is a sight that is still vivid within my mind today and at that is credit to the team behind it all. This was a theme echoed throughout the venue, across the whole weekend. Even when there was a moment on the Saturday that the gremlins decided to appear during Dusky’s set and disrupt Dusky’s set and disrupt the sound, the problem was quickly dealt with disheartening nobody. And the way in which the system was seemed to have been cranked up, you could hear the tin shelter of the arena rattling from outside. It only made you wanna go in side and hear the blines sing.
ELIAS MAZIAN
on a real 3hr journey, churning out quality track after track. The guys invited me up to hear Breach play another set sponsored by Red Bull. It was at this point that I realised that this was to happen in the crane that could be seen from the other side of the dock. After climbing these spiral stairs I found myself in a room with a capacity of no more than 70 people with a DJ playing booth but pure grooves. Sometimes it can feel so much more when special when a DJ is pushing all the right buttons for you at that time and you have no idea who they are. The quality of the music prompted me to find out who he was. This DJ’s name? ELIAS MAZIAN. Thanks to the beauty of BEAT.TV I’ve been able to watch the set back, reliving the experience. I’m the muppet in the blue hooded jacket, clearly enjoying myself. Not to be out done Breach was to follow Elias and take to the stage and we were delivered a set that was different to which he had played in the Stereo arena. Ben played grooves which only fitted the whole atmosphere with the sky still bright outside. We were treated to one of them sets where it gets special and Breach takes to the microphone and exercising his vocal chords causing the attendee’s to sing back. I chose to bring my weekend to an end by listening to Noir’s Closing set and for me that was the right choice. We all have a selection of tracks that we absolutely love and when you’ve been enjoying a set the the whole way through and the last 2 tracks is one of those. The nails been hit bang on the head and your ready to go home. That track it was for me? Moderat - Bad Kingdom ( DJ Koze Remix).
The weekend allowed me to hear a lot of I guess I’ll be seeing you next year DGTL! top quality music, not once did I mange to feel bored of what I was hearing. My own personal highlight that stand strongest in Article by Cessle my mind is the party in the crane. That was an experience. Breach and Cinnaman had just gone back to back taking festival goers 30
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How to lose fans fast Changing your brand name & outlets several times over a short period portrays the image that you lack clear and structured business ideals.
Audiation 31
I caught Up with Freejak to talk about his incredible year so far, his collaborations with Mr Belt & Wezol / Wideboys.. and I ask him what its like getting massive support from the biggest DJs & artists in the industry.
Sequencer 1 on an Atari 520ST. Moving on in my career I have used many others such as Notator, Cuebase, Pro Tools but have found myself most comfortable with Logic Pro. I don’t think what DAW you use is crucial to creating great music. Great music doesn’t come from a great DAW, great music comes from an individual’s great ideas. I couldn’t live without my Waves plugins; especially the L1 Limiter and the SSL Channel Strip & Compressor. Also love Dada Life’s Sausage Fattener and Waves Factory’s Track Spacer.
How long have you been producing and DJing, and could you tell us what DAW you use and your fav bits of software you couldn’t live without?
I first heard "Don’t Wanna Love U" on Oliver Heldens radio show, It must be great having such big artists playing your stuff regularly. Have you been approached by any big labels wanting to sign "Don't Wanna Love U" up? As I signed to major label Big Life Records in I’m sure given the right promotion it 1996 alongside artists such as Lisa could get in the radio and iTunes main Stansfield, De La Soul, Blue Pearl and pop chart.
Gala, where I was the in-house remixer, producer and engineer where I built the Obviously it is great to hear your music foundation of my production skills. I supported by some of the biggest names in started the ‘Freejak’ work in 2007, when the scene at the moment. I was introduced I signed to Italian label Oxyd. Since then, I to Oliver through Mr. Belt & Wezol, while like to think I have been honing the sound we were working together on our that has recently got me noticed by the forthcoming collaboration on Spinnin’ industry. The remixes and bootlegs that I Records, and am hugely greatful for his support. have been releasing over the past 18 months all feature that sound.
I'm very lucky to have been approached by many labels looking to sign it, including I have been DJing for as long as I have been a Universal (AATW), CR2 and OneLove as producer as it is a great way to test the well as many independent labels. Off the tracks in a club, to see the reaction I get back of ‘Don’t Wanna Love U’ and other from the crowd when on a big sound records of mine such as ‘Street Level’ I system. It is also a great way to get have had offers to sign me as an artist from inspiration for new tracks, to see what the big players such as Spinnin, BMG and music in the clubs is lacking, then going Universal to name a few. Well, that is very back to the studio the next day to try and kind of you to say it could get that popular, improve my sound. we shall keep our fingers crossed! I've used many DAWs, starting off with 32
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Would you describe 2014 as being a breakout year for you where everything fell into place?
days, how would you describe your particular brand of House? And where do you find you inspirations from?
I think 2014 has been a good year, making the right inroads into the industry, getting the lid off the box, but I don’t think I have shown what the full Freejak package is yet! Hopefully the momentum I started to generate in 2014 will continue and 2015 will be an even bigger year.
I don’t normally like categorising my music, it has influences from garage, bassline and good old fashioned house. What I like to do with my bootlegs is take a song that is well known and loved, and then give it a little something more. With my own productions, I draw inspiration from everything, you can’t predict what inspires you!
with so many genres of different styles of house and dance music out there these
FREEJAK'S DJ PLAYLIST 1. Curbi - Discharge 2. Mr Belt & Wezol - Finally 3. Oliver Heldens - Melody 4. Antonio Giacca - Real Love 5. Martin Solveig & GTA Intoxicated (RYLS Remix) 6. Chocolate Puma - Step Back (Low Steppa Remix) 7. Hard Drive - Deep Inside (Low Steppa Remix)
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gigs or DJ residences at the moment where we can catch you and can you to aspiring young musicians and tell us whats next up for Freejak in producers just starting out? 2015.. Any exciting news regarding Don’t have a Plan B, stick to your Plan A and new releases or remixes? don’t take no for an answer! Being polite is a key trait to own, nobody actually owes you I have been working on many tracks recently. A collaboration with Mr Belt and anything. All the people that listen to your demos are doing you a favour. So be polite Wezol will be released on Spinnin Records soon. Mistajam has been pioneering the to them and they will more likely take the remix of ‘Down’ by Wideawake ft Tanya time out of their day to give your stuff a listen. You will also hear ‘NO’ a lot. Just don’t Lacey on his Radio 1 shows, which is also on let it set you back, treat it as two separate his Speakerboxx Records. I have just finished letters - N O - meaning ‘Next One’, just keep a remix of ‘Are You With Me’ by Lost Frequencies which is forthcoming on plugging away and stick you Plan A! Universal/AATW. And I have also just been in Do You think Dance music has become the studio with the Wideboys working on a track titled ‘Holding On’ as well as the remix over-saturated with artists easily being able to get their tracks released I have done for their record ‘Move and Groove’. on digital labels and Beatport, or do you see it as healthy competition? So lots of tracks being released soon and I have some studio time scheduled in over There are two sides to the coin, on one Spring ahead of the summer season which hand you have so many different channels holds quite a few big gigs for me, but they to get your music heard with the likes of Beatport and Soundcloud, however getting haven’t been announced yet so you will have the influential people in the industry to hear to watch out for the announcements on my your music has become harder than ever. I social media! don’t see it as a competition, writing music www.freejak.com should be for fun, for your enjoyment with the hope that your music is heard by others. If music was a competition, then the prize would be taking part!
What tips or advice would you give
Interview by Rokuro
And finally, do you have any upcoming 34
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San Fermin - Jackrabbit Consequently, 'Jackrabbit' is the second album from the Brooklyn - based Alternative Rock Band, San Fermin. Songwriter and composer Ellis-Lundwig Leone creates bashful killer pop tunes for a dreamy day. Song's like 'Emily', 'Jackrabbit' and 'Parasite' display obscure beauty, highlighting the power of meaningful yet playful lyrics with the band's mysterious compositions. San Fermin find's a special sound with the record they've soon to release, after days - if not weeks locked up in a rehearsal space, this will be a defiant record for their careers, an album full of melancholy and poignant track's. Ellis Ludwig-Leone like many of his bandmates are classically trained in classical music composition from Yale. With both album's, the group's selftitled 2013 debut, providing unmistakable technical skill, San Ferrin's new record, the un-locking key of San Fermin is an indie-rock band, emerging to the scene with catchy hooks and a inventive creative vision.
Article by Matt Daniel
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Tony Portelli The M.I.RAW Recordings label was not something I was going to do for any longer than 1 year, It launched in Jan 2007, but previous to that, the M.I.RAW concept all started back in 2004/5 via a chance meeting with an old friend, she was someone who years earlier I came across at an after party above the Vivienne Westwood shop and said something of relevance in a flippant way - the hugely talented British actress and lovely Jaime Murray - I was at UCH hospital just off Tottenham Court Road, W1 with a friend on the off chance and she was sitting a few seats along in the waiting area. I asked her if she remembered me, but she didn't at first (it had been 10 years!) then she remembered. I thought nothing more of it, but half an hour later on leaving she saw me parked outside and asked 'what you up to now?' and I replied, 'not much, I no longer have my 4 Liberty Record label but I am studying law' - she replied with her spell binding look 'come on Tony, get creative' - it was actually a surreal moment now looking back, after those words I couldn't get rid of my friend and home quick enough - I was living in a studio apartment at the time where ironically Alfred Hitchcock started out (no comparisons btw) - I knew exactly what I wanted to do, so I just started typing away at what was a cv - into a book which was later titled 'The Music Industry Raw Pirates, Clubs, House and Garage' - the 'Raw' part of the title was Dj Spoony's idea. I allowed him to read an early segment to see if what I was doing looked like anything, and after asking me was I writing a book, the first word that he came back with as a description was that is 'Raw'- which is how the whole book / label brand came about But I very oddly decided to not edit it as I thought I would just throw it out there, I doubt anyone would even notice it was my thinking at the time, and the plan was let's 36
see where it took us in the first year, and remove it from existence... But even now I get messages across social media, people who have just come across it. which is a blessing - that again is the power of communication and the net. With regards to my love affair with tech; we at 4Liberty had back in 2000/2002 started a forum namely ukgarageworldwide.com but after the label closure with it went that web site. I would say it was around mid 2005 when Matt Jam Lamont phoned me and made me aware of this website called Myspace, to be honest the whole music industry game I felt was done for me at that point, I had an amazing run with first my club nights, which originally came about after a good friend Claire (Buck) Date from my area Somers Town said that promoting my own event would be a great way for me to get into music, as a 19 year old - I dived straight into the idea and hired a venue the following day in London's west end. From that and those circles I find myself soon after in places like Versaces House at a party in Miami in 1991 - I then met my next girlfriend in 1992 at Lime Lights Shaftesbury Avenue, she literally educated me in contracts and how record labels, clubs, and radio are run we then spent a few weeks in December 92 and 1st week in Jan 1993 in New York where our 4Liberty Records label was born, which now looking back the achievements were way beyond what I could ever have imagined, coming from a council estate working class non u.k born parentage background, with very limited education. So fast forward, the whole idea for M.I.RAW Recordings label was a positive knock on effect and pure and simple to try and relaunch UKG, I said if I couldn't do it in
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one year I will call time on the label, but then as these things do I came across the very vibrant and exciting Bassline genre, then the UK Funky genre started to blow up and one signing led to another (that positive knock on effect) and here we are today. I have been very fortunate to have and still am working with some of the best there has ever been - both music and tech equally important - the old music industry and a new music industry running side by side. BitTorrent - made with and for the web's creative community.
free download? Well, this is where we are at now - the great thing about our community (be it online or in the field) is I have seen some of my contacts from our promo list go on to use and are now using that service with great results, which is a great thing the net is there for all, when these things happen naturally that really does make me happy - I have those, I did that / made that happen smurk. And radio in the past few months seems to be heading towards where I saw music, which is a great thing you have to acknowledge / respect radio pd's when they get on the right path and even more so when they drop you an apology email :)
I came across BitTorrent Bundles via following Matt Mason on twitter, Matt works for the BitTorrent company out of San Francisco, USA & he was previously at RWD Magazine (founding editor-in-chief, and he also wrote The Pirate's Dilemma (2008). I had previously been in a deal with EMI but decided to leave after 3 years - it's an honor to have worked with such an iconic company but leaving felt like the right thing to do at that point - I was also asked if I would like my label to go via Warner Ada, which I declined. At the time it just felt like the old industry was lost when it came to technology and it seemed they were The Developing Music Industry struggling to see my vision as did radio who were watering down British Black / multi I like the new industry, we recently saw Jay Z cultural music, but these guys at BitTorrent and a whole host of artists come together were technology, so it really did just make with a new streaming site, Tidal, which I sense. I decided to give the BitTorrent expect will develop into much more with Bundles brand one of my projects which was time - and of-course the live aspect is a few years old, I entitled the release 'The thriving. Most music fans I speak with always Best Of UKG EP' which was originally a 3 part comment on how excited they are to see EP entitled UKG 2012 EP 1,2,3 and the their favorite artists live. In our dance results were actually very very good, community I am constantly seeing festival considering I did no online promo - it just campaigns for dance music, in-fact I am seemed to take on a life of its own within constantly saluting friends of mine who their seeding system, I then decided to have made / or are making that transition, it upload another in the Kayla L'ayton The really is impressive and a breath of fresh air Remixes EP - again this was impressive, but we all seemed to come the big question was once the paygates go up would the service be as successful as the 37
from the all important 80's / 90's pirate radio, club, young vibrant scene, but constantly looking above and beyond how far can we push the boundaries. I would like to think the online element of communities can bring a day when radio is not so pressured to support the major labels, it would be great if the independent labels received an equal amount of daytime support or even more for them to achieve additional awareness / cross over potential on a world scale, independents like my label and those who run by producer / dj's - It rarely does happen but not as much as I wish and campaign for. For us to live in a time when viral is much more frequent and actual sales are dominating and streaming is an added bonus for the consumer, then we would have achieved something great for all music makers with the net. But I do maintain music and art is not initially about selling, that comes later - the order of things become magical when music is enjoyed, and an interaction happens, it really does - the net hasn't quite delivered what vinyl did, and still does. It will be interesting to see if things will change when the BBC makes the changes recently discussed with regards to licence fees and how the service will pay for itself, maybe the pendulum will swing towards independents at that point, if not before? Just a thought, but maybe George or Ben at Radio 1 are implementing the answers to the questions as we speak?
is one of those moments, I actually said to the producer, if he had sent that to me last year I would have declined - It really does feel like a record that if you are not hooked right away it will grow on you. A single like this will fit perfectly in the sets of those commercial djs, and who knows maybe in time urban djs will grow to love it also which is pretty much the opposite to how music I have signed down the years work - but hey, rules are there to be broken ;) We are organizing the music video as I speak with you - we have lined up some real cool things, but i'm not going to mention too much, all i'm going to say is, keep your eyes peeled for something very sexy and cool. Industry Advice
Music is the most amazing thing, it really is I recently mentioned on twitter how lucky I am to have grown within the music industry, there are times when we can get frustrated, but with great things it can take time, you can not force music it really is a case of go with your gut feeling and follow your instinct. If you love music you will find a way, I did. One thing I would say, never ever fear failure. They say the biggest failure is not trying at all, this is so true. Everyone is in the same boat looking for the next big single / album act, I have always been blessed to have been involved at the very early stages, ahead of the game on pretty much every occasion since I can remember. Only problem I have found on the odd "Crying Over You" occasion is a producer at that moment who can act and deliver on that instinct and then The new signing Tommy Masters / Victoria we look towards the next stage, is club / Shapiro single is a perfect piece of summer radio supporting what your vision of music feel good festival / holiday resort club dance at that moment is. These big moments music. When it was sent through to me by really could be you who are making your the producer, I knew straight away it just first single or the guy whose been in the had to be on my label, in fact we have these industry for decades inspired by moments when you come to the conclusion that music chooses you and this 38
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surroundings etc.
of Britney Spears' great grandad from the same place and time! Let's not read into With regards to online technology, use the that too much as the name is quite popular tools that are available. they are pretty in Malta. Ironically our paths did cross in much all free but what I would say is try and 2000 at the Capital Radio awards many make the net work for you rather than the years before I saw the article on the subject other way around, you can get drawn in .. in the Times, which now looking back is most of us love what we do, so music, art, kinda weird! fashion, football etc is our life, but try not to work every hour god sends on the same area, take a break, and also enjoy what you twitter.com/MiRawRecordings are doing. I sometimes look back and ask facebook.com/MiRawRecordings myself, 'did I really do that?' Always try to soundcloud.com/tnyportelli remember, the key to success is happiness - so make sure everything you do makes you happy :) The Future of M.I.RAW Recordings We have scheduled a new EP from Yllavation in the month of May, I really am looking forward to hearing this, I expect this is going to be a fusion of two genres something that should bring something new. Ylla is someone I have been working with for a few years now, he really is one of these musicians who loves electronic music and has pretty much delivered time and time again for me, i'm sure he won't mind me saying this, when I speak to him you just Tommy Masters featuring feel his soul coming across with every word Victoria by Shapiro - Crying Over he speaks about music, and that is Interview You important to me as my love for music runs through my veins also. Aside from that the level of music that is being sent through is more now then it has been over the past 5 years, but I prefer to pick and choose these days rather than years gone by. Crazy Fact I suppose the one thing that stands out that hasn't been mentioned before from myself is my great grandad from Malta's name is George Portelli - and that is also the name
The sweet vocals paired with a bumpy summery track portraying love's anguish.
OUT NOW BitTorrent exclusive
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Kyle Lettman (feat. Scorcher) - Moving Too Fast (Solo Suspex Remix) R&B singer, Kyle Lettman is back and sampling ‘Moving Too Fast’ – Artful Dodger’s 2000 hit. Kyle layers the infectious, bass-driven beat with his smooth vocals and teams up with Scorcher, who lays down bars on the final verse blurring the fine lines between rap and R&B.
It's always a hard task reworking an utter gem into a new sound without completely detroying it. Wow! This Solo Suspex remix of the new take is so good. Fresh lyrics, a vibrant modernisation, keeping the original style of sweetness. This has got to be one of the best reworks I've heard of all time, kept simple no fuss, just good music.
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Bonkaz - We Run The Block Approaching the music sphere with an advanced mentality, fused with a suave, original sound he knows how to maintain, let us introduce you to the man who runs the block… Bonkaz. Immediately the rapper stands out having made the bold move to challenge the status quo, redefining digital boundaries, by making the decision to keep new single ‘We Run The Block’ off the internet for as long as possible. Instead, live performances and exclusive radio and club play have lead #WeRunTheBlock to go viral across social media as fans frantically quest to locate the audio. Produced by the biggest hit-makers of the moment, The Heavytrackerz, “We Run The Block” is a fiery, Grime influenced track that is already receiving exceptional support from the likes of Huw Stephens, Charlie Sloth, Mistajam and DJ Target on Radio 1 plus heavy rotation from specialist BBC 1Xtra DJ’s Sian Anderson, Semtex and DJ Cameo. As a young name in the scene that is attracting a lot of attention, Bonkaz has become one of the ambassadors for the ‘new generation’ and is constantly labelled as one of the pioneers of this new wave. Due to his forward thinking and love for the craft, he has become one of the most promising prospects within the UK scene and the future holds big things for the rapper, which has recently been affirmed by becoming the first artist, (alongside 4 producers), signed to the Sony imprint label ‘Pitched Up’, founded by DJ Target and Danny Weed.
This oozes lively, feisty, punchy attitude which is what UK Rap is all about, just doing what you love.
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Menno de Jong - Abhyasa Menno de Jong is on a roll this year with a brand new release on the In Trance We Trust imprint after his latest tune with Aneym ‘Your Heaven’. With ‘Abhyasa’ you will have something special coming from your speaker set. It’s a full force trance release with a galvanizing rhythm and an upbeat floating sound. And did we mention the moment near the end in which Menno pulls out all the stops for a bouncing finale. Very cool stuff!
A strong pulsating beat, subtle hints of softness and then comes the drop! Gritty hard-hitting sounds leading into an entrancing atmosphere.
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1 YEAR AT AWJR It has been a year since I officially began working at AWJ Recordings as the Promotions Manager & Label Assistant. AWJ Recordings is an Electronic Dance label based in Mauritius, presenting various artists from accross the globe. This has been an interesting learning experience for me to hone my marketing skills and learn more about the International industry. I would like to thank label boss Awad for taking me on and I shall look forward to the developments and the next few years.
www.AWJRecordings.com
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FESTIVAL GUIDE Tomorrowland Brasil 30 April - 3 May 2015 Sao Paulo, Brazil MAYDAY Dortmund 30 April - 1 May 2015 Dortmund, Germany Geheime Liefde 2 May 2015 Utrecht, Netherlands Mumbai Color Festival 5 May 2015 Utrecht, Netherlands Marvellous Island 8 - 10 May 2015 Paris, France Nuits Sonores 13 - 17 May 2015 Lyon, France Papillions de Nuit 22 - 24 May 2015 Saint-Laurent-de-Cuves, France Pfingst Open Air 22 - 24 May 2015 Straubing, Germany Pacha Festival 23 May 2015 Amsterdam, Netherlands Common People 23 - 24 May 2015 Southamptom, United 44
Kingdom Primavera Sound 28 - 30 May 2015 Barcelona, Spain Der Ring - Grune Holle Rock 29 - 31 May 2015 Nurburg, Germany Wychwood Festival 29 - 31 May 2015 Cheltenham, United Kingdom Rockavaria 29 - 31 May 2015 Munich, Germanycrowdcro
Rock 29 - 31 May 2015 Nurburg, Germany Wychwood Festival 29 - 31 May 2015 Cheltenham, United Kingdom Rockavaria 29 - 31 May 2015 Munich, Germanycrowdcro Electronic Beats Festival Cologne 29 May 2015 Cologne, Germany
We Are FSTVL 30 - 31 May 2015 Electronic Beats Festival Upminster, United Cologne Kingdom 29 May 2015 Cologne, Germany We Love Green 30 - 31 May 2015 Pacha Festival Paris, France 23 May 2015 Amsterdam, Netherlands Loveland 909 31 May 2015 Common People Amsterdam, Netherlands 23 - 24 May 2015 Southamptom, United Spring Break Island Kingdom 2 - 7 June 2015 Novalia, Croatia Primavera Sound 28 - 30 May 2015 Distortian Barcelona, Spain 3 - 7 June 2015 Copenhagen, Denmark Der Ring - Grune Holle www.AudiationMagazine.com
Zrce Spring Break 4 - 7 June 2015 Island of Pag, Croatia
11 - 14 June 2015 Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
NOS Primavera Sound 4 - 6 June 2015 Porto, Portugal
Bergenfest 11 - 14 June 2015 Bergen, Norway
Rock In Vienna 4 - 6 June 2015 Vienna, Austria
Download Festival 12 - 14 June 2015 Derby, United Kingdom
Rock For People 4 - 6 June 2015 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic The Governors Ball Music Festival 5 - 7 June 2015 New York, United States
NorthSide 12 - 14 June 2015 Aarthus, Denmark
MORE Festival 5 - 8 June 2015 Venice, Italy
Sonar Barcelona 18 - 20 June 2015 Barcelona, Spain Southside Festival 19 - 21 June 2015 Tuttlingen, Germany
World Club Dome 5 - 7 June 2015 Frankfurt, Germany
Best Kept Secret 19 - 21 June 2015 Hlivarenbeek, Netherlands
World of Pleasure 6 June Utrecht, Netherlands
Azkena Rock Festival 19 - 20 June 2015 Vitoria-Gastelz, Spain
Parklife Festival 6 - 7 June 2015 Manchester, United Kingdom
Hellfest Open Air 19 - 21 June 2015 Clisson, France
Field Day 6 - 7 June 2015 London, United Kingdom Isle of Wight Festival
Secret Solstice 19 0 21 June 2015 Reyjavik, Iceland Hurrican Festival 19 - 21 June 2015
ScheeĂ&#x;el, Germany INmusic Festival 22 - 24 June 2015 Zagreb, Croatia Rock Werchter 25 - 28 June 2015 Werchter, Belgium Bravalla 25 - 27 June 2015 Norrkoping, Sweden OpenAir St. Gallen 25 - 28 June 2015 St. Galen, Switzerland Tuska Open Air 26 - 28 June 2015 Helsinki, Finland Garorock 26 - 28 June 2015 Marmande, France Tinderbox 26 - 28 June 2015 Odense SV, Denmark Holi Fusion Nijmegen 27 June 2015 Nijmegen, Netherlands Awakenings Festival 27 - 28 June 2015 Spaarnwoude, Netherlands Roskilde Festival 27 June - 4 July 2015 Roskilde, Denmark
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Hideout Festival 28 June - 3 July 2015 Novalja, Croatia Blissfields 2 - 4 July Winchester, United Kingdom Vida Festival 2 - 5 July Barcelona, Spain Rock For People Europe 3 - 5 July Pllsen, Czech Republic Main Square Festival 3 - 5 July Arras, France Beauregard Festival 3 - 5 July Normandy, France Les Eurockeenes 3 - 5 July Belfort, France World Trance Festival Open Air 3 - 5 July Le Garric, France Couleur Cafe 3 - 5 July Brussels, Belgium Wireless Festival 3 - 5 July London, United Kingdom
3 - 5 July Gozo, Malta Calvi On The Rocks 3 - 8 July Calvi, Corsica, France Sensation 4 July Amsterdam, Netherlands Love Family Park 4 July Mainz, Germany Calling Festival 4 July London, United Kingdom Armada Day & Night Festival 6 - 9 July Novalja, Croatia NOS Alive 9 - 11 July Lisbon, Portagal Bilbao BBK Live 9 - 11 July Bilbao, Spain
Electrobeach Music Festival 10 - 12 July La Barcares, France Ultra Europe 10 - 12 July Spllt, Croatia NASS Festival 10 - 12 July Shepton Mallet, United Kingdom Electric Daisy Carnival 11 July Milton Keynes, United Kingdom Extreme Outdoor 11 July Elndhoven, Netherlands 18 Hours Festival 11 - 12 July Zaahdam, Netherlands Kappa FuturFestival 11 - 12 July Turin, Italy
EXIT Festival 9 - 12 July Novi Sad, Serbia
Fresh Island Festival 15 - 17 July Pag Island, Croatia
Bazant Pohoda 9 - 12 July Trencin, Slovakia
Sea Dance 15 - 18 July Budva, Montenegro
Balaton Sound 9 - 12 July Zamardi, Hungary
Dour Festival 15 - 19 July Dour, Belgium
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Latitude 16 - 19 July Southwold, United Kingdom
The Bay Festival 23 - 27 July Solenzara, Corsica, France
Standon Calling 31 July - 2 August Standon, United Kingdom
Colours Of Ostrava 16 - 19 July Ostrava, Czech Republic
Check The Rhyme 24 - 25 July Nice, France
Nature One 31 July - 2 August Kastellaun, Germany
Lovebox 17 - 18 July London, United Kingdom
Tomorrowland 24 - 26 July Boom, Belgium
Melt! Festival 17 - 19 July Grafenhalnlchen, Germany
MADE 25 July Birmingham, United Kingdom
Groove Parade: Monegros Desert 17 - 19 July Fraga, Spain
Amsterdam Live On Stage 25 July Amsterdam, Netherlands
TIKTAK Eclectic Music Festival 18 July Amsterdam, Netherlands
Barrakud 29 July - 2 August Corfu, Greece
Sea You Festival 18 - 19 July Frelburg, Germany
Camp Bestival 30 July - 2 August East Lulworth, United Kingdom
90 Festival 18 - 19 July Blelsko-Blala, Poland
Solar Weekend 30 July - 2 August Roermond, Netherlands
Croatia Rocks Festival 19 - 23 July Novalja, Croatia
Untold Festival 30 July - 2 August Cluj-Napoca, Romaniaa
Vasto Siren Festival 23 - 26 July Vasto, Italy
Let It Roll Open Air Festival 30 July - 2 August Milovice, Czech Republic
DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY
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HOT 6 with J.Phlip
This year we have already had some interesting takes on our Audiation HOT 6 with Just Her, Max Chapman & Claude Von Stroke already gratuitously taking part. As we come into the month of May, the weather has begun to slowly warm up and 2015 is really beginning to season. Along with the sun festival season get into full swing with We Are FSTVL fast approaching at the end of the month we decided to catch up with our Gemini born cover star Dirtybird Stalwart J.Phlip for her take on the Audiation Hot 6.
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1st record you ever bought? Atmosphere - Overcast Favourite track you have made? Say My Name or my remix of Robosonic “The Sweetness" Favourite kit for making music? Roland SH-101 and Roland TB-303 and Sequential Circuits Pro-One Your Dream Line up (self included) Whoever’s playing with me at the Dirtybird Campout in October. If you had to DJ a 3hr set of a different Genre what would it be? 3 hours is a long set to play hip-hop, and I totally suck at playing hip-hop, but that’s the other genre I wish I could play. Hip-hop is so fun! One sentence that defines house and techno music? This is tuff…. Kick drum based music at that tempo that just makes people (or me at least) have to move their bodies and dance.
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On the cover: J.Phlip Issue AM013
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With love
Mizz Ruby, Rokuro, Cessle, Sarah, Malachi & Andy xx
Audiation AM013 Copyright 2015 Š Audiation Magazine Ltd