DJ Times 2020, Vol 33 No7 "Digital DJ Expo 2020 Issue"

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988 DJ EXPO WEEK 2020 ISSUE

VOLUME 33 NUMBER 7

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DJ EXPO WEEK 2020 ISSUE

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VOLUME 33 NUMBER 7

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AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988 DJ EXPO WEEK 2020 ISSUE

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CUSTOMIZE YOUR VEHICLE POST PANDEMIC TIPS

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LOOKING AHEAD TO A BIG

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Rebel Raver Re-Emerges DISCO FRIES s SHOGUN s NÖEL JACKSON PRESONUS ATOM SQ s ELECTRO-VOICE EVOLVE 30M

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NOTABLES…MILESTONES NEWS

DJ EXPO ’21 TO HARD ROCK, DIGITAL SHOW CLOSES ’20

Expo ’21: Headed to the Hard Rock.

Atlantic City, N.J. – We have heard you and we have acted – next year’s DJ Expo is returning to the Boardwalk and relocating to one of Atlantic City’s hottest properties.

The rumors are true – the 2021 DJ Expo will take place August 9-12 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Produced by DJ Times magazine since its 1990 inception, DJ Expo is the DJ industry’s longest-running, most-successful exhibition/trade show.

Presenting its unique combo of tech-driven exhibits, educational seminars and sponsored events, DJ Expo is excited to commit long-term to a property that aligns with our mission at every level – plus, it provides the most modern amenities that any Atlantic City hotel/casino has to offer. All of this, of course, is set right on Atlantic City’s legendary Boardwalk.

Working with Hard Rock allows DJ Expo the unique ability to provide a special, music-driven experience that all show-goers will appreciate. This new and exciting synergy will benefit attendee and exhibitor alike.

Also of note: The property features the hotel-and-convention industry’s most up-to-date safety protocols, which include attention to disinfecting detail by the Hard Rock’s “Clean Team.” Accordingly, while restrictions hopefully will be removed or limited by August, DJ Expo ’21 will offer the safest possible environment as it re-invigorates an industry looking for a big bounce back from the ravages wrought by the pandemic of 2020.

So, we’ll see all of you in 2021… back at the Boardwalk!

Digital DJ Expo ’20: Meanwhile, as DJ Expo 2020 had to be cancelled for all the obvious reasons, DJ Times nonetheless presented an online version of the show (www.thedjexpo.com) this past Nov. 16-19.

Dubbed Digital DJ Expo ’20, the online experience offered: a variety of content from digital exhibitors, including new product info, tech specs and instructional videos; giveaways galore in daily prize packages from show sponsors like DAS Audio, Hercules, Odyssey, Pioneer DJ and Playtime Engineering; online performances from DJ/artists recently featured in DJ Times, like Tchami and Louis The Child; and 13 video seminars, panels and keynotes tackling the hottest DJ-related topics of the day. Going forward, the video sessions will be available online through the end of the year and well into 2021.

One such session, “The State of the Mobile DJ Industry: A Multi-Op Panel,” moderated by industry leader Mike Walter of New Jersey’s Elite Entertainment, presented an informational and inspirational panel that tackled the mobile industry’s pressing issues – from COVID and its impact to survival methods and the industry’s immediate future. Featuring a panel of multi-operators that stretched across the country, the seminar included: Kristen Wilson of Our DJs Rocks in Orlando Fla.; Glenn Roush of LeForce Entertainment in Dallas Texas; Jorge Lopez of J&M Entertainment in Los Angeles, Calif.; and Howard Wallach of A-Z Entertainment in Chicago, Ill. Another seminar, “Book More Business in 2021: Strategies & Differentiators,” a tutorial by Joshua Volpe of Kalifornia Entertainment in Rochester, N.Y., presented

Digital Keynoters: Disco Fries offered tips.

plenty of solutions for mobile DJs. From implementing effective marketing strategies to eventually improving your business outcomes, Volpe delivered tried-and-true approaches, while also acknowledging and adapting to the market’s new realities.

Also, the Disco Fries (Nick Ditri and Danny Boselovic) delivered a Keynote Q&A session for Digital DJ Expo.

In addition to detailing their rise up the ladder as one of Mike Walter: DJ vet helmed multi-op panel.

America’s most successful DJ/production duos, the guys offered insights on their work with a range of collaborators – from superstars like Tiësto and underground talents like Tommie Sunshine. Additionally, they offered advice for upstart DJ/producers looking for similar success.

On the sponsored-seminar tip, Roland and DAS Audio produced instructional video workshops. Roland’s Matthew “Recloose” Chicoine helmed “Roland DJ707M Digital Workshop,” which delivered tips and apps for mobile and home DJing alike. DAS Audio’s Darrin “B-SIDE” Young delivered four short videos detailing the benefits of a range of products, including the company’s Altea-700 series of portable speakers.

For more Digital DJ Expo seminar descriptions, please see Feedback on Page 9.

Photo: BigCityBeats Content for Digital DJ Expo is available at www.thedjexpo.com.

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VOLUME 33 NUMBER 7

SAMPLINGS 10 Shogun

Lockdown Creative

12 In the Studio With…

Nöel Jackson

DEPARTMENTS 9 Feedback

DJ Expo Update, Digital & the Real Thing

26 Making Tracks PreSonus ATOM SQ

28 Sounding Off

Electro-Voice EVOLVE 30M

30 Mobile Profile

Wisconsin DJ Vet Scott Siewert

32 Business Line

What Will ’21 Look Like? Mobiles Weigh In…

34 Gear

New Products from Pioneer DJ, Peavey & More

38 Grooves

Phat Tracks from Solomun, Lutrell & More

41 Club Play Chart

FEATURES

The Hottest Records, As Reported

by Our Top U.S. Record Pools

14 Flourishing

Though His Legendary Parties Face Uncertainty, Damian Lazarus Has Re-Emerged Freshly Inspired with a Wonderful New Album

BY LILY MOAYERI

20 Van Go

Tricks & Tips to Customize Your Van into DJ Shape

BY DAN QUINN

22 The Finishers

DJ/Studio Duo Disco Fries Put Their Pandemic Downtime to Good Use with a Clever New Service

BY JIM TREMAYNE

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Video Seminars

DJ EXPO, NOV. 16-19 www.thedjexpo.com

THE STATE OF MOBILE DJ INDUSTRY: A Multi-Op Panel GEAR: New DJ Tech & What It Means to You BOOK MORE BUSINESS IN 2021: Strategies & Differentiators KEYNOTE Q&A: Disco Fries PANDEMIC-ERA: Games for Mobile DJs LIVE-STREAMING: The Basics & More on the DJ’s New Platform SPONSORED SEMINAR: Roland DJ-707M Digital Workshop Search Marketing in the COVID-19 Era REMIXES: The State of the Art SOCIAL LISTENING: How to Identify Potential Clients on Social Media How I Pivoted During the Pandemic with Bubble Parties WHAT TO BE THANKFUL FOR: Moving Beyond 2020

/thedjexpo

thedjexpo.CoM

@djexpo_

FROM THE EDITOR

Notes from a Very Weird Year For more than a decade, London-born DJ/producer Damian Lazarus has been a force within the world’s underground scene. In addition to creating and releasing techno-based music on his Crosstown Rebels imprint, he’s fired up late-night haunts around the globe with legendary parties like Day Zero and Get Lost.

Of course, for him and every other DJ, 2020 has been rather different. But it certainly didn’t prevent Lazarus from hunkering down, creating and releasing Flourish, a terrific full-length album full of electronic wonders. Our L.A.-based correspondent Lily Moayeri connected with Lazarus from his home in Italy to discuss the album project and how he’s handled this very weird year.

In this issue, I connect with the Disco Fries, one of America’s most successful DJ/production teams.

Although Virginia’s Danny Boselovic and Jersey’s Nick Ditri live with their families apart from each other, the duo never stopped their studio work during the pandemic. In fact, they came up with another entrepreneurial idea – FinishMyTrack.com – that looks to transcend the restrictions put upon all of us by COVID-19. I connected with them to discuss this and their views on the industry’s future.

In Samplings, I interviewed Nöel Jackson, one of the Superfreq label’s brightest talents. Working with Mr. C., the underground label’s legendary co-founder, Jackson has cranked out a consistent stream of quality acid and techno tracks, as evidenced by his recent “Grateful” EP. Also in Samplings, U.K. correspondent Danny Turner connects with Cali-based trance talent Shogun to discuss his creative methods for dealing with 2020’s lockdown.

In the Sounding Off column, Twin Cities-based DJ Deets tests out the Evolve 30M active speaker system from fellow Minnesota inhabitants, Electro-Voice. For the Making Tracks entry, Denver’s Wesley Bryant-King goes into the studio with PreSonus’ unique controller, the ATOM SQ. From the mobile world, Dallas-based DJ Dan Quinn takes a look into transportation and offers tips and tricks on customizing your van into DJ shape. For Business Line, Iowa’s Jeff Stiles asks a panel of mobile DJs what they believe business in 2021 will look like. For Mobile Spotlight, we visit with Scott Siewert, a Wisconsin DJ vet who shouldered a tough year, which included a not-so-easy recovery from COVID-19.

As for DJ Expo, we have good news and we have bad news. First, the bad: After attempts to reschedule, the 2020 show had to be cancelled, due to a variety of pandemic concerns. The good: We held an online version of the show – Digital DJ Expo – this past Nov. 16-19, and the exclusive seminar content from the show remains available at www.thedjexpo.com. Also, good: The 2021 show will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. We can’t tell you how excited we are to announce that development, as we believe it will be a long-lasting partnership beneficial to both parties, but mostly beneficial to DJ Expo attendees and exhibitors. All’s well that ends well? We sincerely believe that to be the case. So, thinking optimistically, here’s to a fresh, new and healthy start in 2021.

Cheers,

editor-in-chief Jim Tremayne jtremayne@testa.com editor-at-large Brian O’Connor boconnor@testa.com assistant editor Brian Bonavoglia bbonavoglia@testa.com chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Wesley Bryant-King Chris Caruso Amanda Chavez Shawn Christopher Paul Dailey Reed Dailey Chris Davis DJ Deets Tony Fernandez Tommy D Funk Jennifer Harmon Josh Harris Ryan Hayes Greg Hollmann Josh Kerman Michelle Loeb Erik Miller Lily Moayeri Jordan St Jacques Jeff Stiles Ashley Teffer Danny Turner Phil Turnipseed Curtis Zack President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO ORDER SUBSCRIPTIONS, CALL 800-937-7678 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.djtimes.com

Jim Tremayne Editor, DJ Times

DJ Times Sound & Communications The Music & Sound Retailer Sound & Communications ClubWorld Blue Book America’s Best DJ The DJ Expo IT/AV Report Convention TV News VTTV Studios

director of integrated advertising Paul Bozikis pbozikis@testa.com art director Janice Pupelis jpupelis@testa.com production manager Steve Thorakos sthorakos@testa.com digital art director Fred Gumm fgumm@testa.com social media coordinator Amanda Mullen amullen@testa.com traffic manager art production assistant Jeannemarie Graziano jgraziano@testa.com Circulation circulation@testa.com Classifieds classifiedsales@testa.com operations manager Robin Hazan rhazan@testa.com Editorial and Sales Office: DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, New York, USA 11050-3779. (516) 767-2500 • FAX (Editorial): (516) 944-8372 • FAX (Sales/all other business): (516) 767-9335 • DJTIMES@TESTA. COM Editorial contributions should be addressed to The Editor, DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, NY, USA, 110503779. Unsolicited manuscripts will be treated with care an d should be accompanied by return postage.

DJ Times (ISSN 1045-9693) is published monthly except for February, July, September and December for $19.40 (US), $39.99 (Canada), and $59.99 (all other countries), by DJ Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779. Periodicals Postage Paid at Port Washington, NY, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DJ Times, PO BOX 1767, LOWELL MA 01853-1767 Design and contents are copyright © 2020 by DJ Publishing, Inc., and must not be reproduced in any manner except by permission of the publisher.

Websites: www.djtimes.com and www.testa.com DJ Expo Week 2020 Issue

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FEEDBACK THE LATEST REBOOTED

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988 FALL 2020 ISSUE

VOLUME 33 NUMBER 6

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CONFESSIONS OF A FUTURE-HOUSE PIONEER 9/21/2020 5:09:08 PM

This is Feedback, a monthly feature that fields questions from you, our readers, and funnels them out to in‑ dustry professionals. If you have any questions about DJing – marketing, mixing, equipment or insurance, any at all – drop us a letter at DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Ave, Port Washington, NY 11050, fax us at (516) 944‑8372 or e‑mail us at djtimes@testa.com. If we do use your question, you’ll receive a free DJ Times T‑shirt. And remember, the only dumb question is the ques‑ tion that is not asked.

Gear – New DJ Tech & What It Means to You: Moderated by DJ Times editor Jim Tremayne and featuring Washington Music Center’s Randy White and DJ Times contributor Wesley Bryant-King, this session tackles the new tech for DJs of all stripes.

Sponsored Seminar – Roland DJ-707M Digital Workshop: Hosted by Roland’s Matthew “Recloose” Chicoine, this workshop offers an under-the-hood look at the DJ-707M controller.

Pandemic-Era Games for Mobile DJs: Georgia’s Jake Jacobsen of A2R Enter‑ tainment unveils party games that your guests can play, while sticking to socialdistancing protocols.

Live-Streaming – The Basics & More

on the DJ’s New Platform: Tony Fer‑ nandez and David Spoorn deep-dive into the platform that DJs of all stripes have been embracing.

Keynote Q&A – Disco Fries: Top DJ/ production team Disco Fries (Nick Ditri and Danny Boselovic) detail their rise to the top and offer tips to upstarts.

Search Marketing in the COVID-19 Era: Digital marketing maven Jordan St. Jacques of Canada’s Digitera shows you how it’s done.

Remixes – The State of the Art: Virgin‑ ia-based DJ vet Tony Fernandez touches on the basics of remixing – inspiration, preparation, creation.

Sponsored Seminar – DAS Audio: DAS Audio’s Darrin “B-SIDE” Young details

the benefits of several products, includ‑ ing the company’s Vantec and Altea-700 speaker ranges.

Social Listening – How to Identify Potential Clients on Social Media: Pre‑ sented by Digitera’s Jordan St. Jacques, this SEO session for do-it-yourselfers will put you on the right path from the jump.

How I Pivoted During the Pandemic with Bubble Parties: Mobile vet Mike Wieder explains how he turned a pandemic nega‑ tive into a professional positive.

What to Be Thankful For: Moving Beyond 2020 Hosted by mobile vets Sean “Big Daddy” McKee and Jordan Marshall, this forum discusses preparing for the post-pan‑ demic future and a bigger 2021.

BEYOND THE INK

DIGITAL DJ EXPO Digital DJ Expo, an online rendition of DJ Expo, ran this past November 16-19 at www.thedjexpo.com.

Though DJ Expo, the industry’s longestrunning trade show/exhibition, was can‑ celled due to pandemic concerns, Digital DJ Expo offered a variety of benefits for DJs of all stripes. Produced by DJ Times, the online experience presented a new and different version of the show that’s been bringing the industry to‑ gether since its 1990 inception.

The digital version presented the show’s main three components – technology exhibitions, educational seminars and sponsored DJ events – plus giveaways for lucky winners.

On the site, show exhibitors presented their featured wares via product videos and dedicated spec info, plus sponsored seminars and performances. Digital DJ Expo also offered a stout slate of video seminars and keynotes that touched on all ends of the DJ spectrum – mobile, club, studio and more. They will be avail‑ able on DJ Expo’s site, so for those look‑ ing to take in the talk on the industry’s hottest topics, feel free to visit www.thed‑ jexpo.com. The following list of seminars will be available to all, free of charge: The State of Mobile DJ Industry – A Multi-Op Panel: Moderated by industry leader Mike Walter of New Jersey’s Elite Entertainment, the panel features mobile vets from coast-to-coast discussing the latest topics.

Book More Business in 2021 – Strategies & Differentiators: Joshua Volpe of Kalifornia Entertainment in Rochester, N.Y., offers options for a fresh, new start for mobile DJs in 2021.

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CHECK IT OUT : Exclusive Interviews Track Premieres DJ Mixes Gear Giveaways Videos Event Galleries Festival News DJTIMES.COM @DJTimesMag

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SAMPLING

SHOGUN’S CREATIVE DOWNTIME

Trance Star: Shogun flexed his skills out during lockdown.

Born Andrew Chen, globetrotting trance star Shogun is an almost permanent fixture in the annual DJ polls with a string of Beatport and iTunes hits and host of award nominations for his infectious and atmospheric EDM productions.

Recording for a variety of prestigious labels like Armada Music over his career, Shogun’s productions have taken the world by storm in recent years, cementing his reputation as one of the genre’s more popular talents. As such, he’s rocked most of the world’s major festivals and famously held a longstanding residency at London’s legendary Ministry of Sound club.

Though the gigs stopped due to the pandemic, Shogun could not have been busier during lockdown, beavering away to create a plethora of tracks including a remarkable twist on the classic Super Mario Bros. theme, with all proceeds donated to the CDC Foundation to help frontline workers combat COVID-19.

The release was swiftly followed by four more tracks – the Moombahton-inspired “Fuck Up the Party,” the poppy “Lalaland,” the proggy “Walls” and the vocal-driven trance cut “Into the Night” featuring Dean Chalmers. We recently caught up with the Irvine, Calif.-based Shogun.

DJ Times: You’ve been very productive in lockdown. How soon did you realize you had to adapt your lifestyle?

Shogun: It’s kind of crazy because I was touring in Asia when the pandemic hit and it was all over the news there. I live in California and it hadn’t reached the U.S. yet, but when I got back around New Year everything went bad. When I realized there would be no more gigs, I started switching up my lifestyle and using this time to be creative and get more music done.

DJ Times: Raising funds for frontline workers seemed to be your immediate response…

Shogun: I hate looking at the news every day when everything’s so sad and messed up, so I felt like I had to do something. It’s dangerous for people working at hospitals and grocery stores, so why not try to help them out? Plus, Mario Bros. is one of my favorite games and every time I hear the theme song I get happy, so why not do a full remix and try to bring that joy to other people?

I wasn’t looking to make money; just put it out and ask people to donate a few dollars to the CDC Foundation.

DJ Times: Presumably, you’re a video-game fan in general?

Shogun: I’ve always been a huge gamer and did a few video-game bootleg remixes here and there – one was Final Fantasy. I love playing Nintendo, Sega Genesis and PlayStation, but one day I was listening to an album called Zelda & Chill [by Mikel & GameChops], which got me thinking why no one had made a really sick Mario remix. I checked YouTube and couldn’t find one, so I thought it was time to do something.

DJ Times: What was your approach to making a track based on that?

Shogun: I downloaded the MIDI for it. Once I had that, I knew I could choose all the instruments and the sounds behind it, but I also wanted to try using sounds and effects from the original game. For example, I wanted to incorporate the sound of Mario jumping on the block, taking the coin and innovate it. Obviously, the original Mario song was created in the ’80s, so I wanted to renovate it for 2020 and make something that could be played at festivals or clubs.

Trance is my signature sound, but I figured that’s not going to work for this remix – I had to do something that gave it a little more swag, so created a trap version.

DJ Times: You’ve written about 25 tracks throughout lockdown. Looking back, do you think touring inhibited your ability to make music?

Shogun: When you’re touring rigorously, it’s hard to balance that with finding the right amount of (continued on page 42)

Tensnake: Inspired by his stint in Los Angeles.

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IN THE STUDIO WITH...

If you’re a DJ who loves proper techno and acid sounds, Superfreq is no doubt on your radar.

The indie label, which began as an event brand in 2002, was co-founded in 2005 by the London-born/L.A.-based Mr. C (aka Richard West) and has been a force on the underground since its inception. And these days, the label’s not-so-secret weapon is studio wiz/DJ, Noël Jackson.

His artistic output on Superfreq has been prolific and impressive, from 2014’s “Acid Test” EP to his current “Grateful” EP, not to mention his superb remixes for Mr. C singles like “Celebration of Life” and “Radical Inclusion.” For proof, just check tough, yet spookily melodic acid tracks like “Visions” (from his latest EP), which deliver plenty of late-night possibilities.

In addition to his voluminous work on Superfreq, he’s served as a mixing and mastering engineer for projects on labels ranging from Warner Bros. to Ghostly and by DJ/artists as diverse as David Guetta and Kevin Saunderson. We recently caught up with the Detroit-based tech/studio talent.

DJ Times: What were your musical inspirations?

Jackson: It started with R&B, hip-hop, trance, and rock from the early ’90s, including pop and even cheesier stuff like The Venga Boys, Biggie, 2Pac, Nas, Bel Biv DeVoe, Ace of Base, BT, Paul van Dyk, Nirvana, Butthole Surfers, Daft Punk, etc. I was born at a weird time, and land squarely on the edge of Gen X/Y territory.

DJ Times: How’d you get turned onto the Superfreq label?

Jackson: Thanks to the internet, I got a hold of some Superfreq material that Levon Vincent made. It was a single called “The Thrill of Love.” I think I was 13 or 14 years old when it came out. That was huge to me. Superfreq is the epitome of acid, and Mr. C is the boss. I’m flattered and grateful to be releasing music with the label – Mr. C has vision.

DJ Times: What music are you feeling these days?

Jackson: The last Future album is mega-dope, and the new Lil Baby album is literally out of the world. Ariana Grande is absolutely a legend, and Taz from Internet Money is one of the

NOËL JACKSON: SUPERFREQ TALENT craziest, hardest-working people out there. In terms of musical taste and inspiration, I get around like a millennial with a trust fund and a NetJets card.

DJ Times: How has Detroit informed what you do, artistically?

Jackson: It’s everything. I met Art “Pumpin’” Payne when I was about 15 or so, and that changed my life. He was essentially the man who taught “The Belleville Three” how to spin records. This is the place where I would see Aaron Carl spin deep house on Wednesdays, Carl Craig spin on a Thursday, and somehow ended up building and acoustically engineering Kevin Saunderson’s personal studio.

DJ Times: It’s a place where the artistry always seems to be respected.

Jackson: I love Detroit – you can’t not. In the best of times and the worst of times – it is a gem. It gave me every tool I needed to help me grow and figure out what kind of person I am, and what kind of artist I want to be. It’s a tough place and it makes you tougher. But it’s also a beautifully loving place. As a city, and as a music scene, there is nowhere that competes, and nowhere as authentic.

DJ Times: What’s your typical DJ set-up?

Jackson: Best mixer for me is the Allen & Heath Xone: 92 or equivalent. I love the faders on this mixer, and I like how the headphone gain stage is set up. For inputs, the Pioneer DJ CDJ(continued on page 42)

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Noël Jackson: Proper techno & acid sounds.

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In 2020, Damian Lazarus, the DJ/producer/label owner with the excellent name – it sounds completely made-up, but isn’t – was confronted with some of the same challenges shared by all DJs. No gigs and lots of time on his hands to get creative.

Lazarus spent the month prior to the pandemic and the ensuing five lockdown months at home at his idyllic farm in Italy, high atop a mountain, working on his opus, Flourish – the second album under his own name, his fourth overall. Sequestered with his family and his engineer/tour manager/assistant and all-around Man Friday, Paolo Bartolomeo, at his Monastic Studio in the middle of a nearby forest, Lazarus has never had this much uninterrupted time to focus on creation, and mostly likely never will again.

But it was put to good use because Flourish captures all the isolated, nature-driven environs in which it was created, not to mention Lazarus’ fluctuating state of mind. It delves far back into his musical past, unearthing his early drum-n-bass influences, bringing those together with jazzy grooves and skipping house beats or jumpy breakbeats and buzzing basslines. These efforts sometime have a clear view of the dancefloor such as on “Leave,” “Everybody” and “Mountain.” At other times, it looks inward, such as on “Beth” and “Bas.” At yet other times, such as on “Into the Sun,” it is tailor-made for Lazarus’ signature sunrise/sunset selections.

In between keeping an eye on his quarreling goats, shuttering his windows against a pending rainstorm and sipping tiny espressos punctuated by intermittent cigarettes, Lazarus gave DJ Times plenty to chew on. The London-born talent went all the way back to his nascent years, recounting the events and experiences that brought him to the present time as one of the curators of not only singular DJ sets, but taste-making record labels Crosstown Rebels and Rebellion, and magical destination festivals and events such as Day Zero and Get Lost. It went like this: DJ Times: You’ve been part of the dance-music landscape since the ’90s – what were your first forays into the scene?

Lazarus: It started when I started working at Dazed & Confused magazine around 1996. I was writing, then I was an assistant editor, then music editor. As a journalist, you get an insight into the music industry from an interesting perspective. Magazines work with a two- to three-month advance time period. You know what’s happening in the future.

DJ Times: What was your musical trajectory as far as styles and scenes?

Lazarus: When I first started getting into music, I came from soul, funk, jazz and hip hop, that moved into early acid house, breakbeat, and then into drum-n-bass by 1996. From a media perspective, I was instrumental in helping that scene along. I was the first person to put all these big drum-n-bass artists together for a photo shoot for Dazed & Confused in ’96. I was the first person to start reviewing drum-n-bass records in other magazines at that time, really helping the scene grow.

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DJ Times: You got into drum-n-bass right at the start of its rise.

Lazarus: Drum-n-bass provided me with a real idea of the future of electronic music. It felt like tomorrow music. I’d always been buying records and playing records at home. I started to DJ outside of my home city for the first time, in ’96, ’97 – but I’d never broken into any kind of scene as an artist.

DJ Times: How did the separation from drumn-bass come about?

Lazarus: After three, four years, the music started to dry up. It reached a point where it didn’t sound as future anymore. It didn’t sound as exciting.

I had to figure out who I wanted to be as an artist.

Mr. C and Paul “Rip” Stone of Plink Plonk [defunct U.K. label] discovered me around that time. Big up to them because they were the first people to see some potential in me as an artist and a DJ. I hadn’t started producing yet. They offered me studio time and put me with Jono Podmore who recorded as Kumo. Later, I worked with Laggy Panteli who was Hijacker and Megalog. They had nights happening at their club, The End, and that’s where I got my first really big break.

DJ Times: The music you released with the City Rockers labels – FC Kahuna, Felix da Housecat, Miss Kitten, Soulwax, Erol Alkan – was just as visionary for the time as the music you release now with Crosstown Rebels. How does that tie in with your DJing?

Lazarus: When we started a club night called 21st Century Body Rockers with all our City Rockers artists and I was the warm-up DJ… that was

when the real DJ start happened. No one knew me as a DJ at that point. I was coming out of drum-n-bass and starting fresh in this whole new world which I was creating through City Rockers.

At one point, my friends said, “You’re actually getting really good at this. Maybe you could be the DJ you want to be.” It really began for me in 2001.

DJ Times: It was early on in your DJing career that you started playing at DC10 in Ibiza.

Lazarus: Really early on. I had some friends from the U.K. that were working at Manumission in Ibiza. They introduced me to DC10. Having looked around most of the parties at Ibiza at an early age, I knew that was the one for me. It felt so innovative and edgy, dangerous at times, fun, exciting, deep, trippy. I played there for the first time in 2001 or 2002. The following year they invited me back to play two or three times, the last name out of 20 on the lineup, which was great. By 2004, 2005, I was playing there all summer. Now, I’m a resident with Circo Loco. I owe them so much for everything I have now as a DJ. DJ Times: Your priority has always been DJing over production with a focus on being the best DJ you can be.

Lazarus: There was always this school of thought that unless you could produce, you didn’t really have a right to be a DJ. If you’re playing music and buying other people’s music, and then playing that to people, you’re intrigued and want to know whether you can to do that as well. The two do work hand-in-hand. I spent a fair bit of time in the studio. I realized early on that the art of pro-

Making Flourish: Studio Talk with Paolo Bartolomeo Communication: Besides being Damian’s sound engineer, I’m also his tour manager. We spend most of our time together. He shares music he likes or is listening to with me and we go through records and get inspired together. There is an incredible connection between us.

He has a sound in his mind and I know what he wants. The communication sometimes is just few words.

Synthesizers: We have classic and new keyboards and synthesizers. Roland Alpha Juno 1, which we used for the pads and some basslines like on “Mountain,” David Smith Sequential Prophet 6, which we used for some basslines and some lead melodies, modular system for glitches and sound effects, and Yamaha DX7, my favorite, for all the chords.

The Method: We like to experiment with non-standard synthesizers. We like to play around with machines that make nice noises and effects and we turn them into music. This specific one is a box with three different modules, connected to each other. The particularity of this is that it has guitar strings in each module and you have to play it just pinching them or even with a bow. It is a really interesting instrument that gave us a very particular sound.

You never know what you can get from it.

Working with a modular system is always a surprise. Most of the time you know what you are going to do, how to do the patch, but anything can happen in the process. Lots of happy mistakes happen and get recorded in the session. We liked to use some glitchy sounds in most of the tracks, or get some voices through effects to get weird sounds.

Plug-Ins: We use plug-ins mostly for effects, not for sounds.We use some from Soundtoys, creating some chains of effects that we’ve used in most of the tracks. This was good to give a personal touch on the album, even through the effects. Other plug-ins are from iZotope, especially VocalSynth 2 and DDLY Dynamic Delay.

Mixing & Mastering: We use Ableton Live 10 for writing and recording and Avid Pro Tools for mixing, but we asked Tobi Neumann at Apollo Studio in Berlin to do the mixing and Lawrie Dunster at Curve Pusher in London to do the mastering.

– L.M.

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ducing music was not something that was going to come quickly for me, technically. I had the basics of working in the studio, but to hone in on the sound I really wanted, I need to work alongside an engineer. At the same time, I was realizing that the awareness of me as a DJ—especially when I started playing DC10—was starting to build and I still hadn’t released a record. Maybe I could be one of those people that doesn’t need to have records in the shops or be played on the radio.

People still connect with me as an artist they want to see. That actually happened. It doesn’t happen with many people. I was lucky.

DJ Times: What is your preferred DJ set-up?

Lazarus: I never wanted to play with a laptop.

I’m in front of my laptop most of the week – at the weekends, it’s the last thing I want to do. Also, from the dancefloor’s perspective, can there be anything more boring than watching someone behind a laptop onstage? I have both Pioneer and Allen & Heath mixers on my rider. On one hand, I only select tracks that are good enough to be played in full. On the other hand, I have this nervous energy, so I might chop in a sound or do an effect. If I think I’m going to be in that kind of mood, then I use the Pioneer because it’s the easy way to use effects without having to use an outboard situation. But, I take a lot of effects units out with me, mainly sound oscillators and delays, and they sound better coming out of the Allen & Heath. I make the decision on the night.

DJ Times: You play so many different kinds of events – your own parties, residencies, club

nights, different parts of the world, different set lengths, audiences with varying levels of familiarity with you. How do you keep your USB organized?

Lazarus: I never plan a set. On average, I play two to three hours. I prefer to play longer sets when it feels like the right place and time. When it’s my own event, or something really special like a Burning Man sunrise, I might produce a 20-minute section in the studio before the event. I might also create some sound beds and voiceovers. I might have a sunrise folder or sunset folder, but I try not to play the same music at all the sunrises and all the sunsets. The way I arrange my folders is by months. It tends to work with a turnaround of three or four weeks. I make life very difficult for myself because once I get to October 2020, and there’s a track that came out earlier this year that I really want to play, I’m thinking two or three tracks ahead, so I’ve got that amount of time to remember what month it came out. I’ve got all this stuff going through my head when I’m DJing.

It’s pretty full-on. I’m sure there’s a much easier way to do it, but it’s the way I’ve done it for years.

I enjoy it. It keeps me on my toes. It allows me to feel that I’m never doing an automatic, robotic job.

DJ Times: How is what you do with your podcast, Lazpod, different from your DJ sets?

Lazarus: I experiment quite a bit when I’m at a club or festival, but I want to go really far. In this day and age, when people have such short attention spans, it’s a little risky to go all-out experimental. I needed an outlet for that. That’s where Lazpod comes in. Lazpod is an expression of my

musical tastes at home. An opportunity to put a ’50s doo-wop record next to a killer drum-n-bass record that’s coming out next year to play some love ballads next to some Beatles or Stones. I’m a record collector. I love all styles of music. I’ve always wanted my fans to know that about me, so when I experiment on the dancefloor, they can connect, have a more background understanding as to who I am as a person, as an artist. They can get that from my Lazpod shows.

DJ Times: Lazpod is also very different from your many compilations, which are more userfriendly.

Lazarus: Live-streams and mixes you put up on your music channels are a little bit more throwaway, more specific to the current time that you’re in. I find compilations you commit to with a proper release to be very important. Someone might pull it out and say, “This album was the one that showed me you were this, that or the other.”

Those take a long time and the audiences for each one are not always the same.

DJ Times: You’ve said that the pandemic has made you re-evaluate the number of gigs you will accept moving forward, not necessarily packing your schedule with every offer that comes through.

Lazarus: A lot of times it’s the passion that overrules what your head is telling you to do, or your body. What tends to happen is, you get booked for a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. A couple of months before those shows, your agent pops up with, you can go to another city and do another show on the Wednesday.

Then Friday will pop up. Before you know it, you’re playing five, six shows a week. All of a sudden, I’m playing 20 shows that month.

It’s not necessarily what I set out to do in the beginning. Of course, I’m the boss of me and, if I don’t want to do that amount of work, I don’t have to. But, if I’m playing Monday and I’m not playing again until Wednesday, and I’m away from my family and from home life, I don’t want to come home and then go out again. I might as well work in the middle as opposed to sleeping in a hotel on my own.

DJ Times: What are the distinctions between your events: Day Zero, Get Lost and your Rebel Raves.

Lazarus: Rebel Rave was the first Crosstown Rebels series of parties with Crosstown artists.

We turned that into a TV show, which you can find on the Crosstown YouTube Channel. That was our way of opening up the label, showing people the personalities involved in it. Get Lost has been the longest-running party. That started as an afterhours in Miami at Winter Music Conference. It’s grown each year from the DJ insiders and the real partyheads.

I was touring around America, hanging out with the biggest partyheads in each town. They would, in turn, join us at Get Lost.

The family just expanded and ex-

panded. Now it’s an annual party for 5,000-6,000 people. It starts at 5 a.m. and goes to 5 a.m. the next day. It’s like a mini-festival. I always try to find a venue that hasn’t been used before, one that’s exclusive to us. We like to take our time to create the décor and the structures. I’ve taken Get Lost to Mexico City, New York, Los Angeles. That’s a trippy, late-night vibe, musically psychedelic, underground house and techno.

DJ Times: And Day Zero?

Lazarus: I started it in 2012 to coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar. Leading up to that day, a lot of people were talking about how the Mayans had declared it to be the end of the world. I decided it would be an opportunity for the opening of a new chapter, a new beginning. We were very fortunate to find this amazing location.

We’ve been running it there every year in January.

Last year, we launched Day Zero Masada, which is a historic mountain in the Dead Sea region of Israel – very historical, biblical. The idea of Day Zero is to connect the magic and mysticism of ancient civilizations, traditions and ideas with today’s music and the best party people.

DJ Times: What the concept behind going for 24 hours rather than over a few days?

Lazarus: I like to throw everything into a condensed time period. Day Zero is just short of 24 hours with 20 to 25 artists, Get Lost is specifically a 24-hour party with over 70 artists. I don’t like the idea of day one, day two, day three, people having to leave – my team needing to get some sleep, and then getting up and starting all over again. We do a hideous amount of work. We’re all absolutely exhausted at the end of it.

DJ Time: You have a proactive environmental component, not only to your events, but all activities related to the labels and yourself as an artist.

Lazarus: I’ve spent the past year developing this concept called Crosstown Consciousness. I’m working with Shishi Meriwani, the founder of the Gardens of Babylon events, designing a blueprint to show people what we do with our events and labels and to offer advice on how they can follow suit. We’ve joined forces with a company called Orca Sound, based in Ibiza. They’ve developed a machine that retrieves large amounts of plastic waste from the Ibiza landfills, and it turns it into hardwood building material. We’re working with them to build the stages and art installations at our events out of reused plastic that’s coming out of landfills. We have the “leave no trace” ideology we picked up from Burning Man. We recycle wherever possible. We always leave our event locations exactly how we found them, even better.

My vinyl is pressed by Deeper Grooves in Amsterdam, the greenest vinyl-pressing plant in the world, completely eco-friendly. Our website has been relaunched and maximized to use as little energy as possible. I’m working with a local travel agent on a new initiative specifically aimed at DJs and offsetting their carbon emissions.

DJ Times: There are a lot of DJs who express concern about their carbon footprint, but don’t actually do anything about it.

Lazarus: When I started Day Zero, it helped me get my ass into gear. I’m preaching spirituality at my events. This “mystical shaman” people perceive me to be, I should probably start doing something positive to warrant some of this terminology. It does take a while because you really need to take time out of your busy schedule to focus on these things. I’ve only recently made my (continued on page 40) EXPO WEEK ISSUE

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By Dan Quinn Like most mobile DJs, I started out as a hobbyist playing music for fun on the weekends. Even back in my college days performing live music at bars, I could once fit everything I needed for a gig into my Chevy Geo Prizm.

Then it was a Toyota Camry. Then a 4Runner. Then a Sequoia. Then... I was renting a lot of U-Hauls. Almost every weekend. It got old. And expensive — on not just my bank account, but on my time and my body.

Using a personal vehicle for your business is great in many ways. The cost is low. It’s easy to park and store, and it’s always with you. But how much time do you spend loading it up every Saturday morning? Or unloading it late Saturday night?

Or Sunday morning? Or finally leaving your house on Monday and realizing that it’s still full of speakers and lights?

Renting large vans or box trucks can expand your capacity, but how much time are you spending to go pick up your rental? And bumming a ride (or hailing an Uber) over there?

Then driving home, loading up, unloading after the gig, returning it at 3 a.m. …or just being too lazy to care about the late fees and taking it back the next day, missing precious Sunday couch time at home?

I’m sure other DJs can feel this pain.With most all of us suffering from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and the general desire to grow our service offerings and capabilities, we’re all likely carrying around more gear than when we started.

I considered various options for making some changes.

They all have their advantages and disadvantages: Trailers: Very low cost, very easy to load (low to the ground). But often broken into, and very difficult to maneuver and park in certain situations.

Box Trucks: Moderately low cost and often equipped with ramps for easy unloading, the most cargo space out there, but generally noisy, and won’t fit in many parking structures.

Cargo Vans: Relatively expensive and usually require some customization, but can ultimately be a very complete solution to make for a very comfortable, convenient, and effective gear transportation solution for mobile DJs.

MY EXPERIENCE BUILDING OUR A 2019 RAM PROMASTER I learned a lot in the process of shopping for and customizing my 2019 RAM ProMaster, and I’m happy to share my experience with other DJs here. Everyone has different needs and what works best for me may not be best for you, but these are all things to consider along the way:

What To Look For While Shopping There were a few factors that I considered when purchasing my vehicle: CARGO SPACE Not all cargo vans are created equal. Take inventory of everything that you plan to transport in your vehicle. Take measurements, factor in at least 10-percent wiggle room for easy access, and be very realistic about how easy this is going to be to work with. For example, I have a large mobile booth that stands 48-inches tall. The first van that I was considering had a rear cargo height of 53-inches, but with the load-in angle, it wasn’t nearly tall enough. The RAM ProMaster (Low Roof Edition) had an internal Cargo height of 65-inches – almost a foot-and-a-half of clearance for the largest part of my load.

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OVERALL VEHICLE DIMENSIONS So Dan, why didn’t you just buy the High Roof Edition?

Well, I considered it. It was going to make life very easy- until I couldn’t fit my van into my own garage, a parking garage, or – let’s be honest – a late-night drive thru! I chose a model that was tall enough to fit all my gear, yet low enough to fit into a standard 8-foot garage-door height.

LOAD HEIGHT If you are loading gear into the back of a vehicle, you’ll definitely want to consider the height of the cargo deck from the ground. And will you be needing a ramp to get your gear in? See below… because if so, you may need to do some highschool trigonometry!

So You Bought The Van! Now What?

You can just throw your gear in and head off to your first gig, right? Not so fast! Loading, securing, and protecting your gear is of utmost importance, and oh yeah, your personal safety is even more important! Here’s what you’re going to need before you roll out: 1 LOADING RAMP I spent a lot of time shopping for this one. Not only does my DJ booth weigh 300 to 400 pounds, but 88-pound subs and cases of uplights seem to feel a lot heavier after an 8- to 12hour event work day. I highly recommend securing a folding ramp (spring load optional) that bolts into the floor of your van, folds up, and straps in for easy travel. But remember that sketch I mentioned above? That’s right, be sure to account for your ramp as it will take up close to 2-feet of depth in your cargo space. And remember that math? Well, what angle are you comfortable with climbing at the end of the night?

Based on previous experience with my DJ booth in U-Haul trucks, I knew I needed something with an incline of no more than 12-degrees. So I went back to high-school trigonometry, figured a right triangle with my deck height and angles, and calculated the 119-inch tri-fold ramp that I ended up with. (I needed a tri-fold to fit into my Low Roof Edition).

2 PARTITION You’re going to need a partition that separates the cab from the cargo space. Based on my shopping experience, I’d highly recommend a partition made of composite material that allows for seat recline (consider this in your sketch, too). This serves three purposes.

Provides safety to you the driver from any gear flying forward while driving Provides another surface that equipment safety straps can be anchored to (see below) Provides a much quieter cab, so that you can enjoy conversations, music, podcasts, and phone calls while you drive 3 FLOORING Those heavy subs and lighting cases aren’t going to roll well on ribbed metal floors. They’re also going to make a ton of noise and you really don’t want to slip on that floor when it’s wet!

Check out floor materials that are made of non-slip composite materials. They’re sturdy enough to roll heavy objects on, reduce noise in your vehicle, and are safe to walk on in all conditions. And if they get dirty? Just hose them down.

4 SHELVING Unless every piece of gear you own is in a heavy-duty road case and will come out of the vehicle at every event, you’re

Van Go

Tricks & Tips to Customize Your Van into DJ Shape

going to want quick access to gear, and shelving is a great solution for that. While there are many pre-fab shelves on the market, you’ll probably find that most either don’t fit most DJ gear (such as speakers in totes) or can’t bear the load of have equipment. I opted to build my own shelves, which required learning how to use new tools such as Rivnuts that anchor into the pre-drilled anchor points that come standard in most cargo vans.

5 ANCHORING & SECURE SAFETY STRAPS I’ve mentioned safety, right? It’s time to strap in.You’ll want to secure all of your gear so that it stays in place when you take those turns. For this, I used a variety of methods: I mounted D-Rings into the shelves that hold my speakers and connected them with ratchet straps For shorter shelves with lighter loads (plastic cable boxes), I actually bought some automotive seat belts and fastened them in for quick access For heavy items such as my uplights cases, I actually used cobalt drill bits to drill through the floor of the van and anchor D-Rings that could be used with ratchet straps.

After a lot of studying options, learning about new tools, and shuffling things around, I have to say I’m very happy with how the van turned out. I never need to load gear for a gig anymore. Saturday mornings are spent hanging out with my family. And when I’m home? There’s no gear to unload and no truck to return.

The van life is the good life, and I hope that some of you can enjoy it, too.

The owner of DQB Entertainment in Dallas, Dan Quinn once pranked the kids in his DJ School by informing them that Marshmello and Imagine Dragons had been removed from the library. n

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THE FINISHERS DJ/Studio Duo Disco Fries Put Their Pandemic Downtime to Good Use with

By Jim Tremayne

Disco Fries: (from left) Nick Ditri & Danny Boselovic.

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a Clever New Service

Nick Ditri and Danny Boselovic, the DJ/production duo known as Disco Fries, didn’t spend their pandemic downtime merely flipping through Netflix options.

Instead, the platinum-selling, chart-topping talents got down to business, as they came up with an idea that they believe will benefit remixer/producers, record labels and the music industry at large.

Finish My Track, their new online music service, allows producers, promoters or label reps to do just that – finish their music with a resulting track that is market-ready for radio and/or club play. Users can visit FinishMyTrack.com and, for a fee, they can choose between four tiers that offer the following services: basic feedback and guidance; stereo mastering; stem mixing and mastering; and custom productions.

And it’s not like the guys don’t have the chops to deliver.

After meeting at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, Ditri and Boselovic gradually built their careers as in-demand remixer/producers and global DJs. For example, Disco Fries have served as official remixers for top acts like Selena Gomez, Flo Rida and Katy Perry, plus they’ve scored with hit productions like “Wasted” by Tiësto feat. Matthew Koma and “Concrete Heart,” a collab with VASSY. And now, Finish My Track is the next frontier.

DJ Times recently caught up with the pair of 34-yearold DJ/producers from their homes – Boselovic in Northern Virginia, Ditri in New Jersey.

DJ Times: Give me a quick synopsis on how you two began to work together?

Danny Boselovic: We both started at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2004 and, by chance, were put in the same dorm room. My biggest influence at the time was Radiohead and Nick’s was probably Dr. Dre, so we didn’t click musically for a few years. Junior year, we started flipping ’80s rock records – “Heat of the Moment,” “Take Me Home Tonight,” etc. – and turning them into dance bootlegs.

It really sparked something for us and we’ve been at it ever since.

DJ Times: What drew you to electronic music?

Nick Ditri: It was growing up listening to New York FM radio and hearing the “Saturday Night Dance Factory” sets on WKTU. I was too young to get into any of the New York clubs, but I definitely tuned in any time they were airing live late-night and picked up a ton of New York underground compilations when I was a kid. It introduced me to everything from Armand Van Helden and Todd Terry to Tiësto, and we draw a lot of inspiration from those artists to this day.

Boselovic: I’ve always been drawn to electronic/ synthesized elements in music and listened to bands like Radiohead, Air, and Sigur Rós in high school. I wasn’t introduced to the commercial/pop side of electronic music until college, but quickly became a fan once I found artists like Tiësto, David Guetta and Benny Benassi.

DJ Times: What caught your ear?

Boselovic: Tiësto’s album Just Be was the first dance album I got, and that probably played the biggest role in sending down the path I’m on today. Tracks like “Adagio for Strings” and “Traffic” are classics that EXPO WEEK ISSUE

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Studio Conference: Disco Fries with Tiësto. really got me excited about this kind of music. Later, David Guetta’s “Love Is Gone” and Benassi’s “Satisfaction” introduced me to electro sounds that would define a lot of our early music.

Ditri: Aside from dance music, I was heavy into hip hop growing up. It spoke to me in a different way than dance music and the eventual overlap of hip hop and dance music culture blew my mind when it happened. The GFunk that came out of the West Coast really made me want to deep-dive into synthesis and make melodic records that weren’t just sample-based, like a lot of the beats that came before it. The minor tonality of a lot of those records and a lot of the classically driven hip hop definitely inspired some of the chord changes you hear in our records today.

DJ Times: When the pandemic hit, what were you guys up to?

Ditri: Prior to COVID March madness, we were working on a number of reworks of classic records in our style. We saw them resonating really well when we were playing out and wanted to do more records in line with our take on Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair,” which came out on Spinnin’. Fortunately, because the process takes such a long time to clear records like that, we have a few in the bag that we’ll revisit when it’s time to fly again.

DJ Times: Did you have a busy DJ schedule?

Boselovic: We had just announced a string of dates, but one-by-one they all got postponed and then cancelled. One of our last gigs we got to do at the end of February was a support slot for Oliver Heldens in Atlanta, which was a really great one to go out on, even if we didn’t know it at the time.

Ditri: Late 2019 through 2020 was really set up to be something – we had kicked our touring back off the ground. We had joined up with a new agency last year and had a plan, but all of that got kicked to the curb for now. The best part of this entire thing has been being able to think of creative ways to 24

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navigate these times.

DJ Times: How did you spend the pandemic?

Boselovic: I’ve got a family, so I went full-time producer-dad mode. It’s been a really big adjustment and has definitely changed how and when I work. In some ways, though, when I’m restricted in how much time I get to be in the studio, I’m able to be more efficient with that time.

Ditri: The first few weeks almost felt like a vacation. Everyone I talked to in our business didn’t know what to do with their time and I was glued to the news for the first two weeks. But around that time, I just resigned myself to the idea that touring will “never” happen again and we discussed ways to pivot. It was around then that we came up with the premise for the new site, FinishMyTrack.com, and started our new, chill-side project, Overnight Oats.

DJ Times: Explain the idea behind Finish My Track.

Ditri: Finish My Track is aimed to help professional artists and songwriters elevate their songs so they are retail-ready. We felt like we were always getting involved in projects that were beyond the scope of just mixing and mastering.

Tracks that were amazing songs, but lacked the right drop sound, right drums, or the entire soundset just didn’t fit, but the song was melodically sound so we started being “finishers” on a bunch of records. Swapping out patches, stem mixing, and drum replacement were some of the things that we were doing regularly for artists and we thought that there should be an affordable way for every-day artists to be able to get this service and help their output.

DJ Times: What kinds of clients are you getting?

Ditri: This idea isn’t something new for us and it’s something we did even on Tiësto’s projects when we worked with him. We’re credited producers on a number of those songs, but the songs themselves were largely written. We were brought in to lend our polish to the tracks and I think that really is the impetus

“For Finish My Track, we’re usually focusing on taking people’s great ideas and bringing them to their full potential.”

– Danny Boselovic

of Finish My Track. Aside from Tiësto, we’ve done a slew of independent artists that have gone on to sign their records to Spinnin’, Armada, and Enhanced.

DJ Times: What’s the difference between this service and actual ghostproduction?

Boselovic: I think there’s a stigma around the term ghost production that the artist isn’t actually doing anything. For Finish My Track, we’re usually focusing on taking people’s great ideas and bringing them to their full potential.

If we’re brought a garbage track, there’s a good chance we’ll turn it down because we’re not really interested in polishing a turd to make a few bucks.

We’d rather find the potential in a track and work with the artist to develop it into something everyone can be proud of. Or if the track is already full of awesome ideas then we just take on the role of mixing/mastering engineers to make it sound professional.

DJ Times: What are the common “mistakes” that you hear in the tracks that you are getting?

Ditri: I’d say the biggest two things is producers thinking they need to use their entire bag of tricks on a track and jam in every sound and melody idea that they have in a song, and addressing the low end in a track properly. In both hip hop and dance music, the low end mix and groove are the driving force behind the records and if they don’t knock right, no matter how cool the song is, it’s not going to impact the listener. Once we have stems in hand, we usually go through and cherry pick everything we feel is worth keeping, and mute anything that is secondary. Once you do that and get the song down to its bones, it’s easier to tell what you need and don’t need to maintain the energy and integrity of the record. Sometimes the low end needs a complete overhaul and other times it’s as simple as swapping out the kick.The right kick is the cornerstone of the record!

DJ Times: What’s your DJ set-up these days?

Boselovic: We started in Serato Scratch Live way back in the beginning.

We stuck with that up until about two years ago, I’d say. Early on, we played so many open-format style rooms that we really found a lot of benefit to having the Serato interface. We had way more music loaded on the laptop than we’d ever need, but we could quickly pivot in any style and it lent itself to quick-mixing, which we did a lot of in those days. Now we’re on Pioneer DJ’s rekordbox and, in a lot of ways, it’s much easier. It takes the stress over set-up, watching over your laptop, and computer crashes out of the picture.

DJ Times: What are some of your go-to DJ tracks?

Ditri: For me, it’s always this mash-up we made many years ago using R3HAB & Deorro’s “Flashlight” and Ludacris’ “Move Bitch.” The blend of the high-energy drops and Ludacris’ iconic vocal always gets a reaction, without fail.

Boselovic: My go-to is an edit we did of three records from Galantis, Zedd, and Grey and our single “Family Affair,” which is a rework of the Mary J. Blige record from 2001.

DJ Times: In the studio, what’s your DAW? Boselovic: I’m in Ableton Live 10 these days. Nick and I both started in Logic and used that for the first 10 years or so, but I find the workflow in Ableton really lends itself to working quickly. I always hated working with audio – vs. MIDI – in Logic because it felt clunky and over-complicated. Ableton Live is the total opposite and the way you can quickly chop up audio was a real selling point for me.

Ditri: Danny is a shortcut, key-command master in any program he tackles, so for him it’s now Ableton for the speed and efficiency. I’m still in Logic and am comfortable in it since we’ve been on that program for well over 10 years now. If it ain’t broke….

DJ Times: What are a few of your favorite plug-ins?

Boselovic: This changes every few months for me, but recently my favorites are Valhalla Supermassive [reverb/delay] – which is free, by the way – and FabFilter Pro-Q 3 [EQ]. Other new ones like Soundtheory’s Gullfoss EQ and oeksound’s soothe2 [dynamic resonance suppressor] are super-useful as well, and are interesting signs of what to expect from plug-ins these next few years.

DJ Times: Any hardware?

Boselovic: I wish, but I’m 100-percent in the box.

Ditri: Aside from this 88-key Korg Triton that’s now just an overpriced MIDI controller… that’s really the only piece of hardware I use regularly – but it’s just to trigger anything in the box.

DJ Times: For young DJ/producers, what advice would you give them on getting started?

Boselovic: Put in as much time as you can making music. If you get stuck on an idea, hop on YouTube or Twitch to watch some producers that inspire you – Oliver, Au5, and Virtual Riot are all ones I check out regularly – then bring that inspiration back into your work. There’s no shortcut to sounding good and getting noticed, so the burden is always on the producer to put in the hours.

Ditri: Test, fail and repeat over and over until you find your path. That goes for your songwriting, anything creative and anything you try on the business side of marketing yourself. You’ll never know what is going to be the thing that grabs the attention of a potential fan or that someone will gravitate toward.

If you’re considering trying something, do it. The worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work and nobody sees or hears it, but in the off-chance it hits, it’s worth taking the shot.

DJ Times: How do you see the music scene/business bouncing back?

Ditri: The business is forever changed and, for better or worse, this accelerated and further exposed a lot of problems that already existed – and that’s not exclusive to the music industry. Artists were always underpaid… try being underpaid and in a pandemic where there’s no touring to make up for those lost royalties. I think you’ll see a lot more transparency from labels as they are being held accountable now more than ever. I don’t foresee massive changes coming to touring in the near future, but I think as we get deeper in 2021, that should come back… I’m hoping. With that, artists have a ton of time and angst right now and I believe the music that will come out from now to 2021 is going to be some of the best we’ve ever heard.

DJ Times: What’s next for Disco Fries?

Ditri: We’re really ramping up our Liftoff imprint this year into next and look forward to showcasing a ton of new artists. Helping artists see their vision from the ground up to a full release is one of our favorite things to do, so we’re looking to get behind a tremendous amount of music in the next year n aside from our own.

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MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…

ATOM SQ: INNOVATIVE CONTROLLER

By Wesley Bryant-King

PreSonus is one of those companies that, quite frankly, seems to have its fingers in a little bit of everything musical.

The Baton Rouge, La.-based company knocks out some pretty impressive live-sound products, including console and rack mixers, and loudspeakers for both installed and mobile applications. The company is right at home in the studio, too, with some terrific studio monitors (one of which, the Eris E8 XT I reviewed earlier this year), control surfaces (I’ve reviewed their FaderPort in the past), audio interfaces (check my ioStation 24c review previously), and various other gear (one of their Studio Channel strips has been in my studio for years).

And as if all of that’s not enough, the company makes software — including its own DAW, Studio One. To be candid, I’m not sure how they keep track of it all.

But speaking of control surfaces, while it seems like everyone and their cousin is making some sort of DAW controller these days, PreSonus has made an impression with its FaderPort series — all of which work with a range of DAWs, and provide motorized faders that deliver a closer integration with more usability than controllers with non-motorized faders that can be out-ofsync with the reality of the DAW’s configuration.

I hadn’t had a chance to put my fingers on PreSonus’ latest controller series, however — at least not until now, with a handson look at the ATOM SQ, a performance and production controller specifically designed for beats-based music like EDM and hip-hop. So how is it?

First Impressions The ATOM SQ is a compact unit, measuring just an inch tall, about 7-inches deep, and a bit over 14-inches wide. Those dimensions make the controller supremely portable, and the fact that its bright LED illuminated buttons and small color LCD display are all bus-powered, it means that no bulky power brick is needed whether in the studio or on the go (and it’s certainly small enough to tuck in a backpack) On the back panel, there’s just two items of interest – a USB-C connector, and a Kensington lock port. On the business side — the top — the view is dominated by eight large knobs that seem designed with ergonomics and accuracy in mind (they feel incredibly good in the fingers), along with a massive array of rubberized, backlit pads that will be familiar to nearly everyone

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ATOM SQ: Perfect for beats-based music.

at this point, as they’re the same style used on countless DJ controllers, as well as control surfaces from pretty much every manufacturer.

If you’ve been around the block awhile, you’ll pretty much immediately see the primary buttons of the ATOM SQ for what they are: an input device for melodic material, as well as TR-style beat sequencing. Indeed, the unit supports both types of use cases.

Beyond that, the ATOM SQ provides DAW navigation and transport controls that let you do more with less — as in, less mousing around.

Hands-On PreSonus has somewhat conspicuously been working with some folks over in Germany lately, namely Ableton — makers of Ableton Live, the DAW software I primarily use. Indeed, the company bundles the Lite version of the software both with the ATOM SQ, and the ioStation 24c that I reviewed earlier this year. But beyond the software bundle, the ATOM SQ works automatically and straight out of the box with Ableton Live; the software auto-configures when you plug in the ATOM SQ, and it’s ready to go with full integration and no set-up, configuration or tinkering. (Ableton Live 10.1.15 or higher is required, however.)

But, the ATOM SQ also works nicely with PreSonus’ own Studio One DAW. It is with Studio One that you can use the ATOM SQ for step-sequencer programming, as well as navigation, transport control, and automatic switching of keyboard and drum modes depending on the selected instrument in the software.

The unit isn’t limited to these two DAWs, however; with support for Mackie Control (MCU) and Human User Interface (HUI) protocols, it can be used with any DAW that supports one or the other. The integration is not as tight, of course, and additional set up may be required to get the unit to do what you want when not using Live or Studio One. As an Ableton Live user, that was my platform of choice for testing the ATOM SQ. It’s important to note that the behavior is a bit different with Studio One (I already mentioned the step-sequencing capabilities there). But using the unit with Live left me pretty impressed.

One of my complaints with pad controllers is that sensitivity can be a little strange; because there’s almost no physical key travel, getting the touch and responsiveness right can be really difficult. But the ATOM SQ seems to provide a touch and feel that’s about as good as it gets when I tried using it for melodic material. It also operates in a key-constraint mode, so you literally can’t play a wrong note.

But playing melodies isn’t the ATOM SQ’s only use case; it’s also about simply making it easier to control Live and do your studio (or performance) work. With Live, the ATOM SQ has two primary modes of operation: Song mode, and Instrument mode.

(There’s also Editor mode for controlling a device, and User mode which can be customized with Live’s MIDI mapping.) The mode is selected with dedicated buttons on the right side of the ATOM SQ. In the primary modes (Song and Instrument), certain collections of buttons and other controls work differently, requiring some getting used to. PreSonus’ excellent documentation provides the full details.

As the names suggest, Song mode controls various aspects of the Live project as a whole, while Instrument mode is primarily for controlling the currently selected track. Rather like the pad buttons on a typical DJ controller, the ATOM SQ’s “A through H buttons” are somewhat generic; I especially like them in Song mode where they allow you to toggle and tailor Live’s views.

The coolest part of the ATOM SQ — the backlit color LCD screen, surrounded by buttons — also context-switches. In the four operating modes, the display clearly shows the function of the six buttons that are above and below the display. The display itself also shows contextual information in its center area. For example, as you navigate tracks in a project, the track name is shown on the display, so you know what your actions are going to act against.

In Live, the ATOM SQ’s chunks knobs allow you to adjust levels of volume, pan, and six sends, while the touch strip can be used for expressive controls in Instrument mode, or as a crossfader in Song mode.

Conclusions The PreSonus ATOM SQ is an innovative, easy-to-setup and easy-to-use DAW controller that has all the basics covered in a compact, affordable package. With a street price of just under $250, it adds a lot of value and utility to your DAW — especially if you use Studio One or Ableton Live (entry-level versions of each are included in the package) — but can also be configured for use with most other DAWs as well. If you’re in the market for a DAW controller, the ATOM SQ is definitely worth consideration.

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SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

EVOLVE 30M: ELECTRO-VOICE’S MOBILE PA

By DJ Deets

If you’re in search of a clean-looking, fullsounding, and truly portable sound system for your next event, then the right product for you might be Electro-Voice’s EVOLVE 30M powered column system.

This is the smaller and lighter version of E-V’s EVOLVE 50 system, but it still packs the power needed to fill a room and it’s impressive enough that your event’s guests certainly will take notice.

While the 50 boasted eight 3.5-inch neodymium drivers, a 12-inch subwoofer and 1,000 watts, the 30M is still rated at 1,000 watts, and has six 2.8-inch neodymium drivers and a 10-inch subwoofer in comparison. The size difference in the subwoofer and the drivers is the reason for the sound pressure levels and bass extension being different between the two products, but I’m almost certain you wouldn’t really notice a

dramatic difference through the sound quality of the two E-V products.

I put the EVOLVE 30M through the paces by testing its lows, mids, and highs with songs of my own, just so I’m familiar with the material – I should know how the sounds need to be replicated through the speakers. I also tested it with different genres of music and songs by familiar artists – again, so I know what to expect.

What I learned by doing all of this is that the EVOLVE 30M really pushes its low end through the subwoofer and punches by going all the way down to 45 Hz, which really projects that sound to the point of enveloping the room it’s in. It’s a very full and strong sound that vibrates, depending on the surface that the system is sitting on, but it is quite impressive for the size and weight of the product.

The highs are very clean and clear, and the mids sound good and aren’t too muddy. Another way that I tested it was by connecting a guitar, bass, and two dynamic vocal microphones to see how well the pre-amps would pick these up and how it would sound through the speakers with all four sources going at once. I ended up being quite happy with how full the sound was and how easy everything was to set up.

The crispness and the detail of the instruments/

EVOLVE 30M: Powerful & ultra-portable.

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vocals were very clear and full in a way that I did not expect from the size of the sub and arrays – but I was quite pleasantly surprised by how it sounds in a live setting.

So, looking outside of specs, there is one feature that the 30M has that the 50 did not, and that is a fully customizable and integrated mixer built into the back of the subwoofer with multiple inputs in different sizes. To be more specific, there are four XLR/TRS combo mic/ line inputs, one XLR/TRS combo line stereo input, a Hi-Z instrument input, one RCA input, and one auxiliary 3.5mm stereo input. With all of this, you have a lot of versatility, so you can use it for whatever situation you may find yourself in need of, and you would be very pleased with the end product once everything is all connected.

Now, for a long time, Electro-Voice has included a processing app its calls QuickSmart DSP, which is a single-knob, user interface with an LCD screen on the back of its speakers with very comprehensive options to tailor the sounds coming out to what you need them to be in that moment – and this 30M system is no stranger to that feature, as well. E-V didn’t just stop there, though; the company decided to add on an app that you can download through the Google Play store or Apple App store, and the app lets you control the mixer on a phone or a tablet from pretty far away, if needed.

The app includes four overall presets that

can handle a lot different situations, but it also includes a 3-band system EQ and 7-band main GEQ in the mixer, an onboard compressor, dual FX sends, and independent channel gain controls and input presets, all alongside 30 professional onboard effects that can be assigned to these channels and more.

E-V even decided to add a Bluetooth functionality, so you can stream from any Bluetooth device and get crisp, clean audio pushing through the speakers.

I am a big fan of that function because it makes connecting to the 30M such a breeze and, in comparison to hooking up an audio source traditionally, I did not notice any change in the quality of the audio being replicated through the speakers. I also really enjoy the different range of hookups on the back, so when you’re going through a bag of cables to connect something, you do not have to look too far because of all of the available connections on the back.

One worry in carrying around large speakers for an event is always how much they weigh. But this mini-beast only weighs 44 pounds and includes a backpack for the column-array speakers and a rolling case – you can buy this separately – that houses the subwoofer safely and makes transportation of this to your next event just so easy. It’s quite impressive how easily it moves on the wheels and how compact it becomes at that point.

That makes it much easier for storage of the entire system – you do not need to have it out because you can just grab it by the handle, put it where it needs to be, and push the handle right back down. It’s an all-in-one solution for a long-time problem that most DJs have faced with lugging around equipment for years.

Now, when I see most people setting up at an event using the aforementioned EVOLVE 50, the always set them up in pairs. In relation to the 30M, I think just one of these systems is quite loud and can suffice for some situations; but for a larger venue, I would recommend running these in a pair or daisy chaining them with a pair of speakers like I did – I used the E-V ZLX12Ps. That way you can get a full and balanced sound all the way across the room and the sub bass will be ever present.

So, overall, the Electro-Voice EVOLVE 30M is a portable, professional, and powerful all-in-one array speaker and subwoofer combo that really stands out in comparison to other similar products in the market. It brings the Electro-Voice quality, the robust build quality, and the top-notch sound to you in a rolling package. It offers great versatility for mobile events and would be, for example, perfect for both a wedding ceremony and the reception party.

Coming in at $1,299, it is a good price for the amount of features and the quality of sound and build quality you are getting for it.

If you are in need of an easy-to-use, super-portable sound system for your events, then the 30M is the one for you.

Versatile: A multi-app, 1,000-watt system

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MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

RECOVERING DJ SETS SIGHTS ON ‘21

By Tom Osborne

out of Milwaukee. He is the DJ for the Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers.

Since things were slow for him, too – because of COVID – I was lucky enough to book him to doubleteam with me on all my remaining weddings. His unbelievable mixing skills have filled the void of the interactive stuff removed from my productions. I do believe our productions are at a whole new level.

He mixes and I’m the front man with the microphone.

Madison, Wis. – Scott Siewert of Full Tilt DJ & Photo has been spinning in Wisconsin’s capital city since the beginning of the Reagan Administration and making a living on the wedding circuit. But like many other jocks, this year really tested him – gigs were down and he caught COVID-19. He’s a DJ with some perspective, so we asked him for some during these challenging times.

You’ve been in the business for 39 years. What are the keys to staying in the game that long?

Always exceed expectations of the client. Always put 150-percent of your heart and soul into, not only the production part of your performance, but also the other things that the client doesn’t see.

Network, network and more networking. Be nice to people. Make sure they know you care. Lastly, surround yourself by great people that are supportive.

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On Wisconsin: Full Tilt DJ Scott Siewert.

time. Our peak year, we had 660 performances. Then Mark Ferrell [of MarBecca Workshops] touched my world and I started downsizing after doubling my rates overnight.

When you started your business, did you think of it as a long-term play?

In 1981, I never dreamed that I would be entertaining 25 th anniversaries of my original bride and grooms. I also never dreamed that I would be spinning so many of their kids’ weddings. It was just a way to have fun and meet people. I took a business approach in 1988 when I quit my full-time day job to jump into entertaining full-time.

I took out the biggest advertisement in the Yellow Pages – way before the internet – and things exploded. I had no choice but to become serious at that point.

How’d that work out?

Pretty well, so the next year, I doubled my rates again. I didn’t want to be the biggest DJ company – I wanted to be the best! Every year since, I have downsized.

Now I only have a few people that do performances under my label, but the performances are all over the U.S. now. I’ve also been fortunate to play some international dates in Mexico, Canada, Turkey and Poland.

Have you always been single-op?

I started out as a single-op in 1981.

Around 1986, I started hiring DJs from the local clubs to work for me. I had the best of the best.

From about 1986 to 1989, I had three people doing performances for me, mostly weddings. In 1989, with the Yellow Pages advertisement, things exploded. I was one of just a handful of DJs in the Madison, Wisconsin market. I built Full Tilt DJ up to 20 employees and many Saturday nights we had 12 to 14 productions out at the same

This year, 2020, has been a struggle for everybody. How have you been dealing with it?

Like so many others in the industry, I only had a quarter of the performances this year as last. It’s been brutal. To make it even worse, I caught COVID-19 at a wedding in September. For 10 days, I was wiped out beyond belief. After this experience, I scaled back even more on some of my interactive activities and replaced some of the interactive with one of the best mixers in the country. His name is Rick Jules

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What’s your mobile set-up?

Believe it or not, I’m 70-percent MiniDisc and 30-percent SD card.

Why? My performances are usually programmed going in – I have 5,000 songs and they’re the right 5,000. MiniDiscs are played thru two Sony MDS-101 units. I also have an American Audio SDJ1 dual SD-card player and the matching mixer – an American Audio Q-SD mixer that has an SD input.

Audio and lighting?

I’ve been using the Electro-Voice E VO LV E 5 0 p o r t a b l e c o l u m n speaker system for the past 18 months. I also have many Mackie SRM-450 active speakers. For microphone, I use a Shure ULXS wireless system with a BETA 58A mic. Among my lighting pieces, I use a Chauvet DJ GigBAR and a Colorado Sound N’ Light GigBox. What do you anticipate for 2021?

It has been a yo-yo ride with our current governor’s restrictions.

Some counties are open and others are not. I don’t think anyone really knows what to expect for next year. Some brides are hesitant on booking because they don’t know if things will be shut down. Many brides also are worried about their guests being exposed to COVID as well. These factors will not get better until a vaccine is out. I try to be an optimist, but I am much more realist and survivalist! The survivor skills have to kick in now… maybe a job welding for my first time since 1989. The one blessing is my overhead is super-low!

MAINSTAGE

CONTINUING TO SET THE STANDARD FOR DJ TURNTABLES Building off of the legacy of the Technics SL-1200 from the 1970’s, the Technics SL-1200MK7 is made for the new DJ generation. The new model inherits the traditional design of the previous series and maintains the same operating ease, reliability and durability, while adding a coreless direct drive motor and other sound-enhancing technologies. www.technics.com

IRX SERIES POWERED LOUDSPEAKERS WITH BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth available in black, white, and red, or wired in dark silver, there’s a pair to match your style. Accessory packs include ear pads and a detachable cable in either orange, yellow, green, blue or pink.

The JBL IRX Series portable powered PA loudspeakers deliver class-leading output and clarity, total ease of use and an unrivaled feature set at our most affordable price point. Sound amazing with a custom, pro-grade system engineered to outperform larger competing systems.

www.pioneerdj.com/en-us/landing/hdj-cue1-headphones/dark-silver/

www.jblpro.com/en/product_families/irx-series

MY STYLE, MY CUE: INTRODUCING THE HDJ-CUE1 HEADPHONES STYLED DJ HEADPHONES WITH DNA FROM PIONEER DJ’S PRO LINE THAT LET YOU ADD AN EXTRA PERSONALIZED TOUCH The HDJ-CUE1 wired and Bluetooth headphones are optimal for beginner DJs and music enthusiasts. Each model features a professional look and feel, rich sound, and foldable design for a modest price.

BUSINESS LINE

SALES… MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

WHAT WILL 2021 LOOK LIKE? MOBILE DJS WEIGH IN…

By Jeff Stiles Just about every DJ has written off 2020 as an all-time low — both for business and morale. But optimism is not lost.

Just as news broke that a possible vaccine for COVID-19 was on the horizon, we polled DJs from around the country and asked what their expectations are for 2021. As you might imagine, the responses were quite varied.

Rick Jess, Majesstic Entertainment, Winchendon, Mass.

I’m hopeful! If things get back to normal it will be the craziest year to date!

John Wittemore, Event Team Entertainment, Portland, Ore. I am cautiously optimistic. My “season,” as currently booked, begins April 17 and is booked nearly every weekend through October 2021.

Time will tell.

Robert Bailey, Chester, W.V. We’re just launching our company and are cautiously optimistic for 2021. But mostly, we’re looking to 2022.

Jason Nuce, Last Resort Productions, Breckenridge, Col. I have no expectations and that way I can’t be disappointed.

DJ Jesse D, Don’t Forget to Dance, Boise, Idaho I’m booking events, especially weddings. And my weekends for next year are filling up as they do most years around this time. Only time will tell, but it’s looking good here so far.

Aaron Korman, High Life Event Group, Toronto, Ont., Canada Although many of my clients for this year have tentatively rescheduled for the coming year, I’m hesitant to believe we’ll be back to normal. I see events happening with safety measures still in play, but can’t anticipate what those measures will be exactly. I foresee a positive bounce back in 2022.

Christopher Holloway, Megabeat Entertainment, Columbus, Ohio With current bookings and the re-bookings from this year, we’re already at 77 weddings. A lot of Friday and Sunday weddings next year, estimating around 200. Should be a good year—our fingers are crossed.

Rick Atson, Parties On Point Entertainment, Brooklyn, N.Y. I’m anticipating a bunch of events contacting us, but people trying to chew us down on the price. One, because we’re in New York City and there’s so much competition, as always. And two, especially because people believe the business has been so dead. They believe that all entertainment companies will be desperate.

Juan Jose Saucedo, TAZ Deejay, Knoxville, Tenn.

My agenda is looking good already for 2021, but so did last year and everything went downhill. But I’m thinking 2021 is going to be a really busy-busy.

Steve Smelser, Event Entertainment, Baltimore, Md. I re-scheduled the ones I lost for next year, so… barring the end of the world, it should be an improvement.

Ryan Gerrish, Signature Event Group, Kansas City, Mo. I’m already almost fully booked up for next year, plus I have remaining weddings for the year this year. I went from 41 weddings to 22 this year. Not too bad. Missouri has been pretty relaxed about everything. I’m a solo operator, so I’m grateful for every one I get.

Cory Nickerson, London, Ont., Canada I’ve been nearly as busy as usual, but and people are adapting. Businesses are closed currently until this COVID pandemic is under control; we just had more outbreaks here.

Fred Tian, MixPro Events, Atlanta, Ga. All the bigger events that were supposed to be this year all got moved to next year, so there will be more bigger-scale production-style events next year than this year.

Billy Bara, Pittsburgh, Pa. A ton of re-scheduling of dates and cancellations – probably worse than 2020.

Michael Stretch, DJ Stretch, Calgary, Alb., Canada I’m pulling the plug and selling off my gear.

Keith Smith, Keith Smith Productions, Knoxville, Tenn.

Only lost two events due to COVID. Everything else was re-scheduled and have been slammed every weekend since May and going all the way through mid-December. The year 2021 is booking at an unreal pace, and will actually need to hire a DJ or two.

Maulin Parikh, Creative Sounds Entertainment, Elmhurst, Ill. We have almost 90-percent rate of postponed events. Three-percent have been cancelled and 7-percent have moved forward. While we’re booking at record rates for 2021, the reality may be altered on the basis of this “second wave.” Realistically, we’re not going to be back to normal until 2022 earliest, and that’s factoring in a mass-vaccination schedule.

Rick Vanderwal, Trans Audio, Crown Point, Ind. If things stay the course, as they’ve been in my corner of the world – northwest Indiana – then I’m hoping to have as good and as busy of a year as this one has been. It was slow at first during the summer, but picked up as things opened up more. I DJ on my own and help out another DJ business close by. It’s pretty busy this fall so far, and I’m very thankful.

Rolando Fentanes, Trompo Lights, Glendale, Ariz.

There’s lot underground events going on right now. I feel like being a DJ has become illegal like alcohol did in the 1920s.

Kurtus Nichols, K-Sound Entertainment, Malta, Ohio Starting at end of March and through April and May, we’ve had no bookings for the rest of 2021. Since June, we’re ahead of last year’s booking at this point – we’ve received 21 for the year 2021.

If you have any questions for Business Line, please send them to djtimes@testa.com.

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MAINSTAGE HERCULES DG400BB LAPTOP STAND The Laptop is the hub of the modern DJ rig.

You’ve spent considerable time and money finding the right one for you, so now the question is: What do you put it on?

The Hercules DG400BB laptop stand is a heavy duty steel stand that goes beyond the usual “U” shaped stand and can hold up to 22 pounds. The DG400BB provides a level of safety, stability and adjustability far beyond most others. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwRtpVLThAY

SIR IVAN'S AWARD-WINNING MUSIC VIDEO - OUT NOW!

PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE IN A SMALL PACKAGE The JBL EON ONE Compact packs a professional-grade speaker, a full-featured 4-channel mixer and Bluetooth control into our most compact battery-powered PA, weighing in at just 17.6 pounds.

Sound your best with premium effects and presets that you can customize using the JBL EON ONE Compact Control app. www.jbl.com/portable-pa-systems/JBL+EON+ONE+Compact.html

Sir Ivan's "Get Together" finds new life in video form and the message could not be more relevant, given current times. His award-winning depiction, which groups together the most renowned peace leaders in history, is one of Sir Ivan's best works yet. Watch and share with everyone you know! https://gettogether.sirivan.com

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

SO FRESH, SO CLEAN American Music & Sound 925 Broadbeck Dr. #220 Newbury Park, CA 91320 (800) 431-2609 www.AmericanMusicAndSound.com Reloop’s Tone Arm and Cartridge Contact Cleaning Set is a two-component system for removing dust and grease deposits from tone arm and cartridge contacts, including in hard-toreach contact surfaces. The microfiber cleaning pad and cleaning fluid can be used for wet cleaning, while a special anti-static microfiber cleaning brush has been developed for dry cleaning. The set comes with a plastic case and transport tubes for storing the cleaning accessories.

FLY THE FLAGSHIP Pioneer DJ Americas 2050 W. 190th Street Suite 109 Torrance, CA 90504 (424) 488-0480 www.pioneerdj.com Pioneer DJ has released the CDJ-3000, the company’s new flagship multi-player. A new, advanced MPU drives the unit, delivering stable performance and enabling advanced new features. New features include: Touch Preview; Touch Cue; Stacked Waveform; Support for 3Band Waveform; and Key Sync and Key Shift.

Other new features include: Pro DJ Link with Gigabit Ethernet, which allows DJ to share and play audio files from USB devices and SD cards on up to six CDJ-3000 units; Better Screen Visibility, which means it’s 150-percent brighter than the CDJ-2000NXS2; and Tougher Components, which include a high-quality aluminum top plate – plus the redesigned play, cue and Hot Cue buttons are stronger than before, and the lockable V-Lock power cable*1 guards against accidental disconnections.

LIGHT UP MY LIFE

ARRAY OF LIGHT

Eliminator Lighting 6122 S. Eastern Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 213-4592 www.eliminatorlighting.com

Peavey Electronics Corporation 5022 Hartley Peavey Drive Meridian, MS 39305 (601) 483-5365 www.peavey.com

The Furious Five RG from Eliminator Lighting combines five lighting effects—including laser beams, white strobe, multi-colored moonflower effects, wide UV and colored washes—into one fixture. The unit sports a central laser aperture that is surrounded by 81 white SMD 5730 LEDs, which are arranged in six concentric circles and can be controlled independently. There are six 3-watt 4-in-1 (red, green, blue, white) LEDs divided between the two sides of the central strobe, as well as two laser diodes (70mW green and 100mW red) that project diffracted beams through the aperture. In addition, there are two moonflower lenses, each of which utilize eight red, six green, six blue and six white 5mm LEDs. 34

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Peavey has introduced the LN1263 Column Array, a lightweight, portable unit that contains 12 2.75-inch custom drivers for the mid-high column and a custom 12-inch driver for the subwoofer, which is built from multi-ply birch. The satellite speakers feature rugged aluminum housing, a speaker stand and a twist-lock speaker cable connection. The LN1263 Column Array offers 1,200 watts of potential maximum power and features an onboard mixer with four combo inputs. Additional features include seven onboard EQ presets and eight onboard effects.

AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

GEAR

THE FOGGIEST NOTION Antari Lighting and Effects USA 1247 Enterprise Ct. Corona CA 92882 (951) 373-7600 www.antari.com The AG-20 is part of the Air Guard collection of antibacterial fogging machines from Antari Lighting and Effects, which was recently awarded FDA registration. The AG-20 comes equipped with a rechargeable battery in order to allow users to sanitize small to medium spaces when a traditional power source is not available.

The Air Guard system vaporizes an area with a sanitizing vapor that “penetrates hard to reach areas, leaving a thin, non-residue, coating on surfaces for continuous protection that lasts up to two weeks,” according to the company.

MICROFREAK OUT Arturia www.arturia.com MicroFreak Vocoder Edition from Arturia has been given a makeover that includes a new white design with a unique Swan graphic. The unit sports a 16-band Vocoder engine with 16 new presets that, according to the company, “accurately detect, filter and replicate the complex harmonics of the human voice.” There is also a headphone socket that can be used to connect an external sound source like a drum machine or synth. as well as the adjustable and removable gooseneck microphone.

SO SAY AI algoriddim GmbH Königinstr. 33 80539 Munich, Germany www.algoriddim.com

ITCHY & SKRACHY Skrachy www.skrachy.com Skrachy is a new iOS- and Android-based app platform designed for DJs. Members who sign up for Skratchy get a virtual storefront, as well as a gig-scheduler complete with built-in calendar and payment processing, a virtual console for livestreaming, and royalty protection for their event mixes. Accessible through the Skrachy app and web portal, DJs are given a virtual console to deliver live-streamed events, as well as the ability to upload their live-streamed event mixes for fans to access.

Neural Mix Pro is algoriddim’s new AI-based music player and editor for Mac. Users are able to extract instrumentals and vocals from songs saved to their device and use them with third-party music production software and digital audio workstations. The program comes with a loop editor and a built-in music browser with a multi-track export function.

There is also an AI music player that allows users to change the key and tempo of songs, as well as isolate and mute individual instruments.

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GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

THROW SOME SHADE UVI 159 Rue Amelot 75011 Paris, France 339 985 905 www.uvi.net

I REST MY CASE Pioneer DJ Americas 2050 W. 190th Street Suite 109 Torrance, CA 90504 (424) 488-0480 www.pioneerdj.com The HDJ-HC02 DJ headphone case from Pioneer sports EVA foam with impact resistance that not only runs along the outside of the case but also makes up a central pillar for extra support. It features a strap with a buckle that can be used either as a carry handle or as a means to attach the case to a piece of luggage. The exterior of the case is coated in a synthetic leather that the company says won’t slip out of a user’s hands, and the slim profile with rounded corners is designed for optimal comfort while holding.

UVI has released Shade, a Swiss Army Knife filtering tool, designed to shatter the boundaries of conventional EQ, filtering and modulation effects. More than a filter, Shade is a creative environment, combining a selection of 35 filter shapes with nine types of modulators. Drag-and-drop modulation onto any parameter in a fully configurable semi-modular system, complete with one-to-many and many-to-one routing, cross-modulation, envelope followers with sidechain and filter inputs, featured MSEGs, triggerable envelopes that can sync to host, audio, or MIDI, comprehensive multi-channel support and more.

FORMER FRUITYLOOPS Image-Line Software Franklin Rooseveltlaan 348 D B-9000 Gent Belgium +32 9 281 15 33 www.image-line.com FL Studio 20.7 has undergone its second maintenance update, adding a variety of workflow improvements. These include improved MIDI controller support, with a MIDI Scripting forum with new controllers being supported every day, and the ability to get FL Studio Control hints when the mouse hovers over the controls. Users are able to import MIDI files using a drag-and-drop function, as well as lock Channel Groups and preserve clip trip edits, among other features.

SET A HIGH 4BAR Chauvet DJ 5200 NW 108th Ave. Sunrise, FL 33351 (800) 762-1084 www.chauvetlighting.com Chauvet DJ’s 4Bar USB is a complete wash lighting solution designed for mobile entertainers. The unit sports four individually adjustable heads that achieve total room or stage coverage. A variety of built-in, automated and sound-activated programs help create synchronized light shows. The 4Bar USB is compatible with wireless master/ slave or DMX control, or the optional IRC-6 remote can be used to control static colors and automated programs. A tripod is also included.

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AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

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TWIST OF FADER Rane/inMusic Brands 200 Scenic View Drive Cumberland, RI 02864 (401) 658-3131 www.rane.com The latest fader from Rane, the Mag Four, is compatible with Rane Seventy-Two (with Firmware 1.5.3), Seventy-Two MKII and Seventy mixers. The company describes the Mag Four as its “fastest, lightest” fader, utilizing magnetic position sensing technology and an additional HAL sensor for increased response and sensitivity. It sports the company’s exclusive customsculpted fader caps, as well as adjustable tension and an ultra-wide TANG for additional leverage. DeoxIT fader lube is also included.

STREAMIN’ MIDI MADNESS Roland Corporation 5100 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 890-3700 www.roland.com Roland has released the WM-1 Wireless MIDI Adaptor and the WM-1D Wireless MIDI Dongle, a pair of products that bring the convenience of wireless to modern music creators. Both units provide MIDI communication between multiple devices, including keyboards, drum machines and other MIDI hardware, Mac and Windows computers, and iOS mobile devices. In addition to MIDI note data, users can send MIDI sync for tempo, effects, LFOs, loops, and more—all without connecting a single cable. The WM-1 connects to MIDI hardware devices with standard 5-pin MIDI I/O, while the WM-1D connects to computers and iOS devices via USB.

iCON Pro Audio/Mixware 9790 Glenoaks Blvd, Ste 7 Sun Valley, CA 91352 (818) 578-4030 www.iconproaudio.com LivePod Plus is the latest from iCON Pro Audio. Distributed Stateside by Mixware, LivePod Plus offers a smartphone-sized micro-studio for live streaming and recording. The LivePod Plus Live Streaming Audio Processing Interface brings real-time vocal processing and sound effects at the touch of a button to a hand-held, portable device.

Features include a custom DSP with four 24-bit DSP cores and a 16-bit CPU unleashing advanced digital voice parallel operational processing. With color-coded, backlit buttons, users have instant access to eight DSPderived presets perfectly suitable for singing and speaking in a variety of styles with echo adjustment available on select presets.

VISION QUEST ADJ Products 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 582-2650 www.adj.com ADJ has introduced the Vision Series, the company’s next generation of LED video panels. The new range offers a versatile modular system packed with advanced level features. These include front serviceability, magnetaided rigging, and fold-out corner protectors. The new “VS” Vision Series of LED video panels offers a versatile modular solution that has been developed to make life easier for video professionals installing LED walls on either a temporary or permanent basis. Each panel in the range features four individual modules, which are front serviceable, making it ideal for temporary hanging as well as permanent installation. Across the range, the modules are all mounted to the same frame, allowing panels of different resolutions to be used together and meaning that the same rigging bar and other accessories can be used for all VS models.

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TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

“SPIRAL” EP u Sleepy & Boo u Transmit Two tough techno cuts here. The title track kicks a powerful, driving groove that’s peppered with tasty percussive elements – a rollicking ride. Meanwhile, the nervy “Helix” offers a steady, pulsing groove and trippy synth line that’s perfect for 3 a.m.

– Jim Tremayne “MISSING” u The Vision u Defected After its two first two releases, “Missing” is yet more evidence that The Vision is the real deal. A superb song featuring Andreya Triana and Ben Westbeech out front, this one chugs along with a bumpin’ rhythm, a singalong chorus and offers a couple of sharp remixes from Maurice Fulton and Deetron to complete the package. Also look out for their album dropping later this year.

– Curtis Zack “RHOMBUS” u Antenna! u Soulfuric Originally appearing on the terrific “Algoritmo” EP, “Rhombus” delivers a solid, groove to go with snazzy synth splashes. On Jazz-N-Groove’s remix, it gets deeper and funkier for your dancefloor pleasure.

– Tommy D Funk “BE STRONG”

With the soulful Weeks out front, this is a powerful new track that kicks a funky, deep bassline with solid hi-hats – underground vocal house at its best!

– Tommy D Funk “BURNING (TERRACE DUB/VISUALIZER)” FEAT. EVAN GIIA

u Gorgon City u Virgin/EMI This track starts with a breathy vocal, then inches into a gorgeous, progressive-house goldmine. A dancefloor killer, this one meshes dreamy vocals with hard-hitting rhythms. Don’t miss.

The tune’s beautiful, deep-house intro certainly doesn’t suffer from lack of sexiness. Before long, it develops with more percussion, atmospheric synths and a robust groove, which cleverly slips into a progressive break. Terrific.

Crystal Waters

“GRATEFUL” EP

u Noël Jackson u Superfreq A trio of techno tracks that truly delivers the goods. “Reality” bounds along with plenty of punch, but still tickles the mind with trippy acid squiggles and moments of ethereal wonder – a proper mind-melter.

With its echoey background squeals, “Visions” kicks a more ominous vibe to match its techy near-funk groove. Then the freakishly melodic “Forward” charges ahead with an unrelenting cinematic/sci-fi feel – techno at its best.

“DOMINO”

u Crush Club u Another Rhythm With its firm bassline and catchy hook, this bouncy, vocal-house cut doesn’t let up. At present, there’s only a single original mix, but that’s all you need with this one.

– Curtis Zack

Warm and inviting, yet tribal and urgent, “Home” sets you up with ethereal grooves, but wipes you out with deep sonics and beautifully blissful moments – very heady and melodic tech-house. Can’t wait to actually hear this one playing on a huge system to a packed dancefloor.

– Jim Tremayne “PARTY PEOPLE” (REMIXES)

u Casbah 73 u Glitterbox

Fronted by Angela Goode, this proper-funky heaping of disco soul really takes us back to the ’70s dancefloor. On “Danny Krivit’s Extended Edit,” the NYC vet delivers bigtime with an effort that delivers a hellacious slap-bass breakdown. Outstanding.

– Tommy D Funk “HYDRO” u Robbie Rivera u Juicy Music

u Crystal Waters & DJ Spen u Quantize

Recalling the sounds of the early ’90s, the original version is an all-out party rocker featuring the classic sounds of an M1 organ.

Add to that a pair of terrific new mixes – Mike Dunn’s BlackBall Remix and MDFC Vocal Remix (from Carl Cox and Eric Powell) – and this cut gains some extra life.

– Curtis Zack “FREE 2 BE ME”

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Ørjan Nilsen

Kicking off with a gentle vibe, this one drops into a strong, bumpin’ groove that ascends to an almost trance-like state.

Check the powerful build-up and tasteful breakdown – it’s a track that should appeal to many.

– Jennifer Harmon “ATTENUATOR”

u Carl Craig & Moritz von Oswald u Planet E Insistent keyboards and an arresting synth tone make for intriguing opening before the rhythms slowly begin to kick in, but when

u Alaia & Gallo & Michelle Weeks u DVINE Sounds EXPO WEEK ISSUE

Sleepy & Boo

“LOVE SAVES THE DAY”

“HOME” u Solomun u NINL

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Robbie Rivera

– Jennifer Harmon

– Jennifer Harmon

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Carl Craig

– Jim Tremayne

u Hot Since 82 & Rudimental u Knee Deep in Sound

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DJ Spen

The Martinez Brothers

they do the thrill ride is on. A sax blows in a near free-jazz fashion as the kick drums rumble and the synth stabs drop in and out – wicked stuff. It’s a deeper dive on von Oswald’s dub version, but no less thrilling.

– Jim Tremayne “CAPRICE MOOD”

u Igor Gonya u Tropical Disco Tropical Disco continue to bring the dancefloor heat with a plethora of releases each month. With its grooving guitars and soulful vocals, “Caprice Mood” is up there with the best nu-disco around.

– Curtis Zack “TWIN SOULS” u Lutrell u Anjunadeep A beautiful, building track that mixes a catchy, celestial synth riff with a rugged rhythm that doesn’t let go. Trancey yet deep, this one won’t leave your head for a while.

– Jennifer Harmon

Solomun

Sara Simms

“SANKTHANSAFTEN”

u Ørjan Nilsen u Armind/Armada Music Cinematic and old-school proggy, this one glistens and shimmers with melody and wonder. Simple, yet effective – regulation drop included – Nilsen’s latest trance track goes down like a tasty handful of Halloween candy.

Guest Reviewer: Wendy Escobar

“LET IT GO” (EXTENDED MIX)

– Jim Tremayne “GIVING YOU INTO THE LIGHT” (REMIXES)

Wendy Escobar

u Louie Vega & The Martinez Brothers feat. Marc E. Bassy u Defected As a NYC Latina who grew up in Queens, this track really hits home. It opens with merengue-like percussion that makes me move my hips and want to drink a nutracker with a sandwich. Then soft soulful house chords come in with street-slang vocals take me back in a good way. Wonderful. And don’t sleep on the new, pumpin’ remix from Honey Dijon.

u Loui & Scibi feat. Nathalia u Déepalma Soul

A couple of storming remixes here on an already great, piano-house vocal track. Peter Brown provides a funky new interpretation, while the groovier, but more downbeat Seb Skalski mix gets a re-tweak a few years after it first surfaced.

– Curtis Zack “BRONX”

u Sara Simms u Simmetry Sounds A taut, heavy-kick techno track with enough flavor and variation to get you moving.

Bordering on ominous, but oddly catchy, the blips and bleeps and the “I’m out of control” mantra keep it hurling forward.

– Jim Tremayne “THE SUN”

u Michael Gray feat. The Melody Men u Altra Mode After a series of storming remixes, Michael Gray returns with a superb original tune featuring The Melody Men. Lush summer strings and a rolling bassline combine with the heavenly vocals to make for a memorable effort.

– Curtis Zack

Louie Vega

Hot Since 82

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Lazarus

(continued from page 19) house renewable energy. These are not things that make money. These are things that you literally have devote your time to because you want to do it and want to do something positive for the future. I’m a father and a grandfather. I have a responsibility to the kids I’ve brought into this world to at least set an example and show them that I cared enough about them to do my little bit to save this planet. I’ve done some positive things with music. It was time to do something positive outside of that.

DJ Times: How do you see the return of in-person events happening? Your events are mainly outdoors with a demographic that has more disposable income. It’s possible you could be a forerunner in this area.

Lazarus: My take on it is very simple: Until we have a vaccine, I’m not prepared to put thousands of people in an open-air or closed-air space together. Whether you believe in a vaccine or not, this thing is killing people. Not so many young people and we don’t know to what extent or how it’s being transmitted, but it would be irresponsible of an event organizer like myself to risk other people’s lives in one of our events.

I’ve decided to move Day Zero Tulum to the 23rd of April, the day after Earth Day. We started Day Zero on the weekend that the Mayans decreed was the end of the world. I’m hoping that this Earth Day 2021 will be the beginning of a new one. I’m loathe to announce something and then retract it, but I feel like we need something to look forward to. If I was to say Day Zero Tulum isn’t happening until 2022, that’s a long time for my team to be doing nothing. I need to keep some incentive, for myself as well. I want to stay positive.

DJ Times: You’ve done a few lowkey DJ gigs so far. What are your requirements for accepting a gig in the current climate?

Lazarus: My requirements are that I’m coming into a situation that is well-thought-out, working with promoters who are taking responsibility for the people they’re inviting to the party. My agent is very conscious of this and won’t allow me to get involved in anything that doesn’t seem safe. The difficulty is the laws are different in different cities. I don’t know what’s right and wrong anymore. All I know is, I need to do it for myself, and I know people need to let their hair down when possible.

If I can do that safely, promote safety, then I will do what I can.

DJ Times: You went to a medical center in Austria to detox prior to starting the album?

Lazarus: For a week. I had a very busy schedule in December/January touring South America. That’s always a tricky one. Major party place... ev-

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ery city you hit it’s going to go really late. You’ll be lucky to get any sleep at all. In January alone, I did 15 shows in 20 days. At the medical center I had a full-body check-up, in and out. I even went as far as having my sleep measured.

DJ Times: Did you know at that point that you were going to start work on a new album?

Lazarus: I had ideas starting to flow about new music I wanted to make. A few months beforehand, I told my agent I was going to take off some extended time at the beginning of 2020. I even bought a brand-new notepad and some new pens in the airport on the way to the medical center, which is always a good sign for me. It means I’m really focused.

I wanted to have a digital holiday as well. I didn’t want to be writing notes on my phone and having it on all the time.

DJ Times: Did the album start at the medical center?

Lazarus: On the first day, I couldn’t sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning. I went out onto the balcony opposite The Alps with these lights flickering in the middle of the mountain. The ideas of the tracks for the album started to form at that moment. They came thick and fast, even down to the beginnings of the lyrics. The whole concept of there being this spirit at the center of the mountain, starting as a small flame and that was like Jesus and the Burning Bush. I started to think about religion and spirituality. I got the bare bones of an idea of a track, written on paper, which is something I’d done with my previous albums as well. Ideas about sound, ideas about a track or a sound that I’m thinking about in relation to this.

Throughout the week I didn’t fill the book, but I certainly got through a few pages.

DJ Times: What were some of these ideas?

Lazarus: I was feeling the weight of the world and really concerned about the future. A few weeks in, this virus began and my fears and concerns were amplified even more. Suddenly, the whole world is changing before everybody’s eyes. As a DJ, no one cared about us. We were the last to be mentioned in any important speeches or decisions that were being made. We were just an aside, “Oh, and nightlife is done.” That annoyed me because it made me think the love and passion of many people I work with, my friends’ lifetimes of work being minimized to nothing. All these worries and fears started to come out in my music. It was getting quite dark. I was starting to dig back into the darker music that I’d loved back in the day – a lot of early jungle and drum-n-bass, darker breakbeats and |

2020

basslines. They started to inspire me.

DJ Times: The album doesn’t have an overwhelming dark feeling to it, though.

Lazarus: I’m very fortunate to be in this place in the countryside. I can watch trees and flowers grow on a daily basis. I’ve got a beautiful view of the skies. There are no lights. You can see the stars as far as they go. I started to pull myself up and get more positive, and that’s when I started to write “Into the Sun.” That was a real turning point. That helped me overcome all this darkness I’d been feeling earlier. Once I hit that track, I decided to go into a lot of the earlier tracks and take away some of the real darkness I’d been experimenting with in the first place, make things a bit warmer, a bit more inviting.

DJ Times: Was it listening to the classic drum-n-bass tracks that brought you to Krust and releasing his album, The Edge of Everything, on Crosstown Rebels?

Lazarus: I’ve always thought Krust was an incredible producer.

Looking for inspiration during the making of Flourish, I’d been listening to a lot of his music and the way he’d shape sounds, specifically, “Soul in Motion” and “Going Nowhere.”

We were in the mixing process of the album and I couldn’t shake the thought of Krust. I hadn’t spoken to him for years. I contacted him wanting to tell him that his music had been inspiring me, and to see what he was up to. When he told me he had a new album project, I was already thinking, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to release DJ Krust on Crosstown Rebels?” This is a momentous for me. I’ve been

wanting to diversify the label for a while, and this is a great opportunity to do it. There’s a new birth coming for drum-n-bass. The Krust album is going to blow people’s minds and remind them why this genre of music is so vibrant and so important.

DJ Times: Krust being released on Crosstown Rebels is as far-fetched as you releasing Flourish on Diplo’s Higher Ground.

Lazarus: It’s an interesting curveball. Diplo is a super-nice guy, ridiculously talented, very controlled. I always liked him. It was a surprise when he hit me up out of the blue a couple of years ago saying, “I was on the dancefloor for two hours of your set in Tulum. It was amazing. We should get together.” Since then, he’s sent me a bunch of music that he was working on, telling me that he was trying to get into more underground music. That excited me. He’s an incredible producer with an amazing ability to sway people toward music they may not have known was what they were going to like.

DJ Times: DJs are great at A&R, as you know with your labels.

Lazarus: Running a label and being a DJ is a perfect combination. If it is a record that’s destined to work on the dancefloor, you have an instant, ready-made audience to decide whether it’s good or not. Sometimes your initial reaction could not be right and sometimes it will be spoton. Running a label after so long is one of the key factors keeping me on the cusp of credibility and “coolness.”

I’m constantly working with, talking to, listening to, hanging out with younger, new, fresh, cutting-edge art-

1. Publication Title: DJ Times 2. Publication Number: 4153 10459693 3. Filing Date: September 30, 2020 4. Issue frequency: Monthly Except Feb,Jul, Sept, and Dec. 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 8 6. Annual Subscription Price: $19.40 7. Contact Person: Vincent P. Testa (516-767-2500) 8. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779 9. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of the Publisher: 25 Willowdale Ave.,

Port Washington, NY 11050-3779

Publisher: Vincent P. Testa, 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779

Editor: Jim Tremayne, 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779

Managing Editor: Jim Tremayne, 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779 10. Owner: DJ Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779 13. Publication Title: DJ Times 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: August 1, 202015.

Extent and Nature Of Circulation No. Copies of Average No. Copies

Each Issue During Single Issue Published

12 Months Nearest to the Filing Date A. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) 23,694 21,029 B1. Mailed Outside County Paid subscriptions Stated on PS Form

3541 (include paid distibution above normal rate, advertiser’s

proof copies, and eXchange copies.)

451 407 B3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through

Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other

Paid Distribution Outside USPS 16,682 14,376 C. Total Paid and /or Requested Circulation 17,133 14,783 D1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside County Copies included

on PS Form 3541 350 339 D4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail

(Carriers or other means) 6,211 5,782 E. Total Free Distribution 6,561 6,121 F. Total Distribution 23,694 20,904 G. Copies not Distributed 170 125 H. TOTAL 23,864 21,029 I. Percent Paid and /or Requested Circulation 72.31% 70.72% 16. Electronic Copy Circulation A. Requested and Paid Electronic Copies 2,258 2,116 B. Total Requested Print /Electronic Paid Copies 19,391 16,899 23,020 C. Total Requested Copy Distribution/Requested/Paid Electronic Copies 25,952 73% D. Percent Paid and /or Requested Circulation Print/Electronic Copies 74% 17. Publication of Statement of Ownership: Will be printed in the November 2019 issue of this publication.

18. Publisher: Vincent P. Testa, President Date: September 29, 2020

NOW! Listen the DJ Times National Dance/Crossover Chart on SPOTIFY! LISTEN NOW!

Compiled As November 13, 2020

C LU B P L AY C H A R T

NATIONAL CROSSOVER POOL CHART 1 24kGoldn F/ Iann Dior Mood 2 Joel Corry & Mnek Head & Heart 3 Miley Cyrus Midnight Sky 4 Ava Max Kings & Queens 5 Surf Mesa F/ Emilee Ily 6 Dua Lipa F/ Madonna Levitating 7 Gabby Barrett I Hope 8 AJR Bang!

9 Marshmello & Imanbek Too Much ft. Usher 10 Jawsh 68 & Jason Derulo Savage Love 11 BTS Dynamite 12 Topic & A7s Breaking Me 13 JP Saxe F/ Julia Michaels If The World Was Ending 14 Saweetie Tap In 15 Jason Derulo Take You Dancing 16 Tate McRae You Broke Me First 17 Sam Smith Diamonds 18 Marshmello & Demi Lovato OK Not To Be OK 19 Zara Larsson Wow 20 Drake feat. Lil Durk Laugh Now Cry Later 21 Tanya Nolan No Pressure 22 Gloria Estefan Rhythm Is Gonna Get You 2020 23 Harry Styles Watermelon Sugar 24 David Guetta & Sia Let’s Love 25 Earth, Wind & Fire September 2020 26 Zoe Wees Control 27 Jonas Blue & Max Naked 28 Zedd & Jasmine Thompson Funny 29 Kylie Minogue Say Something 30 Lady Gaga 911 31 Gloria Gaynor I Will Survive 2020 32 Katy Perry Daisies 33 Kygo X Tina Turner What’s Love Got To Do 34 Martin Garrix F/ John Martin Higher Ground 35 Willan & Chelero Catz 36 Diana Ross It’s My House 37 Peyton Things Can Only Get Better 38 Shawn Mendes Wonder 39 Britney Spears Mood Ring 40 Ashe f. Niall Horan Moral of the Story

Most Added Tracks

1 Marshmello & Imanbek 2 Tiesto 3 Anabel Englund 4 Joe KillingtonF/ Lovely Laura 5 Sam Smith 6 Tanya Nolan 7 Lady Gaga 8 Bingo Players & Disco Fries F/ Viiq 9 Sigala & James Arthur 10 Zoe Wees

Too Much The Business Picture Us Painkiller Diamonds No Pressure 911 Forever Love Lasting Lover Control

Columbia Big Beat/ Emg Rca Max Cut/ Atlantic Astralwerks Warner Warner S-Curve Sony Columbia Columbia Capitol Arista Warner Atlantic RCA Capitol Island / Republic Epic Republic Artsessionz Epic Columbia Warner Sony Legacy Caroline Capitol Interscope / Atlantic Darenote / Bmg Interscope Universal Music Capitol RCA RCA Made 2 Dance Universal Motown Peyton Music Island RCA Mom + Pop

NATIONAL LATIN DANCE POOL CHART 1 Domenic Marte ft. Stevie B 2 Darkiel ft Pedro Capo, Afro B 3 Manny Cruz y Miriam Cruz 4 Alsikiatra 5 Ozuna 6 Bragi 7 Afro B x Ozuna 8 AFM (The Sky) 9 Black Eye Pea feat Ozuna, J. ReySoul 10 Muzik Box 11 Farruko 12 Prince Royce 13 Oro Solido 14 Alexandra ft Daniel Santacruz 15 Maelo y su Klan 16 DoseRock 17 Brenda K Starr 18 Carlos Garcia 19 Tono Rosario 20 Tito Rojas

In My Eyes Direct Balance Me Siento Bien (RMX) Chosen Few Yo Quisiera Ser OMG Baila Pegadita de los Hombres Alsikiatra Caramelo Aura Music Tu Cuerpo Sky Urbano Drogba (Joanna)(Global Latin V.) Chosen Few Ent. Regalame Una Noche Mas G89 Music Mamacita Epic Karma (Cubanito Klubjumpers Mix) Cal 69 La Tóxica Sony Loteria Sony Ponmelo Ahi 24K Amor Entre Tres J&N Abrele Camino Al Son Cafe Friky Friky Soundcheck El Pez Muere Por La Boca Urbano Live Ent. Te Pasa Algo MDR Vuelve Mami Mayimba Music Esto Tiene Que Acabar TR

Most Added Tracks 1 2 3 4 5

Viti Ruiz Haze x Jhay Cortez x Lunay Pedro Jesus Drizmali Karval

Sabanas Mojadas Prendemos Prestame Tu Boca Ala La Lala Vivo Sabroso

Promo Universal Salsaneo Oriental/Ingrooves Sunflower Ent.

REPORTING LATIN POOLS n n n n n n

Latinos Unidos Record Pool Salsamania Latin Record Pool Lobo/Bass Record Pool North East Record Pool Mixx Hitts Record Pool Ritmo Camacho Record Pool

n n n n n n

Ritmo Internacional Record pool DJ Latinos Record Pool MassPool Record Pool Latino Latin Beat Chicago Record Pool All In Music Pool

ATTENTION DJ TIMES READERS: DJ Times is currently looking for DJs that are interested in reporting to the DJ National Dance/Crossover chart and the DJ Times National Urban Dance chart. Reporterships are open to Record Pools and individual DJs. For more information contact: Dan Miller, dmiller@testa.com

Rca Atlantic Ultra Notting Hill Capitol Artsessionz Interscope Spinnin’ Arista Caroline

REPORTERS n

Gary Canavo

Masspool

Saugus,MA

n

Blake Eckelbarger

Dj Stickyboots

Syndicated

n

The Dance Environment

Powered By Spectrio

Los Angeles, CA

n

Manny Esparza

Nexus Radio

Chicago,IL

n

Howard HK Kessler

In The Mix With HK

Minneapolis,MN

n

Brian Stephens

Mixxmasters

Lithonia,GA

n

Peter K. Productions

Peter K

Syndicated

n

Kidd Leow

Vindictive Vendetta

Tampa, FL

n

Randy Schlager

Soundtrack Your Band

Seattle, WA

n

Alan Chasen

OMAP

Washington, DC

n

Chris Egner

Victor’s

Milwaukee, WI

n

Ilan Fong

Kahoots

Columbus,OH

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ists.That keeps me connected. If I was just producing or just DJing, I’d have that “OG legend” status and carry on. But by having a label, it keeps me relevant and, from a personal perspective, keeps me on my toes and connected to what’s happening today and tomorrow.

DJ Times: How have you stayed in touch with your audience during the pandemic?

Lazarus: I didn’t feel it was necessary to dive in with live-streams.

I was very skeptical about the virtual reality festivals. I saw how Travis Scott and Diplo used Fortnite and Minecraft. If you’ve got millions of

dollars behind you, it makes sense to do some kind of virtual live show. It wasn’t necessary for me. I did Lazpod Live in April and May. Beirut has a special place in my heart, so when that disaster happened, I leapt into action to do the Beatport “Together for Beirut.” The Crosstown Takeover with Desert Hearts on Twitch was my opportunity to give some support to the artists on my label. I did a chat on Schmoozing with Soul Clap. I’ve not done too much, just enough. I’ve been in people’s faces quite enough for the last few years. I try to stay connected using social media. I’ll know if my fans really need me for something. n

Jackson

(continued from page 12) 2000 and, of course, some Technics 1200s are essential. I haven’t played a gig in a while; but in the future, I’m planning to have a hybrid live and DJ setup together, using some solid MIDI clock syncing to keep everything together.

DJ Times: In the studio, what’s your set-up?

Jackson: My ultimate gear set-up for a studio is really simple: amazing acoustic engineering, and Quested monitors, a JL Audio Fathom sub, with Avantones as backups. Acoustics is No. 1 for me. Any speakers in a great room are usable for me, but I love Quested most. I always use a spectrum analyzer and testing mic in my room, to set up my speakers and get the crossover just right – for that, I use the free REW software.

DJ Times: DAW? What else?

Jackson: My DAW of choice is Ableton Live. I could use it for everything. I do use other DAWs like Pro Tools for certain tasks. Even with the luxury of a perfectly tuned room, I

love great headphones. The AudioTechnica ATH-M50x and the Samson SR850 are my go-to headphones. I mix and test everything with them.

Also, UAD plug-ins are a savior, and I use them on every mix and master.

DJ Times: What about hardware?

Jackson: I try to rotate what I have, instead of keeping lots of gear around, as I find I go for VSTs more these days. Aside from my 303-esque boxes, which I always keep within reach, I currently have a Kurzweil K2000R for making luscious sounds.

DJ Times: And for getting those wonderful acid sounds?

Jackson: I use fake 303s, real 303s, hardware, software, multiple brands of VSTs. Anything acid-sounding I love to tinker with. There is something so versatile about that good, old acid box with it’s fabulous filter that allows you to create everything from a bubbly, liquid sound to an angry, ripping sound that could tear the cone off a speaker.

– Jim Tremayne

Shogun

(continued from page 10) time to focus on studio work. I’m always flying and tired, so it’s hard to find the time to get into a zone and knock out a bunch of songs. This period has been a bit of a doubleedged sword. It sucks that everything’s closed, but I’ve had all the time in the world to get creative.

DJ Times: You’re not one for making music in transit on your laptop?

Shogun: I produce my tracks from start to finish, whether it’s the sound design, sequencing, mixing or mastering – so I do prefer to have everything set up in an acoustically treated studio. When I take my laptop on the road, I might write some basic ideas in Logic, but I won’t do a complete mixdown. I’m a perfectionist and need to have control over how a track will sound. I was actually a mix engineer before I got into producing, so I love the process of using analog equipment or outboard gear to glue the sound together.

DJ Times: Do you prefer hardware over working in the box?

Shogun: To the average person, it may be difficult to decipher the difference between digital and analog. But for an engineer, it makes a difference if you can get some analog zero and ones into the music. Today, the digital plug-ins are getting pretty close to their analog counterparts and you can get away with using plug-in chains that will give you that analog sound.

But I like the feel of working with hardware gear, so I’ll always mix in the box, then bring the stems out and put them through a [Phoenix Audio] Nicerizer, Tube-Tech summing mixer or run my digital synths through an old-school Neve 1073 preamp to give them that beef and distortion.

DJ Times: Your first summer

release, “Fuck Up the Party,” was a more pop/dance direction…

Shogun: My flagship sound is trance, but I don’t want to confine myself to that. It’s a bit like eating pizza. I love it, but nobody wants to eat pizza every day – there’s barbecue, tacos and good sushi, too. As a producer, I just want to do whatever I want, whether it’s a country or reggae song, and I guess that’s the process behind the four songs that I have ready for release. “Fuck Up the Party” is more of an electro-pop, Moombahton-inspired track and the next one, “Lalaland,” is more radio-friendly with a Brazilian-bass influence. The third song, “Walls,” definitely leans more towards my signature progressive-trance sound.

DJ Times: What inspired you musically?

Shogun: As crazy as it sounds, I grew up listening to ’80s music like Michael Jackson, Madonna and all these icons. That’s the music that inspired me. The first cassette tape I listened to was “Billy Jean,” and if it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t be making music. My music influences can come from anywhere from pop to ska or industrial music – I loved Rage Against the Machine and Nine Inch Nails.

DJ Times: Have you had to find new ways to monetize your releases?

Shogun: I don’t have many other ideas around monetizing music. Because there are no live DJ gigs, I’m planning on giving virtual streams a shot, even though I recognize you can’t replicate the live-performance aspect of feeling the energy of a live crowd. Otherwise, I’ve been investing in stocks and that’s been keeping me afloat [laughs].

– Danny Turner

So what do I dream about?

All day I dream, right?

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When we can all do this again.

A Look into ’21, Next Issue

Charlotte Underwood/DiskoLab

Lee Burridge’s Dream for 2021

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