DJ Times March 2016, Vol 29 No 3 by DJ Times Magazine

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AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988 MARCH 2016

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FUNK-TaSTIC! ARE YOU A REAL DJ? HOW TO WIN THE DANCEFLOOR BATTLE LEARNING FROM YOUR COMPETITION

NAMM REPORT: GREAT GEAR PLUS: djtimes.com

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NOTABLES…MILESTONES NEWS

Evening: Oliver Heldens rocks Paradiso.

NAMM ’16: GREAT NEW GEAR FOR DJS & STUDIO

CDJ-2000NXS2: Pioneer’s new player.

Party Time: Numark’s CDMix USB.

Active Sub: Mackie’s SRM1550.

moving-head/green-laser fixture; the Airstream DMX Bridge control solution; the Crazy Pocket 8 effect; the Stinger II effect; and the WiFLY NE1 Battery DMX controller. Related company American Audio showed the VMS5 DJ controller. Among 20 new products, Chauvet DJ showed the 4BAR USB lighting system; the SlimBANK T18 USB washlight; and the COLORband T3 USB LED strip light. Blizzard Lighting showed Blok 2 effect, the BlockHead Z9 fixture, the Thunderstik uplight, the Snake Eyes Mini LED moving head, and the Weather System EXA all-in-one solution. StompLight International showed its StompLight, a portable, pedal-board-sized unit that produces dozens of colorful effects for DJs. Reloop, distributed Stateside by American Music & Sound, debuted the Mixtour 2-channel mixer/controller. Hercules debuted the P32 DJ 4-channel controller and the DJUCED 40° DJ software. Gemini debuted the SDJ-2000 media controller. (continued on page 42)

Atlantic City, N.J. – Mark your calendars, folks! DJ Expo—produced by DJ Times & Testa Communications—is set for Aug. 15-18 at the Trump Taj Mahal in AC. Expect an exhibit hall full of the latest gear, 30 seminar panels/tutorials, and sponsored evening events – plus a few surprises. For the very latest on the show, please visit thedjexpo.com.

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By Jim Tremayne Anaheim, Calif. – This past Jan. 21-24, the music industry’s manufacturers, distributors and retailers migrated to the Anaheim Convention Center for the Winter NAMM show, the world’s largest trade-only event. According to organizers, NAMM drew 101,736 attendees. Testa Communications—publisher of DJ Times—was there with a dedicated exhibition booth. It also produced Convention TV @ NAMM, which provided on-the-spot show coverage. Additionally, The Music & Sound Retailer—another Testa title—presented its annual Music & Sound Awards. Product winners included: Pioneer DJ’s DJMS9 mixer as Best DJ Product; Chauvet DJ’s Swarm 4 FX as Best Lighting Product; and JBL Pro’s SRX800 Series as Best Speaker. Retailer winners included New York’s I DJ Now for Best DJ Equipment (Multi-Store Dealer Division) and L.A.’s Six Star DJ for Best DJ Equipment (Single-Store Dealer Division). As usual, the DJ segment of the market saw several new products introduced. Onto the show… Pioneer DJ introduced the CDJ-2000NXS2 media player, which features new 7-inch full-color touchscreen, eight color-coded hot cues and MIDI controller interface, and the DJM-900NXS2 DJ mixer, which includes a studioquality 96 kHz/64-bit signal processor. Related company Pioneer Pro Audio launched the XPRS Series of powered speakers, which include the XPRS15 and XPR12 units, plus the XPRS215S sub. From the world of inMusic’s 13 brands, Denon DJ debuted its MCX8000 DJ controller which can run Serato DJ and Denon’s Engine software simultaneously, in addition to importing Serato’s crates and hot cues. Meanwhile, Numark showed the CDMix USB player, Mixdeck Express and Party Mix controllers, and the Dashboard hi-res DJ display for Serato. Rane Corporation debuted its MP2014, a two-channel rotary DJ mixer. Stanton DJ showed the Deckadance v2.50 DJ software, while fellow Gibson company KRK showed four ROKIT Generation 3 active studio-monitor models. New Gibson brand Neat Microphones debuted its Bee and Widget lines of podcast and recording mics. Smithson-Martin showed the K32 Kontrol Surface, a full, 32-inch capacitive touchscreen. The system includes the new Mac version of Emulator 2.0. ADJ launched six new products. They included: the Inno Pocket Spot LZR

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14 Funk-tastic! VOLUME 29

NUMBER 3

With a Sharp New Venue in Brooklyn & Fresh Music in the Offing, Soul Clap Continues to Give Up the EFUNK BY CHRIS K. DAVIS

22 Floor-Fillers The Battle to Win the Dancefloor Never Ends. Here Are Some Winning Methods BY JEFF STILES

26 Are You a Real DJ?

After Years of Dramatic Gear Evolution, the Notion of DJ Authenticity Has Come into Question. Should It? BY CHRIS ALKER

DEPARTMENTS 9 Feedback

As Always, the Answers to All Your DJ-Related Questions

28 Making Tracks Sample Logic Cinemorphx

30 Sounding Off

Audio-Technica System 10 PRO

32 Mobile Profile

Wisconsin DJ Brings High Energy

34 Business Line

13 Ways to Learn from Competitors

36 Gear

New Products from ADJ, Rane & More

38 Grooves Phat Tracks from Sleepy & Boo, Anja Schneider & More

41 Club Play Chart

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

The Hottest Records, As Reported by Our Top U.S. Record Pools

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SAMPLINGS 10 Wolfgang Gartner

Back on Track

12 In the Studio Withâ&#x20AC;¦ Dosem

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THE FULLY LOADED FLAGSHIP.

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FROM THE EDITOR

Soul Clap: Bringin’ It One of the best aspects of running a DJ magazine is the idea that, hopefully, you can turn a portion of the readership onto some deserving artists. And over the last few years, the soundtrack to some of my very favorite events has been delivered by Eli Goldstein and Charlie Levine. Sweaty afterhours club or daytime festival… doesn’t matter, these guys always seem to bring it. If you haven’t heard them, you really should. They’re among the very best that America’s DJ culture has produced in recent years. Why? The Brooklyn-based team combines old-school ideas (their vinyl fetish and love for ’70s funk) with new-school flavors (digital compliance, if necessary, with a nod to modern house music). As you might imagine, their sets—in club or festival settings—are must-attend events. A big part of it is that the music comes first and the party can go in any direction. Whether they’re off on an old funk jag or they’re dropping newer flavors of house, their vibe is always irresistible. And if you’re lucky, George Clinton might show up, like he did at a Detroit afterparty a couple years ago, and tear the roof off the sucker. As it seems that 2016 will be another big year for Soul Clap, our Chris Davis caught up with Eli and Charlie to discuss new music, old DJ philosophies and their fresh new Brooklyn venue, Black Flamingo. You should dig these guys in a big way. In Samplings, Chris Caruso connects with Dosem, the Spanish DJ/producer of the moment, who describes how he’s begun to move up the tech-house foodchain. Also, Long Island gal Michelle Fetky interviews a recently resurfaced Wolfgang Gartner, who explains how he’s returned to the scene after a health scare. In the world of mobile entertainers, our Iowa-based correspondent Jeff Stiles asks jocks how they win the battle of the dancefloor and finds out which tunes continue to provide dancefloor ammo. In Business Line, we offer 13 ways to learn from your competition. In Mobile Profile, we go to Wisconsin and meet with DJ vet Scott Quimby of High Energy DJs. While surviving in a business for 23 years is no small feat, it might be more impressive when considering that Quimby somehow has done it as a hardcore Vikings fan in Packerland. Well done, Scott! In our tech-review sections, St. Louis-based producer Josh Harris checks out Sample Logic’s unique new softsynth Cinemorphx. Also, Paul Dailey, our man in Boston, tested out AudioTechnica’s recent entry to the wireless world, the System 10 PRO line. Also, along those lines in our feature section, new writer Chris Alker takes a thoughtful look at the much-debated notion of DJ authenticity. Are you a real DJ? What is real DJ anymore? Does it even matter? Dive in, DJs. Of course, we also report on some of the newer DJ-related items from the Winter NAMM show. Held this past January in Anaheim, Calif., the mega-event saw plenty of debuts for mobiles, club jocks and studio hounds. For the music-makers, our Wesley Bryant-King (on Page 10) offers some of his NAMM picks for DJs finding inspiration in the home studio. Enjoy. Cheers,

editor-in-chief Jim Tremayne jtremayne@testa.com

art director Janice Pupelis jpupelis@testa.com

editor-at-large Brian O’Connor boconnor@testa.com

production manager Steve Thorakos sthorakos@testa.com

assistant editor Chris Caruso ccaruso@testa.com chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Jody Amos Joe Bermudez Wesley Bryant-King Ally Byers Shawn Christopher Paul Dailey Reed Dailey Chris Davis Tommy D Funk Michelle Fetky Greg Hollmann Robert LaFrance Michelle Loeb Evan Maag Duanny Medrano Lily Moayeri Phil Moffa Natalie Raben Scott Rubin Deanna Rilling Jeff Stiles Reisa Shanaman Emily Tan Phil Turnipseed Ashley Zlatopolsky President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO ORDER SUBSCRIPTIONS, CALL 800-937-7678 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.djtimes.com

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

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

brand design & web development manager Fred Gumm fgumm@testa.com social media coordinator Matt Van Dyke mvandyke@testa.com

advertising manager Tom McCarty tmccarty@testa.com marketplace advertising sales manager Ricky Pimentel rpimentel@testa.com art/production assistant Ricky Pimentel rpimentel@testa.com Circulation circulation@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) (USPS 0004-153) is published monthly for $19.40 (US), $39.99 (Canada), and $59.99 (all other countries), by DJ Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 110503779. 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 © 2016 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 March 2016

visit our website: www.djtimes.com

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FEEDBACK NAMM ’16 PREVIEW: WHAT’S HOT FOR DJs?

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988

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program, enabling music retailers to sell in-ear monitors, while scanning customer’s ears in the field, in lieu of audiologist molding. Dave Smith Instruments OB-6. Dave Smith has partnered with fellow synth legend Tom Oberheim to create the new OB-6 analog synth. Built on the foundation of the Prophet-6, the OB-6 follows similar goals to a slightly dif‑ ferent end result: The recreation of the classic Oberheim SEM sound.

Zoom ARQ Aero RhythmTrak. A bit hard to describe. It’s a drum machine, MIDI controller, and sequencer with an unusual twist— it has an 11-inch di‑ ameter tubular ring that detaches from a base in which it normally snaps into. The ring is a controller with acceler‑ ometers that allow its movement to be tracked and converted to MIDI control messages. In addition, the ring is il‑ luminated with dozens of RGB LEDs to show drum patterns or other visual

feedback, and they also act as buttons to program or control capabilities. ROLI Seaboard RISE. Another ex‑ ample of out-of-the-box design think‑ ing here. Offered in 25- and 49-key models, the aim of these RISE MIDI keyboard controllers is to improve expression options. The soft, squishy keys provide five different touch con‑ trols: pressing down, sideways move‑ ment, sliding up and down, and lift. – Wesley Bryant-King

PLUS: James Lavelle * Blond:ish DJ-Website Advice * Numark NS7III DSI Sequential Prophet-6

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 question that is not asked. 04FE16_p001-044.indd 3

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Anaheim, Calif. – This past Jan. 21-24, DJ Times attended Winter NAMM—and working the show as a journalist feels a lot like clam-digging. On the surface, you find aisle after aisle of the usual stuff, but if you dig a bit, you might stumble upon a juicy morsel or two. My highlights include: Denon DJ MCX8000. DJ controllers are increasingly aiming to free the DJ from the laptop computer to one extent or another, and the MCX8000 takes it to a new level. While function‑ ing as a fully capable Serato controller with a laptop attached, you can move crates and content to USB devices, and disconnect the laptop completely while still maintaining visual interface with the whole experience via two onboard displays. Or, go hybrid, freely moving between Serato content, USB content, or off-board CDJs or turn‑ tables with four channels of flexibility. ADJ Airstream DMX Bridge. Run‑ ning XLR cables everywhere for total lighting control may be a thing of the past thanks to ADJ’s new solution. The Airstream DMX Bridge creates a private WiFi network that allows you to integrate a sophisticated iPad app with ADJ’s own so-called “WiFLY” compat‑ ible lighting fixtures for complete, app-driven creative control. The app takes ease of use to a new level, let‑ ting DJs program movement patterns with a fingertip, while delivering very fine-grained configuration options. Ultimate Ears Pro. The company is moving ahead with an exclusive 3D scanning solution and certification

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SAMPLINGS

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

WOLFGANG GARTNER: BACK ON TRACK

If anyone hit the rising EDM scene at the right moment, it was Joey Youngman. Releasing energetic electro-house tracks as Wolfgang Gartner, the L.A.-based DJ/producer scored a slew of chart-topping tracks—including collaborations with Deadmau5, Skrillex and Tiësto—and headlined festival stages from coast to coast. In 2010, he earned a Grammy nomination for his remix of Andy Caldwell’s “Funk Nasty.” But recent times saw him step away from the spotlight, as a health issue curtailed his ability to tour. After re-evaluating his career and hunkering down in the studio for more than a year, Gartner has returned, in better health and with a new album—10 Ways to Steal Home Plate. His first full-length since 2011’s Weekend in America and released on his Kindergarten imprint, the new effort offers a bit of an artistic change-up with its mixture of soaring EDM anthems, banging electro-house tracks, bright pop cuts and bumping urban flavors. We recently caught up with Wolfgang Gartner to discuss his recent experiences, in and out of the studio. DJ Times: About a year ago you cancelled your Unholy Tour due to cardiac issues. What were the causes? Gartner: The result of being on the road for too long, over a decade, living the nocturnal non-stop lifestyle that is required of professional DJs. I don’t drink or do drugs. I don’t party after shows. So it wasn’t anything like that. It was my body’s response to the stress, the random sleep cycles and the constant travel. DJ Times: How are you feeling now? Gartner: Excellent! No joke. I have to hit the gym, though. I never realized that touring and always being

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on my feet was keeping me thin. DJ Times: How was your time away from the scene? Gartner: It was probably the best thing I ever did for myself, and for my music—even though it was an accident at first. I never intended on taking a full year off, but I’m glad I did because I think I needed a full year to reap the benefits of a new perspective. DJ Times: How’s that? Gartner: Musically, in 2015, I was on a whole other vibe. I wasn’t thinking about my next dance track. I was in the studio every day producing hip hop and this R&B side project that I started up, and a bit of pop here and there. I wasn’t thinking about when I would start touring again or when I would start producing dance music again. I was just doing what I felt like doing day-to-day, and that just continued until pretty recently when we finally released my album. Since then, my mental space got shifted around quite a bit. I was back in “dance world” again suddenly, but it felt new and different this time. DJ Times: Did your time away play a big part in this new album? Gartner: Actually, not at all— the album was basically finished by the beginning of 2015. It just took a year to figure out which tracks made the cut, then deal with all the contracts for the featured vocal artists, master it, mix it, and deal with distribution and all that. I knew we had this album to put out for the past year, and it was just kinda sitting on the shelf while I went off and explored other musical territory. DJ Times: What gear do you use (continued on page 42)

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IN THE STUDIO

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

DOSEM: MAKING OPTIMISM

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Dosem’s Gear: Ableton, Arturia & Access Virus.

The constant chatter of cynical clubbers decrying the alleged death of Ibiza never ends, and with it comes an onslaught of house prophets making proclamations of its successor. While Mykonos and Croatia have been oft-discussed challengers, it’s Spain’s own Barcelona that’s been on the lips of many in recent months. If the city’s hottest DJ talent export—Dosem—is anything to go by, it’s a solid assumption. Since bursting onto the scene back in 2008, Dosem has dropped floor-filling bombs on a laundry list of taste-making labels that includes Mark Knight’s Toolroom, John Digweed’s Bedrock Records, Chus & Ceballos’ Stereo Recordings, and Coyu’s Suara. Consistently toeing the line between house and techno with his genre-defying attitude that permeates his high-energy DJ sets and thick grooves. Now, he’s fresh off the release of his latest EP—the two-tracker Optimism on Suara—and in the midst of very busy new year. We connected with Marc Dosem to chat about his releases, approach, and what he’s got planned. DJ Times: You just wrapped up a series of South and North American tour dates. How was the experience overall and what were some highlights of the performances? Dosem: It was fantastic. It’s hard to pick just one gig, because each one had its own special vibe. Panama and London-Ontario were really good, and then Output in Brooklyn was stunning as well. I really loved the club—probably one of my favorites at the moment. The sound system is huge! I went to BPM Festival [in Mexico] also this January where I had the chance to play at the Suara and Stereo showcase. Both were great. DJ Times: Your latest EP, Optimism, just came out. What went into the creation and inspiration for the two tracks? Dosem: I usually think a lot about the message behind each track, but in this case it was something more impulsive. I was playing with some samples and drums in my studio and both tracks just came out. Both are made for the club; [each has] an optimistic vibe. I just make the kind of music I would like to dance to myself in a club. DJ Times: Your last album, City Cuts, seemed to veer more into a house-centric territory than the techno grooves of Origin. Have you found yourself drawn to one genre more than the other recently? Dosem: I always try to mix house and techno sounds. Sometimes I get more into energetic beats and some others I try to imprint a soulful and funky character to my sound; it really all depends on my mood or the message behind the song. My first two albums were more techno-oriented and I decided to do City Cuts more house-focused because I wanted to reflect what I play also in my DJ sets, which is generally a mix of both. DJ Times: Do you have any plans to work on another LP, or are you focused on singles/EPs right now? Dosem: I’ve been thinking a lot about that these last two years. I really enjoy doing albums because it allows me to explore a wider spectrum of music styles. I get bored easily when only producing or playing one style, so on the road I’m always creating new music ideas on my computer. Very different genres and sounds… you can listen some of that in my albums. That’s why I decided to launch my own [Houstrike] label this year, which will be a whole project to release all this music I have in my hard drive and also a place to do collaborations with some other great artists. I want to use it as a platform where I will be able to explore beyond the music and experiment with the visual side of production as well. (continued on page 42)

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Funk-tastic! WITH A SHARP NEW VENUE IN BROOKLYN & FRESH MUSIC IN THE OFFING, SOUL CLAP CONTINUES TO GIVE UP THE EFUNK

By Chris K. Davis New York City – The landscape of the modern music industry is an unforgiving place for aspiring artists still learning how to navigate it, and with the advent of digital music and the Internet, prospective fans are constantly being bombarded by both literal and figurative noise. Enter Soul Clap: a funk-tastic DJ and production duo that represents the archetypal “working-DJ” success story. We’re not exaggerating—Airdrop Records delivered Soul Clap’s first releases when they were still DJing in Macy’s de-

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

partment stores to pay the bills.

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Later, after starting their “Dancing On The Charles” party in their old hometown of Boston—an event which inspired the annual Soul Clap Records compilation of the same name—the duo forged a partnership with their Crew Love collective co-founders and fellow disco dons Wolf + Lamb. That’s when everything changed. After paying their dues in the trenches as Massachusetts mobile DJs, both playing and throwing every kind of party under the sun, Soul Clap blended the old and the new, curated an unmistakable sound, and found a special group of peers who shared their vision. Fast-forward to 2014, when Soul Clap received the honor of being “soft-knighted” by Dr. Funkenstein, aka Parliament-Funkadelic bandleader and principal architect of P-Funk, George Clinton. The duo was invited down to Clinton’s Florida-based studio to produce several tracks for the most recent Funkadelic album, First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate, and they later released a remix EP of that material. In 2015, Soul Clap played an allvinyl set at Berlin’s Watergate club, and the ensuing compilation—the first live recording of the German venue’s venerable mix series—received critical acclaim after it was released by Watergate Records.

Jonathan McDonald

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

In the Woods: Soul Clap at Electric Forest.

Of course, 2016 is shaping up to be a monster year for Soul Clap, too, as they’re gearing up for the February launch of a Crew Love record label through a long-awaited collaborative album. Crew Love – Based on a True Story drops early in the year, and once the dust settles, Soul Clap will release its second artist album as well. To learn more about what make them tick, we linked up with Soul Clap—Charles “Cnyce” Levine and Eli “Elyte” Goldstein—at a rare Sunday rooftop gig at Brooklyn’s Output club. The resulting discussion covers an abundance of topics, including how Charlie and Eli honed their extensive knowledge of DJ

“Digital makes it easier to DJ, but that means that there’s often less craft or skill that goes into a set. Newer digital DJs don’t have to learn the same things that we had to learn in order to survive.” – Eli Goldstein

history, their studio secrets, their crate-digging methodology, and what aspiring DJs need to do replicate the runaway success of Crew Love and Soul Clap Records. Get out your notebooks, kids. DJ Times: How did you discover dance music? Goldstein: For me, it was via jazz and hip hop, which led to jungle and house. Levine: My awakening was at a summer camp in the ’90s. I had a few counselors who were from the U.K. and The Netherlands, and they introduced me to the sounds of breakbeat, hardcore, drum-n-bass, Aphex Twin, and The Orb. My American camp counselors put me onto black music like Parliament-Funkadelic, Gap Band, and the Isley Brothers. DJ Times: What was the first dance-music event you attended? Levine: The first party I went to was in Toronto. It was called Hullabaloo. It was a happy hardcore party, but they also had a house room and a jungle room. My ears really perked up in the house room because I could hear the samples and influences from soul music. Goldstein: I went to a party called Boom at the Bahama Beach Club in Nashua, N.H., and I thought, “Oh my God! This is the most amazing thing in the world.” They threw that party every Friday night and it went until 6 a.m. I still think about that moment around sunrise, when they used to throw open the doors. The music would still be playing and everyone would keep dancing underneath the sunbeams. It was the ultimate. I was in love. DJ Times: Eli, can you paint a

picture of your old Boston DJ crew, Elemental Compounds? Goldstein: Sure. I played a lot of jungle and drum-n-bass in high school, and I linked up with a guy I knew from local parties who went by the name Mr. Lex. We threw a few parties together and that turned into Elemental Compounds, a jungle music crew that included a lot of local DJs. Levine: You were also playing garage at the time, which brought you and me together. Both of us were collecting a distinct kind of U.K. garage-meets-house sound, and those sounds connected what was going on in deep house to U.K. garage, and also to drum-n-bass. There was a lot of mixing and melding of genres. DJ Times: How did Soul Clap first begin? Levine: A friend introduced us in the late ’90s and we noticed we had a mutual respect for certain records. We started going record shopping together and eventually we realized that we were buying a lot of the same ones. So, we decided to build a collection together. That served as the foundation for our friendship and our music. DJ Times: When and where was your first DJ gig together? Goldstein: Charlie and I got thrown together in 2001 at a party in Washington, D.C. Levine: That party was called Mandate. My friend Adam Freeburg and I had a production company named Deservedly So Productions. We threw another party in Boston, and we booked Eli ahead of time for that one. It was the first time Eli was listed on a flyer!

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DJ Times: Was that night the birth of Soul Clap? Levine: Yeah! Soul Clap was the fusion of my funk and disco roots and Eli’s garage and jungle roots. We did a mix together back then called “Disco Step 2001” which was twostep and disco-house. Goldstein: It’s on MixCloud somewhere. Levine: It was a cool mix, man. In the beginning, Soul Clap was Eli and I putting our two influences together to create a new sound. But now, I think we’ve become the torchbearers of the legacy of the Paradise Garage and of [soulful garage] deep house. DJ Times: What significance did the Boston record store Vinyl Connection have in your lives? Levine: We were teenagers and that shop was the holy grail of records. Vinyl Connection was very intimidating back then. Goldstein: Everybody would be like, “Oh, you like house music? You have to go to Vinyl Connection, but I don’t know if they’ll let you in.” Levine: Yeah, they would kick people out for having poor etiquette. Like, there was only one station to listen to records at. You couldn’t listen privately on headphones, so everyone had to hear what you were playing, and you only had one record at a time. DJ Times: Did the one-record rule apply to everyone?

Levine: Yeah, unless you were “in,” and then you could have a stack of records. That process of “paying your dues” is something totally lost in today’s world. Anyway, it was an honor that the staff took such a liking to us. Caril Mitro was one of the original DJs in Boston and the owner of Vinyl Connection. She eventually became our mentor. I remember how one day Caril said to us, “House wears many hats,” and ultimately, that’s exactly what Soul Clap does! We take all these different sounds and blend them together. Goldstein: Caril and the other guy who ran the store, Tom, taught us so much. Our introduction to disco came from them. They used to pull out record after record for us to hear. Levine: I would also shout out DJ Con as one of our teachers. He shopped at Vinyl Connection. Dmitri from Paris and Frankie Knuckles would come by, too. Having those guys in there was a big deal for Boston. DJ Times: What’s your process for discovering new music now? Levine: We shop online and crate-dig in person as much as possible. But now, if we find that there’s a hole in our repertoire that we need to be filled, we go into the studio and make that music. DJ Times: What are the names and locations of your favorite record stores? Goldstein: I like Audio-In Records in Berlin, Rush Hour in Amsterdam, and Love Vinyl and Phonica, both in London. Going shopping for physical records is so important nowadays because there’s so much music that only comes out on vinyl. Levine: I want to add Downtown

Records [in New York City] to that list. They don’t have a storefront, but in the past year, I’ve been ordering a lot from there and then taking a taxi down the street to pick them up, which is a luxury for New York residents. DJ Times: Do you have any favorite record shops here in Brooklyn? Goldstein: Superior Elevation Records. It’s more of a crate-digging spot. Tom Noble—aka “Disco Tom”—and his wife opened that spot. It’s dope. Levine: There’s also A1 Records, and then Turntable Lab, which stocks a lot of new product. But, yeah, the U.S.A. doesn’t compare Europe when it comes to records. We’re spoiled by being able to visit the shops over there so often. DJ Times: Do you think the digital revolution has helped or hurt DJs when it comes to music discovery? Nowadays, a lot of kids coming up have never even touched vinyl. Levine: That’s a difficult ques-

“To me, being a DJ is learning when to play the deep cuts, making different selections on the fly and being able to play in different settings.”

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

– Charlie Levine

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tion. There’s something indescribable about having to go through the record-store listening process – having guys in the store with amazing ears that can turn you on to new sounds. But there’s also a treasure trove of music available on platforms like SoundCloud. Goldstein: With digital, you can carry so much more music with you, which can be really exciting, but can also be really daunting. It can water down your sound or you can be prepared for anything. Most of all, digital makes it easier to DJ, but that means that there’s often less craft or skill that goes into a DJ set. Newer digital DJs don’t have to learn the same things that we had to learn in order to survive. I’m not saying that playing with analog is always better because there are so many cool things you can do with software like Serato, Traktor, or plugging USBs into CDJs. Levine: Where digital is detrimental is that kids aren’t learning about selection and timing anymore. There are plenty of EDM kids playing big stages and doing cool, technical shit, but they’re just serving up the same set every time. To me, being a DJ is learning when to play the deep cuts, making different selections on the fly and being able to play in different settings. DJ Times: What’s it like playing in your new hometown of NYC? Goldstein: It’s really nice to play here because we can bring more records than normal, and pick specific records for the gig because we’re just going down the street. That’s one thing that’s nice about playing here at Output. I love it. Levine: People in New York generally keep an open mind and know a lot of the classics. You have a lot more “heads” out here. DJ Times: What equipment you use when DJing? Goldstein: Vinyl and CDJs. We always bring vinyl with us, but sometimes we might play a festival and the turntables will be wobbly, so we won’t play any records. But the next night we might play in a club, the vinyl will sound amazing, and we’ll get to play all the records that we brought. That relates back to what I said earlier about how one medium is not better than the other when DJing. It’s about being able to play in different settings. DJ Times: Your Crew Love compatriots Wolf + Lamb recently resurrected The Marcy Hotel as The Marcy North. Can you tell us a little about the original Marcy Hotel? Goldstein: There’s not supposed to be a lot of information. It’s one of those things… mysterious, living in the ether. What I can tell you is that it wasn’t really a hotel and some of the best parties of my life went (continued on page 40)

CMY

2/17/2016 4:06:59 PM

0212.pdf

2/12/16

11:31 AM

MARCH 21 - 24, 2016

Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach

CMY

31st Annual International Dance Music Awards

The Official Guide to Events in and around WMC Week

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During par ties he DJed throughout 2015, Scott Goldoor of Signature Sounds in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., said he actually found himself playing a lot of songs from 2014 and 2013—and even back a few years earlier. According to Goldoor, at least in his Northeastern market, he watched one of the year’s top tunes— Sil e n t ó ’s “ Wa t c h M e (Whip/Nae Nae)”— simply come and go. Meanwhile, over on the opposite coast, Mark Hagger ty of the Bay Area’s Denon & Doyle Entertainment says last year he observed more of what DJs can typically expect from receptions and private-events crowds ever y year… though he does admit they quickly did become tired

you may think—though it is a good re-build song when a DJ is coming out of a slow dance. “Meanwhile, ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ [by The Weeknd] is hitting still pretty good and mixes well with the 120-BPM songs.” Besides playing the latest Top-40 tunes, Haggerty says he’d even jump out on the floor himself and dance with guests in order to rejuvenate a dead or dying dance floor. “Teach them a line dance , which seems especially needed with corporate gigs,” he suggests. “With a wedding, I just know how to read a crowd well, so I’ll always join them to party with the music.” For this stor y, we not only explored what were the “happening” songs of 2015, but fur ther asked mobile DJs about

“Otherwise, it was just the same-old, same-old. Of course, we were also blessed with Fetty Wap, Justin Bieber, Diplo and DJ Snake, too.” Back over on the East Coast, Artem Lomas of NinetyThree Entertainment in Morris County, N.J., says most of us will agree that “Uptown Funk” was the crowd favorite of 2015. “Aside from being widely popular, it’s also very versatile so DJs could use it to go into Top-40 sets, or funk sets, or even to transition into it from line dances, while Walk the Moon’s ‘Shut Up and Dance’ proved to be a new sing-along

tion,” he says, “but the key was to keep participants engaged with music selection once those ‘tactics’ are no longer being applied.” It should come as no surprise what the top-performing songs of 2015 ended up being, according to Mike Mahoney of M&M Entertainment up in South Portland, Maine. “These songs were obviously ‘Shut Up and Dance’ and ‘Uptown Funk,’ ” says Mahoney. “ Ye t t h e b r e a k o u t star from the archives was still a bit of a surprise—‘Come and Get Your Love’ by Redbone [from 1974]. “I got a request for it from a couple who had it as their wedding song,” he explains. “I thought nothing of it and played it with the usual, ‘This song is going out to...’”

nent role in the movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. It seems like it’s always the movies that bring back the oldies-butgoodies.” As far as other tactics to use to get people back to the dancefloor, Mahoney says he doesn’t know that there’s anything new under the sun, yet he still has some methods he uses that do the trick nearly every time. “One thing I do— which I believe is unique—is to ask the couple beforehand for a favorite slow song,” he says, “or even for the second choice for their first-dance song. “I’ll most often start the dancing toward the end of dinner with a slow build, allowing me to use their first song later,” he explains. “This comes

T H E B AT T L E T O W I N T H E D A N C E F L O O R N E V E R E N D S . H E R E A R E S O M E W I N N I N of listening to the whipping boy. “ ‘ Wa t c h M e ’ i s quickly burning out and heading for the do-notplay list on our side of the country,” says Haggerty. “Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk’ was a crowd favorite that delivered both oldschool and new-school vibes in one song, while ‘Timber’ by Katy Perry still brought the dancers out, along with ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna/Calvin Harris. “ R o b i n T h i c k e ’s ‘Blurred Lines’ also still works for most crowds, especially as a rebuild-the-dancefloor tune. The disappointment of the year would h av e t o h av e b e e n ‘Sugar’ [by Maroon 5]. It’s a great tune and got requested a lot, but doesn’t always rock the dancefloor as hard as

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what they d i d l a s t ye a r when their dancefloor would suddenly go cold. Which happens to all of us. Overall, which were t h e t o p - p e r fo r m i n g songs for star ting a party or building energ y in a room last year, and how exactly did we pull things off? And when a dancefloor does go dead, which songs or tactics do we employ to build the energy back up again? For Seattle’s Adam Tiegs of Adam’s DJ Ser vice , it’s easy to point to the songs that packed his dancefloors in 2015 “‘Watch Me,’ ‘Cheerleader’ [by OMI] and ‘Shut Up and Dance’ [by Walk the Moon],” says Tiegs, “while ‘Uptown Funk’ did just quickly come and go.

favorite. “Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was a great floor opener, too, especially during wedding receptions, to get couples out onto the dancefloor—and was also popular for first dances last year.” When it comes to reactivating the dancefloor in 2015, other than simply playing a hot tune, Lomas says his approach was to simply obser ve his c row d s t o l o o k fo r clues of responsiveness that he could use later, and throughout any celebration. “Certain elements— such as line dances and/or games—could encourage participa-

And although anniversary songs typically don’t get a huge response without specific direction, Mahoney says that at his particular outdoor wedding (with m ay b e 8 0 g u e s t s ) , a s i t b e c a m e m o re and more clear what the song actually was, more and more people joined them. “And by the time the song was over,” he recalls, “I actually had a dozen couples on the dancefloor dancing to the song. “I then played that same song toward the end of dinner for ano t h e r we dd i n g , a n d people got right up and immediately danced to it. Later in the season, and more than once, I played it as a regular slow song, and it was a hit each and every time. “Later I found out the song had a promi-

i n h a n d y, especially at outdoor weddings or inside a barn on a beautiful day. I’ll introduce the song by saying, ‘Today we’re celebrating two people who are very much in love. If you’ve come here today with someone with whom you’re ver y much in love as well, then please join our newlyweds on the dancefloor.’” Another method Mahoney tends to use to pack the floor is to coordinate with the photographer ahead of time to find all the groups that will be in attendance—such as family members, coworkers, classmates, knitting-club pals, poker buddies, etc. “Then, when needed, I’ll call those folks out for a group photo on

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the dancefloor,” he explains. “This is sometimes helpful to break up the night anyway, a s fewe r a n d fewe r couples these days are choosing to do all of the usual traditions. “Half the battle is getting people to the dancefloor. But once they’re there on the floor, it’s much easier to keep them there.” If nothing else, Mahoney says that during a cocktail hour he’s careful to locate the “spitfires” (i.e., “the unsinkable Molly Browns who sing at their tables.”) “I’ll tell them that I need them to get as many people up when I play a specific song,

like Mark Haggerty out on the West Coast will do. “Sometimes, moreover, I learn that their parents—or one of their parents—is more outgoing, the mother of the groom, for instance,” he continues. “Then I may have them kick things off with ‘Pretty Woman,’ ‘The Way You Look Tonight,’ ‘ F o o t l o o s e ,’ ‘ R o c k Around the Clock’ or other oldies that have come back big-time up here in Maine. “And when those parents do come out, I let everyone know, ‘Hey, that’s the mother of the groom, so come on out and show her some love!’… or

ages,” says Hollmann. “After warming up a dancefloor and approaching a peak, my favorite go-to record was ‘Shut Up and Dance,’ which, with its infectious hook, was a great launchpad to peakh o u r ’ 8 0 s j a m s l i ke Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,’ Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ and Eddie Money’s ‘Take Me Home Tonight.’” One lesser-known track Hollmann utilized to great effect at weddings, Sweet 16s and bar/bat mitzvahs was the 2014 EDM track “Tremor” by Dimitri Vegas & Martin Garrix & Like Mike. “With its big-room sound, ‘Tremor’ sucked

was a great party starter and paired well with ‘Sugar’ by Maroon 5,” he explains. “For our company, the top ballads of 2015 were ‘Thinking Out Loud’ [by Ed Sheeran], plus two Fifty Shades o f G re y s o u n d t r a c k selections: ‘Earned It’ [by The Weeknd] and ‘Love Me Like You Do’ [by Ellie Goulding]. “ To m a i n t a i n e n ergy levels, I utilize a faster-paced, quick-mix style that allows me to mix out of tracks that aren’t working so well. At weddings, I tend to play longer sections of songs, but maintain the flexibility to mix out as needed. “Running a tight

respected Sean “Big Daddy” McKee. Some of the things Wieder shared during his session was playing the first dance as the family led into the bride and groom’s first dance, or doing the anniversary dance with a twist—opening the dancefloor with what he calls “H2K” (hugs, hi-5s & kisses) and therefore bringing energy to the floor. “As wedding DJs and MCs, we are unique,” he says, “and through the years we’ve honed our skills and have developed the ability to read a crowd and manipulate the dancefloor to capitalize on the energy in the room.

Floor Fillers

and that it would mean a lot to the bride and groom,” he says. “By telling more than one person, I ensure myself against the occasional party animal who has peaked a little too early, or people just forgetting what I had told them. “As soon as they see one table heading up to the dancefloor, their memory kicks in and it’s suddenly game-on.” Sometimes, Mahoney says, when he’s got a shy bride and groom who just want to get the party moving, he’ll use the tried-and-true g ro u p p a r t i c i p a t i o n d a n c e s o n g s — mu c h

something to that effect. “Like I said, probably not anything ear thshattering, but those are the things that have worked for me.” Gregg Hollmann of Ambient DJ Service in East Windsor, N.J., was a 2016 The Knot Best of Weddings Winner who agrees with most DJs that his top party-starting song of 2 0 1 5 w a s “ U p t ow n Funk.” “At 114 BPM and heavily influenced by the Minneapolis funk sounds of the 1980s, the song managed to enjoy high appeal among guests of all

in dancers and raised energy levels through the roof,” says Hollmann. “On the hiphop and R&B side of t h e s p e c t r u m , ‘ Tr ap Queen’ [by Fetty Wap] and ‘Hotline Bling’ [by Drake] ruled the roost. While the tempos of these songs were dreary, at just 70 BPM or so, teen guests in particular enjoyed singing along.” Hollmann says his favorite break-through artist of 2015 was Jamaican singer OMI, with his hit “Cheerleader” (Felix Jaehn Remix). “ T h a t h a p py a n d tropical house remix

mixing board and executing meaningful transitions definitely helps to keep a dancefloor hot at any type of party. Mobile DJs who don’t mix are highly advised to learn this important skill.” Mike Wieder is a nationally recognized presenter and the owner of East Windsor, N.J.-based Ultimate Sounds Entertainment. Wieder recently gave a presentation headlined “Be the Difference Maker” in Lagrangeville, N.Y., which included a wedding performance presentation with a special introduction by the well-

“There are three types of people at every event: Those who will dance, those who won’t dance, and those who might dance—if they have the right entertainment.” The way Wieder explains it, mobile DJs are the difference-makers in how any event turns out. “You listen to clients’ needs and then incorporate your abilities to create the atmosphere they’ve always dreamt of,” he says. “You take their ideas and dreams, mix it with your experience, and then create the menu to success.” n

DJ TIMES

E WINNING METHODS.

MARCH 2016

BY JEFF STILES

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Are You a Real DJ?

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

A F T E R Y E A R S O F D R A M AT I C G E A R E V O L U T I O N , T H E N O T I O N O F D J A U T H E N T I C I T Y HAS COME INTO QUESTION. SHOULD IT?

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BY CHRIS ALKER

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

In 1935, American radio commentator Walter Winchell coined the term “Disc Jockey.” It would later be shortened to the more commonly used acronym, “DJ,” and for the next 50 years “DJs” practicing the art and science of playing records did so with vinyl records and turntables. During that time period, it was not easy being a DJ. Equipment was expensive, the tricks of the trade were closely guarded secrets, and a substantial vinyl-record collection was a prerequisite to getting your foot in the door. Needless to say, the competition pool was small. In 1999, when I began DJing as a college student, I knew few DJs, and even fewer who were willing to teach me. I managed to talk my way into an apprenticeship at an underground-dance-music FM-radio show and pestered the resident DJs to show me the ropes. “OK, here’s how to slip-cue, there’s the headphone cue, and that’s the pitch control... good luck, kid.” My first and only lesson went something like that. But, it was enough. I caught the bug, began collecting vinyl, and played out wherever I could get booked. For years, I lugged vinyl and did my best to absorb something from every DJ I met. I eventually moved to New York City and made the switch to Serato Scratch Live in 2005. I was skeptical at first, but quickly became a supporter. Aside from the obvious physical advantages of using digital media, it was DJing as usual to me, albeit with a few more tricks. Initially, club-goers were confused at seeing a laptop in the “disc-jockey booth.” Doesn’t he need to change the records? For the first few years, I was constantly educating my followers on the technology and assured them that my “DJ-ness” was still intact. But Serato was merely the tip of the iceberg. As we all know, newer technologies have replaced the need for vinyl discs and turntables altogether. Of course, over time—in and out of the DJ culture—the questions about the notion of authenticity came flying. Are the seasoned DJs who have embraced these new technologies still DJs? What about the wannabes just getting their start? Are they “real DJs”? How and why has new technology changed the notion of the DJ? CDs, CDJs & Flash Drives: While compact discs had been around since 1982, it wasn’t until the creation of pitch-adjustable CD players in the mid-’90s, better known as CDJs, that DJs considered CDs a genuine vinyl alternative. Just under 5-inches wide, a single compact disc can hold 80 minutes of music – more than twice that of a 12-inch vinyl plate running at 33 RPM. This saved the backs of many a DJ who had become accustomed to lugging heavy, vinyl-filled gig bags. In addition, the use of a laser in lieu of a needle for playback solved the latency problem that a motor-driven turntable created. Since the technology still requires a circular storage disc that spins, the disc jockey’s identity remained intact. CDJs were initially deemed gimmicky by club owners, but they have since become the default DJ setup at most major clubs around the globe, thanks to forwardthinking companies like Pioneer DJ. As a result, the move to CDJs now equipped with USB flash-drive readers have not caused nearly as much controversy as some of the following developments.

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MARCH 2016

DJ TIMES 26

Digital Audio Workstations: In 2001, the Berlinbased music software company, Ableton AG, introduced an affordable digital audio workstation (DAW) with live remixing and performance in mind. An entire musical oeuvre can be created, manipulated, performed, and stored on a laptop. No turntables, CDJs, or discs of any kind are necessary, yet a “DJ” can cue songs, match beats, and add effects ad infinitum. Numerous DJ softwares—at a fraction of the cost, but without the production capabilities—quickly followed. The complete replacement of the classic DJ setup with a portable computer is regarded by many as sacrilege, but the best of both worlds for others. Digital Vinyl System (DVS): In a marriage of oldmeets-new-technology, the creation of vinyl-emulation software (and its initial release to the public in 2001) allowed for digital audio files stored on a laptop to be controlled through a time-coded piece of vinyl on a turntable via an external sound card. Think DeLorean hover conversion. This allowed those uninterested or unwilling to give up the look and feel of vinyl something deemed essential to maintaining the art they had pioneered, the benefits of high-storage capacity, live looping, and audio effects. DJ Controllers: The creation of the DJ controller was technology following its natural path of making things faster, more efficient, and compact. These devices began as the fusion of two turntables (or CDJs) and a mixer into a single portable rig. While there are no discs, there is an homage to traditional DJing via rotary controls and sliding faders. A laptop computer, touchpad or even a smartphone can be used to run the software interface. The latest generation of controllers eschews the turntable reference altogether and focuses on triggering clips and effects with the simple push of an LED illuminated button. Moldover’s “Controllerism” is here to stay. Touch-Screen Apps: The latest wave in DJ equipment is the development of powerful software applications for tablet computers, most notably the iPad, which was first released in 2010. Digital audio files are cued and manipulated via virtual faders and knobs with nothing more than the tip of one’s finger. The advancement has already led to the development of Blade Runner-esque MIDI controllers like Smithson-Martin’s Emulator Elite. The Debate: Today, there is an ongoing debate as to whether or not the users of these aforementioned technologies, most of whom have never even touched a classic DJ setup, are entitled to call themselves “real DJs” in the first place. In one camp are the purists. These DJs adhere to the most literal interpretation of the term “disc jockey.” The “disc” refers to vinyl disc records and “jockey” refers to a machine operator. The turntable is the original playback machine. Purists do not consider anyone not utilizing records and turntables to be a “DJ.” At the opposite end of the spectrum are the progressives. They believe that regardless of the technology used, or the medium preferred, the “DJ” is an umbrella term for anyone who plays pre-recorded music. The current Wikipedia entry for the definition of a “disc jockey” supports this claim stating, “A disc jockey (abbreviated D.J., DJ or deejay) is a person who plays recorded music for an audience, either a radio audience if the mix is broadcast or the audience in a venue such as a bar or nightclub... Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter which medium is used.” The physical manipulation of vinyl records for the sake of beat matching and turntable trickery, a significant focus of DJ culture, is often the criteria by which we measure whether someone is a “real DJ,” when, in fact, they did not exist at the time Mr. Winchell coined the term. Believe it or not, Grandmaster Flash, the godfather of “turntablism,” was chastised for stopping a spinning record by placing his hand on the platter, something essential to cueing, during the development of his “quick-mix theory” in the ’70s. He, too, was not initially considered a “DJ” by some. But I dare you to walk into any DJ school now and utter the words, “Grandmaster Flash is not a true DJ.” Clearly, the origin of the term was born of those individuals using the technology of the day. But why would an advance in said technology create such an uproar? The short answer is skill. Joel Davis, co-founder of All City Sound, a NYCbased audio/video rental, repair and installation company, says that for those looking to enter the world of DJing, the available technology includes “literally hundreds of options, separated by extreme minutia of details ranging from construction quality to component features and aesthetic appeal.” Access to these newer technologies, which now automate numerous aspects of what DJs previously did manually, has upended the standards by which we measure a DJ’s ability. Advancements like quantization, beat-synching, loop-

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ing, built-in effects, track previewing, and rapid loading make the most basic of turntable skills a relative cakewalk. Numerous “jocks” out there rely on the latest advancements to meet the standards by which turntable DJs are measured, rather than raising the bar. Lazy laptop syndrome is bad for the progressive DJs out there with real skill who will be overlooked by purists simply because they are using newer technologies. Kid Capri, a judge for Smirnoff’s reality-TV DJ competition “Master of The Mix,” asserted his own puritanical position on KMBZ 98.1FM’s website. “I’m not fully down with all of the technology that’s coming out and taking away the essence of what it is,” he said. “The essence of what a deejay is… is two turntables, a mixer and a mic.” It’s no wonder that the lonely iPad DJ on the show, DJ Hohme, was booted just two episodes into Season 3. DJ Premier goes even further in D.J.P’s documentary, For Promotional Use Only, claiming, “You need to own at least 1,000 records to call yourself a DJ.” An unexpected side effect of the purist’s stance is that someone can cash in on the cultural currency of the “DJ” moniker by simply using an older technology. These days, a pair of turntables is as much a vintage fashion statement as a Sailor Jerry tattoo. One mechanism progressive DJs use to earn the respect of older DJs is by learning the art of DJing by starting with turntables before moving on to the newer technologies. In The Scratch DJ Academy Guide: On The Record, British turntablist DJ Yoda says, “I think it’s important to get used to working with vinyl first. It’s crucial to have that basis, because the new technology just emulates two turntables and a mixer. Then, when you’ve mastered turntables, you can take advantage of the new toys.” The thinking here is that it instills an appreciation for the art form that has been painstakingly built over many years, and gives aspiring DJs a point of reference for advancing the art with newer technologies in ways that were previously not possible. Progress & Change: History shows that that the current state of DJing would not have been possible without the techniques and innovations of the early pioneers, but the purists must realize that their skills have not been usurped. They were essential to the evolution of this postmodern art form, and are inseparable from the identity of the DJ. The meaning of what it is to be a DJ has expanded, and it will continue to do so, regardless of whether or not those who took part in a particular stage of its development recognize it. The Nobel Prize-winning playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” DJs once changed their mind about Grandmaster Flash and it would be hypocritical to consider him an exception to the rule. Truth be told, records and turntables were merely the first available technologies that enabled someone to manipulate pre-recorded sounds in a live performance and make connections between all types of music in a way that would otherwise be a daunting, if not an impossible, task. Since the established cultural cache of being called a “DJ” is preferred to that of say, a “Playback Jockey,” despite the fact that most of us started our musical journey in our bedrooms playing music in our sweatpants, the power of the “DJ” tag has been diluted by the overwhelming number of people claiming the moniker. But not every person wielding two turntables and a mixer are “DJs” any more than people gluing feathers to their backsides are chickens. The coveted DJ title should be reserved for those that put in the time and effort to deliver a superior musical experience to those around them. In a recent interview, DJ/producer Kevin McHugh (aka Ambivalent) responded to the question of whether a DJ is defined by the equipment he uses. “The only people who should know which gear is used in the booth are the DJ and the club’s sound technician,” he said. “I guarantee that the most important information about a DJ set can be ascertained with your eyes closed and your body moving.” Wise words. Technology has changed over the years, but the intentions of real DJs are the same. If you are someone who relentlessly seeks out new sounds, are bent on building your music library, strive to create interesting sonic juxtapositions, enjoy causing epileptic fits of dancing, hear three songs ahead of each one you play, a good beat makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end, are the one your friends call when they want to know where they should go to hear new music, you scope out the DJ booth at every venue you visit, wouldn’t be caught dead without a pair of headphones on you, and have blown off a date or three for a gig, then you are a “real DJ.” Chris Alker is a New York-based DJ, architect, and writer. He is one-half of the DJ duo, DELUXE.

2/17/2016 4:56:19 PM

SHAPE YOUR SOUND

Bose® F1 Model 812 Flexible Array Loudspeaker

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Introducing the first portable loudspeaker that lets you easily control the vertical coverage – so wherever you play, more music reaches more people directly. The Bose F1 Model 812 Flexible Array Loudspeaker’s revolutionary flexible array lets you manually select from four coverage patterns, allowing you to adapt your PA to the room. Plus, the loudspeaker and subwoofer provide a combined 2,000 watts of power, giving you the output and impact for almost any application. Your audience won’t believe their ears.

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2/17/2016 4:08:33 PM

MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE… Cinemorphx: Powered by N.I.’s Kontakt player.

“If you’re a producer who enjoys building tracks with unique-sounding textures, then Cinemorphx is for you.”

CINEMORPHX: SAMPLE LOGIC’S UNIQUE SOFTSYNTH

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

By Josh Harris

With the release of Cinemorphx, Sample Logic continues to push the software-synth envelope. Why? It’s a groundbreaking cinematic virtual instrument that is powered by the Native Instruments Kontakt player. With over 6,000 instruments and 30GB of total content, this is a sound designers dream. Boasting four soundcore engines and simultaneous playback of up to eight sound sources, Cinemorphx has a rich sonic palette. The samples that make up the sound library are taken from three of Sample Logic’s previous virtual instruments: AIR Expanded, Synergy and Elements. That being said, the presets, features and programmability of Cinemorphx are all brand new. Set-Up & Sound Library: After downloading and installing the library, I fired up Studio One and launched Cinemorphx. I was pleased with how easy the main page of the GUI was to navigate. The sound library is well organized and the preset browser is categorized in the following manner: soundsources; soundcores; single cores; and multi-cores. A soundcore consists of two samples or soundsources, and a preset can consist of as little as one single core, or up to four multi-cores. Within each group, the sounds are organized by sound type: atmospheres; instrumentals; loops; and percussives. The multi-core group contains what are called “one-note combinations.” These presets allow for some very interesting morphing between samples to create dense sonic soundscapes. Each of the four cores has a complete set of programmable parameters, like envelopes, filters and effects. The joystick control in the center of the page allows for real-time morphing of effects and parameters between the different soundcores. The global effects, which reside at the bottom of the page, apply to all of the soundcores.

The second page of the GUI is where the step animator lives, and at first glance, it looks like a normal step sequencer. However, it’s really a step sequencer and an arpeggiator on steroids. Users have the ability to sequence any or all of the multiple cores contained within a sound, and the step animator can be applied to pitch, velocity, pan and note length. Different steps within a step-sequencer pattern can have their own individual parameters, which is pretty amazing. I love sounds that have motion and some sort of rhythmic pulse or groove. The step animator is a fantastic tool for creating those types of sounds. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the randomization feature, which is a great tool for creating some slightly different versions of the included presets, or creating alternate versions of your own presets. Simply select the “R” button from within each core and then click on the big Random button in the upper right hand corner of the GUI. Cinemorphx will randomly adjust parameters within your preset, resulting in a whole new sound. It’s a very quick and easy process. Uses: So, where would a virtual instrument like this one find a home in electronic dance music? I can see Cinemorphx being a very valuable tool in creating depth within drops and breakdowns, and adding tension to certain moments in a track. If you’re one of those producers who enjoys building tracks with unique-sounding textures, then Cinemorphx is for you. Conclusions: The MSRP is $599 for new users, but if you own one legacy product, it’s only $499. If you own two or three legacy products, you will pay $399 and $299, respectively. Congrats to the Sample Logic team on creating what I feel is one of our most exciting new virtual instruments. If you have any questions for Making Tracks, please send them to djtimes@ testa.com.

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2/17/2016 4:08:35 PM

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2/17/2016 4:08:35 PM

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

SYSTEM 10 PRO: WIRELESS WONDER By Paul Dailey

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

Digital Wireless: Audio-Technica’s upgrade.

To begin at the end, let me say that I have literally zero past experience with A u d i o - Te c h n i c a m i c ro phones. I have been a fan of their high-fidelity phonograph cartridges for decades and have had good luck with their headphones, in both studio and DJ settings. But being a user of other microphone brands, I never had the occasion to try out A-T mics. So… the team at AudioTechnica sent me a set-up from its new System 10 PRO line – the ATW-1312/L, including the ATW-RC13 dual rack-mount receiver chassis, two ATW-RU13 receiver units, an ATW-T1001 UniPak transmitter and an MT830cW lavaliere mic , plus an ATW-T1002 handheld microphone/transmitter. This system utilizes an all-digital, 24-bit/48 kHz audio pathway on the 2.4 GHz band, making it completely free from TV and DTV in-

the receiver units, which you can attach via Ethernet cable (up to 328 feet long) to locate the receivers at a distance from the chassis, which is beneficial in so many ways. No matter where you choose to set up, terference. you now have a way to mitiThe System: The unit I gate interference quickly received has a dual-channel, and easily—such a good idea. half-space, fully mountable The handheld unit has an chassis, a clear LED display on/off/mute button on the showing RF signal level, sys- bottom, which was easy to tem ID, transmitter-battery operate, maybe even a bit level, system-link status, and too easy – as a few times which ID number you are speakers hit the button pairing on. The rear panel when passing the mic. The includes AC power, a vol- UniPak is similarly straightume knob (recommended forward, though we noted by Audio-Technica to set it took a little longer than to maximum in typical use), the mic to power on after and dual balanced and un- pressing the button. Overall, balanced outputs. the cardioid mic felt good In my testing—even in and was, in fact, lighter than busy downtown hotels with most microphones I use on tons of RF interference—I a regular basis. never had to do anything In Practice: The ATWm o re t h a n t u r n o n t h e 1312/L worked well in our unit and microphones to testing. In a setting where get them to pair, but there I have had issues before— are very easy-to-follow in- a busy hotel in downtown structions to troubleshoot Boston with a ton of wirein more challenging set-ups. less Internet, cell phones, Layout: The new modu- and Bluetooth devices nearlar design of the receiver by—the unit performed is well-planned. By press- flawlessly. The sound quality ing the release buttons on was also notable—bright the front, you can pop out without being harsh and a

ton of presence. I was able to get the same results with much less “gain” than other mics. I was able to attain strong results at 250 feet from the base unit, much more than I would ever need in the real world. I had two issues with the unit, which took a small bit of the shine off an otherwise exceptional experience. The first was down to battery life, as my unit sucked the power from a pair of brand new AA batteries in less than four hours. The unit also lost power quickly and went from two bars to dead without much warning. The other issue I had was an amount of handling noise. Holding the handheld mic and speaking using proper mechanics was fine and, if I have the chance to mount this on a stand and have users employ the mic hands-free, these could be mitigated, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a wireless mic. But, on occasion, having multiple speakers pass the mic back and forth could be a distracting

experience. Conclusions: The Audio-Technica ATW-1312/L wireless system with which I was provided has a MAP of $849 and comes in many other configurations. Small issues aside , I was ver y pleased with the performance. Sound quality was excellent, set-up hassle free, and overall the system feels sturdy and roadworthy. The ability to pair 10 transmitters per receiver, extend the range via Ethernet cables, and the other upgraded features should make this wireless system appealing to a lot of people. This is definitely a system worth considering for your wireless needs. If you have any questions for Sounding Off, please send them to djtimes@testa.com.

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2/17/2016 4:08:39 PM

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2/17/2016 4:08:39 PM

MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

WI SCON SIN DJ TELLS I T LI KE IT IS

High Energy’s Scott Quimby: In business for 23 years.

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

By Con Carney Waterloo, Wis.—To get to the beginning of Scott Quimby’s DJ journey, one has to go back to the summer of 1992, when he was invited to four weddings. “Each one was progressively worse and worse,” says the Wisconsin native, unafraid to tell it like it is. “The DJs were just standing there, not interactive, not creating a party environment.” Eventually, at the third wedding—“After some liquid encouragement,” says Quimby—he grabbed the mic and sang along with the songs that were playing. “People responded,” he recalls, “and at the fourth wedding, a friend of mine’s mother asked me to sing again for the crowd, and when I was done, she said, ‘You really have a knack for this—you should be an entertainer.’” The seed was planted. Emboldened, he went to the local roller rink and got the DJ job immediately. The kids loved his routine, but he quickly tired of the less glamorous part of the job—emptying garbage, cleaning up spilled soda and cardboard pizza boxes. So he applied to a local mobile company to do weddings. “They kept sending me out with an older gentleman who, in my opinion, was not a very good trainer,” he says. “I felt I was ready to spread my wings and do great things. When I asked the manager to give me my own gigs, she told me sarcastically if ‘I didn’t like their training practices, maybe I should go start my

own company.’” Well, Quimby did just that and, 23 years later, he still owns High Energy DJs & Photography in Waterloo—an hour west of Milwaukee, a half-hour east of Madison. “I’m thinking they wished I would have stayed with them,” he says. It’s a career that’s made him forget about all the job-hopping he had done prior. “Anything was better than what I was making prior to starting my DJ career,” he says. “I had no desire for continued education at that point in my life, so DJing, for me, I was like, ‘I have to make this work at all costs.’” Initially, when he started his company, Quimby’s challenges were typical— finding gigs. “I invested a solid chunk of my initial start-up loan in equipment and music and didn’t leave much for advertising,” he says. “Pounding the pavement was the only way.” He found a couple of local bars that were willing to hire him “on the cheap,” and through this exposure to weekend audiences, wedding work started to trickle in. Quimby says once the wedding business got going, the referrals began to pile up quickly. Within 12 months of starting his company, he had to expand. “I had a couple of friends that needed some extra cash and they were relatively outgoing fellows, so I took them as fellow DJs,” he says. “Over the years, I cannot emphasize enough how important it has been to hire good people. You can teach them to be good entertainers, but they need to be good people in general. The referral business is 80-percent of our business and hiring the right person can make or break your company. I still have on staff one of those first two guys I hired 20-plus years ago.” All those years in business have brought many changes to the industry, some good, some not so good. “The climate has changed over the years,” he says. “Print advertising is dead to me. I solely use Internet ads and social media. There is no need to throw money to the wind at shotgun advertising concepts. We deal with direct-ad sites that hit our target audiences right between the eyes.” The better equipment is a favorable change, of course, and music being delivered on laptop has been a life-saver, eliminating the haul of boxes of records or CDs. But for Quimby, one of the more disappointing changes happened in the early 2000s. “It was the whole ‘get-what-you’re-worth’ dialogue that was being peddled,” he says. “Most of my competitors locally shunned my company because we refused to raise our rates. Our company does very well with our price point where it is at, and my competitors felt I was undercutting them because I refused to play the game of collectively raising our rates to our competitors’ level. I was deemed ‘a joke’ or somehow not worthy of their standards.” It still stings, obviously, but Quimby says he keeps the overhead low and the service level high—no huge lighting displays or massive stacks of gear. He runs seven systems and they all include: Inspiron laptops running Virtual DJ; Stanton DJC.4 controller/interfaces; FBT powered speakers or Bose towers; and various lighting units from ADJ and Chauvet. “I will take my 25-minute setup, and 15-minute teardown after the show,” he says. “The banquet managers like it, my DJs like it, I like it and best of all, my clients like it. There is room for everyone.” When I asked Quimby if he still enjoys DJing, he said that he’s at the point that he feels many business owners are at after 20-plus years on the job. “On days that I have to go DJ, I dread it until the equipment is set up and the mic is in my hand,” he says. “Then that same energy that led me into the business so long ago takes over and I feel the enthusiasm and adrenaline rush that has made this successful over the years. There is nothing better than getting that review back in the mail that tells me my company made the single-most important day of a bride’s life the best day of her life.” And when will he stop? “Hard to say, really,” he says. “I still marvel at the fact that the local high-school kids absolutely demand that a 45-year-old gray haired ‘old dude’ DJs for their proms—I must be doing something right. I’m sure the sun is setting, but put a mic in my hand and chances are I will probably be entertaining the seniors at the retirement home someday!”

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2/17/2016 4:08:42 PM

There's no comparison! D.A.S. has the cleanest, most 'heat-pounding’ low-end (bass) I've ever felt.

--- DJ Seraﬁn

International DJ / Producer

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2/17/2016 4:08:42 PM

BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

There’s an old saying: Average people learn from their mistakes, but smart people learn from other people’s mistakes. Many DJ business owners have taken this advice, and therefore look at the competition not with jealously, but as a way to learn and improve upon what they’re doing.

13 WAYS DJS LEARN FROM COMPETITORS

By Stu Kearns

Do your competitors make you better? If so, how do they make you better? Any sober analysis would suggest that, at one time or another in the life of your mobile-DJ business, you’ve at least reacted to something a competitor has done. Maybe it was uplighting, or, more likely, a game or a dance that you saw them perform that you knew would be great for your own program. You didn’t invent the photo booth, right? The point is, you can learn an awful lot from your competitors. Here are some ways you can take advantage of their experience. Writing website copy that connects: Peruse your competitors’ websites and look for web copy that connects with the audience—meaning, pay attention to copy that doesn’t talk too much about the DJ’s own service, but, rather, the needs of the customers. Look for the words “you” and “your.” Take a screen shot of these pages and set up a Pinterest board of website copy that stands out. Read it and re-read it, and eventually you’ll absorb the subtle selling techniques that others are using. Then update your own website copy to reflect it. If done correctly, you’ll have customers who preselect themselves rather than you having to sell them. Clean up your branding. At certain price points, you’ll see DJs with one thing in common: they don’t use stock photos. By improving the visual brand of your website and using real photos, people will begin to see a reflection of themselves on your site. DJs that have done this have realized an uptick in subscribers to their list, a spike in requests for consultation calls, and, ultimately, more customers. We all know that DJ who, during his early career, had a generic landing page and did not convert one lead into a customer. Don’t be that DJ forever!

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

Choose a competitor who’s doing Facebook brilliantly, and visit the pages of their audience and create an ad campaign that mirrors theirs. Pay attention to visuals and the tone of posts. Get on your competitors’ mailing lists—not to copy what they do, but to learn the psychology behind the copywriting, sales copy, the value proposition of their services, the benefits their services bring to their customers. If you’re not comfortable using your own e-mail address, create a generic email account. The goal isn’t to compete on price, but to determine the level, quality and depth of relationship they have with their prospects.

Read their blog posts, then add you own voice, personality and experience to the mix. It’s not plagiarism, by the way, but creative sharing. Create a list on Facebook; keep it private if you prefer. Put your competitors in this list and daily look at what they’re posting. Many times it will correspond to what you’ll see in the emails, but it’ll keep your finger on the pulse of what they’re doing. Put your competitors on a Twitter list and watch how they tweet, and, more importantly, how the market responds. What’s being retweeted, replied to or favorited? This is called social listening, and you can learn much by doing this. Next, search your competitors’ names without the Twitter handle. This is a way to see if they’re the object of customer complaints—they’re not answering the customer or prospect’s questions, for example. It’s unlikely by tweeting at these complainers you’ll get their business (they might complain no matter who their DJ is), but it’s a good way to keep presence of mind of what not to do. Look who’s coming up in the search results of Google for the keywords you think your customers use. Better yet, put your competitor’s URL into Buzzsumo. com and find out what keywords they’re winning at. Then put those keywords into KeywordTool.IO to generate some variations on those keywords that you might be able to compete for. Perform an audit of your competitors’ digital marketing to find gaps in your own. Look at how they do PR, SEO, content marketing, Adwords, and the UX/UI of their website. There are plenty of backlink checkers that will help you find out all the websites that have linked to your competitors. These can be leads for you to ask for a link to your own site. To see how your competitors do PR, look for their press mentions, either on their own website, or from Google News searching their name. Set up a Google Alert with your competitors’ names. With the outlets they appear in, you should probably be there, too. Remember, none of these tactics are meant to dissuade you from innovating. Just recognize that your competitor may have thought of things you haven’t, and that they often lay a lot of groundwork for you to be better at what you do. If you’re doing any sort of e-commerce, selling party supplies, for example, you can monitor the sales and marketing of competitors using RankTracer Enterprise. With this tool, you can receive alerts when there’s a spike in your competitors’ sales (in real-time). You can then access research tools that help you work out what marketing and promotions those competitors used to drive sales. Of course, the DJ industry is fortunate because it’s so localized. Sharing of ideas, games, and dances has been ingrained into the DNA of many DJs, who get frequent chances to exercise this at the DJ Expo every year (set for Aug. 15-18, 2016, in Atlantic City, N.J.). No need to snoop and connive—just ask!

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2/17/2016 4:08:44 PM

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2/17/2016 4:08:45 PM

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Last Night ADJ Saved My Life ADJ Products 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 582-2650 www.americandj.com The Mega TRIPAR Profile Plus is an upgrade to ADJ’s Mega TRIPAR Profile. This lie-flat par is designed to give access to IEC and XLR (DMX) input sockets on one side and the corresponding output sockets on the other, even when the unit is sitting flat. It utilizes five 4W Quad-Color (RGB+UV) LEDs with 64 built-in color macros to create an enhanced color pallet that includes hot pink, electric blue and lime green. Additional features include color strobe effects and 0-100-percent electronic dimming.

Let It Rane Rane Corporation 10802 47th Avenue West Mukilteo, WA 98275 (425) 355-6000 www.rane.com Rane’s MP2014 is a two-channel mixer that utilizes an essential assortment of analog and digital I/O supports to mix vinyl, CDs and USB streaming audio in any combination. The mixer features a rotary control surface and dual 16-channel USB sound cards, as well as a three-band, steep 24dB/octave main mix Isolator with adjustable crossover points. The portable unit utilizes the same platform as Rane’s MP2015 and also comes with three-way swept-filters.

Powered Wig Yamaha Corporation of America 6600 Orangethorpe Ave Buena Park, CA 90620 (714) 522-9011 www.yamahaproaudio.com The DXS18 is the latest powered subwoofer in Yamaha’s DXS Series. The DXS18 delivers the highest output level of the series as well as the lowest frequency range capability. Housed in a band-pass type plywood enclosure that is coated with a LINE-X finish, the unit features a 1020W Class-D amplifier and an 18-inch woofer with a durable four-inch voice coil. Additional features include advanced protection circuits in the speaker unit, amplifier unit and power supply, as well as a Cardioid Mode setting for sound systems with two or more DXS18 speakers.

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

Pioneer Electronics 1925 E. Dominguez Street Long Beach, CA 90810 (310) 952-2000 www.pioneerdjusa.com Pioneer DJ’s BULIT Series Studio Monitors are offered in three models—BULIT5, BULIT6 and BULIT8. Each model features user-adjustable treble levels, as well as balanced XLR and TRS phone, and unbalanced RCA inputs. Models in the series come with custom-designed Class AB bi-amps for the woofer and tweeter units that the company says will maintain clarity with lowdistortion. There is an arc-shaped power light that shows when the speaker is on and an auto stand-by feature that kicks in if there is no input detected for 25 minutes.

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2/17/2016 4:08:56 PM

AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

GEAR

Planting the Dubseeds Dubseed www.dubseed.com Dubseed is a new platform based around sharing and discovering music in stem form. Users are able to isolate and remove various stems from a song—such as drums, vocals or bass—which allows DJs to interact with the different musical elements of a track independently, swapping elements across multiple decks to create instant mashups and remixes. Currently in its Beta version, Dubseed also gives users an avenue by which to sell the individual stems of their tracks.

Songs in the Mackie of Life Mambo Italiano Italian Speaker Imports P.O. Box 856 Armonk, NY 10504 (914) 219-4180 www.italianspeakers.us

Mackie’s SRM1550 Portable Powered Subwoofer is the latest addition to the company’s SRM Portable Series. The new model features a 1200W amplifier that comes paired with a custom-designed 15-inch woofer with a three-inch voice coil. Housed in a reinforced Poplar cabinet, the subwoofer comes with built-in Smart Protect DSP that protects the woofer when pushed to the limit. Features include stereo XLR inputs, full-range and high-pass outputs, and a variable digital crossover that includes presets for the Mackie SRM350 and SRM450.

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

FBT’s CLA406A is part of their new range of compact loudspeaker applications for live sound and fixed installations. The unit comes in a cabinet made of birch plywood with internal metal bracing, two aluminum handles and 12 anchor points. Its enclosure features four custom 165mm woofers and a 35mm large format Neodymium compression driver with 64mm voice coil, while the amplifier module has a die-cast aluminum with natural convection 600W for LF section and 300W for HF Class D switching power.

Mackie 16220 Wood-Red Road NE Woodinville, WA 98072 (425) 892-6500 www.loudtechinc.com

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TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

“WHERE’S THE BEAT” u Boris u Incorrect On this techno mega-groover, NYC late-night mainstay Boris laces quirky sound effects—engines, echoes, everything—around an insistent and irresistible beat pattern. Mendo’s remix, with its twisted vocal samples, gets a tad more tribal, but is no less deep, dark or dirty. Afterhours heaven. – Jim Tremayne Audiojack

“VIBRATE” EP

u Audiojack u Hot Creations Centered around a deceptively simple beat and single-word vocal sample, this tech-house heater winds and weaves through a hypnotic haze that’s ready to rip when it finally reaches its climax. Also, Barem and Re.You tout tribal and playa-tech reworks, while Audiojack polishes off a glitch, analog afterhours cut for the B-Side “Random Matter.”

Boris

– Chris Caruso “MIND YO BIZNESS” B/W “SNUFFALUFFAGUS” u Get Real u Dirtybird Green Velvet and Claude VonStroke drop a quirky tech-house two-tracker that’s right at home with Dirtybird. “Mind Yo Bizness” is the highlight with its glittering analog synths, zany bass, and addictive vocal hook, but “Snuffaluffagus” truly hits its own stride with its wacky crescendo of crashing 8-bit blasts.

– Chris Caruso “ANJUNADEEP EXPLORATIONS 01” EP u Various Artists u Anjunadeep Wild Dark’s “Falling Deep,” with its ambiance, stylish guitar riff and original vocals, stands out as the highlight. Also check the controlled energy of Heliotype’s “Catching Fire,” perfect for peak-time. Theo Kottis’ “Into the Wild” delivers a slow-burner with a cinematic touch, while Aiiso’s “Point of Return” offers a gorgeous, chill-house feel.

Purple Disco Machine

– Evan Maag “SOUL TRAVELER” EP u Anja Schneider u Mobilee A flawless three-track journey. The spoken-word, deep-techno title track ramps up toward peak hour, while the sexy deep-house groover “Bay Side” reduces the energy from a boil to a simmer. And don’t sleep on the Arabian deep-house track “Vintage.” – Chris K. Davis

“NOT TOO FLABBEH” EP u Jey Kurmis u Hot Creations A bass-centric three-tracker. The bubbling title cut rumbles with a bouncy bassline and an infectious spoken vocal, while the mumbling on “Monkle” is surrounded by urgent hi-hats and late-night vibes. Jamie Jones delivers his own re-edit of “Farno” on the flipside, with robotic squelches exploding amongst walls of pulsing, Berghain-ready techno soundscapes.

– Chris Caruso

“AWARENESS” u Sleepy & Boo u Moulton Music This beautifully crafted track delivers a dark, pounding beat, haunting strings, sexy keys and a mesmerizing melody that really captures the dancefloor. Also check the SyntheTigers remix which offers a deeper, funkyhouse vibe. Full support.

– Tommy D Funk

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

“TANK DROP” EP u Purple Disco Machine u Kittball Three wicked cuts here from Germany’s Purple Disco Machine. All three are funk-laden with sneaky samples worked in and out. Tough to pick a fave here, so maybe hammer all three.

– Curtis Zack “BOSS ASS BITCH” EP u Amine Edge & DANCE ft. PTAF u CUFF An explosive rework of PTAF’s viral rap hit. Imperial brass and pitched cymbals make way for a big build that drops into an onslaught of deep bass Pry and talking synths. Underground purists areAndy sure to flock to the included instrumental, but the ridiculous chants of the “Original Boss Mix” are what will stand out in any set. – Chris Caruso

“FOR THE REST” EP u The Black 80s u Freerange The smooth grooves of the original mix and the deeper vibes of Carlos Sanchez’s remix are nice, but the SHOW-B remix knocks one out of the park with an ever-so-slow, deep techno build. SHOW-B lays the foundation brick-by-brick as a monstrous electric synth growls and becomes lost in the abyss.

– Chris K. Davis “TEMPTATION” EP u Mac-k-Cee u Whiskey Pickle This stylish four-tracker drops classics-inspired deep-house cuts, chunkyfunky grooves, tasty stabs, and euphonic vocal samples – giving the title track a very ’90s underground house feel. – Tommy D Funk “YOUR LOVE” u Booker T vs. Inner Life u Liquid Deep As the title suggests, Inner Life’s elegant ’86 cut gets lovingly updated into a bumpin’, Nu-Disco track. If you dig Inner Life/Patrick Adams and the unmistakable vocals of Jocelyn Brown, then this is a must. – Curtis Zack

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Get Real

Anja Schneider

Sleepy & Boo

“CHECK IT OUT” u Teddy Douglas u Nervous The Basement Boy shows his underground qualities on this driving track. A dubby affair heavily laden with percussion and a driving organ, this should attract attention across the board. — Curtis Zack “FEELING U” u Sonny Fodera feat.Yasmin u Defected More quality house music from Defected. With a great bassline-andpiano combo, plus sublime vocals from Yasmin, this is one’s simple, but oh so deadly. – Curtis Zack “LOWER & SLOWER” EP u Worthy u DFTD While the title track’s a low-slung, sleazy ghetto-tech standout, the equally impressive B-side “This Time” offers a seedy bassline, echoey vocals and a euphoric breakdown. A floor-filler, for sure. – Tommy D Funk

GUEST REVIEWER: Jon Dasilva

u “Weather Underground” EP Oli Furness u Music Is Love Great music with just a drum machine and a sampler… ah, the simple pleasures of life. Check “Crash Gordon,” which offers up the kind of 808 and 909 fun you’d hear from Adonis or Derrick May – such humor and irreverence. Jackin’ techno for the post-laptop generation.

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DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

Soul Clap

(continued from page 18) down there. The first time Charlie and I went to The Marcy was during the 2007 Minitek Festival in New York. We stumbled upon it because all of the afterparties were wack. It was essentially a “who’s who” of that moment in dance music. Magda was there, Richie Hawtin was there, Seth Troxler was DJing... Levine: Other guys like Martin Buttrich, Lee Curtis, Shaun Reeves, and Ryan Crosson were there. We met Zev and Gadi from Wolf + Lamb that night, too. Goldstein: Coolest party ever. DJ Times: Did meeting Wolf + Lamb that night play a part in your founding of the Crew Love collective? Levine: Let’s rewind a bit. We had a few records out on Airdrop Records back in 2007 or 2008, but we were still living in Boston and working as mobile DJs, trying to make a living. We were DJing in bars and clubs, playing hip-hop and reggae, but we were also playing dance music at raves—trying to do Soul Clap. At some point, Macy’s—yeah, the department store—started hiring us to DJ at their fashion shows, openings, and other things like that. So, we began playing a whole different body of music that leaned more toward funk, disco, and nu-disco. Goldstein: Discovering nu-disco back then was a big moment for us. Prins Thomas & Lindstrøm had just broken through and it was a revelation for us that we could play house with the same feeling and sound, but 10 to 20 BPM slower. Levine: Yeah, because we didn’t have people making requests at these Macy’s gigs, and we weren’t in a rave environment, we started trying to work in our favorite funk and soul songs. We did a few edits of Stevie Wonder and Womack and then gave them to Gadi and Zev [of Wolf + Lamb] after we met them. Lucky for us, those edits became anthems for them at the Marcy Hotel. So, Gadi and Zev decided to start Wolf + Lamb Black, their bootleg label, to release that music. That was the entry point for us. DJ Times: How did that entry into the Wolf + Lamb community develop into Crew Love as it is today? Levine: At some point in time, !K7 Records approached us to do a Soul Clap DJ Kicks mix. We took a bunch of music from the Wolf + Lamb community of artists and put that into one complication. We called it “Wolf + Lamb vs. Soul Clap,” or WLSC. That DJ Kicks mix fused us and Wolf + Lamb together. We’re very like-minded, as far as the kind of music that we’re influenced by and the kind of music that we want to

produce, so we forged a partnership and then began touring behind it. Later, once Eli and I decided that we wanted to start a record label, we needed to bring everything together. That’s were Crew Love comes in. It all falls under that umbrella now. DJ Times: Who’s curating the Crew Love roster? Is it a team effort, or do you take a more nuanced approach when bringing in fresh talent? Goldstein: Gadi is the gatekeeper, more than anyone. But the group is really tight, you know? It’s hard. It’s not like we’re just bringing random artists into the crew; it’s a drawn-out process. We have a more open policy of sending artists to Soul Clap Records because it’s a newer label and we’re just a little more open-minded. But ultimately, with Crew Love, we’re a family. It’s not like you can just join a family. Levine: Let’s say you’re the hotshit producer of the moment. When it comes to a lot of other record labels, they might sign and release just one single or EP of yours. You’ll put the name of that record label next to your name on flyers and whatnot, and that’ll become your affiliation to help you get started. But for us, if you’re going to take the Crew Love name and run with it, we want you to be someone that we can spend the rest of our lives hanging out with. It’s a much greater responsibility, so we’re very cautious about who we sign. There’s a careful vetting process that goes into it. DJ Times: Say you’re an up-andcoming DJ or producer. Is finding a crew where your sound fits a more viable path to becoming successful? Or should you aim to become a superstar DJ, like Tiësto or David Guetta? Goldstein: It happens really quickly for a lot of young DJs these days. For me, the best experience has always been working with collectives. You have people to hang out with, listen to music with, and tour with. But these situations are unique. If you have a crew of friends that you’re DJing and producing with, and you’re young—maybe you’re living at home and you’re still working toward your goals—then cultivate those relationships and keep going. You’re really lucky to have something like that at the beginning. But more importantly, don’t rush things. Create a mature body of music before you start shopping it around. Find your identity, know what you’re into, and then target labels that are releasing the music that you love. Don’t just aim to get one of your songs on a random radio compilation. That doesn’t help you in any way. Levine: When we were starting

out, we were trying to make music that fit into what was going on at the time, and then we realized that we weren’t necessarily being true to ourselves. It wasn’t until our “The Definition” EP was released [in 2009] that we really started honing in on our sound. Goldstein: A lot of people get involved in dance music now because they want to be famous. They want to be that guy they see onstage, and it fucking sucks. Our message to the young DJs is this: Learn about the music, regardless of anything. Even if your goal is just to be famous, do a service to the culture and the people who have been doing it before you and learn your history. DJ Times: How do you feel about EDM? Levine: I’m sure there are some cool things going on, but it’s pretty hard to find. Any time you step into a taxi in Berlin, you’re bombarded by EDM – and it sucks. Goldstein: It’s what’s on the radio – it’s pop music now. I always wonder: Are we too old and that’s why we don’t understand? It’s just a different palette of sound. But there’s still really cool, experimental, weird shit happening on labels like Soulection. Their artists are exploring new areas, like where hip hop and electronic music meets. They’re doing something from the heart and you can hear it in the music. That’s why EDM is stuck in a rut. There’s so much money to be made, and so much fame that everybody is grabbing for… instead of trying to be dope. Levine: I would love for some of these younger cats who are into these new sounds to find us and be like, “Yo, we’re doing this, and this, and that.” Making music that’s a little bit like ours, but is still on their own tip. Something from the heart that’s funky and original, but still connected to the past. Come find us... because we’re looking for you! DJ Times: What’s the status of the Crew Love album? Goldstein: It’s taken a while because we’re trying to make sure that it gets the right exposure, but it’s coming very soon... early 2016, probably. It’s an important moment for us because, similar to how the DJ Kicks mix defined our sound of that moment, this album defines the sound of Crew Love. A lot of people don’t know. Maybe they’ve heard the names, or been to shows, but what is Crew Love, really? It was a collective of artists that threw parties. Now it’s a label, Crew Love Records. We’re partnering with !K7 in Germany and they’re going to be doing all our distribution and helping us with the

marketing, so we have a much stronger backing now. Some of the tracks are collaborations between various artists in the crew, but the album as a whole is going to be like us: one. DJ Times: What’s the status of the Soul Clap album? Levine: That’s also something that’s gotten pushed back, but we’re aiming for September 2016. We have so many cool projects to choose from for this next album and it’s really coming together. DJ Times: What are some of the projects that might make it in? Levine: There’s extra material from our sessions in Tallahassee when we worked with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic camp. There’s also some stuff that Eli and I wrote together over the years, and a few collaborations with other Crew Love artists. Then there are sessions we did with Billy Bass Nelson, another original ParliamentFunkadelic member. DJ Times: Let’s head into the studio. What kind of synthesizers do you use? Goldstein: We have a lot of classic synths. We have a Roland Jupiter-8, Roland TR8, ARP Odyssey, ARP Solina, Korg MS2000, Moog Sub 37, and the Yamaha DX100. We also use Moog pedals, and the Simmons Clap Trap [handclap synth] is a signature Soul Clap tool. When we perform, I sometimes create sound effects with the Korg Monotron, which is something we use in the studio, as well. We also have really nice mic made by Mojave Audio that sounds fucking bomb. Focusrite gave us an ISA channel strip that we use, too. DJ Times: Which DAW do you use? Goldstein: Ableton Live. It’s so powerful and we’ve used it forever. It’s just does so much… why would you ever give it up? DJ Times: Any favorite software plug-ins? Goldstein: Arturia makes great software synths. They recently sent us a MicroBrute hardware synth, which we’re using a lot now. Focusrite and Novation send us a lot of great stuff, actually—they’re really generous. We also use [IK Multimedia] T-RackS plug-ins, Waves plug-ins and we’re planning on getting a UAD, too. That’s the next step. Levine: Don’t forget Watkins’ Copicat plug-in and Audio Damage’s Ratshack reverb. Those are the jam. Goldstein: [pauses] ...we just gave away all our fucking secrets, man. Levine: Shit! Yo, just say that we use a kazoo and a skin flute. Goldstein: Tell them about our Iridium space crystals...

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Compiled As February 10, 2016

NATIONAL CROSSOVER POOL CHART

NATIONAL URBAN POOL CHART

1 Lady Gaga 2 Disclosure F/ Lorde 3 WTS F/ Gia 4 Ariana Grande 5 Tori Kelly 6 Adele 7 Adam Lambert 8 David Guetta F/ Sia 9 JoJo 10 Lucas Nord F/ Tove Lo 11 Hailee Steinfeld 12 99 Souls F/Destiny’s Child & Brandy 13 Athena 14 Demi Lovato 15 Jess Glynne 16 Adele 17 Major Lazer F/ DJ Snake 18 Justin Bieber 19 Coldplay 20 Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike F/ Neyo 21 Ellie Goulding 22 Philip George & Anton Powers 23 Alessia Cara 24 Zhu F/ AlunaGeorge 25 Duke Dumont 26 Sia 27 Camille 28 Primo Cruz 29 Missy Elliott F/ Pharrell Williams 30 Kosca F/ Kyshona Armstrong 31 Ronin & Dj Escape 32 Rudimental 33 Seinabo Sey 34 Melissa Manchester F/ Al Jarreau 35 Punch Inc. 36 The Weeknd 37 Assia Ahhatt 38 Elephante F/ Trouze & Damon 39 Goldhouse 40 Chemical Brothers F/ QTip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Most Added Tracks 1 Athena 2 Philip George & Anton Powers 3 WTS F/ Gia 4 99 Souls F/ Destiny’s Child 5 Camille 6 Melissa Manchester & Al Jarreau 7 Coldplay 8 Adam Lambert 9 Sia 10 Dillon Francis Kygo

Till It Happens To You Magnets One Night Focus Hollow When We Were Young Another Lonely Night Bang My Head When Love Hurts Run On Love Love Myself The Girl Is Mine Lithium Confident Hold My Hand Hello Lean On What Do You Mean Adventure Of A Lifetime Higher Place On My Mind Alone No More Here Automatic Ocean Drive Alive You’re So Beautiful 2016 Don’t Stop WTF Light It Up Shout It Out Loud Lay It All Younger Big Light Heaven (Beautiful Life) Can’t Feel My Face 6 Oclock In The Morning Age Of Innocence Over Go Lithium Alone No More One Night The Girl Is Mine You’re So Beautiful (2016) Big Light Adventure Of A Lifetime Another Lonely Night Alive Coming Over

Interscope Capitol Global Groove Republic Capitol Columbia Warner Brothers Atlantic Atlantic Radikal Republic Columbia Dauman Hollywood Atlantic Columbia Mad Decent Def Jam Atlantic Motown Interscope Motown Def Jam Sony Virgin RCA Zarion 4-Power Atlantic Amathus Groovilicious Big Beat Capitol Dauman S-Curve Republic Seize The Day Zoo Robbins Astralwerks Dauman Motown Global Groove Columbia Zarion Dauman Atlantic Warner Brothers RCA Columbia

REPORTING POOLS Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n OMAP - Washington, DC; Al Chasen n Dj Stickyboots - Goshen, NJ; Blake Eckelbarger n Victors - Milwaukee, WI; Chris Egner n Nexus Radio - Chicago, IL; Manny Esparza n DeeJay Creativity - Los Angeles, CA; KSXY KPAT n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool New York, NY; Jackie McCloy n Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n MOOD Spins - Seattle, WA; Randy Schlager n DJ Laszlo - Las Vegas, NV; Laszlo Szenasi n Northeast Record Pool - Revere, MA; Justin Testa n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis n Klubjumpers - San Antonio, TX; Dan Mathews

Ds and MP3s in 740-0356

04MR16_p001-044.indd 41

Drake Tory Lanez J. Cole Drake & Future Travis Scott Big Sean F/ C.Brown & Ty Dolla $ign Chris Brown Future F/ Drake Yo Gotti Weeknd Fetty Wap F/ Remy Boyz Bryson Tiller Curren$y F/ August Alsina & Lil Way Post Malone Jeremih Ty Dollar $ign F/ Future & R.Sremmurd Fetty Wap Dej Loaf F/ Big Sean Drake Missy Elliott F/ Pharrell Williams

Hotline Bling Say It No Role Modelz Jumpman Antidote Play No Games Back To Sleep Where Ya At Down In The DM The Hits 679 Don’t Bottom Of The Bottle White Iverson Oui Blase Again Back Up Back To Back WTF

Republic Interscope Columbia Republic Grand Hustle Def Jam RCA Epic Epic Republic RFG Trippinout Atlantic Universal Def Jam Atlantic RFG Columbia Republic Atlantic

Most Added Tracks 1 Bryson Tiller 2 Weeknd 3 Rihanna F/ Drake 4 J. Cole 5 Post Malone

Exchange Aquainted Work Love Yourz Too Young

Trippinout Republic Roc Nation Columbia Republic

NATIONAL LATIN DANCE POOL CHART 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Jesse Medeles Paty Cantu 24 Horas Los Jugadores Alx Veliz JayCool FransheskA Poeta Callejero Prince Royce Gente De Zona ft M. Anthony Jorge Celedon Juan Magan ft Paulina Rubio Rey Chavez Paulina Rubio ft Alexis & Fido Grupo Niche Bajando Fino Don Omar Elvis Crespo ft. Farruko Grupomania Farruko

Sucia Valiente Aun Me Perteneces Pasame La Botella Dancing Kizomba La Chica Que Quema Me Enamore Kamasutra (RMX) Culpa De Corazon Traidora Me Antojo Vuelve A Primera Vista Si Te Vas Te Enseñare A Olvidar La Morena Te Recordare Bailando Si Tu Novio Te Vi Obsecionado

Dessennium Ent. Universal PPE Jugadores Music Universal JayCool Charisma PPE Universal Latin Hits Sony Sony Universal J&N Universal 360 Group Go Latino Universal Flash Music Grupomania Latin Hits

Most Added Tracks 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Alvaro Soler ft. J-Lo Jose Alerto Fanny Lu ft Gente De Zona Tito Nieves El Gran Combo

El Mismo Sol Las Mujeres Son Lo Que Dios Quiere Si Me Tenias Tiene Que Hacer De To

Universal Selec O Hits Latin Hits 360 Combo

REPORTING LATIN POOLS n Latinos Unidos Record Pool n Salsamania Latin Record Pool n Lobo/Bass Record Pool n Urban Tropics Music Pool n North East Record Pool n Mixx Hitts Record Pool n Ritmo Camacho Record Pool n Ritmo Internacional Record Pool n DJ Latinos Record Pool n Mass Pool n Record Pool Latino n V.I.P. Chicago Record Pool.

Looking for these titles? You can hear them and buy them at www.dancekings.com. Just click on the links in the chart. DDK has limited memberships available for qualified DJs in the US. We service CDs and MP3s in dance and urban formats. Feedback and membership dues required. 770-740-0356

2/17/2016 4:09:21 PM

Levine: Oh, and butt bongos! That’s our real studio secret. We’ve got butt cheeks. [laughs] DJ Times: To wrap things up, can you sum up Soul Clap in one sentence? Levine: Yo momma! Goldstein: EFUNK, the title of our last album, sums it up well. We’re making electronic funk that encompasses the history of P-Funk and G-Funk. Plus, E-F-U-N-K is an acronym for Everybody’s Freaking Under Nature’s Kingdom, which represents freakiness, fun, and freedom. So that’s it. That’s Soul Clap. Levine: That... and yo momma. n

Dosem

(continued from page 12) DJ Times: It feels like Spanish labels like Stereo and Suara—both of which you’ve released tracks on— have been particularly dominant recently. How is the Spanish dance music scene doing in your eyes? Dosem: It’s a great scene with fantastic producers, labels, festivals, clubs, and it’s getting better every year. I’m really happy and proud to see some of my friends doing really well for the last few years. There are also a lot of upcoming new talents. DJ Times: What’s your preferred studio gear? Dosem: I produce everything on Ableton Live. Most of my productions start in my laptop, while on the road, then I finish it in my studio. I’m using Native Instruments software, Arturia [V Collection] Suite, and [Access] Virus TI Snow, but I’m always trying to discover new stuff to make music. DJ Times: You just played BPM Fest down in Playa Del Carmen. How was this year’s festival? Dosem: Amazing, I love to play

in Playa del Carmen. The festival is a worldwide spot for electronic music and it’s fantastic to meet so many good friends and music lovers from the scene in such a beautiful place. DJ Times: With 2015 having just ended, what were some of the biggest gigs and moments for you from the year? Dosem: Too many to mention, but playing at Sónar Festival after the Chemical Brothers was probably my top career gig and something I will not be forgetting anytime soon! There were many good memories from Ultra Music Festival in Miami, EDC Las Vegas, the Ibiza Season at Blue Marlin and Sankeys, and the Japan tour. I also had the chance to play in my city Girona, Spain, for a very special party we did in the old town in front of the Sant Félix Church and our Cathedral. That was really stunning. – Chris Caruso

Gartner

(continued from page 10) in the studio? Gartner: A fast computer, some very loud speakers with a sub, a ton of software, and six or seven analog synthesizers. I think for a lot of producers, using analog or outboard equipment seems like a hassle and might deter them from doing it. But for me, especially recently, I’ve found out that these big, heavy synthesizers actually help me get out my ideas faster than software. DJ Times: Why? Gartner: I don’t have to open a plug-in on my computer and scroll through menus. I can just flip a switch, and start playing any one of my synthesizers based on what type of sound I’m going for. Each one of

these synthesizers has a different sound that it does really, really well, so to get down quick ideas I just start playing around on the one synth that excels at whatever sound I’m trying to achieve. DJ Times: What gear do you use in the DJ booth? Gartner: CDJs and a mixer because that’s how I’ve always DJed— except it used to be turntables and a mixer. The use of a computer to play a DJ set is just something that’s always scared me. It’s probably an irrational fear. DJ Times: Who do you admire as a producer? Gartner: Max Martin because he’s been the No.-1 pop producer in the world for over 20 years. I’ve been a fan of this guy from his productions from Ace of Base all the way to Taylor Swift and The Weeknd. Everything he touches turns to platinum, quite literally. He is some kind of superhuman and he’s Swedish, so it stands to reason. DJ Times: Who do you admire as a DJ? Gartner: Mark Farina, Derrick Carter and DJ Sneak—I couldn’t list just one. Why? Because they are my personal godfathers of house music, who I grew up listening to and studying. Those three taught me more than anybody else about the art of mixing. DJ Times: What can we expect from you this year? Gartner: New dance music, for sure, and other new music, too, although that won’t come out as Wolfgang Gartner. I’m going to keep making hip hop and R&B stuff just like I have been, and switching back and forth making dance music. I think it’s good for my creativity—it jogs the brain. – Michelle Fetky

NAMM

(continued from page 5) Representing 10 brands, distributor Mixware showed: Opti Control Stations’ CS150 and CD120 portable DJ booths; DJ-Techs’ DIF2S, DIF-X, DJ Rec and Thud Rumble TRX mixers; Fluid Audio’s FPX7 studio monitors; and several Decksaver gear covers. From the pro-audio world, Mackie debuted the SRM1550, a 15-inch, 1,200-watt subwoofer, and Creative Reference series of studio monitors. Yamaha showcased its DXS18 powered subwoofer. Italy’s FBT showed the Q 118SA subwoofer, plus the VERTUS CLA 406A and CLA 118SA column loudspeaker systems. QSC Audio introduced its E Series of passive loudspeakers, which includes the E10, E12 and E15 2-way models, plus the E18SW subwoofer. Sennheiser showed a streamlined version of its HD 25 headphones. Harman brands were in the house, as well. AKG showed various headphones, including the K181 DJ UE model, the K182 monitor system, plus the K52, K72 and K92 closedback models. Crown showed its DriveCore Series 2 amps, while JBL Pro exhibited the SRX 800 speaker series. Martin showed its Rush range of lighting products. Moog Music showed its full range of products, including the Sub 37 synth, the MiniMoog Voyager Performer Edition and the Mother-32 two-tier rack stand. In addition to three new iRig Keys controllers, IK Multimedia showed SampleTank MAX sound and groove station, plus T-RackS MAX mixing and mastering suite. (For Wesley Bryant-King’s product picks from NAMM week, please see Feedback on Page 10.)

Justin Martin: Dirtybird’s Other Face

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2016

Claude VonStroke may be the face of the label…

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But at Dirtybird Records…

Being 2nd banana ain’t so bad. Justin Martin, Next Month in DJ Times

2/17/2016 4:09:27 PM

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