While working at the Village Voice, I not only got to interview some of the world’s most iconic DJs (still pinching myself 😭), I also compiled lists of the week’s best concerts, as well as brief reviews of artists and shows. All of my writing - including Q+A style interviews with epics like Eric Prydz, can be found here.
Read More
Over the past five or so years EDM has hit the US harder than anyone could have anticipated. Pete Tong -- "The Pied-Piper to dance," who performs tonight, Oct. 9, at Output -- knew it was coming. He could feel it.
"Two things had started to happen," Tong recalls. "One was the fact that there had been successive growth on the kind of festival and one-off events thing... and they provided access to this music for people who were under 21."
Read More
Daley Padley, better know as Hot Since 82, stands tall in a sea of over-saturated and stagnated EDM DJs and producers. His music is deep and smooth, emblematic of one musical movement’s turn back to the basics. But even more ardent than the music is the man himself, a U.K.-born self-proclaimed “joker” who comes from humble beginnings but has since 2011 been rocking the EDM community with his genuine creativity and drive. Already a massive hit in U.K. and across Europe, Hot Since 82 has been coming up in the American EDM scene as a true pioneer for honesty and originality, and is loved by basically every EDM fan that comes into contact with him and his music. Hot Since 82 kicked off the American leg of his Knee Deep in Sound Tour this weekend, and it’s coming to Output this Saturday, November 1st. The tour is also in conjunction with Hot Since 82’s new Mix Album, which is also entitled Knee Deep in Sound.
Read More
Have you ever just known you could be best friends with someone — if only you got the chance to meet them? Fans of 27-year-old dance music DJ Dillon Francis know the feeling well, thanks to an online persona that makes him approachable when fans run into him in real life.
Read More
You may know every word to every track by Hardwell. You may know he's been named the No. 1 DJ in the world two years running. You may know he's one of the biggest stars to emerge out of a new EDM scene, and that he produces songs that go on to become festival anthems across the globe. But how well do you know Hardwell, the man? How well do you know Robbert van de Corput?
Read More
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, DJs were people, too. The man on stage was the man in the booth was the man signing autographs was the man shopping for new boxers -- there was no difference within these changing contexts. But as the world of EDM grows into the behemoth it has lately become, DJs have become symbols instead of people, and have slowly started to lose what young'uns would call "realness." Enter DJ Carnage, born Diamante Blackmon, a young DJ/producer who is reclaiming what it means to be real in an ocean of confused and uninformed characters, be they DJs or audiences. Carnage has shown both the guys behind the scenes and fans of the EDM movement that he has his own way of doing things, and he's not afraid to shock a few people along the way (in a good way, we promise).
Read More
*This is an unedited version of an article published by the Village Voice. Honestly, I just liked my original version better :* The finalized article can be found here.
What can even be said of Tiësto, after all? It seems like he’s been “the dude” since EDM was called Dance music and was a taboo curiosity that was slowly, just barely creeping from city to city - because he has been. The trajectory of Tiësto’s personal and musical scope is massive, comprehensive and arguably the most impressive to date. He’s known to almost every DJ and EDM fan as the “godfather of EDM”, he’s been the highest paid DJ in the world, and he’s pumping out some of the most popular EDM tracks and business ventures like he’s 20 years old (and like he’s been doing this for 20 years - which he has).
Read More