Around The World with WEISS: Los Angeles, Ibiza, and Barbados

After emerging onto the scene in 2013, WEISS has ascended through the dance music ranks at an impressive rate, receiving support from a host of legends ranging from Armand van Helden, Eats Everything and Carl Cox to Elton John along the way. His 2018 hit single ‘Feel My Needs’ took the world by storm, reaching #1 in both the BBC Radio 1 Dance Chart and ARIA Club Chart (also being voted the #1 track for the year), and winning ‘Best Track’ at the DJ Mag ‘Best of British’ awards.

WEISS has circled the globe countless times to complete tours worldwide, in the latter part of 2019 he embarked on his biggest ever tours of North America and Oceania covering 30 dates across 7 weeks. It is this connection that brings WEISS and his experiences to CULTR. We present, WEISS’ Around The World.

Los Angeles

California

The mad thing is I wasn’t originally the biggest fan of LA but I’ve fallen in love with it more and more over the years. The restaurants are incredible and if you’re lucky & get an offer to party at someone’s house in the hills, then take it!! 

Ibiza

Spain

It’s always a No.1 go to place for me to party with my friends during the summer. Not only is the nightlife amazing but Old Town is a real mix of old & new with a chilled atmosphere and beautiful restaurants. 

Barbados

Carribbean

Barbados has a special place in my heart: I went there as a kid and love the beaches & crystal clear water. Waking up in the morning and finding yourself surrounded by red crabs and swiminning with the turtles is a memory I’ll never forget.

Exclusive: OTR Breaks Down Debut Album “Lost At Midnight” Track by Track

OTR has just embarked on his most fulfilling venture in his young career thus far. With the release of his debut album “Lost At Midnight” via Astralwerks, it is exciting to see the artist’s vision finally coming to fruition. Featuring artists like Panama, Shallou, Vancouver Sleep Clinic, Au/Ra, and more, the 12-track LP serves as a digital embodiment of the talent rooted in the 26-year old aerospace engineer-turned-producer.

The captivating project will throw you into a whirlwind of emotions as you are captured by the records alluring atmosphere. Offering enchanting soundscapes, melancholic chord progressions, and catchy toplines along the way, “Lost At Midnight” evidently reaches the peak of electro-pop. Pulling you by the heartstrings, OTR effortlessly transports the listener into a pit of vulnerability which is the very essence as to why the album is incredibly addictive to listen to in the first place. Finally showcasing his genius to the world, we can safely declare that this is OTR’s moment.

“Writing the album over the last two years was an incredible experience. Now that it’s out, I’m happy to see people empathize with the raw emotion I put into each track, signifying different points in my life.” – OTR

With all that being said, what better way to pinpoint the significance of this album than to hear it from the artist himself. Hear the story of how he put this all together in the track-by-track breakdown below.

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Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Senorita” Breaks Record On Spotify

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Shawn Mendes and Cuban born Camila Cabello released their joint single, “Señorita,” last week via Island Records. The song achieved instantaneous success worldwide rocketing to #1 on Spotify’s Global chart as the biggest single-day debut of a male/female duet ever. The video garnered 50 million YouTube streams in the first 48 hours of release while trending #1 around the globe. Other notable chart #1s include Spotify US Chart, iTunes, Apple Music Pop and Apple Music’s Top Videos.

GRAMMY nominated Toronto born multi-platinum singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes released his highly anticipated self-titled third album in May 2018. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart as well as multiple additional worldwide markets, including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Holland & more and shot to #1 on iTunes in more than 80 countries immediately upon release. The album became one of the top best-selling album debuts of 2018 and made Shawn the third youngest solo artist to ever have three consecutive #1 albums.

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Multi Grammy nominated Cuban born singer/songwriter Camila Cabello (Epic Records / SYCO) released her debut solo album, CAMILA in January 2018 to rave reviews. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart at the same time as her single “Havana” Reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Camila the first solo artist in nearly 15 years to reach the #1 spot on the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Artist 100 charts in the same week. The RIAA platinum-certified album, CAMILA, launched its debut at #1 on 110 iTunes charts around the world, breaking the record for most #1 positions for a debut album in iTunes history. Camila also became the #1 artist on global Spotify.

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Ferry Corsten Releases The Latest UNITY Collaboration with BT on ‘1997’

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Ferry Corsten is back with his latest ‘Unity’ collaboration, after releasing the last one with Ilan Bluestone back in December – Ferry has teamed up with BT for a special collaboration in ‘1997‘.

Ferry Corsten has been busy with solo music in the first half of 2019, releasing ‘Freefall‘ – which feels like a more commercially viable release. He also returned to his Gouryella alias with ‘Surga‘.

Ferry Corsten has brought in another big name into the Unity project, with the legend that is BT. After remixing BT’s track ‘Suddenly’ in 2010, the pair are familiar with each other’s prowess in the studio, and that united vision is showcased in abundance. The team-up sees both artists strengths utilised to their best potential to create a track that is greater than the sum of its parts. As it should, the production leans heavily on the killer uplifting melody – which is a prominent throughout the entire track. The mix of each artist’s styles is present and concludes in an epic collaboration.

Ferry launched the UNITY project in 2018 with his collaboration alongside Paul Oakenfold titled ‘A Slice Of Heaven’, and continued working with artists within the Trance community throughout the year, such as DIM3NSION, Jordan Suckley, Saad Ayub and Ilan Bluestone, and after the success of 2018 has more releases in store after making his first donation to project partner, VH1’s Save The Music Foundation, an organisation launched to reinstate music programs in public schools, which to date has raised over $53 million and helped over 2,100 public schools.

You can learn more about the Unity project with our Ferry Corsten Interview.

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Oliver Heldens Interview: Inspirations, Not Burning Out + More!

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know Oliver Heldens is wildly creative DJ, Producer who operates a hugely successful label called ‘Heldeep’. The imprint also shares the name of his global weekly radio show, Heldeep is a platform through which he unearths the greatest new talents to his audience.

Heldens has amassed a dedicated following for his infectiously catchy music and finely tuned selections in his sets. He can be heard playing across the main-stages of Tomorrowland, Ultra and EDC, but in this snapshot we caught up with him whilst he was touring in Toronto. Read below as we discuss how he avoids burning out, favourite genres, his early influences, collaborating with his idols and much more.

Welcome back to Toronto you’ve been here many times before, how do you enjoy playing for this crowd? 

Canada is definitely in one of my top 5 favourite places to play because of the crowds. I love playing in North America as it seems like the people, in general, are more outgoing and extravert, and positive – especially at rave festivals and dance events. Canada is a nice mix between Europe and America, so I’ve always enjoyed playing here. I feel at home in cities like Toronto and Montreal. 

I’ve also noticed there is always a lot more females in the audience compared to Europe – it’s a great vibe!

You have a lengthy schedule for Heldeep 5 tour, how do you keep up with that lifestyle of constantly touring and making music while switching between club shows and large events including Miami Ultra and Tomorrowland?

For starters it helps that I’m not a big drinker and I don’t have FOMO or fear of missing out, of course, I could do an after-party each night but I’m chill, and on stage, I’m always sober and focused. That’s what I think helps me stay rested and keep on playing shows with my hectic schedule. But also, you get hyped from shows and you’re still so excited after a big set, so sometimes it is hard to get to sleep afterwards. It’s really important to keep a balance because in my case, I get more creative when I’m playing shows and from the adrenaline of performing – which can sometimes result in less sleep because I’m so inspired to make music — that’s why I try to keep a balance between creativity and relaxation. 

It’s really important to keep a balance because in my case, I get more creative when I’m playing shows and from the adrenaline of performing – which can sometimes result in less sleep because I’m so inspired to make music — that’s why I try to keep a balance between creativity and relaxation. 

What keeps you focused to continue pushing out new music? 

Personally, I always loved to create even before I created music. When I was younger, my dream job was to be an inventor, designer or architect – I would draw, or create other things. Since I fell in love with dance music, or more specifically house and techno, it made sense to me to start creating my own music – which I really enjoyed. With the lifestyle I’m living now, playing over 100 shows it a year, it keeps me super motivated to make new music as I always want to play new music and edits. 

Although I have less time to make music on tour, I actually produce the same amount of music as when I’m at home because of the creative energy that comes with touring.

I make music when I feel like it, but when I’m home, I’m more laid back and spending time with family and friends, so I enjoy that part too. The ability to be creative but also fully relaxed. 

How does travelling inspire your music?

Inspiration can come from very different things. Most of the time you don’t know exactly where inspiration comes from. I’m really grateful that my career allows me to travel and experience lots of different cultures to meet new people.

My hometown, Rotterdam, is super multicultural and I think that’s played a role in my appreciation for diverse music styles. For example, in high school, I had a Surinam friend who was into R&B, a German friend who was into metal and hard rock, and a Dutch friend who was into electronic music. Through those friends and their cultures, I also experienced a lot of different kinds of music. When I was younger, my dad would take us to interesting shows – such as a Surinam funk band that played Latin, Brazilian, kind of funk, and then in the car on the way home we would play jungle or drum bass and jump on the piano and play classical music once we were home. We really loved it and I think those experiences definitely help me when Gecko broke through, because the touring picked up massively, really quickly and I definitely had a certain appreciation for different cultures and experiences, musical or otherwise.

 How do you keep the vintage house genre alive?

I have a really big love for soul, house, funk and disco; I love banging acid techno, proper hard techno trends too. Lately, I’ve been going back to more future inspired house, drum and bass, gabba and rave styles. At Ultra I played some really big new future house tracks, I think they are very fresh. Check out the live stream online & let me know if you like them. 

I was also inspired by drum and bass and techno so with HiLo I put out tracks of that type and then went to that old warehouse type of vibes, so in saying that; I want to be diverse but also maintain my future house sound. In the future it will be great to work on future house tracks like I did with Nile Rodgers on Summer Lover and release more heavy records at the same time. I have a lot of new songs coming out so I’m excited for those.

How does the Heldens machine keep running without burning out?

I don’t make a new track every day, but if you make a new track once a week or every two weeks, there’s plenty of time to sleep.  I don’t necessarily live for music 24/7; I love to create but outside of it is, drawing, being with friends, family, playing sports, video games, also because these things help me to stay energized and focused. When I feel good, I feel creative. I’m very focused on my career – and spend a lot of time putting together the Heldeep Radio show every week and helping the Heldeep artists on their releases.

The shows are very motivating; I like to hear and play new music, it’s always an entertaining experience. I love being able to do that, its super fun for me; I can also just head back to the studio and nerd out on my music. I’m not necessarily making new music every day, although curating my live sets and Heldeep Radio keeps me busy daily. I enjoy it though – I connect with DJ friends or new people who want to share music, and I love to showcase it as well, because there is so much great music out there.

Is it ever surreal to be playing at the Flying Dutchman, Tomorrowland, or to collaborate with people like Sander Van Doorn, Axwell, Chocolate Puma, Gregor Salto as they must have been idols for you when you were younger?

 Yeah, that’s true. After Gecko blew up, I had the opportunity to work with Sander van Doorn. He opened my world to techno, tech-trance and electro in general. Of course, when I was 19 and still in high school, it was amazing to work with people like Sander. I also worked with Laidback Luke, Gregor – who were definitely people I looked up to and still do. I’m very grateful for those experiences. I’d love to collaborate with people outside of the electronic music world as well such as Pharrell, Childish Gambino, Billie Eilish, Coldplay, Tame Impala and Foster The People.  

I started to music just for myself, and nowadays I still do that just for myself and I’ happy other people like it too.


Oliver Heldens’ brand new release with Moguai is out now!


Vigel Interview: Russian EDM Scene, Upcoming Projects, Dream Collab + More

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We recently had the great opportunity to interview Russian artist Vigel. Vigel is known for his hard hitting trance records as well as his incredible progressive house productions. We discuss Armin Van Buuren dropping multiple tracks of his in his Ultra set, favourite place to perform, upcoming projects, Russian EDM scene as well as playing at the upcoming RFM Somnii Music Festival in Portugal.

You’re based in Russia? How is the dance music scene over there?

That’s right! Actually, the dance music scene here is very different. For example, we have a very big community of Trance music lovers here. Last time when I played in Moscow alongside Above & Beyond – it was sold out. The crowd & atmosphere were really amazing & special!  We have also a lot of fans of g-house & techno music. Of course, if it comes to our festivals – big room works really great too. What I really like about our Russian people – they’re so into the music, emotional & maybe little crazy in a good way on a dancefloor.

How would you describe your music?

I think my music is something middle between Big-Room & Progressive. It’s bit trancey but energetical at the same time. Honestly, I’m always trying to not be the prisoner of any genre or style & reaching something new with every tune I produce. That’s the same thing I’m always trying to do in my live sets too. It’s important to realize: there are no borders in music, there are borders only in your head. It’s always good to explore & find something new.

 What was it like to have two of your tracks played by Armin Van Buuren at Ultra 2019?

Fantastic & I was really pleased to see the great response by the people on the dancefloor! You know, I think it’s probably already my 4th time in a row when Armin played my new stuff on Ultra Music Festival. So cool & I hope now it’s becoming a tradition 😀

 What is your favourite place in the world to perform?

You know, every place is always so special for me. No matter where it is: Asia, Europe, my home country or any other part of the world. So cool to realize that there are so many different people on this planet with all different cultures, different languages, different tastes but music is uniting us!

Are you excited about your show at RFM Somnii in Portugal in July?

Absolutely! I’ve heard a lot about this great festival a while ago, so it will definitely be a big pleasure to be there together with the people! Make sure you won’t miss it!  

Is there one artist that you must collaborate with?

From the headliners of festival? Of course! You know, I’m a big fan of Fedde Le Grand’s deejaying style as well as his productions for many years. Afrojack does it really great too. Of course Alesso, no need words to explain. Magnificence are killing it at the moment! Got too many on the list!

 You’ve been with the Armada family for some time, what makes them so special?

I love how they’re exploring new areas & crossing the borders in music nowadays. Back in a day, Armada was only as a trance label. Now Armada is giving much more space to their artists to release & promote any kind of music they produce.  

 Do you have any upcoming projects you could tease?

Well, now we’re planning to release a big new remix for Limelght’s single called “Canis Major” that Armin has premiered in his Miami Ultra set this year. Also a couple of solo tracks from Vigel for this summer & pair of big collaborations which I’m working on at the moment. You can always check my socials for the big announcements & updates on the next months ????

What are you goals for the second half of 2019?

Of course, to release more good music. We’re also scheduling many new tour dates with my team at the moment, so it would be awesome to visit all these places.

That’s to Vigel for chatting with us, we can’t wait to see what he brings next!


Vigel’s most recent release ‘Guangzhou‘ with Aryue


Dennis Lloyd Interview: Writing Process, Playing Coachella Ahead Of His Australian Tour

Dennis Lloyd is the man behind the breakthrough hit “Nevermind”, his powerful lyrics and honed vocals are distinctly recognisable and having just release his Exident EP a few weeks ago he’s showing he’ll be sticking around. His production and worldly inspired sound has a mass appeal for its originality and captivates listeners with a raw emotion that has seen him collect more than half a billion streams.

He recently played both weekends of Coachella, which we were lucky enough to catch one of. It was his first ever festival performance in the US as part of his North American “Never Go Back” Tour which included 21 dates.

He’s had an incredibly interesting path to get where he has today from being in the Navy to disconnecting in Thailand for an entire year to write. So ahead of his debut tour in Australia kicking off with shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth we found a moment to catch up with him and learn a bit more.

For those who haven’t heard your music, how would you describe it? What inspires you?

I would describe it as “genreless”, I’m inspired by rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae and electronic music. I don’t think there’s one box where I can fit perfectly.

You moved to Thailand for a while. It seems like things really started to connect for you there. Did something about it inspire your writing?

Of course. The key was that I had no distractions. I didn’t have WiFi in my apartment and I wasn’t really listening to music. It allowed me to find my sound and be loyal to myself.

Was there a certain point in your life when you knew music was going to be the path you followed?

I joined the navy when I was 18 and at that time I almost didn’t write and record music at all. I decided that if after my service I still wanted to make music that’s what I was going to do for the rest of my life. No plan B’s.

If you hadn’t chosen music, what would you be doing now?

My two options were becoming a musician or a scuba-diving instructor.

You recently played Coachella, how was that experience? 

I didn’t know what to expect. Coachella was the first festival I’ve ever played in the US. It was absolutely wild. The people, the energy – I still can’t decide which weekend was my favorite.

Your EP, Exident, just released earlier this month on Arista Records. You’ve got some powerful messages in there. Would you say you have one overall message you are trying to convey? 

I think Dr. Gary Lewandowski (sampled in GFY) described the overall message of Exident in the best way.

“When you think back on your life
And you’re 95, a hundred years old
And you look back over the course of your lifetime
You’re not gonna think
I wish I owned a better phone
I wish I spent more time on the internet
I wish I spent more time at work or sleeping
It’s not gonna be any of those kinds of things
It’s gonna be I wish I spent more time with the people I love”

You grew up in Tel Aviv. What is the music culture like at home?  

The music scene in Israel is very interesting. You can find every genre of music there. Recently I’m listening to a lot of oriental music – I love the middle eastern sound.

How do you deal with the pressure when choosing what to release next? 

There’s a lot of pressure in the music industry but if I am always worried about the future then I won’t be able to enjoy the present – and that’s not how I want to live.  Music makes me happy, whether I’m playing in front of 12,000 people at Coachella or in front of my two dogs.

If you could’ve written one song by any artist, which would you choose?

Bill Withers – “Ain’t No Sunshine”

You’re heading to Australia for the first time, what are you most excited to see about the country? 

I’m really excited to meet my fans in Australia. I wish I had more time to travel and explore the country, but I’m sure it’s going to happen at some point.

What’s the funniest or strangest thing you’ve heard about Australia so far? 

I’ve been told that every animal in Australia is going to try to kill me – even the adorable ones.

Can you tease any upcoming projects you’re working on?

We just shot a second music video to one of the songs from Exident that I’m very excited about. My fans are going to experience an emotional roller coaster.

What are your goals for the second half of 2019? 

Every year I used to write a list of goals, but this year I haven’t. I want to enjoy the ride, live my life to its fullest. The journey IS the goal.


Dennis Lloyd is touring Australia this fortnight. Get your tickets!

MAY  07 –  Max Watt’s, Sydney  –  BUY TICKETS

MAY 08  –  Prince Bandroom, Melbourne  –  BUY TICKETS

MAY 10  –  256 Wickham, Brisbane  –  BUY TICKETS 

MAY 11 – Metropolis Fremantle, Perth –  BUY TICKETS 


5 Music Industry Interviews Worth Checking: Lyor Cohen, Joe Kay, Scooter Braun & More

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Wether they run the biggest music platform or manage the artists topping the charts, here are a selection of must see/listen interviews and documentaries on influential music business players who hold knowledge and advice that’s allowed them to get to the top of the game and stay there.

Kicking off we have Lyor Cohen’s ‘Blueprint’ interview with Complex, who as you may know helped build Def Jam, sold it at the Peake of the music industry became a key player at Warner then left to started his own label 300 and now runs YouTube’s music offering.

Scooter Braun, the famous manager of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Jack & Shay, and at times Kanye West was invited to site down with Google and he speaks on his early days breaking into music, how his first job didn’t work out. He talks crypto currency, the mental strength of his artists through crisis and much more.

If you’ve not heard of the legendary Shep Gordan, sit back and enjoy this documentary about one of the most accidental success stories in entertainment. He managed Alice Cooper after meeting Jimi Hendrix in a motel and before long he was controlling the media with outrage in order to get his clients famous. The movie was directed by Mike Myers and includes amazing stories and timeless lessons.

Listen to Ross Golan sit down with Mike Caren on this episode of “And The Writer Is” a podcast we’re big fans of which the host a famous songwriter himself brings on some of the global music minds behind billions of streams worldwide. Mike Caren if you’re unfamiliar with is the CEO of Artist partner Group and the head of A&R Worldwide for Warner Music that started as a songwriter himself.

To celebrate 300 episodes of Soulection, they put together a mini-documentary on how Joe Kay and his team went global with his Sound Of Tomorrow movement. From humble days on their own in LA to leading UK radio station Rinse FM and Redbull, to it’s current home at Apple on Beats 1 where he has hosted interviews with Mac Miller, G Eazy, Jhene Aiko, Ta-Ku and continues to deliver an hour of amazing music from their collective and new talent around the globe every week.


SG Lewis Interview: Playing Coachella, Creative Vision, Pre-set Rituals + More

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The first thing Sam does when he sees me is hug me. He has a warm energy to him and since like attracts like, it makes sense why the crowd he drew at Coachella was so beautiful and chill. I had the opportunity to sit down with SG Lewis before his set to ask him a few questions.


You’re playing later today. How long have you been preparing for this performance?

Honestly, mentally since three years ago. Since I was here. We did a load of rehearsals about three weeks ago to run through the set, [and] add some new songs. We’ve been touring so much recently which acted as preparation as well. Honestly, since I found out I was playing I’ve been mentally preparing for it. Just excited in general.


When did you find out?

On tour in America. We were on the tour bus. I was really hoping we’d get on the lineup this year. When we found out we were in the middle of nowhere, driving through the desert. It was 3am and had just played a show. My manager texted me and we were all going crazy on the bus.


How fitting that you were driving through the desert and now you’re playing in the desert.

Yeah, I spend all my life in deserts just driving around.


Sounds like a good life!

It’s a good life. I’m having a good time.

Can you give us the low down about what you have in store for the fans today?

We play the music live. There’s five people on stage. It’s electronic music we create in a live environment which is something I’m really proud of. I have a special guest that I’m not going to reveal just yet. The set moves through the three parts of this concept album that I’ve done. Dusk, Dark, and Dawn are the three parts of this concept record and the show itself moves through the three different phases as well. So, I’ll take you on a journey for the 45 minutes, hopefully.


Can you talk about your creative vision behind Dusk, Dark, and Dawn?

Yeah absolutely! For a while I started to make an album where it was a producer focused album and if I am singing on some of the tracks, the production has always been the focus. Before I had a concept or central vein, it just felt like I was making an album for the sake of it so I spent a bit of time thinking about the album I wanted to make. And I had this idea to make an album that followed the trajectory of a night out. Because I feel like nightlife and club culture has been such a huge part of many of my favourite experiences. It’s so easy to dismiss nightlife and going out as this sort of shallow thing.


That’s really cool! Do you know when Dawn is going to be released?

I’m finishing it up this week. It could be two weeks time, could be four weeks. But it’s really imminent, so very soon.


As you were saying, you’re moving through a night out. What was the creative vision behind Dawn?

The end of the night, the sun is rising, made it back, and cooling off after the energy of the night out. I just remember when I was at University of Liverpool we’d go back and we’d always have a playlist of songs that brought us down from the evening and maybe drifted us off into sleep. So Dawn represents that lowering in the energy.

 Photo: Goldenvoice
Photo: Goldenvoice


Do you have any pre-set rituals that you do?

We, me and the band, have this one thing that we’ve done since the first show where we all put our hands in the middle and say, “One, two, three! Super psyched, super ready!” [Laughs] It’s like some High School Musical shit. But for some reason it’s every single show. If we don’t do it then we have a terrible show.


You’ve collaborated with some impressive names like AlunaGeorge, Col3trane, and Gallant. What do you look for in a collaborator?

I’m a fan of music before anything else. 99% of the time, all of the time, the thing I look for in a collaboration is being a fan of someone’s music. Then on top of that, seeing something in their music that I feel like I could add to. If I see something like, “Oh, that would be so cool if that person did this kind of track,” I’m fortunate enough to be in a position to make that happen. There’s people that I’m a fan of that I might not necessarily feel that way. I might see something and be like, “That’s perfect in its immediate form.” Not that those other artists aren’t, but it’s just seeing something and knowing something I have can add to that. Or a collision of those two worlds could create something new and amazing. Always a fan first and foremost.


Is that how your track with G-Eazy came about?

Ah! That’s actually a slightly different story, so there we go, it was 99% of the time. With G-Eazy, I was aware of his music and heard some stuff. But he found me on Twitter and followed me. He hit me up and said, “Hey, I love your track ‘No Less’”, which we’d already released, and told me the story of how that song had personally connected to his life. And he said, “Look, I’d love to flip it and try a version” and I’m a collaborator myself so I was like, “Yeah, I’d love to hear what you’d do with it.” I was a fan of what I’d heard so sent him the track and when he sent it back, he really understood the lyrics of the song and had done what we just discussed. He added something to the track that wasn’t done before. That was really cool and a really unexpected collaboration but I think it turned out really great and it put the song in a different space. Something that’s been out for quite a while and it was kind of cool to have new life breathed into that.


In terms of music creation, do you have a favourite genre that you like yourself like to stick to? Because with G-Eazy it’s a little more urban but with AlunaGeorge it’s more house/pop.

Creation wise, I jump all over the place in terms of genres. Sometimes I’m like, “Is it detrimental? Should I be doing one thing?” But it’s like different moods. You might wake up one day and feel sad and you might wake up one day and be happy. For me, I might wake up one day and feel like making 80’s synth pop or I want to make disco. There’s no reason now that you shouldn’t make the music you feel like making. I kind of go with what I feel like making at the time.


Out of your tracks, do you had a favourite production?

Ooh! I’m not meant to say yes but I’m super proud of ‘Aura’. I love ‘Aura’. Usually by the time I’ve released something, I’ve mixed it and can’t stand hearing it anymore, but for some reason I still really love ‘Aura’. On a production level, maybe ‘Blue’ off Dawn. Just because I’m singing on it, I vocal produced it, I produced it, I wrote it, so I just feel really proud of everything in it. It does some crazy production stuff in the second half where it shifts down into this different universe. I’m super proud of that as a production too.


Do you have a creative process that you go through?

It usually involves a lot of coffee and it always starts with chords. 99% of the time it’s sitting down at the piano and finding something that makes me feel something before anything else is added. If the melody, the chords, can stir something in you before there’s the drums, the sounds, then that’s always the trigger point.


So you’re looking for the emotion?

Yeah, absolutely. It’s emotion over sonics, any day. It’s finding something on the piano or even singing along and it might trigger a thought like, “Oh that’d be great,” and then it’s take that from the piano into beatworld and build it from there.

After our interview, Sam was whisked away for press photos before his set. I went to his show and found myself saying to my friends, “Wow, this performance is so good,” a fair few times. He looked like he was having the best time while on stage. He was wearing the biggest smile during his performance, as if he knew Mojave reached its capacity while he was playing. SG Lewis is an incredible, multi-talented, and passionate individual that I hope to be able to catch up with and see perform again in the future.


SG Lewis most recent release is ‘Throwaway’ together with Clario


Steve Aoki Interview: Dream Collab, Australian Festivals, Hard Decisions, Commercial vs Dance Records + More

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Two time Grammy award winner and the hardest working DJ in the world – Steve Aoki, sat down with us for an interview whilst he was in Australia. We talked about his cross road in college, the state of the Australian festival scene, a dream collaboration, new music and much more!

How is it being back in Australia?

It’s been a couple years since I’ve been back in Australia, last time was for the Aria Awards. It was pretty awesome to apart of what felt the the Grammys but here in Australia as well as seeing all the artists down here. I saw Flume and he won tonnes of awards! I love Australia, I have a fondness for this country and I’ve actually come down here a lot through the past decade. I’ve also seen the whole culture of electronic music shift and change and festival culture come strong and go away. I always love coming down here so it’s nice to be back. I feel like there’s a surge and a want for that same kind of festival and electronic energy that I experienced in the early 2010’s. Which will be exciting because that means I’ll get to come out here a lot more! Plus my new album ‘Neon Future III’ dropped so I want to let my fans down here know about the new album, I’m very proud of all these songs. I’m excited to see the success of ‘Wasted On Me’ down here and how the radio is picking it up and overall supporting this record.

Back in late 2016, you were shocked that Australia didn’t have any significant dance music festivals after Stereosonic and Future Music Festival ceased operations. With the arrival of Ultra in Australia as well as other large festivals starting to pop up – do you think Australia is on it’s why back to becoming a key location for artists?

Yeah so because of Ultra and other festivals starting – they’re bringing down more EDM acts to Australia. Really it’s the culture of how things move, there was a big wave of festivals coming in and then I guess from around 2015 – 2018 there was a lull. The culture changed as well as people’s interests. These mega national touring festivals were obsolete.  There needs to be someone to pick up that spot again and people are getting excited, they want it! The idea of it being over saturated and then turn to a delusion, then a want and need for festival culture.

Nobody can deny what a festival can bring to people, the energy, the community, the spirit. A big part of the overall culture in Australia was the gathering a festival would result in, everyone went to the festivals! Doesn’t matter who you were, what music you listen to – you went to the festival to see these artists.

You had a crossroad in college, you either choose to continue down the academic route or progress with your label Dim Mak. How hard was that decision for you?

The decision was very difficult when I wasn’t sure if i would even get into the schools i was applying to. I was in a crossroads of going to graduate and/or conduct a PHD program or pursuing my record label Dim Mak. The hardest decision was when I didn’t have the answers from the schools. I applied to 15, but once I got accepted to 2 – then I had to make the decision.

Before, it was all up in the air, once I knew I could actually go down the school route I could think critically about what that route would look like. I could clearly see both futures and I couldn’t do that before I was accepted.

The answer to all is that once I could have a clear vision of both sides, I was able to make a very easy decision. The takeaway here, for people reading this that may have a critical crossroads is; in order to make the decision easy for you, make sure you know both sides of the potential futures that you could be embarking on. If you don’t know, you’re going to have a hard time. If you do have a good idea, the decision becomes very easy and natural and you just need to follow your gut and your heart. And I did, and I followed music.

Your Neon Future comic book launched in October, was that a bucket list moment for you?

Yeah I’m very excited about the comic book! Right now I’m really obsessed with the future, obviously with ‘Neon Future’ – I’m obsessed with science, tech and most notably science fiction concepts of us turning into robots or becoming god-like. It’s kind of like our evolution on becoming more and more immortal. What that future looks like is a very exiting path that and I love to see down that road. Everything I’ve just mentioned goes back to when I first opened up comic books when I was just a kid – before I was even into music. That opened up my curiosity and I was obsessed. It evolved into science fiction, into science research, which turns the science fiction into science fact. Then applying that into my music. Now we’re full circle, making the ‘Neon Future’ comic book storyline – an epic epic storyline! Issue #1 is out now and issue #2 launches April 24th. It’s a great introduction into the world of ‘Neon Future’, please read it – if you can! You can find it on Impact Theory Comics.

The third Neon Future album was just released, it includes commercial music as well as dance floor friendly tracks – do you make sure to incorporate dance music in all your projects?

With every album, I need to make sure there’s a convergence of the culture that brought me up and the other cultures (I saw plural because I’m attracted, I’m challenged and I’m draw to many different cultures of music). I think the idea that I’m drawn to all these different worlds of music allows me to be a better producer, musician, song writer and better human being overall. I like to always have elements of where I came from. I don’t want to base the music I make on what the fans want. With ‘Neon Future 3’, you do have these commercial crossover records, but you have the ‘Hoovela’ type of tracks also – that are straight bangers for the club/festival. It’s important to emulate those worlds.

You’ve done so many collaborations – from your mum, to blink-182 to Hardwell, do you have a dream collaboration that you haven’t done yet?

I’m always putting this out there, I’m not sure if it’s going to happen. But I’m not going to stop until I get a very hard no. Elon Musk – the dream is to be in the studio with Elon. To see what happen, what musical narrative could happen with us working together in the studio. With Elon, and artists like him, I’m not sure if he even has a musical background but that’s not what’s important to me. I want to be in the room with him and connect our brain and see what comes out of that. So my collaborations are wide and varied, I’m going to continue to think like that.  With ‘Neon Future 4’, coming out this year – I’m really trying to find what the next one will be. ‘Neon Future 3’ was Bill Nye, ‘Neon Future 2’ was JJ Abrams and Kip Thorne, and ‘Neon Future 1’ was Aubrey de Drey and Ray Kurzweil. ‘Neon Future 4’ has got to be big, got be awesome and epic.


You just mentioned Neon Future 4 is coming up, do you have any other upcoming projects you can tease?

‘Neon Future 4’ is another mega cultured collaborative project across the board. Songs that I have been working on in the same time frame as ‘Neon Future 3’ as well as new songs I’ve been working on in the past year, also what I’m currently working on now. It’s going to be a mix of all kinds of stuff in there. That’s my next main project. However I am working on other songs with artists for their own projects. I can’t really discuss them as in some instances I’m just the producer and they’re going to have the creative say on how it’s going to be presented to the world. Lots of different projects at the moment, in the studio with tonnes of different artists all the time. I always love to surprise people and get funky with it!


Steve Aoki just released his collaboration with Alok ‘Do It Again‘

Steve Aoki & Monsta X’s track ‘Play It Cool‘ is still going strong!


NGHTMRE Interview: New Label, Chainsmokers, Strangest Rider + More

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Tyler Marenyi, better known as NGHTMRE recently released his highly anticipated monster collaboration with A$AP Ferg as well as the VIP edit! He just closed down Coachella weekend #1 with his brand new stage piece ‘The Orb’ which will be featured in his tour this fall. He brought out mystery guests who are recent collaborators A$AP Ferg and Lil Jon on stage to play their respective tracks and it made for an unforgettable night.

We chatted with NGHTMRE about his Chainsmokers collab, weirdest rider he’s seen, more music with SLANDER, his recently launched label and more!

What got you into electronic music?

Originally when I was in high school, I was listening to a lot of hip hop, rock and all kinds of different types of music. There was this DJ named Girl Talk and he was the first guy I heard that had the mixing style that focused on mashups. He created an entire album of just mashups by sampling all different records. I was just really intrigued by it and it was such a new thing for me. He had all these rock songs that I grew up listening to and loved and had mixed them with dance music and it was this beautiful collaboration of all these genres. That was the first thing that inspired me to listen to dance music. It was the time when Porter Robinson was making house music, Skrillex was making his first dubstep, Zedd was making house music, Flux Pavilion was just starting, Zeds Dead and those kind of guys. I got really into that type of music and started to produce on my own by teaching myself and it snowballed from there!

You’ve collaborated with a huge variety of artists.  Who would you like to work with again?

I’ve done two tracks with Dillon Francis.  He’s always really fun to work with. It’s also really easy to work with him, we always have really similar tastes. Both times we’ve done a track it has come out really naturally. Obviously he’s a really funny dude so it’s cool to hang out with him also!  We use Ableton and a lot of the same software so everything feels really easy and natural when we work together.

In the past you have collaborated with Chainsmokers.  How did that come about? 

We had been talking about working together for a long time. It’s kinda crazy, their day to day manager was basically the first person I ever met in the industry.  Before I was even making music as NGHTMRE, I was making it as a hobby and I made this song that won a Dancing Astronaut competition and he was running it at the time. I thought it was crazy! He actually ended up being the tour manager for The Chainsmokers. Before they even made ‘Selfie’ we were in communication and we discussed making music. Obviously, as soon as ‘Selfie’ hit and they had all these huge records blowing up it took a little while to work things out and get time in the studio. It was cool though, I expected artists of that calibre to be disconnected or something as they’re really busy! But it was great.  Anytime I texted Alex or Drew about feedback or something they and their team were super responsive. It was great to work with them. They have been stuck in this pop world a bit but if you go and see one of their shows you see that it’s crazy festival music. The collaboration was great as I got a cool vocal from Drew which is more relatable to their fans and they got to do something more what I like to do.

You launched your label with SLANDER last year.  Tell us about Gud Vibrations.

Yeah we worked on the label idea for a long time.  It’s great to have it finally operating consistently. One big factor in us starting that label was to get the names of upcoming talent out there a bit more. Soundcloud isn’t that big anymore so it’s not that easy to get your name out there even with great music, so hopefully we can help in pushing their talents and we’re excited for the world to discover them!

Any new collaborations with SLANDER on the horizon?

There’s a couple of things that we’ve worked on that is solid and finished. But we’re definitely focused on producing together for our label.  We have some studio time scheduled in to work on more stuff! It’s hard when we’re both always on the move. I’m sure it’ll come together, it always comes very naturally when we work together.

What is the strangest thing you have seen on an artist’s rider?

Ookay has a pretty hilarious rider.  I think he has a signed picture of Tiësto on his rider. Shout out Abe [Ookay], he’s the man – I love you!  

If you weren’t in music what would you be doing now?

I love food and cooking, so I feel like I would be in cooking. It’s another one of those jobs where there’s a whole set of rules but you can be real creative with it too. So I’d probably be a chef!

What is happening at the moment for NGHTMRE?

I have finally released my collaboration with A$AP Ferg called ‘REDLIGHT’ – it’s a crazy hip hop/trap/dubstep song and we worked on it for a long time. I really enjoyed shooting the music video!


Listen to NGHTMRE’s new track with A$AP Ferg


Blinders Interview: Garrix Collab, Future Goals, Artwork Designs + More

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Polish artist Blinders is smashing the game at the moment with frequent quality releases on Martin Garrix’s STMPD imprint. He has found his niche sound and really capitalising on it! He caught up with him and talked all things music! From his Garrix collab to his artwork designs – we covered it!

You released your long-awaited Martin Garrix collaboration ‘Breach’. It’s done really well so far. Are you happy with the way the track turned out?

I’m super happy.  It came so fast – we had ideas just before it was released like maybe two weeks before and we tried to do our best to finish before the release.  We did it so we are both super excited and happy, with both the track and visuals. When I made the draft of the track, I was thinking it would be like Sirene 2.0 – maybe you can tell the similarities.

What’s an average day for Blinders?  Are you residing in Poland?

I think so! For me as a music producer, waking up, drinking some coffee, going on my laptop and coming up with new music. But you do these things everywhere, or if you travel you make the time to produce on the road.

It seems like you’ve been on a hot streak with your music lately.  Every track this year has been really good. Have you changed something in your production process?

Everytime I make a new track, I try to learn something from the past productions.  When I realise something is wrong, I make sure to focus on that and always try to make my new track better than the last one.

How do you decide on the track names?

Actually it’s funny, for example the ‘Okami’ one was the idea of my girlfriend, because sometimes she does some graphic design animations for the tracks and I just asked her “how do you see the visual of the track?” Then she said “let’s do something like wolves or something” because I really wanted to keep it Asian/Japanese style for the names of everything. Because I use a lot of Japanese traditional characters, so that came with ‘Okami’ because it means wolf.

You’re artwork on the latest STMPD tracks are awesome! Do you have any input on those?

My girlfriend designs about 90 percent of it. The ‘Breach’ one was different because it was a music video, and was created by Martin Garrix’s team, but when I’m doing my solo tracks I always trust her with the designs.

You are producing a lot of harder/main room releases lately.  Could we see any more progressive house, like your ‘Golden Times’ remix?

Yes maybe I’m gonna do something like that. I’m not sure that it’s going to be 100% like the Golden Times remix but currently I’m thinking of something based on the chords on the drop.

Any new projects you want to drop a hint about?

Today I jumped in the studio with TV Noise.  We are playing together tonight so I wanted to do something to premiere our set.

What goals to you have in 2019?

I want to do as much as I can do – bigger productions and bigger collaborations. Maybe some more Garrix collabs. Me and Martin have a close relationship so we are always sending ideas and stuff. With ‘Breach’ it was a sudden idea to collaborated on the project.


Blinders latest track on STMPD is ‘Relieve‘!


Brooks Interview: Unreleased Collabs, Kanye, Future Goals + More

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Brooks is killing it currently after collab-ing with Martin Garrix and David Guetta as well as pushing out quality solo productions. We caught up with him and talked about said collaborations, favourite place to play on tour, hobbies outside of music as well as his dream collaboration and a lot more! Brooks definitely has a bright future ahead of him!

You’re playing a B2B tonight, do you do many B2B’s?

Not that much actually, but it’s fun. Of course with STMPD, we all know each other personally for quite a long time and we’ve been in the studio together as well as meeting each other at shows. For example, Julian Jordan I have randomly met when we’ve both had a show in Poland and we wouldn’t even know. It always works out when you play a B2B set.  He’s going to play his track, then I’m going to play mine.

You’re close friends with Jonas Aden.  What’s he up to at the moment?

He had his studio flood, maybe two years ago and that kind of set him back a bit. But he’s built a new studio now and has been making a lot of music for other people as well. I have received some tracks from him that are signed on some pretty big labels.

2018 as a massive year for Brooks. You had the David Guetta and Martin Garrix collab.  Could we expect anymore music with them?

I’ve got a new track with David for sure, just us two. Last Summer I actually spent quite a lot of time at his place in Ibiza. He has a studio there so most of the time when we did shows at Ushuaïa or Pacha we would head back and go to the studio. We have one track that will be released soon and a couple of others in the works and I’m not sure if they’ll be released. With Martin, we will see. But with ‘Byte’, if I want to do a track with Martin we could finish it in a day. With ‘Byte’ we finished it on the Monday and released it on Friday.  It was a crazy turnaround. It was a funny story. On the Thursday we shot the music video and Damien, the guy who does the videos had to work until Friday morning to finish off the video so that we could post it.

Other than David Guetta, do you have any other collaborations that you could provide some details on?

I am working on a track with KSHMR at the moment.  Hopefully that is finished soon. I’ve been super busy with touring.  I’m only getting used to it now because it’s like my first summer tour. It kind of caught me off guard.  I thought I’d have a lot more time in the studio.

On your tour, where was your favourite place to play?

Of course Tomorrowland, as it’s a dream for all the beginner artists out there. Ever since I made my first track I always checked the livestream. I played on the STMPD stage and then the next week David Guetta brought me onto the mainstage to play our collab. Goosebumps all over for that!

Where you nervous for that?

Well the thing was, I didn’t really have to play – when David brought me out. Still, when I was there it was all happiness. I had nothing to do so I couldn’t mess anything up! Untold Festival was also really cool, as well as Croatia – really cool country!

Do you focus on any hobbies outside of music?

Well at the moment, I’m very busy but I like to cook which is something not a lot of people expect from me. And I love food, especially when touring in places like Asia. I like to bring back some weird spices from there and try to make a dish out of it when I’m back home. But I really love Peking Duck, especially in the pancakes.

Who would be the dream artist you would collab with, dead or alive?

I don’t want to sound bad but I didn’t really listen to a lot of music from older generations. When I grew up, I immediately started listening to ‘EDM’.  But to be in the studio with some of the bigger hip hop artists would be awesome. I think Kanye West would be it. He is such a visionary. He’s made so many beats for other artists as well. As a producer, I think he is a total genius.

New Kanye or old Kanye?

Good question! I think maybe a mix of both.  I’m thinking about it and I’m not really sure. Actually, I think the new Kanye.

What can we expect from Brooks in 2019. Any specific goals?

I had a big meeting with my management in December and spent the whole month producing, so there will be a lot of new music. I want to develop my sound and not create three copies of ‘Like I Do’. There will be new music but it will still have the signature ‘Brooks’ sound.


Brooks’ massive collaboration together with David Guetta is out now!


Sam Feldt Interview: Biggest Track, Working With Jeremy Renner & More

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‘Uplifting’ is the word that best describes Dutch DJ, producer and entrepreneurial spirit, Sam Feldt. Having built a career upon his distinctly feel-good sound, Sam now has his sights set firmly on the future, working on his own platforms for a more social and sustainable dance music industry. We spoke to Sam while he’s touring in Australia at the moment.

You recently launched the Heartfeldt Foundation. Tell us a bit about that.

I launched the Foundation at Amsterdam Dance Event in October, specifically at ADE Green where they’re all about sustainability. The Heartfelt Foundation is a new platform that aims to combine the reach of a lot of different influencers to create awareness around sustainability issues. For example, if I post to Facebook or Instagram, “Let’s not use plastic straws this weekend”, maybe a couple hundred thousand people would see it and of those people, maybe ten thousand people would not do it. But what if I have 100 influencers all with one million followers? If they all do it at the same time, you can really make an impact. I think a big part of the music industry is looking into sustainability, but not so much the artists. A lot of the artists might not care, or they don’t know about the issues at hand and I just want to create an easy way (because artists are a bit lazy let’s be honest) for people to get on board. So, we give them a list of ten easy things you can do right now to reduce your impact by 80%. When you make it like that and provide bite sized education and facts, I think that works for both fans and the artists to get everybody on the same page.

You speak a lot at panels, like during Amsterdam Dance Event and the World Music Conference. Why do you choose to do this?

I’ve spoken before at the Amsterdam Dance Event, one of the panels was about plastic and one was about using your reach to impact positively. This year I’ll also speak at the WMC in Miami. Because I’m working on my foundation, I find it important to share my knowledge.

The biggest Sam Feldt release, on Spotify at least, is the EDX remix of ‘Show Me Love’.  Can we expect any new EDX remixes?

I’m not sure actually, maybe a collab? We are good friends, me and Maurizio (EDX). He really helped bring the song to the mainstream audience because my song grew big on radio but you always need support in the clubs too. The original isn’t really a club friendly track.  It’s a slow, down tempo, 115 bpm tropical house song which is great for radio but not for the clubs. He did a great job making it ‘clubby’.

Of course, you’re a DJ/Producer, however you have other projects. Tell us about ‘Always Bright’

With Always Bright it’s a funny story.  I’m doing this with two other guys. One of them I met about two years ago in Vegas, we were both at a party and the anti-hangover product market is pretty big over there. They have the IV where they come to your hotel and you’ll have to pay €300. I was curious as we have a big party scene in Amsterdam and lots of hangovers there, why hasn’t anyone come up with a product based in The Netherlands? I actually tested it this morning, it is not a miracle product, but it has all the vitamins, minerals and supplements your body needs after a night of drinking and it supports the natural function of your body.

You put out a track together with Jeremy Renner last year. What was it like to work with him?

I initially didn’t know he was an artist, just that he was an actor. But my publisher actually came to me to say that he wanted to do something with me. I wasn’t sure what he could do, maybe he could sing. Anyway, I was in the studio in LA and he sent me the vocals and I was surprised by his quality, he’s actually a really good singer! The whole collaboration was done over the internet, I met him in Vegas for the first time when we performed it. Then we became friends, I actually saw him the other day in Bali.

Do you have any goals for 2019?

I hope to have an EP out soon, as well as to be fully back into touring. And so far, that’s going great with my current tour in Australia and an USA tour coming up in March.

Catch Sam in Australia these coming weeks. All tour dates below:

Feb-7                      The Emerson, Melbourne, AU
Feb-8                     Geisha Bar, Perth, AU
Feb-9                     The Bottom End, Melbourne, AU
Feb-13                    Newcastle Hotel, Newcastle, AU
Feb-15                    Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, AU
Feb-16                    Marquee Sydney, Pyrmont, AU
Feb-17                    Gilligan’s Backpacker Hotel and Resort, Cairns, AU


Sam Feldt’s latest single ‘Gold‘ together with Kate Ryan is out now on Spinnin’