Friday 29 April 2011

Exclusives still to come......

Since I started my blog in March this year I am very proud to say I have interviewed some of the greatest DJs around & I thank them all dearly for taking time out of their busy schedules to let us into their extraordinary lives.
But it doesn't end there! I have been busy networking for more exclusives & just want to give you a *Sneak Peek* at what's still instore :-

*Sneak Peek*
Dean Marriot born in Sheffield, UK is best known to us as House/Minimalist/Techno Deejay/Producer D.Ramirez.
With 5 top 20 hits under his belt, an appearance on Top of the Pops, the creation of his own record label Slave Recordings, Ramirez has also earned himself an Ivor Novello Award nomination for his remix of Bodyrox's smash hit Yeah Yeah.
Performing under names such as Finger fest, Cordial & most famously as The Lisa Marie Experience, his partnership with Neil Hynde, D.Ramirez is a man of many talents & a well respected & accomplished artist in his own right.
His latest release from Tool Room Records 'D.Ramirez & Friends' is out NOW!
*Sneak Peek* 
Edward Maya, born Eduard Marian Ilie on 29th June 1986 in Bucharest, is the Romanian DJ/producer/songwriter behind the 2009 hit phenomenon Stereo Love. As well as reaching #1 in 4 countries & over 111 million hits on YouTube, Stereo Love was awarded 'Longest song at #1 in "European Top hot 100" chart history' accumulating 47 weeks!
Edward's debut album 'The Stereo Love Show' (available through www.mayavinstore.com ) will include Stereo Love, This is my life & Desert rain, his hits with Vika Jigulina. This perfect pairing has proved very successful & we hope to hear more from them in the future, one of the questions I asked Edward about!
*Sneak Peek*  
Successful UK trance producer & Deejay, Matt Darey has many strings to his bow. His weekly podcast has over 500,000 subscribers worldwide, and his radio show, Nocturnal has an estimated 3 million listeners, & is broadcasted on 116 FM stations around the globe.
Matt has remixed some of the greatest tunes ever such as Binary Finary (1998) and Agnelli & Nelson's El Nino. Matt is also a founder member of Lost Tribe along with Red Jerry (creator of record label Hooj Choons), who we have the spine-tingling choon Gamemaster to thank for.
*Sneak Peek* 
Born in 1989, Nicky Romero grew up in a small village called Amerongen, a province of Utrecht, Netherlands. From an early age, Nicky showed an interest in music. Joining a marching band at the age of six, Nicky played the snare drum & by the age of 12 bought his own drum kit. This was his passion for the next 3 years before he traded in the drums for turntables & the rest, as they say, is history.
Nicky has remixed top tracks such as Ian Carey ft. Michelle Shellers - Keep On Rising, Dirty South- Alamo, Sidney Samson & Tony Cha Cha - Get On The Floor & Fedde Le Grand ft Mitch Crown - Rockin' High, as well as releasing his own productions like My Friend which reached #4 in the Beatport overall chart, & #1 in the progressive chart.
His latest track Play 'N Stop is out now on Beatport.com.
*Sneak Peek*   
Fadil El Ghoul, born 2nd April 1986, is a Tech House/Minimal DJ/Producer from Breda, NL & is better known to the music world as Deejay R3hab.
Working closely along side fellow Dutch Deejays : Addy van der Zwan, Afrojack & Ferruccio Salvo & studio partner Hardwell, R3hab has built up quite a reputation for himself with superb remixes, & his own productions such as the massive dance hit Mrkrstft, & most recently The Bottle song, released on Spinnin' Records in April.



Hope you as excited as me about these fantastic exclusives, & if there are any DJs that you would like to see me interview please do not hesitate to ask =0)
*Deejays not available for interview : Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Mark Knight & Steve Aoki (sorry I did try)*
*Still no answer : Axwell, Basshunter, Carl Cox, Dave Seaman, Deadmau5, Ferry Corsten, Funkagenda, Judge Jules, Laidback Luke, Mark Ronson, Markus Schulz, Paul van Dyk, Pete Tong, Sasha & Wolfgang Gartner*  

http://www.dramirez.co.uk/
http://edwardmaya.com/
http://www.mattdarey.com/
http://www.nickyromero.nl/
http://www.myspace.com/deejayrehab



☆☆ レo√乇♥ Peace☮ & Harmony♬ ☆☆    


Wednesday 13 April 2011

Exclusive interview with Fedde Le Grand

International Dutch Deejay/Producer Fedde Le Grand has been on our radar since his smash hit Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit stormed the charts in 2006.
Born in Utrecht, Netherlands on 7th September 1977, Fedde started Djing with his school friends on their mobile disco, & his passion for the decks progressed from then on.
As well as remixing tracks for big names such as Robbie Williams & Madonna, Fedde produces his own material & collaborates with talents such as Will-i-am, Ida Corr & fellow countryman Dj Funkerman, who shares the same record label as Fedde: Flamingo Recordings.

So can we really get inside the brilliant mind of a Deejay? Well, I set out the questions below & asked Fedde to answer them for us, which he kindly agreed to do. So lets see if we can find out what really makes Fedde Le Grand tick :-

  • Firstly, thank you so much Fedde for taking time out of your busy schedule. I want to ask you about your musical influences. I know George Clinton is one of your big influences for his funk style, but who else has had an impact on you through the years & also are there any new acts that have caught your attention recently?
FLGHiYes George Clinton has always been such a huge inspiration for me. I think another artist who had a big impact on me growing up was Michael Jackson. Such an amazing musician, artist, dancer, singer – everything that he did seemed to make everyone else pale in comparison. I also love artists like Timberlake, Missy Elliott, people that reinvent the way beats are created – using the rhythm as an instrument which I think is carrying on what George Clinton did. For new artistsSkrillex of course it’s dub step but I think his production level and his DJ skills are really good.
  • Put your hand's up was such a phenomenon & had a massive impact on me, & still means a lot to me to this day. Is there a particular song that means something really special to you? 
FLG: It sounds cheesy but Micheal Jackson with Billy Jean one of the simplest but most brilliant songs ever.
  • You have played to huge audiences all over the world. Is it more exciting to you to play to an audience that size or a more smaller, & intimate one?
FLG: I wouldn’t say that it’s more exciting, but it’s definitely a different experience. I love getting into a more intimate club, being right there on the dance floor, sometimes you find yourself merging with the people and the music and it’s like you’re one body traveling through the flow of the rhythm. That’s something very special. Having said all that, when you’re on a main stage at a huge festival and there’s a sea of tens of thousands of people in front of you all going mental as you drop huge tune after huge tune – that’s something that’s really hard to describe, it’s an awesome feeling and it can really blow your mind sometime. I’m playing next weekend *UMF has already happened by the time this was completed* at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami on the Main Stage and then in Carl Cox’s tent and I’m so looking forward to it, it’s just a wild experience, huge amounts of energy coming at you.
  • Music is obviously your passion, but is there anything else that you equally enjoy? 
FLG: I really love going to the gym and keeping fit. It’s strangely addictive plus it’s great getting into shape and admiring yourself in front of the mirror haha ;) But it’s a great way to keep myself focused and zoned and on top of things. I also love to just hang out with my friends and family and watch films and play computer games. But if I’m being honest, there’s nothing like getting inside my brand new studio and getting lost in making music – I think if my manager didn’t drag me out of there I’d probably stay there forever! 
  • I am planning to do a skydive this year & hopefully another abseil to raise money for my favourite charity's. What the most daring thing you have ever done? Or do you prefer to keep your feet firmly on the ground!
FLG: Wow, I’m impressed! I’m not much of a dare devil, but I just recently played in a hot air balloon 1km above ground for WarChild, maybe not the most daring but it was definitely spectacular. But while you’re on the subject of charity I thought it might be a good opportunity to mention my favourite oneIf you have chance, check out the Dance 4 Life organization. There are a lot of DJs who are part of the scheme, including me, which aims to educate young people about AIDS awareness and how to spread that message to their friends and communities around the world. It’s an incredible charity and well worth you having a good look at to see the work they do. 
  • Missing was a massive success for you last year (congrats) & I love both your remix & the original by Everything but the girl. How do you decide what classic track you are going to remix? Are they favourites of yours or do you just have a gut feeling about them?
FLG: Basically, most of my remixes that get released are actually just ones that I’ve done for myself to play in my sets. I have a pretty eclectic taste in music and there are lots of tracks that I think, I’d just love to drop that one after this track, and that melody would work really well here, or that would just explode after a breakdown. But with most tracks, the way they are originally, there’s no way they would fit with the music that I play. So I take the tune and then remix it so it’ll work with the music I play out – and of course I make sure it’s a banging remix in its own rightThen sometimes the artist or the record label who own the track like my remix and agree to let me release it which is always a real compliment for me as a producer. 
  • When you get any spare time to yourself, when you are not touring or working in the studio, what is your most favourite thing to do? Hanging with friends? Going out for dinner? Maybe catching a movie or going to a concert?
FLG: Yeah definitely hanging with friends. I travel so much around the world – pretty much every weekend I’m away somewhere and don’t forget that it’s not just the gigs that I spend away, it’s all the traveling there and back as well that all adds up. So whenever I’m home and have any free time I like to remind my friends and family what I actually look like! ;)
  • If you were stranded on a desert Island & only had one item (something you just cannot live without) what would it be?
FLG: My laptop with iTunes on it so I had all my music, and all my production programmes so I could keep on making my own. Obviously the laptop would have an eternal battery so it would never run out! Failing that, I’d take a mobile phone so I could call home and get rescued ;) 
  • I have had a heated debate with Laidback Luke on Twitter about who is the best superhero, Batman or Spiderman. He says Spiderman, I say Batman. I think you agree that it's definately Batman don't you? If you could have any super-human power what would it be & why?
FLG: Haha! Well everyone does know that Luke loves his superheroesI’d have to side with Luke to be honest, Batman is cool of course but how much cooler would it be to be able to walk on walls and ceilings and shoot web from your wrists so you could swing from place to place. “Your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman he’s got humour.If I could have any superpower? Hmmm. I know it’s quite common but I’d really like to fly.
  • And lastly, my son Cj (8) thinks Djing is cool! What advice would you give to the next generation of budding deejays?
FLG: Well CJ is obviously an intelligent guy ;) I’d just tell him to do it for the love of the music above anything else, if he wants to do it as a job then he’ll have to work very hard and be prepared to give a lot up to chase his dream, and I’d also tell him to listen to as much music as he can from as many different genres and eras as possible. There’s so much good music out there, it’s not just about the top 10 tunes that are big at the moment so don’t limit yourself. 

Editors note: Fedde you let me down! Batman rules lol! See video for confirmation that you liked Batman better ;P (Pacha interview 2008). Seriously though, thank you so much for answering my questions, and I commend you on the balloon stunt....it looked so exciting, & of course all in the name of a great charity, so well done to you & Erick E!
Good luck with all your future projects. I for one will be there every step of the way =)

And here's some stunning pics of Fedde & Erick in the Hot air balloon for Warchild :-



Check out Fedde's new track 'Control room' :- 
 

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Fedde Le Grand latest


May tour dates

Hezz  May 6th 2011 - Baku, Azerbaijan www.bakucitylife.com

 

Sensation @ Belgrade Arena  May 21st 2011 - Belgrade, Serbia www.sensation.com

 

Sensation @ O2 Arena May 28th 2011 - Prague, Czech Republic www.sensation.com

 

Space May 29th 2011 - Eivissa, Spain www.ibiza-spotlight.com

 

 

Latest pictures from Ministry of Sound London 

www.feddelegrand.com/photos/ministry-of-sound


Fedde le Grand - Ultra Music Festival 2011 LIVE 


For all the latest on Fedde:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FeddeLeGrand

http://www.feddelegrand.com/

http://www.myspace.com/djfeddelegrand

http://twitter.com/djfeddelegrand


☆☆ レo√乇♥ Peace☮ & Harmony♬ ☆☆

 

Thursday 7 April 2011

Exclusive interview with Patric La Funk

Patric La Funk is a house DJ/producer from Bochum, Germany. His passion for the decks began with a residency in his home town, but his international journey soon progressed from there.
Remixing tracks of fellow deejays Axwell, Steve Angello, Mark Knight & Fedde Le Grand, as well as producing his own material, Patric has made a respected name for himself. He also co produces tracks with his studio partner Timo Becker.
His collaboration with Fedde : Autosave, released on the 14th February 2011 (previously known as Valentine's day) took the Beatport charts by storm, and the fans ( me included) have officially renamed the day 'Autosave day'.
Here I ask Patric about his musical influences, his fans & what we can expect next from him:

  • Firstly I just want to congratulate you Patric on the amazing success of Autosave, your collaboration with Fedde Le Grand. No1 in the Beatport charts after 6 days! 25k YT viewers in 24hrs! 565k to this day! How does it feel to have your work celebrated & respected in such a massive way? And can we expect more of the magic from you & Fedde in the near future?
PLF: First of all thanks a lot. Indeed this record brought me back on the map of electronic music after a year of "quietness" and finding my new sound. I am really thankful that Fedde is supporting me that much. Two years ago we did an album track together for his longplayer "Output" called "Noise Reduction". This was the first collaboration of both of us together. So it felt really good to do something with him together again. I guess neither Fedde nor me would have expected such an huge impact of "Autosave". The youtube clip (by Final Kid) got so much attention. We were surprised cause we just wanted to have a short teaser clip for our collaboration and didn't expect so many clicks and such a big interest in such a short range of time. There was of course no "storyboard". It was supposed to show the production process of this or dance records in general. And as you can see its not that glamorous or wild.
Fedde and me are planning to go to the studio very soon to do a follow up track for Autosave. Something for the summer. A vocal version of Autosave will be out very soon too.
  •  Your tour diary for the next few weeks is gigs in your native country, Germany. How much do you love to play to your German fans & is it always more special to play to them compared to the rest of the world?
PLF: Yes that's true. Basically I have a residency in one club in Germany every year. Last year I played Cocoon Club in Frankfurt once a month and this year it's 3001 in Düsseldorf. Besides presenting guest DJs like Fedde Le Grand, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso or Martin Solveig I am headlining my own night once a month there.
It is of course different in my home country, because people here in Germany know me much longer than in foreign countries. It is sometimes harder to attract them to come to the club, but in general it makes no difference where you play in the world. As soon as people love electronic music like I do, we can have a great party night together.
  • I see that you are very interactive with your fans on social network sites such as Twitter & Facebook. How important are these sites to you as a way of reaching your fans? 
PLF: Yes, thats very important to me. It's always so good to receive feedback off people and DJs who support and play your music. And I think there is no better way nowadays. If you post anything you will receive comments, tweets or likes so you can see a tendency right away. I like this!
  • Who has been the biggest musical influence to you through your life & can you credit them for your style as a deejay today?
PLF: Always a hard question, because I think you are influenced every time you listen to music in general. Doesn't matter what genre. If you are an artist and a producer you always listen to music in a different way in my opinion, so I can't really say that there is a specific artist that influenced me the most. But at the moment I can say the mixture of trancy melodies and house / progressive beats really influences me. That's what I like and what I play most currently. Further it's great to work on collaborations with other artists in the studio. It's always interesting to see how others work, so you can take something and give something back. I really like to work that way.

  • What can we expect next from the Patric La Funk sound?
PLF: Like I mentioned before my sound is a mixture between house and trance and progressive at the moment. Check my preview of my new track "Blizzard" with Inpetto. I think that's a perfect example for what I am talking about: www.soundcloud.com/patriclafunk
Further my next solo single is done called "Baltic", and more collaborations with Dave Spoon, Kim Fai, Sultan & Ned Shepard and Fedde of course are in the pipeline.
  • And lastly could you give one piece of advice that may help someone who wanted to start out in DJing?
PLF: I think the only advice I can give is to make and play the music you are happy with. Not to try to be anyone else. Believe in what you are doing! Might sound ordinary, but I think these are the things that really matter the most.


Editors note: Thank you so much to Patric for taking time to answers these questions, some really great answers there! We wish you all the luck with your new track Blizzard, & all future projects. 


And here is that infamous video made by Final kid:-






☆☆ レo√乇♥ Peace☮ & Harmony♬ ☆☆

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Festivals 2011

Coachella

Coachella is a 3 day event held in Indio, CA. This year the event is from friday April 15th to sunday 17th & starts at 11am.
The vast line up of DJ greats attending include Axwell, Erick Morillo, Fedde Le Grand, Laidback Luke, Paul Van Dyk & Steve Angello.

http://www.coachella.com/

L.E.D

L.E.D (London Electronic Dance) festival is held in Victoria Park, London on the 11th June.
Headlining this year will be Canadian DJ sensation Deadmau5, as well as Calvin Harris & Mark Ronson.

http://www.ledfestival.net/deadmau5/


Global Gathering

Long Marston Airfield plays host to the 2 day annual event in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK on 29th & 30th July.
A massive line up which includes Above and Beyond, Carl Cox, Fedde Le Grand, Kim Fai & Mark Knight.

http://www.globalgathering.com/


Tomorrowland

Held in De Schorre Boom, Belgium, Tomorrowland is a 3 day event starting 22nd July.
So who's going? : Carl Cox, Dave Seaman, Fedde Le Grand, Ferry Corsten & Steve Lawler to name a few.

http://www.tomorrowland.be/


Creamfields

This 2 day event is held in Daresbury, Cheshire on the bank holiday weekend in August (27th/28th).
UK deejay legends Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules & Pete Tong, as well as Swedish House Mafia, Laidback Luke, Armin van Buuren, Wolfgang Gartner, David Guetta.....the list goes on & on!

http://www.creamfields.com/


ADE

Amsterdam Dance Event 2011 will be held on the 19th of October this year, & will run for 4 days. Held in 44 clubs with around 700 acts performing, ADE is certainly a contender for the worlds biggest festival.
The first 2011 festival acts will be revealed on the 1st of July. Tickets will be available from the 1st of July onwards.

 http://www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl/



☆☆ レo√乇♥ Peace☮ & Harmony♬ ☆☆  

Friday 1 April 2011

Exclusive interview with Kim Fai

Richard 'Kim Fai' Cheung was born in Tipton, West Midlands (UK) on 27th November 1983. An electro/house deejay/producer, Kim has made a big name for himself in the recent years working along side fellow peers AN21 & Max Vangeli, as well as supporting Joel Zimmerman aka Deadmau5, on his 2010 winter tour.
Kim has played at big events such as Creamfields, Loveparade & Tomorrowland, and this year is set to play the Toolroom Knights stage at Global Gathering.
With big support from deejay legend Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1, and accolades from respected artists such as Mark Knight & Steve Angello, Kim Fai is definitely a name to watch out for!

Thank you Kim for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer these questions for us :-
  • Growing up in Britain with all the great talents that our country has produced IE The Beatles, Queen, The Stones, Bowie, U2 etc, do you think any of these musical geniuses have had an influence on your style as a producer?
KF: I don't think they've necessarily influenced my productions. But The Beatles definitely gave me inspiration to get into music more. I taught myself to play guitar when I was about 13 [Not many people know that!] Mainly from Beatles / Oasis Chord books.
  • What is your favourite genre of music besides EDM?
KF: I like a wide range of genres really. Rock, some Motown, a good slab of 80's Synth pop. Anything goes really.
  • What's the best thing about coming home after a long trip away? Do you miss the simple things in life like Hovis bread, PG Tips, fish n chips etc?
KF: My own bed and a cuppa! Sunday Roast too. Even if it's not a Sunday. 
  • Your next few gigs are in the UK & then you travel to Damascus in Syria! How does the UK audience compare to the worldwide one? And where do you get the best reception?
KF: The UK is still at the top of the pile for me. But USA & Canada are snapping at our heels! They're embracing EDM with open arms and don't really go too deep in "genres" like Europe. If they like it, they like it. Whether is Electro, Techno, whatever.

KF: To be honest, it can sometimes be more intimidating playing in small intimate venues than big venues! I've been lucky enough to support some huge artists at ridiculous venues so it doesn't really phase me now. The bigger the better really!
  • If you could work along side your favourite artist who would it be? Do you have any collaborations planned for the near future? 
KF: I don't usually do collabs but this year I've done a couple and I've really enjoyed it, so I'll definitely be doing a few more. As for working with another artist, away from EDM would be Stevie Wonder. The guy is GENIUS!

  • As a final thought, could you give a little nugget of your knowledge to advise someone who wanted to start a career in DJing/producing?
KF: Commitment! If you're serious about trying to make a living from it. You've got to be 100% committed. Popping round your mates having a few cans and playing on Logic for an hour a week aint gonna cut it.


Editors note : Well I think we may of got some real exclusives there so thank you very much Kim for indulging us in your truly gifted life. I hope you fulfill your dream to work with Stevie Wonder......now there's a collab worth talking about! Good luck with everything you do, we can't wait to hear more from you.



Now I am a massive Prodigy fan so here is Kim's remix of their kick ass track 'Breathe':-



☆☆ レo√乇♥ Peace☮ & Harmony♬ ☆☆