BLOOP Proactive Arts Festival kicks off on 20th July, which will see a month of art and music based activities taking place across the island, all of which will be free.

The official BLOOP opening party will see Riva Starr& Santos headlining alongside a Snatch showcase including Digital Genetic Pasta, The Coolness (Live) and Mila (Live) at Sa Punta D’es Moli on 20th July.

Other things to look forward to are the BLOOP HQ Museum, which includes interactive installations by Lo Spino and Xavi’s Lab, a mural by Gaucholadri, photography by Marc Colomines and more.

Design and Art market, The Mercartiillo, which will run every evening from 5pm until midnight between the dates 5th August and 15th August, except for Mondays.

Then there are the BLOOP ‘N’ SUNSETS sunset music sessions, which will take place from the BLOOP HQ, The Old Lighthouse, Far de ses Coves Blanques and San Antonio on most days.

Also, the Open Air Gallery will continue its course with the addition of new murals by international artists such as INTI, Agostino Iacurci, Gaucholadri, Fikos, Bisser, Pekolejo and Fra.

The month of events will close on 24th August with a closing party to be held at Benimussa Park and a very special line-up set to be announced.

For more info see here.

Listen to Riva Starr on Pulse Radio.

Earlier on in the year Pulse Radio had the pleasure of being invited to speak at the Annual Breathe Sunshine Music Conference which took place in Cape Town. Even though the South African Music industry is growing and welcomes new artists and international acts into its arms ona  regular basis, there are still many social and political ills that this young industry needs to contend with.



The Breathe Sunshine Music conference is a social enterprise and all profits are channelled back into various empowerment projects in efforts to develop the entertainment industry and curb some of the challengess that it faces. The aim of the conference is to open up dialogues between various stake holders in the industry and work to build a better and sustainable environment for entertainers and the music industry.

 

The Conference featured the likes of 5FM’s Euphonik, Valentino of Bridges For Music, Erfaan Pearce, Kavir Magan, Heather Menell and other important movers and shakers in the scene. The conference’s ending was marked by the Unity Jam which featured German Reggae sensation Gentleman and other local acts. The Unity Jam took place in Langa Township at Gugu S'Thebe centre & Maragana Parkland and was a celebration the cultural diversity in our country. With conferences such as these,things can only get better from here on end for our countries artists and music industry. The dialogues and the information shared at this year's conference were invaluable to those in attandence and will  certainly go a long way in ensuring that there is some sustainability in our local marekts.

Breathe Sunshine Conference Website 

Listen to Pluse Radio 

Earlier this yearPulse Radio had the pleasure of being invited to speak at the Annual Breathe Sunshine Music Conference which took place on 14-15th February 2015 in Cape Town. Even though the South African Music Industry is growing and welcomes new artists and international acts into its arms on a regular basis, there are still many social and political ills that this young industry needs to contend with.

The Breathe Sunshine Music Conference is a social enterprise and all profits are channelled back into various empowerment projects in efforts to develop the entertainment industry and curb some of the challengess that it faces. The aim of the conference is to open up dialogues between various stake holders in the industry and work to build a better and sustainable environment for entertainers and the music industry. The Conference featured the likes of 5FM’s Euphonik, Valentino Barrioseta of Bridges For Music, Erefaan Pearce, Dave Mac, Dino Moran, Kavir Magan, Heather Menell and many other important movers and shakers in the scene. 

Watch this video for a glimpse of what went down:

The conference’s ending was marked by the Unity Jam which featured German Reggae sensation Gentleman and other local acts. The Unity Jam took place in Langa Township at Gugu S'Thebe centre & Maragana Parkland and was a celebration the cultural diversity in our country. With conferences such as these,things can only get better from here on end for our countries artists and music industry. The dialogues and the information shared at this year's conference were invaluable to those in attandence and will certainly go a long way in ensuring that there is some sustainability in our local markets.

 
After its 2nd year of inception, the Breathe Sunshine African Music Conference is here to stay. Thanks to Trenton Birch& his team at Black Mango Music for hosting this amazing intitiative. We cannot wait to return in 2015, make sure you are there too!

Listen to Pluse Radio 

Saytek’s a rarer bird in a crammed electronic music scene: a truly live artist whose career is shaped by making music and taking his hardware-heavy show on the road to places like the Space Terrace in Ibiza, Fabric in London or Golden Gate in Berlin.

Known as Joseph Keevil to his friends, the producer’s 10 year graft, which was launched in some of the UK scene’s lesser-known boltholes, has flourished in the last few years. He’s been nominated for Best Live Act at DJ Mag’s awards, had his latest ‘Live On Cubism’ album named Mixmag’s album of the month, and has released on Soma, Lucidflow, My Favorite Robot, Cubism and Monique Music.

The antithesis of a laptop DJ, Saytek’s live setup takes in a 909, Kaos Pad, APC-40, Pioneer RMX 1000 and Korg Volca Bass to wherever the venue may be, and in 2014 he shows no sign of slowing as he divides his life between studio, club and family.

Pulse caught up with him ahead of a busy summer to find out what drives his passion for the music and what he’s got in store for the rest of the year.

You've been moving studios today, how's that gone so far? You're in one piece still… Yeah, it's been great so far. I've just moved out to a nice little block of studios in Hackney Road, so we were just trying to make it look nice today, and I'm going to try and get working tomorrow.

It's over 6 months since the last ‘Live On Cubism’ came out. How's that's felt compared to the first one when it came out? The second was album of the month in Mixmag, which must've been great validation. Do you feel you're settling into the album process now? I'm already thinking about the next one to be honest, and I've already started working on tracks for it. I think it's going to be a yearly thing, the ‘Live On Cubism’ project.

What it is, is a collection of a lot of stuff I'm making between albums and a lot of new stuff I'll be making exclusively for the albums, so it's a kind of way of tying together all the live stuff I've been doing all year and also creating some new stuff.

It's like making a line in the sand. Your live project is ever-changing, and you're never going to hear that stuff the same way twice, so it must personally be nice to do it and be able to look back and have it as this snapshot of what you were playing at a particular time. I think people kind of expect [an album] now. I was putting out a lot of live stuff as podcasts and mixes, but the industry wasn't even recognising what I was doing then.

This way, it's an actual album, I put it out and people get a nice CD or a download, and know it's an album. I can tell people how it's done and it's just more of a package. It gives me a chance to explain to people what I do, where with a podcast people can put 'live' after it as much as possible, but people don't ever really know it's live.

And that's your thing. While the core of what you do is playing your live show, you could sell a track or album or Beatport that could reach thousands more people that could possibly if you toured every weekend. It's a numbers game in many ways, so getting that out will help your live set, and hopefully it can be a bit of a perpetuating thing. It is, and the thing is record sales today aren't what they used to be, and so if I get a podcast that does really well, that could reach a lot more people than you could via Beatport or wherever.

In some ways, looking at how your setup works, it's almost like the ultimate control freakery for an artist. You make your own music, which you play live, you release your own music, and you put up sets or podcasts online, so you're in pretty much control of all you do as Saytek. It must be nice, not diluting it by playing other people's records. It's never been part of what you've done. I don't really think about it that way.

I love doing the live thing, you know, and I love what you say about being a control freak, because I've actually added more equipment to my live set! If I'm not doing something with my hands, I begin to get a bit freaked out [laughs]

I've added an analogue synth, in the last year, and although I haven't added much more equipment, my live performance has become so much more complicated. The amount of stuff I can do live now with the equipment and the amount of improvisation I can do has just gone through the roof really.

You're just one evolution away from having a third arm and having even more kit! Exactly! [laughs]

You probably get asked in every interview, but people want to know, what is your current setup at the moment. Are there changes depending on where you are, if you're in London against maybe going to Berlin, for instance? No, it's always the same! I've got it quite locked down now. It all fits in standard hand luggage on a plane now. As long as I'm not flying Ryanair as they weigh your hand luggage! I'm kind of basically carrying a ton of kit with me.

It's like back when people used to play all vinyl and you'd get to the airport and they'd say, "Hand luggage?" And you'd nod at your record bag and pretend your arm wasn't coming out of its socket [laughs]. Exactly! That's it. Most of the airlines don't weigh it, which is lucky, as it's all compacted in.

Right now though I have a Roland MP-909, I just got a Korg Volca Bass, which is a wicked little thing. I've got a [Korg] Kaoss Pad 3, which I've been using for years. I run Ableton, and I use an [Akai] APC-40 with that, and I use a Pioneer RMX-1000, which is great because it has a really simple four-track live drum machine on it, which you can put your own samples in.

I've got a bongo and other 'real' percussion sounds, and I've got an 808 and a 909 [samples] in there, along with all my own samples, and I can just play that live, and it loops, it's just great.

You played out in Ibiza last year for DJ Mag, and you've done Zoo Project in the past. Have you got anything lined up yet this year, given the season's now started? I have, and there's some very likely stuff on the table, but nothing I can talk about at the moment unfortunately.

You play a lot in the UK of course, but you've played Ibiza, in Germany quite a bit, in Spain. Do you find there's inherent differences between the clubs, or the crowds between the places you play? I think there's differences. I love the UK scene, absolutely. It's really varied. There's a part of it that's very like Berlin, and that's kind of a cosmopolitan, bohemian, it's very cool people having fun.

But in the UK there's another side, with house music so big at the moment, which I didn't really see in Berlin maybe, which is the kids just going out and having a laugh to whatever they can find. And it's the same in Ibiza; what I love most about the island is that it's got that original ethos, people coming together and feeling the love.

The whole vibe, it's very egalitarian, it's about coming together and I find that really important. Regardless of their religion of whatever, that's why it started. And I think that's an amazing thing about our scene. It'd be a big change to lose that.

Looking back at some of your early gigs, as someone that's been clubbing in the capital for over fifteen years, it's nice to see some of those older, sometimes now gone, lesser-known venues there, like Fluid, The AKA, Inigo, Public Life, all these sorts of places. How does it feel looking back on those early gigs? It must've been a properly different experience, lugging your gear there and people are like, "What's all this mate? I'm not moving the decks." Yeah [laughs]. That side of things was really hard work. I'd be like, "I need a table." And they'd say, "What? You're setting up over there…"

There were a few nightmares, but I loved those early gigs. From the moment I started playing live and started connecting with crowds, I fell in love with it. And I think in London I'm quite nostalgic about it as well, it's part of my history.

You've played festivals, smaller clubs. Do you always try and ensure there's variety there, because there's an obvious difference between playing in a sweaty basement and then playing on a big stage in a tent. Do you just take each gig at face value? I'm taking what I'm happy with. I won't play gigs that I don't want to play. But I love intimate parties, there's something special about that when it goes off and you're so close to the crowd.

But I also love playing to the big rooms as well. It's a different experience. There's something in all of it that's rewarding. In a big room, it's harder to connect with people, but you're connecting with the front row and the people you can see, and fingers crossed there's not a line of people standing behind them that aren't into it...

You've moved studios; you've been a father for a while now too. How's that affecting your career and your life, as that side must be a huge change? But I guess it gives you this nice dividing line, with your creative life and your family life. Well I've had to move the studio out you know. If I'm 100% honest, it wasn't exactly working having the family and the studio in one place.

My son is now eighteen months old, and he's really interested in everything in the studio! And also, I love him so much, if I had the chance I'd just mess around with him all day, and now it's about going to work. Getting up, and going 'to work'. And it means you appreciate that part better now too I think.

And outside the studio, is there anything you've been listening to away from making music that's stood out, or has it all been Peppa Pig? [laughs] Definitely! [laughs] I think it's been Raa Raa The Noisy Lion, Postman Pat... big albums! To be honest, I still listen to a lot of music that I listened to when I was younger. Bob Marley, Lee Scratch Perry, [I’m] still a massive fan of both of those guys, Fleetwood Mac as well.

We listen to a lot of music that isn't exactly electronic, or from this era. Obviously I hear [dance music] every weekend!

When I hear it in a club, I love it, but this year I've not immersed myself in house music. But I like to do that every now and again. I download loads of DJ mixes, and immerse myself in it, and I fall in love with it all over again. I’ve just downloaded a ton of new music from DJs that I really respect, and I just listen on the way to the studio and then I'm right back into it.

That's really important as well, to have that connection still, whatever's going on. I've been to a lot of amazing places, and when I'm sitting there in front of a sound system, like recently in Helsinki, and the first DJ was playing vinyl, really beautiful, deep Detroit-y music and I just thought "I love this, this is what I live for." It just hits me now and again, and it still moves me as much as it ever did.

If you weren't doing music, what do you think you'd actually be doing? Well before I got into the trappings of the rave scene and dance culture, I was quite down the line of becoming a scientist, because I was really good at physics when I was really young.

When I was fourteen, I was reading Einstein's Theory Of Relativity, and then all that went to pot as soon as I started listening to repetitive beats [laughs].

For everything on Saytek head to https://www.facebook.com/Saytek.live and for the music visit https://soundcloud.com/saytek.

Listen to Saytek on Pulse Radio.

Tumelo: Valley Of Love ( Cuebur Remoix) 
Soulistic Music

6/10

Growing up I was a hip hop totalitarian, I despised electronic music simply because I couldn’t understand why anyone would create music that does not have words. It baffled me how people could enjoy this type of music, the fact that there were individuals out there creating electronic perplexed me even further. During that fabled time many moons ago, I listened to a hop hip group called Optical Illusion, it consisted of four members one of which this particular review is about.

When Tumelo, now with Soulistic records changed genres from hip hop to house, the South African market was taken aback, especially me. Tumelo would not be rapping on these dance tracks but instead he emerged as a well seasoned vocalist. Having worked with the likes ofBlack Coffee, his debut Solo album was nominated for a SAMA award and he shot to house music stardom. Tumelo’s career was reborn like a phoenix out of the ashes, it seems we had both made the transition to dance music, his transition for more extreme than my own.

A single taken off Tumelo’s album now features a Cuebur remix "Valley of Love" is packed with a heavy drum lines, piano keys and harmonic melodies that add to the track’s romantic theme. Cuebur is one of the rising stars of our local scene. Fresh of the release of his track on Defected Records which featured anAndre Lodemannremix, he manages to add a depth to this remix that was lacking in the original. At times produces tend to fill open spaces in track with clichéd instruments and ideas however Cuebur manages to fill the void in his tracks with elements that lend to the song and make it better. In the way of remixes Cuebur has done an excellent job, Tumelo’s vocals give the track a definite edge. The song writing could be a lot better with the addition some variation between verses and lyrics. All in all a good track in the standards of afro house but it won’t linger on in your memories as a classic.
  

Listen to Pulse Radio 

Tumelo: Valley Of Love ( Cuebur Remoix) 
Soulistic Music

7/10

Growing up I was a hip hop totalitarian, I despised electronic music simply because I couldn’t understand why anyone would create music that does not have words. It baffled me how people could enjoy this type of music, the fact that there were individuals out there creating electronic perplexed me even further. During that fabled time many moons ago, I listened to a hop hip group called Optical Illusion, it consisted of four members one of which this particular review is about.

When Tumelo, now with Soulistic Music changed genres from hip hop to house, the South African market was taken aback, especially me. Tumelo would not be rapping on these dance tracks but instead he emerged as a well seasoned vocalist. Having worked with the likes ofBlack Coffee, his debut Solo album was nominated for a SAMA award and he shot to house music stardom. Tumelo’s career was reborn like a phoenix out of the ashes, it seems we had both made the transition to dance music, his transition for more extreme than my own.

A single taken off Tumelo’s album now features a Cuebur remix "Valley of Love" is packed with a heavy drum lines, piano keys and harmonic melodies that add to the track’s romantic theme. Cuebur is one of the rising stars of our local scene. Fresh of the release of his track on Defected Records which featured anAndre Lodemannremix, he manages to add a depth to this remix that was lacking in the original. At times produces tend to fill open spaces in track with clichéd instruments and ideas however Cuebur manages to fill the void in his tracks with elements that lend to the song and make it better. In the way of remixes Cuebur has done an excellent job, Tumelo’s vocals give the track a definite edge. The song writing could be enhanced with the addition some variation between verses and lyrics. All in all a good remix in the standards of afro house & sure to get you in the groove.
   

Listen to Pulse Radio 

Earlier this yearPulse Radio had the pleasure of being invited to speak at the Annual Breathe Sunshine African Music Conference which took place on 14-15th February 2015 in Cape Town. Even though the South African Music Industry is growing and welcomes new artists and international acts into its arms on a regular basis, there are still many social and political ills that this young industry needs to contend with.

The Breathe Sunshine African Music Conference is a social enterprise and all profits are channelled back into various empowerment projects in efforts to develop the entertainment industry and curb some of the challengess that it faces. The aim of the conference is to open up dialogues between various stake holders in the industry and work to build a better and sustainable environment for entertainers and the music industry. The Conference featured the likes of 5FM’s Euphonik, Valentino Barrioseta of Bridges For Music, Erefaan Pearce, Dave Mac, Dino Moran, Kavir Magan, Heather Menell and many other important movers and shakers in the scene. 

Watch this video for a glimpse of what went down:

The conference’s ending was marked by the Unity Jam which featured German Reggae sensation Gentleman and other local acts. The Unity Jam took place in Langa Township at Gugu S'Thebe centre & Maragana Parkland and was a celebration the cultural diversity in our country. With conferences such as these,things can only get better from here on end for our countries artists and music industry. The dialogues and the information shared at this year's conference were invaluable to those in attandence and will certainly go a long way in ensuring that there is some sustainability in our local markets.

 
After its 2nd year of inception, the Breathe Sunshine African Music Conference is here to stay. Thanks to Trenton Birch& his team at Black Mango Music for hosting this amazing intitiative. We cannot wait to return in 2015, make sure you are there too!

Listen to Pluse Radio 

After kicking off their summer season on the White Isle at Amnesia’s opening party, Apollonia have set off on a massive world tour including a few big stops in the United States. Comprised of Dan Ghenacia, Dyed Sondorom, and Shonky, the French trio will play gigs in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York this summer.

Their first US appearance will be on the Fourth of July at Blkmarket Membership’s party in Brooklyn alongside Dixon. The following day they will visit the West Coast for a special performance at Lot 613 in Los Angeles with Droog. Then they continue on to play at the inaugural Riverwest Music Festival in Chicago. Wrap up your summer with a highly anticipated appearance at Electric Zoo Festival in New York on August 29th.

Outside of the US, the trio will play at Richie Hawtin presents ENTER. on July 17th and September 18th at Space, their annual all-night set at DC10, and a slew of other cities including London, Cannes, Istanbul, Barcelona, and Madrid. Check out their full tour details below.

Apollonia Worldwide Tour Dates:
June 27 Marseille, FR @ Rock Island presents Circoloco
June 28 Madrid, ES @ 4Every1 Festival
June 30 Rovinj @ HR @ Hideout Festival
July 4 Brooklyn, NY @ Blk|Market Membership with Dixon
July 5 Los Angeles, CA @ Lot 613 with Droog
July 6 Chicago, IL @ Riverwest Music Festival
July 17 Ibiza, ES @ ENTER
July 25 Barcelona, ES @ Ker
July 26 Adeje, ES @ Sunblast Festival
August 1 Cannes, FR @ Gotha
August 7 Instanbul, TR @ Isle of Dreams (Cocoon)
August 8 Sea of Galilee, IL @ Isle of Dreams (Cocoon)
August 9 London, UK @ Mixmag Party at Studio 388
August 10 Basel, CH @ Isle of Dreams (Cocoon)
August 16 Ibiza, ES @ DC10 (All Night Long)
August 20 Zrce Beach, HR @ Sonus Festival
August 29 New York, NY @ Electric Zoo Festival | Sunday School
September 18 Ibiza, ES @ ENTER

Listen to Apollonia on Pulse Radio

Luciano is bringing back his Luciano & Friends party for the 2014 season, and this year it will be held at Cova Santa, up in the hills of San Jose.

Launching on Wednesday 2nd July Luciano will be joined by Parisian house selector Phil Weeks, Cadenza mainstay Cesar Merveille, as well as Luciano associates like Dan Andrei, Gianni Callipari, Paola Polleto and Francisco Allendes.

Doors will open at 3pm on the outdoor terrace before things move indoors at midnight and carry on all the way through until 6am.

Luciano & Friends will showcase the main man’s highly regarded label Cadenza, which will celebrate its 11th birthday this year.

Listen to Luciano on Pulse Radio.

Following their successful party with the Music is 4 Lovers crew on Output’s rooftop earlier this month, New York-based party collective Sheik ‘N’ Beik is gearing up for another bicoastal affair. This time, they will return to their new home at the Meatpacking District’s Up & Down this Friday, June 27th for a highly anticipated party with Droog following their last event at the same venue with Francesca Lombardo.

Droog’s Culprit parties on the roof of the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles are famous, and the label recently celebrated its fifth anniversary this spring with a series of parties around North America. To learn more about Droog and their legendary parties, check out our recent interview with them here.

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Droog will be joined by talented Sheik 'N' Beik residents Julio, Jeffrey Scott, and FoNG as well as New York's very own Nicola Zanatta.  Don't miss out on this one.  Be sure to RSVP for the event at DROOG@SHEIKNBEIK.COM for complimentary admission before 11:30pm. We’ll see you there!

Listen to Droog on Pulse Radio

What were you doing at age 16? Nick Henriques, better known in the EDM community as Maxum, has already been producing and playing music for several years.  Based in Toronto, he has been able to transform his hobby into a thriving career with his productions getting the support of some of his idols including Thomas Gold and Eddie Halliwell.  Be sure to catch him this weekend at Digital Dreams Music Festival!  

We had a chance to catch up with Maxum ahead of his appearance at the festival to chat about how he got involved in the electronic music scene, how he balances his emerging career with school and friends, some of the artists who are inspiring him at the moment, and what else he's been up to.

Tell us a little about how you got started producing at such a young age. When I was about eight years old I started to DJ because my older brother was DJing. After a while I wanted to start making the music that I was playing, so I watched countless YouTube videos about production and learned over the years.

You just released a remix of Sgt Slick’s “Everyday.” How did this come about? I heard the original track a few months back and absolutely fell in love with the acapella. I knew summer was coming around and I wanted that summer feeling to the track, and the vocal fit perfectly with that. I added some piano and immediately it reminded me of a pool party. I love that type of melodic but relaxed vibe.

How do you manage to balance school, friends, and your emerging career as an artist? What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far? It’s hard balancing them but I have been managing. I try to prioritize my time according to importance and of course school comes first. The biggest challenge is having a project or test, and the night before my friends want to hang out and I have to finish a track on a deadline. Most of the time it ends up with me studying and then finishing the track and going to sleep. There will be more time for friends but opportunities in school and music may only come once.

As someone who is technically too young to experience a lot of nightlife, what has your experience been like so far with the music scene in your home city of Toronto? My experience has been great. Every time I go out it’s when a DJ invites me so there haven't been any issues yet, knock on wood.

Who are some of your favorite producers at the moment who inspire you the most? Still Young, Dimitri Vangelis and Wyman are my favorite right now. Mark my words, these guys are going to change the game and they are my biggest inspiration.

You’ve been busy in the studio working on some new collaborations. Are there any you can tell us about? I have been working with an act that made one of my favorite tracks of all time... not much I can say, but there are big things coming.

What else do you have coming up in the next few months? I am going to Portugal mid July for vacation and playing a few parties there, and when I get home my Maxum & Friends party is going to be happening which is really exciting! Other than that, there are a lot of unreleased tracks I've been working on so I'm really excited for the next few months!

Listen to Maxum on Pulse Radio

Having just closed out it’s second year in Haggerston Park, nestled smack bang in the center of London’s uber trendy east end, FOUND festival has built a reputation for curating world-class electronic line-ups that strike a careful balance between the mainstream and the underground.

With 2013’s maiden voyage an undeniable hit, this year’s event was met with predictable anticipation from London’s festival-going public, with tickets selling out and party goers descending en mass for FOUND’s second run on Saturday, June 14th 2014.

Despite a brief mid-morning hiccup, which saw rainstorms lash the pre-trodden festival ground, the sun shone brightly for the majority of the day – a veritable miracle when it comes to UK festival weather.

Festival entry was smooth, well organized and sans the drama that so often flanks big budget dance events, making for an atmosphere of relaxed and jovial fervor upon entry to the grounds. A community atmosphere hung in the air and, like attending the house party of an extended friend, it felt like everyone seemed to know one another.

With five stages set within the petite grassy space, it was easy for punters to flit between acts throughout the day, with the impressive main stage open to the elements whilst the other four were housed within various branded tents.

It will come as no surprise that the music at FOUND festival reigned supreme with standouts including Francesca Lombardo, Ben Pearce and Noir stepping up with suitably deep and oozy sets under the (almost) blazing sun. The Love Fever stage in particular lived up to the hype, with Irish boys, Bicep smashing out a delightful mash of disco throwbacks and modern house, sending Love Fever’s loyal legions into a state of elation.

Dance music mainstays Moodymann and Lil Louis both followed with bop-worthy sets, despite not delivering many of the best tracks from both their respective back catalogues, a symptom no doubt of the festival’s short set times.

The NOFITSTATE stage continued it’s reputation as a destination for fussy house and techno heads, with Ibiza staple Darius Syrossian and Berlin powerhouse, Magda– a woman who all but never disappoints behind the decks. Finally, Crosstown Rebel’s boss Damian Lazarus closed off the main stage with a typical does of thunderous fanfare, as smoke cannons fired overhead and fingertips were reached toward the sky.

Throwing a festival in the middle of suburban London was never going to be easy, but the brains behind the FOUND series have taken the challenge in their stride. Stages could have been louder, but it was fairly obvious that this was a trade off for the festivals conveniently set, inner city location, which provided this writer at least, with a short and leisurely stroll home after the final bass beat had rung.

With one of the most impressive line-ups of any 2014 boutique London festival, line up clashes were also inevitable, which was the benefit of the festival’s close quarters layout. Fans could float between one stage to another within a few short strides, a luxury compared to the mammoth walking times faced at other UK dance events. Despite the obstacles however, glorious weather combined with an upbeat, largely localized crowd made for a memorable summer’s day out, topped off by the supreme track selections of the DJ’s on the bill.

With a slew of successful street parties and festivals now tucked under their belt, FOUND’s founder, James Benenson and his team now have their sights set on an even more ambitious goal – the newly announced Ceremony Festival at London’s Finsbury Park. Billed as a journey through underground dance culture, Ceremony will look to the past, present and future of dance music; from early influencers, to new school talents as well as today's up and coming electronic tastemakers. Set for kick off on Saturday the 13th of September, Ceremony promises to be FOUND’s most spectacular event thus far, and we, for one, can’t wait!

Listen to Damian Lazarus on Pulse Radio.

Shazam recently released a list of the top tracks that were searched for so far this summer in Ibiza using the popular app. Now, they’re sharing the most searched tracks from last weekend’s Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, a list that delves more into the EDM side of things with cuts by Laidback Luke, David Guetta, Deorro, R3hab, Steve Aoki, and more, but with a few surprises thrown in.

10. Sander Van Doorn and Martin Garrix and DVBBS Feat. Aleesia – "Gold Skies (Original Mix)"

9. Shiba San – "Okay"

8. John Christian – "Next Level (Nicky Romero Edit)"

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7. R3hab and Deorro – "Flashlight"

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6. Steve Aoki and Chris Lake and Tujamo – "Boneless"

 

5. Deorro – "Five Hours"

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4. Laidback Luke and Marc Benjamin – "We’re Forever"

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3. Martin Garrix and Dyro – "Seventy"

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2. David Guetta and Showtek Feat. Vassy – "Bad"

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1. Mr. Probz – "Waves (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)"

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One of Australia's longest running music festivals Big Day Out will not be returning in 2015.

Austin-based company C3 Presents - who now own the Aussie event after promoter AJ Maddah sold his 50 percent stake in the company - have confirmed the news.

A statement from the company reads: “C3 Presents is proud to own Big Day Out, one of the most iconic and established festival brands in the world. While we intend to bring back the festival in future years, we can confirm there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015. We love working on BDO and are excited about the future. However, the company would not set a timeline for when the long-running summer festival would return, nor commit to the event’s traditional run of cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Gold Coast, and Auckland."

Maddah purchased BDO founder and owner Ken West’s stake of the festival in September last year. Shortly after the festival's 2014 event lost between $8 and $15 million.

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Techno icon Richie Hawtin got his very own Reddit AMA session last night, fielding questions for 90 minutes much to the delight of his fans.

As inthemix has pointed out, there were plenty of interesting insights into Hawtin's life that were revealed, such as what it's like to smooch his pal Sven Vath, his favourite piece of studio equipment and dealing with Tinnitus.

“Tinnitus is a problem with me and most of my DJ friends…think about it, I’ve been pummelling my ears for over 25 years, there’s bound to be some damage.”

Though the two major reveals during Hawtin's AMA were that he is definitely touring his Plastikman Live show in 2015 (read our review of the lastest Plastikman album here), and that he also has plans to work with Joel 'Deadmau5' Zimmerman again: “We’re talking about doing something else together in the future!”

Zimmerman released a track on the Minus label under the pseudonym 'test pilot' earlier this year and teamed up with Hawtin for a back-to-back DJ set at SXSW in 2013. Whatever their plans are for a future collaboration remains to be seen...but colour us intrigued.

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On the eve of her new Rural Juror tour Sydney DJ sensation Alison Wonderland chats to Pulse's Charlie Kang about her new EP 'Calm Down', her hugely successful Warehouse Project Tour and drunken tweets.

Pulse: On a recent social media update you wrote, "I don’t drunk text, i drunk tweet." Who parties harder, you or your fans? AW: I do...oh, actually my fans are pretty wild; I’ve seen them do some pretty crazy things.

Can you give me an example? Just like people grinding their teeth and vomiting and sweating off their faces.

You recently wrapped up the Warehouse Project Tour, what was the best memory you have from it? I have two. The first one is having my mum come watch me. She’s only come and seen me play a couple of times, I was really proud to have my mum there. I wouldn’t be here without her. The other is when I was playing and as I looked up at the crowd the light lit over the whole warehouse and I could see two thousand people listening to my music and dancing in a warehouse. It’s crazy because I usually don’t remember shows, I blackout, so those are definitely my two best memories.

Where did the idea to play at warehouses come from? Was it from the Aussie movie Bootmen? Wow I haven’t heard that reference in ages. I wanted to give people an experience that was different to the normal scene. It was something that took a lot of hard work finding the warehouses. It took about 9 months to organize it. We thought that having it at a warehouse would be similar to a house party where people are more relaxed and friendlier to each other.

The tour sold out in a matter of days, what was going through your mind when this happened? It was a bit hectic; people were emailing me because they didn’t get tickets. We had to try and find some larger warehouses to play in. And others were already so edgy because of how the tickets worked where they would get sent a text on the day where to meet. But I couldn’t believe that all these people wanted to come listen to my music.

How do you feel about releasing your debut EP, 'Calm Down'? Nervous. And Proud. You’re letting down your wall when you’re releasing your songs to people.

What was the idea behind the video of the EP’s first single, ‘I Want You’? To have a Sister Act movie in a haunted slumber party way? [Laughs] That’s pretty cool you saw it that way. I wanted to create fantasy realism. I don’t even know if it’s a thing but you just create this idea that’s surreal but real at the same time.

What are the major themes that are expressed in 'Calm Down'? To not give a fuck. Being happy, then heartbroken, being depressed, then back to happy and then closure.

In the past you’ve mentioned that having people listening to your songs is like reading your diary, so how do these themes represent who you are? If you knew me you would realise the songs are very personal and you would totally understand how I feel towards certain people. 'Cold' is the most relatable to me where I was just too cool for that shit. Not in an arrogant way but you know when you’re in a relationship and like the song “And I knew it when I met you, that you would fuck it up”, I just knew it about this person. I was just like fuck this; I was better than that to be in this shit situation.

So would you say that writing music helped with your own closure? Most definitely, it helped me a lot.

Do you think these feelings and emotions are universally relatable? Fuck yeah, definitely. I’ve had lots of times where I’ve known people go through this and they can relate to it.

In your song ‘Sugar High’, part of the lyrics are “wish i could go back to when you took me, onto the dance floor, walk away." If you could do one thing all over again in your past, what would it be? Nothing, I have no regrets. I definitely think that all the things that have happened in my life have shaped me. It’s funny because I was talking to Wave Racer about this the other day and I tweeted something on Twitter: “Life’s fucking weird when you look back at how you got to where you currently are. If that makes sense”

As one finishes, a new tour begins. How did you come about naming it the Rural Juror Tourer? [Laughs] Do you watch the TV show 30 Rock?

I know the show but I don’t get the reference. I was just with my manager Garth and it just became this thing where we thought it would be a funny to name it the Rural Juror Touror and not take it so seriously.

After having success internationally, does playing in your home country, especially Sydney, still mean a lot to you? Fuck yeah, definitely.

Why is that? Because this is where I started off. This is where they have seen me grow and this is where they came from the beginning; I just want to give them a hug.

Another goldmine status update: “Just remembered that I tried to get into a strip club last night after lockout by pretending I was the DJ." As a Sydney girl, what do you think about the Lock Out Laws? I think they're stupid. You know I’ve been working in nightclubs and there hasn’t been any violence. But, It just means more house parties.

I imagine 'Calm Down' is just a taste of what’s more to come, what can fans expect to see production wise in the near future? More collaboration. I’ll be doing more collaborating with Mad Decent. I actually co-produced 'Calm Down', which was hard for me because I’m usually a control freak with my music.

Once you finish touring Australia and our Kiwi cousins, have you got any plans for overseas? Yes I will be heading to the USA afterwards.

Looking back at your success to date, what has been the best advice you've received? Let your art speak for you. A teacher of mine told me that. So many people talk a big game but they don’t show anything. You gotta do own thing and let your work do the talking and just don’t give a fuck.

['Calm Down' is released Friday June 27. Check Alison's tour dates below]

Alison Wonderland Rural Juror Tour Dates
27.06.14 - 
Discovery, Darwin
28.06.14 - 
Argyle House, Newcastle
29.06.14 - Flinders Social, Townsville
03.07.14 - 
Southern Cross Uni, Lismore
04.07.14 - 
Fitzgeralds, Bunbury
05.07.14 - 
Toucan, Mandurah
01.08.14 - Star Bar, Bendigo
02.08.14 - Amaroo Hotel, Dubbo
07.08.14 - 
World Bar, Queenstown
09.08.14 - 
Movitas, Mackay
16.08.14 - Karova, Ballarat
29.08.14 - 
Observatory, Hobart
05.09.14 - 
Plantation, Coffs Harbour
13.09.14 - Smirnoff Snowdome, Thredbo

Listen to Alison Wonderland on Pulse Radio

In breaking news, a level 2 mass casualty incident has been declared at the Avicii concert at Boston’s TD Garden this evening.

The Boston Globe reports that at least 38 attendees, many of them minors, have been hospitalized after consuming a dangerous substance, according to an EMS worker. There have been no fatalities, and all of the patients’ symptoms were minor, the worker said.

According to Dancing Astronaut, several intoxicated punters also jumped into the Charles River requiring Coast Guard rescue.

Details surrounding the dangerous substance are still as yet unknown.

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Chinese Laundry have announced their jam packed July lineup, and there are some big names to coax you out of winter hibernation.

Aussie bass fiends Doctor Werewolf kick things off in July on Friday 4th, followed by one of the most respected drum and bass producers in the game, Insideinfo, on Saturday 5th. Purveyors of dark and gripping basslines, Bristol-based electro duo KOAN Sound take the lead on Friday 11th, and then it’s a double header of progressive house proportions on Saturday 12th with the flawless cutting edge mixing skills of Anthony Pappa and Melbourne's Rollin Connection.

Later in the month UK electro producer Girl Unit hits the club as well as Liverpudlian drum and bass label legends, Viper Recordings, who take over Laundry for a massive day party on Saturday 19th featuring sets from Matrix & Futurebound, Brookes Brothers, The Prototypes and more. Sydney sider Hydraulix takes to the decks on Friday 25th, before the team behind one of the coolest record labels in Australia, Klub Kids, wrap up the month on Saturday 26th.

Chinese Laundry July Lineup:

04.07.14
Doctor Werewolf, Mitch Lowe, Sippy, Ellagator, Struz, Astrix, Empress Yoy, Mercy

05.07.14
Insideinfo, Ben Morris, Chris Fraser, Visual Lies, Open-Eye, Mr Pink, Ridds, Fingers, Dj Eko, King Lee


11.07.14
KOAN Sound, Joe Barrs, K3v, Blackmale, Nemo, Big Deal Gillespie, Chenzo

12.07.14
Anthony Pappa, Rollin Connection, Chris Arnott, Andrew Wowk, Visual Lies, Adam Zae, Vito Cavaretta, Fingers, Dj Skoob, Dj C-Bu


18.07.14
Girl Unit, Spenda C, Nemo, Empress Yoy, Deckhead, Daniel Farley, Big Deal Gillespie

19.07.14 (Day)
Decade Of Viper Recordings Party, Matrix And Futurebound, Brookes Brothers, The Prototypes, Rockwell, Kyphosis, Struz

19.07.14 (Night)
Christian Luke, Visual Lies, Daschwood, Nils Hillstrom, Mantra Collective, King Lee, Fingers, Deckhead


25.07.14
Hydraulix, De’kcuf, Lennon, Thossi, Ritual, Whitey, Alf


26.07.14
Klub Kids Label Night, Kid Kenobi, Northie, Alex Preston, Ramske, Flex Cop, Kerry Wallace, Toby Neal, Andrew Wowk, Dj Skoob, Fingers, Ra Bazaar, Mo

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As a musician or an artist one of the most difficult places to thrive in at times is your home turf, in most cases artists grow into global icons, not because of their support at home but from the admiration of listeners and fans abroad. Understandably the hardest people to please are the people you see every day, people in your back yard, some artists migrate to unknown lands and try to make a success of themselves there.

That is precisely what  Marissa Guzman has done, the remix of her debut single “Time to go” shot to the top of the charts with the assistance of oure very own, Black Coffee, a year after the release the single was nominated for a SAMA award  for remix of the year. The Detroit born vocalist and songstress has certainly blossomed on our shores having worked with Liquideep, Cuebur, and a host of international producers such as Mr. V, Kerri Chandler and Dermakus Lewis. Recently Marissa Guzman announced thats she would be making a permanent move to South Africa. Having already signed her latest album to Soul Candi, Marissa’s musical journey is only just starting and she is a welcomed addition to the South African music scene .Her arrival will be met with a welcome party that will feature heavy weights Shimza, Cuebur and Hlathi Baby and will take place on the 27th of June. Marissa has hit the ground running and has began working various projects with local artists. 

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Randall Mhas steadily been rising through the ranks on the White Isle ever since droping everything in America and moving out to Ibiza in order to kick start his career.

So far it has turned out to be a successful decision, as the American tech-house maestro enters his third season on the island with his own residency. Counting the likes of tINI and Bella Sarris as close friends, Randall M has been building a lot of momentum. Capadi Rebels have been promoting on the White Isle for a number of years and deliver probably our favourite boat party (it's a must-do).

This year, they're joining forces with Randall M to host a special residency as part of the VIVa Warriors parties on Sundays at Sankeys Ibiza. We stopped for a chat with Randall M and Capadi resident Kan.e to find out all.

Starting with you Randy, I hear you started life as a hip-hop DJ – What was your introduction to house music? About four years ago my friend Chad (Andrew) took me to Space in Miami. I’d met him at a few after parties and he was like ‘you need to hear this underground sound.’ I was down for it, went to Space and basically one night there changed me.

I heard techno and just immediately wanted to switch right there. I basically quit all my hip-hop gigs to go focus on my music. Loco Dice and tINI were playing – it was the first time I had really heard techno.

Did you take anything from hip-hop DJing that you now apply to house music? Yes, I think my technique in DJing. I do things differently because I was spinning for 7 years before I turned on to house music.

In terms of your productions, how did you end up with the style you’re at today? Right after the trip to Miami I just got on Soundcloud and started following tINI and Desolat and listened to these sets over and over, and we could tell that it was a different kind of sound. Those were our first inspirations, those deep and dubby sounds.

The first release I heard your music on was the first Karton release - How did this come about? I made these three tracks inspired by WMC a few years ago, and Karton wanted a track, so I let them pick one. It’s a really nice release, Fernando Costantini, Scott (Kemp) and Chad (Andrew).

After that, did you start getting into that crowd? Yeah, you start talking to people within that community and it leads to others. At that point you’re so curious and it’s so new, you’re just constantly searching for things and how things relate to each other. I think you’re constantly changing your sound and finding your sound, but in the beginning there's so many directions you could go.

You and Chad Andrew have had really close links throughout your careers – can you tell us about this? Yeah, it’s almost four years ago when I met him. I was still playing hip-hop and he was doing more of an electro tech-house sound. We just became friends and started producing together and DJing together.

You’ve got really close links to Bella Sarris and tINI – Have these relationships helped your career a lot? Dude, it’s everything to me yeah. Especially once you start travelling and living in foreign countries. You don’t speak the language so it’s definitely a help. Bella has been like a best friend and a sister. It’s just nice to share everything with someone, when it’s good and when it’s bad, it’s nice to have someone there. There's definitely a family kind of vibe there. The best is when we go to festivals or WMC or Ibiza for four months.

Can you tell me a bit about your first introduction to Ibiza? Two years ago was the first time I came in 2012. After Chad and I had ended up meeting tINI, she had been living here for the past three years and she said if you really want to get into this and get into the scene, you can’t really stay in America, Ibiza’s the best place to go.

We didn’t even visit or anything, just sold a bunch of our stuff and moved over. People think it’s overrated or whatever, but I still think as an aspiring DJ if you can come here in the summer, it’s by far better than anywhere else.

I suppose you meet all the right people as well. Yeah, exactly. And meeting them in the right mood too, they're just happy and here to enjoy themselves. There’s a good vibe between strangers here.

You’ve got another busy summer ahead in Ibiza with your residency with Sankeys and VIVa. Yeah, well I was there last year playing as a resident in the room [Spektrum] alongside Departure, but they decided to go their different ways, so Steve asked me if I still wanted to do the room and then they were going to get these guys [Capadi] to do the promotions. I don’t even think they knew we knew each other, did they?

How do you come to work together then? Kan.e: It all came together when someone we both knew introduced us and he played on the boat. Since then we have been working together, Randall came to Germany.

Randall M: Yeah, I did my first mini European tour and my first gig was with Kan.e in Bonn.

Kan.e: We’ve sort of just been connected from then. When he moved over to Ibiza this summer, we had the boat party and I thought his sound would the fit the party. We had guys like Chad [Andrew] and David [Gtronic] play on the boat already.

Tell us a bit more about this year's residency at Sankeys. Randall M: They offered me Spektrum in Sankeys, which I first played two years ago. Last summer I was playing there every week. So this year basically it’s just me and my friends who are on the island. The residents will play as well guests who will come in once a week or once every other week – just people who we feel deserve to play, who we feel like are making good music or are good DJs.

People who we wanted to give a chance to play who might not have had the chance. It’s really tough because there are so many DJs here. I’ve been working with Ash [Kan.e] to book who we can and it’s going pretty good so far. Oh and the sound, man, they redid the whole room and the first sound check was amazing.

Then once we were properly into it with the lights and everything, it doesn’t feel like you’re in a side room anymore. It feels like you’re going into a different club, it’s a major change. The system is so crisp, it’s the ultimate pleasure to play on a system like that.

Kan.e: You don’t even need to turn it up to the limit, it sounds good already at 80 percent. Spektrum for me last year felt like if you wanted to chill out somewhere you could go there, but this year I think that some DJs would actually prefer to play that room.

It sounds really dope and it gives you that underground feeling I remember from Germany in these after party clubs. In terms of coming to VIVa it was funny because everything that has happened up until this moment has been the right fit. David Vincent is a genius – he brought the Rebels and the Warriors together and it just clicked from the first second.

It’s a great night to have alongside yours. Randall M: Yeah. Steve’s night kills it, so it’s great to be there and people can just wander through to the other room and check us out.

Kan.e: The idea for us though really is that we get our own followers coming for us.

Randall M: It’s our own sound so it’s really nice to have that freedom, instead of feeling like you have to play a different sound, you either feel forced or you just can’t do it. Some gigs I take, I feel like I’ll never take them again because I had to go in certain directions just to appease the crowd.

It’s like I have no hesitation to book people who are very serious about the sound, and I don’t have to worry about bringing anyone all the way over here to play on some bad sound system. I’m fully confident. Also, I’d say about 75 percent of the DJs who are playing as guests will either be playing Ibiza for the first time, and a lot of them it will be the first time they’ve ever been to Ibiza, so it’s going to be really special for them. I remember my first gig here, so it’s cool.

Kan.e: It’s cool to give something back to them. It’s always like this in Ibiza when you have to be big or you have to know someone big or be insincere. We hope to create something over a period of time for Ibiza, where people will come back, not just the tourists who are here for a week then go away, but the people who are on the island. I think with our knowledge of the island, we can create something very special.

Randall M: I feel like the music we’re playing is becoming more and more appealing to people. We’ve been seeing this whole shift where basically people start with the commercial, then someone puts them onto the techno and they’re into their techno for a while. Then they get into little sub-genres.

There was this girl who came down, into commercial music, but she came down and checked it out and stayed the whole night, telling my friend ‘Oh my god, I’m in love with this music!’ It was basically what happened to me at Space, everyone has some kind of moment.

You’re quite lucky in a way because so many artists spend years trying to have creative control and freedom with their own nights. Randall M: Yeah, I got lucky with it, it really happened naturally. I feel like in Ibiza, a lot of different things happen for different artists, special things. A lot of my friends who have come here too have kept coming back because there’s something about the island.

Kan.e: We can talk about luck though, but these guys spent 16 hours a day producing though and came out to the island with nothing. There’s a lot of work behind it as well.

Randall M: The reason we came together is because we’re all friends and we’re all cool people. Without those kinds of connections and if I hadn’t have known Steve personally, he would never have asked me to do this. People book people they want to hang out together. If it felt like business, I would quit. I think a lot of parties do feel like business, there’s no after party, there’s no back-to-back, it’s just business.

And also we’ve spoken a little about the boat party. Kan.e: I never really wanted to talk with the media about the boat party, but I felt it was about the right time! It’s going to stay how it is, Randy is going to come and play and it’s going to be a good mix of people. Good music every week – Tuesdays and Fridays and on Sundays obviously we have the pleasure of playing at a great club in a great room. We try to create something with good artists and good music, focus on the music. And what fits good music perfectly? The sound.

Buy tickets to Thank God We Are Rebels Boat Battle on Friday, June 27th here. 

Listen to Randall M on Pulse Radio.