Controversial producers Skrillex and Diplo have joined forces as JACK U it's been revealed today, after premiering new material on the weekend.

No strangers to collaborating - Skrillex has just released his Dogs Blood EP - or indeed controversial presence (conference punch ups, twerking walls and video beef with Flo Rida lately for Diplo), the new partnership feels like a long time in the making. The pair unveiled their new partnership at the Mad Decent block party in San Diego this weekend gone, marking the the first material together since the pair's one off track 'Amplifire'.

As highlighted in the above videos, the unnamed track brings together Skrillex's penchant for a screaching mid range bassline and Diplo's dancehall booty trademark, complete with ragga-style vocals. Love them or loathe them (and even if this is your idea of musical hell) we're sure this tune is going to make the world of EDM lose its rag completely upon official release.

Listen to Skrillex on Pulse Radio.

Factory Floor
'Factory Floor'
[DFA]

One of the best things about the success of Factory Floor, which has warranted so much attention for their latest album, is the trio’s stylistic choices are shining a the light on the rich, influential history of industrial music from the 80s and 90s. Trent Reznor returned to Nine Inch Nails this year, one of the most polished and accessible examples of what can be chiseled out of unhinged noise. However, Factory Floor definitely take their queue more from the abrasive, avant-garde side of the genre, encapsulated by early trailbalzers like Cabaret Voltaire.

The London-based act released their first in a series of particularly well-received singles and EPs in 2008, and their reputation has equally been drawn from the strength of their throbbing live show. Here they’ve tried to mold their celebrated approach into a full-length album, with their manifesto tied to extracting the maximum creative possibilities out of the use of repetition. It is an ambitious undertaking.

The template is introduced early on in Here Again, with a softly spoken acid line that fades in and out, before swelling to an endless repeat, which becomes the central pillar of the song. Around this, Factory Floor manage to build a wall of sound that heaves and sighs, taking on its own sense of organic life, revealing itself to be more and more dense as you delve into it.

Nik Colk Void’s processed vocals are yanked to far enough of an emotional distance to melt seamlessly into the other machines, while the percussion and drumming from Gabriel Gurnsey is amazingly flowing and finely tuned. His technical contribution to the trio’s objectives can’t be understated. From a surface, outer-sheen perspective, Factory Floor is wonderfully realised, with the different noisy elements drawing in to harmoniously fall in sync with each other.

It’s not hard to imagine how this throbbing repetition would translate into a mesmerising live show. In the context of a full-length album though, it’s not enough to sustain itself over the duration of its 53 minutes. There’s a genuine polished, shiny cohesiveness to the soundscapes they’ve built, but in the end, this is all that Factory Floor have got. The exterior is wonderfully realised, but the core of the album is a disappointing hollow husk.

To look at it another way; the stylistic consistency on Factory Floor is amazing, and one of the drawbacks of an act being so warmly embraced is that expectations will be unreasonably high for their first shot at an LP. Conceptually, they’ve aimed high, and while Factory Floor might have an eye to the past, new ground has still been broken. The living, breathing world they’ve conjured will make for a solid foundation to do some properly spectacular work.

Listen to Factory Floor on Pulse Radio.

Melbourne based company The Operatives offer a backstage view of the most exciting electronic music producers in the world as they tour Australia. In their latest video, they speak to experimental beatsmith Onra.

The French producer tookm time to chat to The Operatives about his unique blend of electronica and hip hop, the use of chinese, acoustic instrument samples. Marvin Gaye and the art of sampling; its all shot to some remarkably sharp footage of Onra playing live on his second Australian tour. Enjoy the informal interview and the stunning live show in the video above.

Listen to Fools Gold on Pulse Radio.

The rumbling, bouncy Neo-African sounds of Soulistic Music has ventured as far as the shores of Ibiza this year. Ibiza proving to far for the average South African, we've been very lucky to be offered the Soulistic music label nights as apt replacement for not being able to watch Black Coffee play at Circo loco.

Soulistic music followed this with their vibrantly successful label night from the heights of Sandton to Zone6 in Soweto, a venue masterfully bigger and the sound system, a rig reaching near stadium like proportions. 

The crowd itching for the likes of Sai & Ribatone, Kabila, Shimza, Culoe De Song, Black Coffee and vocals from talented Tumelo& Soulstar. Sai & Ribatone, kicked off the Soulistic Music Night proceedings with Ribatone’s instrumental keynotes, jazzy sounds, Sai’s afro-beats, whom was celebrating his Birthday in a very special way.

DJ Kabila, graced us with his presence all the way from Kwa-Zulu Natal, some call him the father of the Soulistic family, as he mentored Black Coffee & Culoe De Song in the early days. We caught the young prodigy Shimza on the decks, with his branded one armed ear piece, dropping the effects. Shimza displays the style, humility & talent of a superstar in the making, a younger version of Black Coffee, aptly so, Coffee has taken him under his wing. 

Culoe De Song took over and the crowd really started going by then. Culoe’s sets are something of an amazing amalgamation of simplistic sounds with House, Tech, Minimal and Afro-influences. From Sandy Riveria to his own world-renown Webaba and our personal favourite the Bright Forest. Culoe has so many different sides to him, from shy to bold, Afro-House to Underground Tech, every time we catch this young man, it’s always a pleasure. And of course, finally Soulstar came to do a live rendition of their new collaboration “My Shine Shine”, already a big hit which really got the crowd elevated.

And finally the moment had come, Black Coffee, fresh back from a European Tour, that saw him return to Greece and of course that legendary debut set at Circoloco @DC10 in Ibiza. Coffee shared the stage with Ribatone on the keyboard. The chemistry between Black Coffee and Ribatone, was purely eclectic. The duo delivered a set that was more on the Afro-Deep-Tech, a term we love to see in SA. It was a step-away from Coffee’s usual Afro-House sets with effects and drops, and more a display of his versatility and his growth as an “International” iconic artist, in which Ribatone complimented him at every moment.  Tumelo came on for a live rendition of “Arise and Shine” & Soulstar joining the duo for another live rendition this time “You Rock My World. 

It is clear that Black Coffee and the gang bring forth an eclectic mix of people to their events, their music is clearly starting to bring together a diverse culture. The mix of DJ sets and live performances offers something very different to the average night out in Jozi, a mix of Celebrities, fans and music lovers all mixed into one calabash, it didn't matter who you are or what your status was, we were all there for one thing, music, from the first beat to the last kick at 3am, the night was clever, there was a sleekness to how Soulistic made this all come together, it was truly enjoyable.

Soulistic has become an international brand, it's artists at the fore front of the music industry and these label nights are a display of Soulistic's superlative nature, it's also a rare chance to see the chemistry between all the members of the label under one roof. Its clear to see that Soulistic is a very tightly knit family and this in a sense it humanizes the stellar like nature of people like Black Coffee. If the aim of the label nights is to offer fans accessibility then these events are a success, the look in the fans eyes, the excitement of the mere fact that some of their favourite acts are within an arms reach. It makes these nights worthwhile. 

Efforts must be made to attend the Soulistic label nights at least once, it's a very real and organic experience, there really is a level of coziness and intimacy, rarely found on the average night out in the city with artists of such caliber. I personally can't wait till the next one.

Soulistic is running such a well oiled machine that it’s no surprise that their events are very successful, well planned and the standard of music is always of the highest order. Black Coffee and the Soulistic family making Africa Rise from Soweto to the World! To view all the photo's taken on the night (see here). 

Up next, the Soulistic family travels to North-West to Klerksdorp on September 27th and if you're in the Cape you will be able to come for Culoe's set at the Official After Party of Samu.l & Friends at Republic Lounge on Saturday the 21st September (details here). 

Words by The Lazarusman

Listen to Culoe De Song on Pulse Radio 

Monday morning, you still hear that faint bassline and snare you fell in love with over the weekend ringing in your ears, feeling as if you’ve just run the comrades from dancing all weekend. Mondays - we bring you Fresh Monday Mixtapes - this time round we have Weston & Engine.

This diverse combination of talent which formed back in 2003, formulated at Organic Audio in Johannesburg, the trio have found new life and respect in each other with their respective influences and tastes in sound. From Techno elements to that sultry deep kinda groove, a combination of Carl Weston's sound design, Sean Phillips musicality and Pablo Lundall's rhythm and understanding goes into a Weston & Engine (W.E) production.

It’s clear in the trio’s music that they have nothing but love for music. They state that their inspirations come from acts like Quintin Christian (U.K "Hoxton Fm"), Dj Camouflage(U.S.A "CHFM"), Liquideep and Crazy White Boy to name a select few. 

In the year 2009 the minds of Sean and Pablo combined, each seeking the truth behind the sound of EDM. With similar styles, fascinations and flair these young aspiring musicians come together and share with the world their love for the beat. Both as respected DJ's and artists prior to the founding of EE (EarthEngine) realized that the joining of two parties coming together for a common goal would take their musical lives to the platform they scream for i.e. Reciprocity.

With personal teachings from mentor and South African musical pioneer Ryan Murgatroyd and also 1 half of international duo Crazy White Boy, Pablo and Sean fast became acquainted to the art of sound design and production. This grew into a deep relationship with the sound over the years.

The Amalgamation of the trio then took place in 2013 after discovering a very young and talented sound design guru Carl Weston in June 2012. The young Weston at age 20 has definitely grasped the concept of sound design. Born in Johannesburg, moving to Durban and then visiting S.A.E in Capetown, Carl was driven to find the deeper meaning of his role in society as a young music producer. Organic Audio was his calling! Johannesburg it was and the Weston was on the road again.

With support from Organic Audio and the rest of the world the trio will look to take EDM to new heights and places, attracting passionate music lovers from all corners of the globe.

Listen to Weston & Engine on Pulse Radio

Francesca Lombardo
'What To Do'
[Crosstown Rebels]

Francesca Lombardo’s new single is here and its arrival is accompanied by a trio of remixes from the likes of Infinity Ink, Matrixxman, and Luca C Dub. The classically trained DJ and producer has pulled out all the stops for this latest track, and it’s obvious from the get-go that ‘What To Do’ marks her ascension to a new level of sonic sophistication.

An exercise in subtlety, the original mix of ‘What To Do’ moves at a relatively brisk pace but feels utterly effortless in its progression. In fact, the song flows so smoothly; those eight minutes seem more like four. It’s this kind of time-warp black magic that makes the track so versatile. The composition is technically sound and would make for a great addition to any club mix, but it doesn’t try to hit you over the head, which means the track could also do double-duty as a daily listener.

Infinity Ink and Matrixxman both diverge from the original’s pacing and tempo with their respective remixes, but both do a great job paying tribute to, and leveraging, the magic in the original. Infinity Ink decided to go with a more stripped down vibe, which only further champions the “less is more” mantra of the original. This is a good thing. Matrixxman’s take on the track gets even more divergent and adds some distinctly new sounds to mix, markedly upping the trip factor.

Rounding out the roster is Luca C Dub’s reworking. With a more traditional club feel, Luca’s iteration on ‘What To Do’ would make for a perfect dance hall track with its deeper bass and its almost militant beat pacing.

Francesca’s vocal background in Opera and her classical training on the piano have served her well and while ‘What To Do’ may not sound like something from Tchaikovsky‘s Iolanta it's a great piece of forward thinking house music.

Listen to Francesca Lombardo on Pulse Radio 

London's SW4 festival ruled the roost over August Bank Holiday weekend as they celebrated a decade of converging world beating line ups and unrivaled atmosphere; now, you can relive the experience with their official 'After Movie'.

The video gives us a recap of the festival's highlights, including Green Velvet, Carl Cox, Eddie Halliwell, Loco Dice, Paul van Dyk, Tensnake, Armin van Buuren, Sven Vaeth, DJ Friction, Shy FX, Pete Tong, Rudimental and of course, the ravers that have made the event such a unique, dominant event. Clapham Common once again found itself as the epicentre for all things dance and electronic music - come rain or shine.

Enjoy the SW4 10th Anniversary after movie above; if you're already green with envy (or excited for another bout on the Common) then make sure you head over to the official website to register for pre-release 2014 tickets.

Header Image Photography by Graham Joy.

West Four on Pulse Radio.

Despite being denied an alcohol permit by the city only the day before, organizers decided to go through with Wet Electric music festival in Huntington Beach, California with a few small changes. The festival which took place this past weekend on Saturday, September 14th featured artists such as Erick Morillo, Paul Oakenfold, Nadia Ali, and Robbie Rivera on three stages on the beautiful beaches of Southern California.

The festival was a beach bash including water slides, zip lines, art installations, and VIP cabanas, and drew about 10,000 guests to its location at Huntington State Beach. Festival organizers believe that the denial of an alcohol permit to them only a day before the festival represents an effort of the city to shut down the event at the last minute. John Carr, a spokesman for the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control told KPCC, a Southern California radio station, “The overarching concern is public safety. The plan submitted to ABC did not sufficiently address public safety concerns.”

But the organizers, guests, and artists did not let the unexpected ruling stop all the fun. The festival decided to allow guests to leave and reenter the festival as often as they pleased in order to give them an opportunity to take part in the banned activities elsewhere. Wet Electric posted on its Facebook page about its decision:

Listen to Erick Morillo on Pulse Radio

It’s been a dream of mine to go to Tokyo every since I was a wee lad addicted to video games and dabbling in the occasional anime, hearing stories of places like Akihabara and the like (more on that later). Promoter Mio Takahashi and DJ Naoki Sarizawa first heard me playing live at the Crew Love High party at BPM last year. They invited me to come play and obviously I was stoked, especially when I heard I was staying for about a week!

Day 1:

I got to the airport a little late and had to rush through security. I realized last minute that I left my sleeping pills in the car, so the 13 hour flight was starting to freak me out a bit. Luckily, right before boarding I ran into my friend Alexander (of the incredible SONNS and Split/Secs projects) who was getting on a flight to Paris, who just happened to have an extra half Xanax for me. Thank the stars.

Arrived in Tokyo a little groggy but pretty excited to finally be there. A dude named Taku, standing tall in his signature grey sweat shorts and Spurs jersey, was there to pick me up. Taku is the man - hip-hop head that knows his house, chill as Christmas, super nice and one of the best tour guides you could ask for; probably somebody I would cut class to smoke blunts with if we went to high school together.

After a quick check in and outfit change at the hotel, Taku, Mio and I met up with Naoki at Sushi Zanmai (first sushi in Japan!). Damn good sushi!

All residual grogginess faded and I was off to play at Dommune, Tokyo’s version of Boiler Room. It streamed online with about 13,000 viewers that day. Arriving there, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I walked downstairs to the sound of me rapping on PillowTalk’s “Can’t It Be Simple”. I was ready to get down. Naoki was opening up for me and he was playing lots of nice, groovy stuff. It’s always nice to play after somebody who really gets the vibe, especially when they’re the ones who brought you out in the first place. The set was fun and people seemed to dig it online. Then it was back to the hotel to chill out for the night.

Stray observations:
1. Japanese commercials are fucking hilarious. Most of the time I didn’t even know what the hell was going on until the jingle and logo of the company played at the end. It seemed everybody has a jingle/logo either at the beginning or end, even American companies and businesses like Haagen Daaz.
2. There was an outrageous game show where a bunch of girls were trying to spit watermelon seeds onto each other’s foreheads. I don’t think the show runners even knew if this was possible, because every one of them failed except the last pair, who literally stood inches away from each other tirelessly spitting seeds.
3. 7-Elevens are way more decked out in Japan. You can get a vast variety of foods as well as other stuff you’d never see in an American convenience store. Mio and Naoki recommended some rice ball snacks, since they remembered Eli and Chuck from Soul Clap were all about them. Naoki also laced me up with a couple packs of bath salts.
4. Japanese people, including the men, seem way more into baths than us filthy Americans. The hotel I was staying at provided a pack of salts as well.
5. The rumors were true; toilets in Japan put the rest of the world to shame.

Day 2:

Taku picked me up in morning to take me shopping around Shibuya, mainly Harajuku. We went to a couple of normal clothing stores and it quickly set in that shopping in Tokyo is not cheap, so we then moved on to more some thrift stores. It seemed that Tokyo did American better than America. We went to one store that was basically like the 90s hip-hop gear outlet. Everything from airbrushed Bulls t-shirts, gold chains with fat Versace medusa emblems, and much more of the like. I spent a pretty penny there, mainly on this sweet Hermes jacket.

We cruised around a bit more. Riding around the town with Taku was dope as he provided the illest soundtrack of old school hip-hop I’ve heard in a while. It’s been a long while since I stopped listening to that stuff (since it stopped being very good) and it was weird to feel the nostalgia of riding around bumping Outkast, Dre, Gang Starr, Kurtis Blow, Q-Tip, etc. in this strange place I’d only dreamed of since most of that stuff came out.

Taku then took me to this sneaker store that reminded of New York’s Flight Club. Their selection was pretty amazing. Saw these dope Keith Harring Reeboks, the Patrick Ewings, and more. This was also one of the first times since I was a kid that I’d ever really seen brand new retro Jordans in an actual shoe store, as they usually sell out pretty quick in the States. Not only that, but there were like six different pairs! I was actually trying to decide between different J’s in one store! With Onyx and EPMD playing in the background, no less. The decision was tough, but I had to go with the classic black X1s.

Next stop was the 5G synth shop. I recommend any gear head to stop by this place. It was analog Mecca. Taku stood patiently while I did my kid-in-a-candystore thing, trying to get my fingers on all the nice toys. I played with the Mini-MS20, the Prophet 12, some of the MFB stuff, the OP-1 and others all for the first time. It was dope.

We met up with Taku’s homegirl, Mika, and went to grab a snack. We stopped by this spot that they said offered “Japanese Soul Food”, a little stand on the corner. There we ate Takoyaki, these little fried balls stuffed with octopus, with some mayo/eggy sauce thing on top. These were off the fucking chain, and even though it was tongue-scoldingly hot, I couldn’t slow down.

They took me to an arcade quickly because they knew I was a nerd (in Japan, the word for nerd is “Otaku”). I was really excited to get my ass whooped in Street Fighter by some six-year-old kid, but to my dismay, out of two six-story arcades, there was no Street Fighter!! When I asked an employee what the heck was the deal with that, he said they had to make room for the new Tekken cabinets. Whatever, Tekken. Besides that, everything else was some kind of rhythm game or these weird horse race things.

Last stop was the top of this government building for an amazing view of Shinjuku – very Blade Runner-esque and amazing.

Stray observations:
1. It seemed like everybody had clear umbrellas. They have these cool things in the front of most stores that quickly put a plastic bag around your umbrella. My theory is that everybody rocks the clear joints so that nobody notices when people accidently take the wrong umbrella.

Day 3:

Chilled for most of the day until dinnertime. Mio, Taku, Naoki, and Mika took me to Shabu Zen, the restaurant Bill Murray goes to in “Lost in Translation”. We had this special room to ourselves, which was cool. Although I’m not a huge cigarette smoker, it was cool that we could smoke in there. The waitress was all Geisha’d out and the whole atmosphere was pretty cool. The Shabu Shabu was delectable, but the real star of the show was the Sukiyaki. This was my first time fucking with the stuff and boy oh boy was it delicious. This yolky sauce that the meat is dipped into was sweet, rich, and to die for.

Afterwards we stopped by this cool bar called Spumo bar, where some of the crew had some friends there chilling for a birthday party. The place was small and intimate and super dope. The friends were rad too. I met Naoki’s band of childhood homeboys, who back in the day would go by the name The No Sweet Gang. It was fun hearing them reminisce about their youthful shenanigans and reminded me of my own mischievous childhood.

Stray observations:
1. There should be a Bill Murray tour of Tokyo.
2. Otskaresama is like saying Kampai (cheers) but reserved for after a long day of hard work, or as a congratulatory thing, which is cool.
3. Mio Takahashi is the best joint roller in the East!

Day 4 - Show Night:

Got to the club, Air, and the place was pretty sweet. As you go downstairs from the restaurant, there’s one room that’s a chiller more lounge type club affair. Then downstairs was the main room. Mio and her gang spruced it up a bit for their party, and it really made a difference. In front of the DJ booth was a pretty sweet DIY installation that made the whole thing look like some alien spaceship. This was achieved by putting these metal flower things on the ends of dozens of (clear) umbrellas interlocked with each other. A couple acts went on before me and they were all dope. These two brothers played a live show that was fresh and acidy. I did an extended set for Tokyo to include all the goodies and the set time went a little longer than anticipated. Naoki got on afterwards and absolutely smashed it! I hopped on the decks and played back to back with him for awhile, also doing some impromptu drunken freestyle vocals over the stuff he was playing. From what I understood, the party went a few hours longer than it usually does and ended well after sunrise. We laughed and stumbled our way home and all in all it was really one for the books.

Day 5:

Thank God there are more days to write about, because had I left the next morning it would have been a pretty rough flight. I chilled for the afternoon recovering until Naoki and Mio stopped by and took me to this Japanese-style Korean BBQ joint called Jumbo. WOW. Not a huge red meat guy, but this place was all about the beef, and I can easily say it was the best beef I’d ever had in my life. We ate Wagyu beef, which I was told was better than Kobe. We ate almost half the cow and I’m glad we did. There was a grill in the middle of the table and we cooked the majority of it ourselves.

Here were some highlights:
Yok-hoe – this amazing raw beef, can’t remember which part of the cow.
Heart sashimi - sweet, chewy but not too much, interesting and delish
Tongue – the tongue was amazing. Tasted like filet mignon
Kimchi cherry tomatoes – YUM
Best potato salad ever- sweet bacon flavored goodness, awesome
Thin cut baked sirloin sukiyaki in tamago (egg) - this was to die for and my favorite thing. That is until I tried…
The brisket. Sankaku (triangle). Wow. Cook each side for 3 seconds and dip in yakiniku sauce. Holy shit. Melts in your mouth.
Small intestine -like little yummy flavor balloons - a bit tough in the outside, full of juicy goodness on the inside

Day 6 - The Last Day:

Before heading to the airport, we had enough time to do one more sightseeing thing. The choice was between going to Disc Union, a dope record store that the Soul Clap guys had told me about a couple weeks before in Barcelona. The other choice was to go to Akihabara, the nerd capital I’d wanted to go to since I was a kid. I decided between the big kid nerd stop and the little-kid-in-me nerd stop, the big man would win out. Disc Union was super dope. They had a sweet section of sample sources, records they thought you might want to sample, that was on sale. Other than that I dabbled through the 90s house section, old school hip-hop, Japanese rap, and some world music stuff. Ended up leaving with a couple cool African records, this weird Tibetan Buddhist Demon Exorcism chants record, a couple of Pal Joey records, and some sweet old school freestyle records.

Luckily we had about four hours to go so we decided to go to Akihabara (or Akiba) for a bit. Cosplay everywhere, arcade heaven, and lots and lots of toy and gadget stores. There were even little hentai dolls with their tits out for sale for like thousands of dollars in one place. The video game stores had lots of cool rarities like gold dreamcasts, Neo-Geos, lots of old school Game & Watch things, and some of the rarest games in the world, mostly selling for hundreds of bucks. Funny enough, Akiba had the most white kids I saw in Japan, mostly pasty socially awkward dorky types with bad acne walking around with their dads.

With all the stops met we made our way to the airport. There was a big traffic jam but we managed to get there eventually, and although I may have had to get on a later flight, in the end it all worked out. Easily the best trip on my world tour! Totally lived up to all my expectations. The crew there who took care of me are now definite homies for life. Crew Love Far East!

It was one of the trips that reminded me just how lucky and blessed I am to be able to do this for a living and get to experience things like this just for doing what I love to do. Can’t wait to go back.

Listen to Navid Izadi on Pulse Radio

Justin Jay has accomplished a lot for someone still in his college years.  At only 20 years old, he has already impressed the likes of Claude VonStroke and Droog among others leading to releases on Dirtybird and Culprit and tour dates around the world in LA, Detroit, and Ibiza - all between classes, homework, and college life at USC in Los Angeles.  Justin's most recent EP 'The Jaguar' was released on September 9th via Culprit.  We had the chance to sit down with Justin at the start of a busy fall semester to discuss balancing school with making and playing music, some of his dream collaborations, playing in Ibiza for the first time, and the process of producing "The Jaguar."

In the old days, records/tapes/CDs were handed to DJs at nightclubs and then followed up on if they liked what they heard. Given your successes thus far in clubland, the fact that you're under the legal age to hang out at most clubs has clearly not been a hindrance. What advice to you have for other young producer/DJs who might be looking to break into the scene but don't know where to start? I was able to break through because I just kept on cranking out tracks and sending them off to my favorite labels through soundcloud. A lot of those songs were pretty questionable, but I started honing my production skills by putting in the hours. Getting music signed on Dirtybird was an absolute dream come true. I think it's so crazy that something like that was able to happen even though I'd never personally met any of the guys. With a little bit of push through the internet, quality music will find its home. To break into the scene, a good place to start is in your bedroom, making music... that's what worked for me.

What was the name of the program at your high school that got you hooked on making music at the age of 15? It was just one elective class called "Electronic Music." It was nuts, they sat us down with an old version of Logic and Midi keyboards. I grew up playing the piano so I coasted through the class without having to learn much technically, but I just thought it was so cool how you could record all sorts of sounds just from one keyboard. Around that time, I had a really brief desire to be in a rock band, but I didn't think there was a lot of demand for piano. Electronic music production first appealed to me just because I could do all of the instruments myself with a midi keyboard.

What's the key to balancing studies in college with building a career that likely comes with pressure to leave school for touring or more production work? I'm still figuring out this balancing act. It gets tricky... On my way to Europe this summer, I had to crank out a 10 page essay on the flight from LA to London. The biggest key I'm discovering is taking summer school classes and then having relatively light course load during the school year. That's helped a lot. While keeping up with tests and homework is a drag, I like learning and being surrounded by kids my own age. Inspiration can strike in the most unlikely places, even classrooms and frat parties.

What are you studying in school? I'm in this very interdisciplinary "Music Industry" program at USC. It's all over the place. Some technical stuff, some business stuff and some legal stuff as well. It's awesome, keeps things from getting monotonous in the classroom.

What does your production rig consist of? My music making setup is not very impressive. I'm using Logic Pro 9 on a Mac with KRK Rockit speakers and a midi keyboard. Just a couple of third party VSTs and that's it.

Do you rent a studio space or do you find a way to make records while living in student housing? For my new Culprit EP, I did some work on the title track, "The Jaguar," in Droog's LA studio which was pretty cool. Beyond that, I'm still a total bedroom producer. It gets the job done... the biggest problem is when my roommate is trying to sleep or study.

Name one person from each genre who you'd like to collaborate with dead or alive Classic Rock/Hip-Hop/Pop. From Hip-Hop, A Tribe Called Quest; from Rock, Trent Reznor; from Pop... I really don't listen to very much current pop music, but I wish I could work with Nile Rodgers back in the 70s and 80s when he was defining popular music for those eras.

You recently enjoyed your first few gigs in Europe and played the Dirtybird night at Sankeys in Ibiza. Tell us a little bit about that experience. What do you think of the white island? It was absolutely surreal! I played one of the craziest sets of my life at Sankeys. Fatboy Slim started his set upstairs just after my set in the main room ended, so even though I had the first set of the night, the room was rammed with people. Amazing crowd, amazing energy...it was so much fun. It was a trip being in Ibiza after having grown up hearing so much about it. The clubs are very impressive but the island itself has a really cool energy to it. I'm really grateful for having such an amazing first experience on the infamous white island.

"The Jaguar" is a great record that's equal parts big beats, nostalgic, and beautiful guitar/melodic influence. Tell us about the process of making this record and how it found its way onto Culprit. Every song I make comes about in a different way, I don't have a formula or anything. I'm always throwing random ideas against the wall, hoping something sticks. For "The Jaguar" it was the bass line that came first. There's 808 subs layered with 909 tom clicks which give it that bouncy techy feel. I had all the guitar ideas brewing in a different project and decided to try combining them. "Coldwater" started out with just a chord progression and some vocal samples. While I started and finished both of these tunes this year, the first draft of "You & Me" is almost two years old. I revisited the old project back in the winter with some improved production skills and it became the first finished track of the EP. I met the Droog guys after going to one of their epic Culprit Session parties at the Standard Hotel Rooftop in downtown Los Angeles. A big fan of their label, I asked if I could send them some tunes. "You & Me" and "Coldwater" were in the batch, and I made "The Jaguar" to round out the release after the first two tracks got picked out.

Listen to Justin Jay on Pulse Radio

It’s well known that We Love… Space is as close as you will get to a festival on the island of Ibiza. Over the years, the Sunday party has become tradition, welcoming both cutting edge and highly established artists from across the globe each and every Sunday to make it happen in the hallowed walls of Space. This week, German whizz Steve Bug, Chicago legend Kevin Saunderson, and jackmaster Heidi, who went back to back with Scuba, smashed it once again as Bristol house brand Just Jack took over the Terrace. Simian Mobile Disco joined James Zabiela and Special Request Live (Paul Woolford) , who all manned the Discoteca, while Mr Doris and many more joined a string of We Love residents across the venue.

The We Love adventure with the living Ibiza legend Alfredo, playing early on in Space’s open air Premier Etage. Ibiza’s most infamous resident brought smiles to everyone’s faces, and even headliner James Zabiela was spotted enjoying a little early boogie, chatting away to friends and clubbers, explaining to all how he keeps those beautiful blonde locks in such perfect condition. All Sunday evenings should include Alfredo playing Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ on Premier Etage while sipping on a vodka and orange.

After Dark presented by Mr Doris started off with a few modern day classics. After weeks of hearing booming techno around the island, some stripped back and chilled out drum n’ bass was great to hear as an alternative sound, as We Love offers a little bit of everything, exploring the avenues of electronica in as many different ways as possible.

By 2am, Kevin Saunderson had the Terrace packed out. The Chicago legend has inspired many over the years. And while difficult to admit, this was the first time I had seen him in person, though it was certainly worth the wait. His set was a perfect mixture of old and new, ranging from Chic’s ‘Good Times’ to Michel Cleis’ ‘Mir de Nero,’ and with one of the contenders for tune of the summer with Finder’s ‘Ninetoes,’ The Elevator showed the effortless ability to breach any genre that few in the world can match.

Following it up was one of the more intriguing match ups of the season, with Radio 1 resident, Heidi, joining Scuba in a special back-to-back set. As usual with back-to-backs, you wonder who will be taking the lead, who will compromise their usual style to find the sound that will continue on throughout the set, though the two were perfectly matched, thundering out house that kept the crowd jacking all through the night. Leaving them to it for a bit to check out the gadget kid James Zabiela, I headed back right in the middle of Cirez D’s ‘On Off,’ a tune that was greatly received in the Discoteca, and one that brings back a few fantastic memories of previous seasons. Heading back into the terrace, Scuba and Heidi were finishing things off with house anthems such as Paul Woolford’s ‘Untitled,’ continuing to sound as good as it did early season, as well as KiNK’s ‘Existence,’ Jaydee’s ‘Plastic Dreams’ and Tensnake’s ‘Coma Cat,’ closing out the duo’s set in massive style, queuing Steve Bug to finish things off perfectly, reading the crowd like few others can.

With a very special Innvervisions showcase next Sunday, expect We Love... to continue this fine form into the closing weeks of the season, and for us to be here to report it to you.  

Listen to We Love... on Pulse Radio.

British production icon Four Tet has uploaded a new track from his forthcoming 'Beautiful Rewind' album to Soundcloud, which you can stream below.

Parallel Jalebi is the second track from the new album, packing a juxtapositional punch of smooth vocals & glitchy, roughly cut synth stabs. The new track also comes a week after his Dan Wilde directed documentary 'Looking Backward, Moving Forward' was released (you can check that out in the YouTube player below).

Listen to Four Tet on Pulse Radio.

Its official, French superstar Madeon is on the line up for the Rage Festival South Africa 2013. This marks the 5th international artist announcement of 10. We look forward to 5 more big announcements over the next 5 weeks so watch this space.

4U Rage Festival is a 2 and a half week non-stop day and night extravaganza that has you partying to some of the hottest artists in some of the hottest venues in South Africa. Every night for two weeks there is an event lined-up of exceptional standard and having the passport grants access to this extravaganza. 4U Rage Festival venues are often completely overhauled to ensure they have the very best sound, lighting and AV technology to compliment the amazing attitudes that partygoers bring along with them to the festival.

To recap on the 5 international artists that have been announced so far they have Borgore, Tube & Berger, Stimming, Danny Avila and now adding to the ranks of quality music and entertainment is French superstar Madeon. 

Stay in touch (here) to see which international artist will be joining this already impressive line-up.  

For more info and ticket/passport details check out www.ragefestival.co.za. 

The annual Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition is back yet again to celebrate a decade of well-earned success on the 21st and 22nd of September 2013 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Jo-Burg. Vanguard of the South African music industry, the Moshito Music Conference & Exhibition prepares to celebrate a decade of cutting-edge insights, music know-how and industry accomplishments. They have been unpacking fresh ideas and introducing new trade tricks and secrets and nothing is about to change.  

This years’ panel is dynamic with local and international industry players that will be offering knowledge gained along their careers. South African leading house label Soulistic Music’s boss DJ Black Coffee is one of the speakers expected to deliver powerful talks at the conference, this should be incredibly interesting having listened to the insight he offered at TEDx just recently.

So a decade later, Moshito Music Conference & Exhibition is soon to offer their secrets as to enable industry players with skills designed to tackle pressing issues in the industry – looking forward to this! 

Listen to Pulse Radio

Dance for Decks is an initiative set up working with UK charities to help rehabilitate the homeless. Launching a DJ School on 02.10.13, the charity is looking for your help.

Dance for Decks was born earlier this year in an attempt to use dance music as a way to help rehabilitate and offer a creative outlet for London's homeless. Figures showed that despite Boris Jonson's mayoral pledges, nearly 6,500 people were sleeping rough in London 2012 - 2013. Charities such as Centrepoint, Shelter and St Mungos have all been committed to trying to buck the trend, and it's the latter's recovery college in London that will house the Dance For Decks DJ Skills Workshop. Each week the workshop will feature a well known DJ giving up their time to  chat with the students and show them some practical DJ tips (or alternatively standing back in awe as they discover the next Q-Bert).  As well as having two rooms for the students to learn or hone their skills the project will also feature a studio where they can edit and upload their mixes to the web. 

After announcing the course, there has been an overwhelming interest meaning that the initial money raised by the April party (at Basing House with Craig Richards and Geddes) isn't enough to provide eqipment for all students. This is where Dance For Decks are looking for the help of DJs in the London area who can help by donate any equipment so they can offer the course to all those that would like to benefit from it. Please get in touch if you are able to assist with any of the following.

CDJ
Vinyl Turntable
Cartridges
Mixer
Amp
Speakers
Records

If you are able to help out, or would even be interested in donating a couple of hours on a Wednesday between Oct 02 - Nov 20th. Please get in touch here. Dance for Decks aims to build on the successes with St Mungos to move on with other charities to be able to offer the same to people around the country, so any donations will go on to benefit a lot of people.

Listen to Craig Richards on Pulse Radio

Dance for Decks is an initiative set up working with UK charities to help rehabilitate the homeless. Launching a DJ School on 02.10.13, the charity is looking for your help.

Dance for Decks was born earlier this year in an attempt to use dance music as a way to help rehabilitate and offer a creative outlet for London's homeless. Figures showed that despite Boris Jonson's mayoral pledges, nearly 6,500 people were sleeping rough in London 2012 - 2013. Charities such as Centrepoint, Shelter and St Mungos have all been committed to trying to buck the trend, and it's the latter's recovery college in London that will house the Dance For Decks DJ Skills Workshop. Each week the workshop will feature a well known DJ giving up their time to  chat with the students and show them some practical DJ tips (or alternatively standing back in awe as they discover the next Q-Bert).  As well as having two rooms for the students to learn or hone their skills the project will also feature a studio where they can edit and upload their mixes to the web. 

After announcing the course, there has been an overwhelming interest meaning that the initial money raised by the April party (at Basing House with Craig Richards and Geddes) isn't enough to provide eqipment for all students. This is where Dance For Decks are looking for the help of DJs in the London area who can help by donate any equipment so they can offer the course to all those that would like to benefit from it. Please get in touch if you are able to assist with any of the following.

CDJ
Vinyl Turntable
Cartridges
Mixer
Amp
Speakers
Records

If you are able to help out, or would even be interested in donating a couple of hours on a Wednesday between Oct 02 - Nov 20th. Please get in touch here. Dance for Decks aims to build on the successes with St Mungos to move on with other charities to be able to offer the same to people around the country, so any donations will go on to benefit a lot of people.

Listen to Craig Richards on Pulse Radio

Beyonce Knowles found herself closer to her fans that she previously would've thought, after a topless male pulled her into the crowd at the Sao Paulo leg of her world tour on the weekend.

The global icon - currently travelling the world on her Mrs Carter Show tour - was pulled off stage by an over-zealous fan while performing 'Irreplaceable', according to an article in the telegraph. After the incident, the American singer kept her composure after being rushed to 'safety' by security guards.

But Beyonce - known for her rigorous discipline and love for her fan base - brushed off the incident, and at the end of her performance spoke to the man from the stage. "Let me speak to the gentleman - he just got excited. It’s alright” she said before kneeling down and shaking his hand.

“Thank you, I love you too,” she concluded, to unanimous applause from the crowd.

Listen to Pulse Radio.

After the huge success and endless remixes of Daft Punks last chart-topper ‘Get Lucky’, they have come out with a gem of a track featuring Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams that has the sound of success in the licks of Nile’s guitar and the disco flare that Pharrell has on the vocals. 

Slightly down-tempo, quirky guitar licks, the rolling bassline and the higher range of Pharrell’s vocal chords collectively work together in a way that’s extremely difficult to ignore, whether you’re on the dancefloor or not – an aptly chosen single as the predecessor of last single ‘Get Lucky’. 

With the mysterious French duo having recently nudged their way into Amazon UK’s all-time best selling vinyl charts, the single is coming in hot, and shiny. Watch the Youtube video riddled in glitter of the NEW single and Official Video of ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’ below:

Listen to Daft Punk on Pulse

So hip-hop turns 40 this year. Happy birthday hip-hop. While the world celebrates, London continues to throw down the best hip-hop, funky beats and breaks nights, ever since Kool Herc dropped his first 12”. We love the scene - it’s why we’ve been putting on parties across the capital for the last few years - but there’s a load more at our disposal that you need to check out. Have a breeze through our recommendations below… and why not check out our exclusive Pulse Radio ‘Capital Cuts’ mix - showcasing some of our favourite London-based hip-hip/funk/soul - while you’re at it?

[Read on for Tracklisting] 

Get Down present… Mo Fingaz
Saturday 21st September; 10pm - 4am
Market House, Brixton

'Get Down presents...' is our opportunity to showcase some of the best DJs in London. When we made the decision to start booking guests, we didn't want to go for big names riding off an old reputation or artists known more for their production. Just good DJs, playing good music, with no entry fee. Market House suits us perfectly - an intimate space in a great location with a bass-heavy/ribcage rattling full Function One sound-system.

More details here.

Doctor’s Orders present… DJ Premier, Peanut Butter Wolf & The Nextmen
Saturday 19th October; 10pm - 5am
Scala, Kings Cross

For those in the know, Doctor’s Orders are at the heart of London hip-hop. Regulars Mr Thing (DMC champ), Spin Doctor & the Nextmen join legends DJ Premier and Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf for massive night where the best of UK meet the best of the US.

More details here

Videocrash – DJ Yoda (Full AV Show), DJ Woody (A/V) & DJ Cheeba (A/V)
Friday 1st November; 10pm - 4am
Village Underground, Shoreditch

Caught Yoda and Cheeba at Soundwave this year. These guys will blow your mind with their AV shows while taking you through a history lesson in hip-hop. DJ Woody joins, having just released a teaser for his ‘Hip-Hop is 40’ video. Expect a serious amount of cutting, scratching and hip-hop hype.

More details here.

Get Down Sounds Mix - Tracklisting
TY - Let's Start
DJ Vadim feat. Katherin Deboer - Black is the Night
London Afrobeat Collective - Occupy (Mother Nature Remix)
Roots Manuva - Join the Dots
The Nextmen feat. Dynamite MC - Blood Fire
Dub Pistols - Countermeasure
Ed Meme - Oh Yes I Will
Lazy Habits - Bulletin
Kidkanevil feat. Andreya Triana - Good Morning, What's New (Capstone Re-Version)
The Last Skeptik - Be There

Listen to Get Down Sounds on Pulse Radio.

Early this morning disco legend Nile Rodgers confirmed via Twitter that he will be working in the studio with British duo Disclosure. It seems like a winning combination as Disclosure has recently seen enormous success with its chart topping album ‘Settle’ and the following live world tour. Nile Rodgers has also come back into the spotlight in the past few years as a key collaborator with artists such as Daft Punk on ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Lose Yourself to Dance’ as well as with Swedish sensation Avicii on his tracks ‘Lay Me Down’ and ‘Shame on Me.’ We’re eager to see what they come up with in the studio! 

Listen to Disclosure on Pulse Radio