Billboard Dance’s Matt Medved Spilled the Beans on Reddit, and We’ve Got the Highlights

Posted by on January 21, 2016

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Last week, Matt Medved, Billboard Dance editor-in-chief and the DJ / producer, Sicarii, hosted a special “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit’s r/electronicmusic subreddit, where he was able to share his experiences as a dance music journalist and building Billboard Dance into the respected publication it is today. Medved began as a Berlin-based freelancer in 2014, but quickly established himself as one of Billboard Dance’s most important assets before joining the Billboard team for good in March of 2015. Since then, he has penned pieces with an eye towards ending the fight between the underground and the mainstream once and for all, in addition to trying to help keep cell phones in your pocket and off the dance floor. In addition to Medved’s work with Billboard, he recently unveiled his DJ / producer persona, Sicarii – and he’s already played Billboard’s Hot 100 Festival and remixed Maroon 5’s “Sugar.”

On his AMA, Matt Medved answered questions on a plethora of topics ranging from the role of ghost producers in dance music, to his favorite genre at the moment, to his favorite artist to see live. It’s not often that casual fans get a first-hand look at the experiences of someone as integrated in the scene as Matt Medved, so we’ve put together a list of our favorite moments from his AMA below the jump. You can check out Matt Medved’s full AMA here.

1. His favorite artist to see live besides Daft Punk was…
“Wow that’s hard. Radiohead at Bonnaroo ’05? Howling live at Berghain’s Panorama Bar in 2014? Jon Hopkins or Nils Frahm at Sonar ’14? Maybe Paul McCartney with my dad, Chicago ’05. I actually have a list of nearly every concert I’ve been to since 2002 and it’s like 40 pages long. I feel really fortunate to have witnessed so much amazing music.”

2. His personal opinion on deadmau5, and a near-death experience…
“I think deadmau5 is one of the most talented electronic musicians alive. “Strobe” is pretty much my favorite electronic song. I finally had the opportunity to interview him for the Kobalt story, albeit under pretty crazy circumstances. Do you remember that American Airlines flight in October where the pilot died in midair? Believe it or not, I was on that flight and I was supposed to interview Joel later that day. When we finally Skyped, he was like “Uh dude, how was your flight?!” and we proceeded to trade some crazy travel horror stories before the interview. That’s been my only direct contact with him, but I really enjoyed our conversation — which ranged from the intersection of gaming and electronic music to the public’s increasing awareness of what electronic musicians do. He’s a very passionate guy and I think the way he expresses that can often be misunderstood.”

3. His work building Billboard Dance and the EDM bubble…
“Kerri Mason and Zel McCarthy did an excellent job running Billboard’s previous dance column Code, and I owe Kerri a lot for taking me under her wing. But neither of them were full-time at Billboard, and Code put out 1-2 articles per day. After I took over Code, I began seeing so many ways we could leverage Billboard’s brand in the dance space — but I knew I’d need a full-time position to make it a reality. Not only that, I needed a rebrand and dedicated social feeds, because I knew our demographic would be distinct from BB flagship. Thankfully the higher ups supported my vision for Billboard Dance, and it’s amazing to see it coming to life.
I have sometimes had to make a case for dance music’s legitimacy and longevity, and oppose the concept of an “EDM bubble.” But I think people are starting to understand that electronic music is here to stay. It’s so intrinsically tied to technology that I don’t see it losing relevancy in our lifetimes.”

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