Events, Exclusive, Featured, Interviews | Hardwell Interview (FNT Exclusive) + Lavo Recap
Posted by Middy on July 21, 2012
Thursday I had the opportunity to sit down with Hardwell before his show and chat with him about his first show, touring as a teenager, his collabs with Tiesto and Porter Robinson, the importance of labels and much more. The superstar DJ / producer from Breda, Holland is now a 10 year veteran of the dance music scene even though he is just 24. He signed his first record deal at the age of 14 and started playing clubs in Holland around that time. You are all familiar with his recent singles “Spaceman (Original + Vocal)” and “Kontiki“, as well as his techy single “Three Tringles” on Toolroom Records and his huge upcoming single “How We Do” with Showtek. He premiered his remix of Example’s single “Say Nothing” that was incredible by the way (i somehow managed to not get a video of it, I apologize). He is a superstar playing main stage at all of the biggest festivals all over the world from Ultra to Tomorrowland next weekend to EDC and many more.
His set at Lavo was clinical — a lesson on how to be precise with your mixing, moving between songs like clockwork with a quality and varied track selection. He played crowd pleasers like Otto Knows – Million Voices, “In My Mind“, “Silhouettes” and “Nicktim”. He also played a variety of tracks from his own label like Dannic – Tombo and Jordy Daz – OMG, as well as many selections from his already remarkable discography. He played and bootlegged a few Hip Hop records like DMX – Party Up (Up In Here), which got a great crowd reaction and made sense if you read to the end of the interview. Anyway read the beginning of the interview below and the rest after the jump.
FNT: Lets go back to the beginning when you first started DJing. Think back to your first gig, what was like, who was there and how nervous were you?
Hardwell: My first gig was when I was 12 years old and yea I was so nervous the day before I couldn’t sleep because I was really preparing this stuff and all this music. I can still remember the date, it was fun. On the first side, I was really nervous and on the second side on I was playing for my best friends so that made really comfortable, actually it was a really funny gig.
FNT: You had to tour with your parents until you were 18 because you couldn’t enter the clubs; how strict were they with your schooling and your schedule.
Hardwell: School was the most important thing at that point and after that music because my parents really wanted me to finish high school, and I did. At that age I really had a tight schedule, I think you need it at that point.
FNT: When you started it was hard to promote yourself as artist without the help of a label, but now with Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc; do you think is as important or useful for a young, unknown artist to sign record deals right off the bat, especially since people don’t buy music anymore.
Hardwell: I think it is still important because big record labels are taking care of your whole artist brand, so to take it to the next level, it is not about Soundcloud or Youtube, of course you can grow your artist profile too through that, but social media is just to stay in touch with your fan base and your profile as an artist you still need a big label and the right people behind you to push your name to the next level to make your name a brand. So I think in the beginning of course Soundcloud and Youtube and Facebook are really important, but then again the big labels are still important too not only for selling music, but for the branding as well.
READ ON FOR MORE OF THE INTERVIEW READ ON >>
DJ-Set, Progressive House, Videos | Gossip – Perfect World (dBerrie Remix)
Posted by Middy on May 17, 2012
The New York sensation dBerrie just dropped this freebee on his soundcloud and it is definitely worth your while. A smooth female vocal with distorted vocal chops added, a steady bass line, a fluid piano melody and rising synth carry the lead while the break consists thumping bass, driving synth chords, vocal bits and a rising synth to carry you to the end. This is a progressive house track that you will want to get to liven up your Thursday night activities.
Also included above is the popular video for Tiesto & Wolfgang Gartner – We Own The Night ft. Luciana. It is an ode to all the Djs out there partying with their fans from sunset to to sun up. With cameos from Steve Angello, Avicii, Zedd, Afrojack, Porter Robinson and many, many more, the video is a true tribute to the “Dark Days, Bright Nights” philosophy we have here at FNT. Now go out and live it. After the jump is dBerrie’s set from Cosmic Opera.
Moombahton | Moombah Mondays
Posted by Sev on May 1, 2012
Decided it was time to bring the Moombah Monday girls back, enough of the videos. First up we have something from one of the best in producing Moombahton. His production quality is second to none when it comes to this genre as we saw in his massive collab with Heartbreak entitled PIMPIN. Glad to see JWLS dropping some new material and you can DL the track through SCION AV provided on his Soundcloud.
Diplo being the boss he is, dropped another freebie for the fans through Major Lazer. Looks like Moombahton finally got to him, because this is about the third time we have seen his name on a Moombah production in the past month. He has also been incorporating Moombahton remixes more, and more into his sets. Either way, pretty dope collaboration with ETC!ETC! including a little island feel that Diplo always brings to the table.
You know you want to…….
Events | Identity Festival 2012 Summer Tour Announcement
Posted by Middy on April 24, 2012
Of ALL of the US festival announcements this summer this may be the best one. Identity Festival last year was a blast hitting 30 cities in close to as many days tearing up the US from coast to coast with some of the best Djs from around the world, most notably Kaskade, Steve Aoki, Avicii, Nero, Pretty Lights, Skrillex, Chuckie, Nervo and more. This year the festival is back on a somewhat smaller circuit of 15 cities, maybe to keep the artsts on the whole way, we will not know until we see each dates lineup, but hitting many of the major cities on both coasts and in the center of the US, though there will be some people left out. However just look at this lineup, Arty, Hardwell, Noisia, Wolfgang Gartner, Paul van Dyk, Madeon, Porter Robinson, and HOLY SH*T ERIC PRYDZ and more. Eric Prydz has been over here as recently as 2007, but he has not been here since the explosion of EDM into the mainstream conscience of the American listeners so I anticipate it will be a totally different experience for him and the viewers particularly with his new triple album coming out of May 21st. Tickets are on sale NOW, so get them while the last for the dirt cheap pirce of $25, and then it is $40, which is still great compared to the outrageously priced festivals all across the US. Ticket link below and tour dates and full lineup after the jump.
Albums | Porter Robinson vs. Coldplay – Every Language is a Waterfall (TeeTs & Henry Fong Mashup)
Posted by GMONEY on April 12, 2012
One of my favorite upcoming mashup talents is back at it with an Epic mashup of Porter Robinson’s Every Language and Coldplay’s Waterfall. In addition to these two featured tracks, Teets and Henry Fong threw in a few extra surprises.
Follow TeeTs: Facebook | Twitter
Download: Porter Robinson vs. Coldplay – Every Language is a Waterfall (TeeTs & Henry Fong Mashup)
Mashups | DJ Trademark & Yoni-Wonderfield
Posted by ATexas on April 9, 2012
I’ve always been a DJ Trademark fan, especially after meeting him at Trinity College’s Tropical where he put on an amazing show that many people were too blackout to remember. And after Yoni released his last couple mixes, I’ve become hooked. This song will provide you a pregame anthem for you to rage into the night. Trademark and Yoni combine Porter Robinson x Katy Perry x Adele x Wiz Khalifa x Oasis…like what? Who thinks of this stuff? Well, Tyler and Big Y obviously but whatever. Give the song about a minute to build and someone hand me a margarita right meow.
Download: DJ Trademark-Wonderfield
Dubstep, Electro, Review | Nick Thayer – Like Boom EP
Posted by Spice on February 8, 2012
When OWSLA releases something new, you pay attention. Recent EPs from OWSLA-affiliated artists Kill the Noise and KOAN Sound have represented some of the most innovative efforts in EDM to date, and no one can deny the growing firepower behind young guns Zedd and Porter Robinson. So when Nick Thayer’s newest EP “Like Boom” dropped under the imprint yesterday, I knew that it would be worth a listen.
Nick Thayer is an Australian producer with a marked talent for weaving together elements of different genres — this latest EP mines hip-hop, dubstep, electro house, progressive house, moombahton and drum and bass to tremendous effect. While I had never heard of him before, I was immediately impressed by his versatility and obvious skill. Opening with some unexpected funked-out hip-hop (“Like Boom”), the EP veers quicky into heavy electro domain with “Facepalm,” which has a gritty, almost rock-inspired edge. “Totalitaria,” with its laser synths and more languorous tempo, is practically in moombahcore territory, while “What Props Ya Got” will ratchet up your heart rate with some truly frenetic DnB runs (before easing into a catchy, house-inflected hook). On the whole, “Like Boom” is an explosive and boundary-blurring listen which shows that Nick Thayer is less interested in the rules than he is in charting new territory.
Buy “Like Boom” on Beatport or preview the tracks below.