FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Deadmau5 is the reigning monarch of the Land of Electronic Music and his kingdom is the international dance floor of Right Now. In less than a year a certain young Canadian by the name of Joel Zimmerman has gone from a relatively unknown music nerd to a music nerd who is the most lauded and in-demand producer in the world. If you haven’t heard the music of Deadmau5, you’re wrong- you have heard it, and you just didn’t know it because at the time you were dancing too hard to ask somebody who made the music that was rocking your world.
Deadmau5 produces almost everything and he does it all very, very well. He dabbles in techno, winks at minimal, dips his toes in trance, plays footsie with progressive, makes overtly amorous glances at electro, and screws house’s brains out. Versatility and quality are rare bed partners in the music world, but Deadmau5 proves the stereotypes wrong like a good artist should- and he does it while wearing an enormous strobing red and white mau5 head with LED eyes and a goofy, open smile. Somebody fax Berlin.
The diversity and depth of the talent of the Mau5 King is confirmed by the ridiculously long list of awards he has received in the last year. From Beatport he claimed Producer of the Year, Best Electro House Artist, Best Progressive House Artist, Best Single (“Not Exactly”), 3rd Place for Best Remix (“Burufunk’ Carbon Community ‘Community Funk”), as well as earning the kick-ass title of Most “Influential, Forward-Thinking, and Relevant” Person of the Year. Deadmau5 was also nominated this past May for two Juno awards (akin to the Canadian Grammies), was included on no less than fifteen compilation albums, and had more downloads, number one hits, and held the number one spot longer than any other artist on Beatport. Ever.
And it was ever since Pete Tong played the track “Faxing Berlin” on BBC’s Radio One that the music of the shy, 28 year-old Torontonian who sleeps on a futon has spread across the world like a colony of rabid mice, taking up residence in the brains of beat-freaks from Seattle to Sydney. His collaborations with Steve Duda (BSOD) and Kaskade have received widespread acclaim as has his work with Tommy Lee, resulting in a musical WTF? (Google it). Deadmau5 is rearranging the very idea of what a live electronic music performance should be, raising the standard and setting higher expectations of visual engagement. His inventive approach is welcomed by his subjects as are the driving melodies and powerful rhythms that characterize his productions. Deadmau5 headlined almost every major electronic music festival in 2008 from DEMF to Ultra Music Festival and began a fifty-city world tour September 1, with plans to destroy every giant dance floor along the way, including one at the upcoming 2008 Decibel Festival in Seattle.
But Deadmau5 is more than sweet beats with a fun delivery- his party music is set beyond the boundaries of easy name tags and is tinged with the dark breath of the absurd. His theatrical approach and even his rise to fame symbolize Right Now; Deadmau5 and his music exist on the very edge of the modern world, the place where the electronic arts community dances and pushes forward innovations in technology and creative expression. The high BPM at which Deadmau5 came to prominence in the international club scene is indicative of nature of the community behind the electronic arts, a group whose very existence owes itself to communication via computers. Creative expression has always been dependent on technology, ever since a Neanderthal picked up a stick to enhance the ooh-factor of her cave paintings. Our uber-modern community is a contemporary collective not defined by the traditional elements of geography or family, but by a shared interest in artistic production through electronic media. We share stories not around a campfire but through a monitor; we tell of our heroes not with sweeping gestures but in kilobytes per second. We create an ongoing wild frenzy of information trade that can result in the near insta-fame that Deadmau5 has enjoyed, impossible in any other time in human history.
Deadmau5 reminds us that Right Now is also the Age of the Nerd. Boys and girls alone in front of their computers pressing buttons are conquering the planet, and mad computer skills are trumping social skills as the go-to characteristics to possess in order to succeed in the world. Thankfully for the extroverts, Deadmau5 takes his magic OUT of the home studio and leaves the realm of the socially awkward. Armed only with a laptop, a Lemur touchpad, and a custom-made mau5 costume, he delivers a unique and forceful sound in a way that no one else is doing, convincing every soul on his dance floor that this isn’t just some rat fink shtick.
With so many awards, accolades, booty-moving hits and jam-packed dance floors around the world, the only thing that any one even to say against Mr. Mau5 is that his music is pure party music for fun times; his productions do not invoke any series of serious emotions. Damn straight. It seems that many people, artists in particular, give more value to the expression of negative emotions that positive ones; a movie or song that takes you on a head-trip through your last life-destroying experience always ranks higher with the critics than a happy ha-ha story. This is why you always see poets on the back of their book jackets looking so serious, hand to chin, furrowed brow. Well, this is 2008 and all bets are off. It is a post-post-post-everything life and bliss, euphoria, ecstasy, and joy are the most valuable emotions around. When you share them with another human being, whether beside you on the bed or the dance floor, you transcend together. Bliss inspires us; joy changes lives. And no one creates dance floor euphoria right now better than Deadmau5. Nothing says screw your somber brooding shit better than a twitchy music-maker wearing a big red mau5 head and clapping and jumping and laying down twisted beats.
Just below the surface of Deadmau5’ party music is, however, the slightest ribbon of black; underneath the stomping beats lays an almost imperceptible razor-sharp edge of disillusion. But the nihilism is there, and the uncertain tenor of the modern world slaps you in the face as you recall the absurdity of our present tenuous situation on this planet. Deadmau5 is party to the absurd, and like any good existentialist he laughs at it with a macabre smile. From behind the strobing eyes Deadmau5 is commanding you to live it up, to put on your happy fun-time hats and party because this could be it; in fact this is it. His music is a soundtrack to this liminal era and his beats bounce up and down on the thresholds of music genres, resisting all categorization. Deamau5 produces the music for Right Now, for a time when human beings are on the threshold too, up in the air between there and here, both on the brink of destruction and salvation. Nothing fits easily into categories anymore including us; the labels have all been used up and we exist now as random players in an unsorted world. There is only one thing left to do. Dance.
There is a time and place for evoking a serious series of emotions, and there is a time and place to get down, party, revel in the absurdity of modern life, and dance to the hottest producer in the world who performs dressed like a raver who went on the Magic Mountain roller coaster at Disneyworld with one too many glow sticks. Guess which time and place is in the realm of the Mau5 King?
Find the kingdom for yourself on Friday September 26 on the dance floor of Neumos, when the influential musician headlines yet another electronic arts extravaganza: the 2008 Decibel Festival in Seattle. His new album, Random Album Title, drops today (September 2), look for it online or find it old-school style in record stores on September 4. Enjoy a slice of the absurd with your life, and come celebrate the bliss of Right Now in the Age of the Nerds with your Mau5 King.
Check out the article HERE (8.5 review!!)
Decibel featured on Resident Advisor's Top 10 list !
Those attending Seattle's fifth Decibel Festival can add Kompakt Records' stars Michael Mayer and Superpitcher to the already extensive lineup.
The two will DJ together under their Supermayer guise at the festival's closing party, which takes place on September 28, starting at 8 p.m. They'll be joined by The Bug and Warrior Queen, who will perform live, Flying Lotus, also doing a live set, and Static Discos' Fax. Pick up presale tickets for $20, otherwise it's $25 on the night of the event.
Ghostly International's Tycho posted a new video on his blog this week: http://blog.iso50.com/?p=2284
He'll be performing Saturday, September 27 at The Baltic Room. Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets
With his last clever release entitled Gurd Em out on Frankie Records, which reveals its conceptual meaning when one holds it up to a mirror and reverses the order of the letters, it’s no wonder that Jeff Samuel will be back with more surprising and satisfying releases this year.
Jeff Samuel, renowned American producer of fine minimal techno, is about to embark on a much-anticipated North American tour this month.
From his studio in Berlin today Jeff shared with Beatport some of the highlights of the tour.
He’s most excited about going to Seattle for Decibel Festival, where he says, “Last year was one of the best times I’ve ever had.
I’m going up against Deadmau5, so I’ll know anyone in my room is there because they want to be.”
Having moved to Berlin from Seattle, which he sometimes considers home, Jeff confides, “I’m still in love with the city as well”.
A close second on his list of favourite cities he’ll play in North America is Montreal.
He says, “The people there have always been very receptive to my DJ sets, and it seems I still can’t go anywhere without getting comments about my appearance at Mutek Piknik in 2004.
I think I’m still getting bookings just based on that one.”
Not only does Jeff Samuel have his North American tour to look forward to, but music buyers can also stay tuned for his next release coming out in October on Trapez.
This 12” will be his first new material on Trapez since his 2006 LP with them.
He says, “The sound is a bit of a throwback to my earlier material on the label.
“I am back to working primarily with audio samples and less with softsynths.
“This is how all my early releases were made, as there was no such thing as a softsynth plugin at that time.”
While Jeff considers himself to be an anti-collaborationist in his music, when asked he says, “If I HAD to choose (to work with someone) I would pick Alex Kruger, aka Dub Taylor / Tigerskin. He is really easy going and extremely efficient."
“I did spend an afternoon in his studio last year and put a simple bassline on top of one of his tracks.
“I don’t really consider that a true collaboration, because the track was already finished.
“It was nice of him to include my name on his album anyway, but it wasn’t really necessary.
“His album comes out in September.”
For a link to this interview on Beatportal go to Beatportal.com
Amidst the countless dj's and producers working in the burgeoning Chicago House scene, Santiago and Bushido stand apart from the rest with their unique blend of tech-tinged house beats. Since teaming up as a production duo in 2001, Chris Santiago and Tim Bush have helped push forward the sound of house music with their innovative style of production which encompasses many influences from the hard hitting to the deep and soulful. At the core of Santiago & Bushido's sound lays the forward thinking, genre crossing, funk-tech that has given them critical moxie in Chicago and beyond.
Having been intimately involved with music his entire life Bushido picked up his first pair of turntables and sampler on his 16th birthday and immediately went to work mixing, sampling, and cutting up any piece of vinyl he could get his hands on. His carefully crafted dj sets caught the notice of some of Chicago's nitelife elite and Bushido was soon playing all over. Tim spent his days working at Chicago Recording Company, sharing the same recording space with the likes of R.Kelly and Smashing Pumpkins among others. By working alongside some of Chicago's most well respected engineers at CRC Bushido honed his engineering and production prowess until opportunity knocked. While Bushido was mastering his craft, Santiago was working his way up the Chicago's nightlife hierarchy. Within one year of playing live gigs, he secured a Friday night residency at Zentra Nightclub. The renowned Jack Fridays have continued to attract underground house crowds for more than six years, with crowds still going off weekly. Santiago's presence in the Chicago house community reaches even further with his involvement in the House Arrest promotion group, which continues to host some of the scene's most well attended parties.
As producers, Santiago & Bushido draw influences from their straight house background and apply harder and heavier elements to the sound. "We get really deep into the tracks we're producing, flip them and cut them in so many different ways, all to get the heaviest groove possible," Bushido says. Since collaborating, they have dropped numerous EP's and remixes on some of the most well respected labels around including Potty Mouth, Om, Robsoul, Control Recordings and Black Cherry.
The innovative production of Santiago and Bushido has been creating a huge buzz as of late. The duo's "For What" ep on Potty Mouth Music was released to critical praise and support from dj's across the globe including Switch, Jesse Rose, and Johnny Fiasco. Their single "Head Trick" climbed the charts on Beatport.com, the world's top online site for electronic music and held the number one spot for a few weeks. In addition to belting out club tracks, Santiago and Bushido have been involved with Chicago native Colette's 2007 artist album Push for OM Records. They wrote and produced multiple songs on Push including the album's single "If", that has reached #5 on Billboard's Dance Charts. Currently, S&B are getting love from Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto and Moby. Recently, Santiago & Bushido were invited by Native Instruments to design a signature Santiago & Bushido drum kit, Battery 3. Given the signature tech-funk inflection of their forthcoming releases, the nastier the duo delves, the better they beat.
Kaskade: “These two guys are bringing the heat with a refreshing twist on the jacking sounds of the underground, Chicago new school at it’s finest...respect.”
Johnny Fiasco: “The new twist and grindmasters of the Midwest!”
Colette: “Santiago & Bushido are one of the hottest production teams coming out of Chicago right now. From vocals to bangin’ tracks - their tunes are exquisite.”
For more info:
http://santiago-bushido.com
http://vivaagencygroup.com/santiago-bushido
Santiago & Bushido (Seattle debut - Live Set)
with Deadmaus (Seattle debut - Live Set)
Luca Bacchetii (Seattle debut - DJ Set)
Decibel Festival @ Neumos
Friday September 26th, 2008
Set time: 12am
It was only 3 years ago that the [KONTROL] crew started taking San Francisco’s dance music scene by storm, bringing in quality minimal techno and forward-thinking house to the Bay Area every month. Since then, they’ve built a huge local following and garnered international recognition for their parties, which bring in top acts from around the world and place an emphasis on live sets. Started up by Midwest native and head promoter Greg Bird, the event features established artists as well as underground ones, as long as the music is fresh and innovative. The last Decibel brought in a rare live set from [KONTROL] resident Alland Byallo, and this year we’re psyched to have all four residents— Alland, Craig Kuna, Sammy D, and Nikola Baytala— rock the festival. Each DJ brings in a different style and set of influences, making up the unique and cutting-edge sound of [KONTROL].
A producer for over ten years (and a DJ for about as long), Alland Byallo has been creating a buzz on the techno scene for a while now. With releases on widely recognized labels like Liebe*Detail and Utensil Recordings, his tracks blend old-school elements with the new to create a completely original blend of techno, house, and minimal. He’s played alongside artists like Superpitcher, Trentemøller, and Swayzak, and along with being a resident, graphic designer and A&R for [KONTROL], he runs his own label, Nightlight Music, whose releases have seen support from artists such as Laurent Garnier and Miss Kittin.
Pittsburgh native Craig Kuna started out years ago playing guitar, bass, and drums in local bands. His early interests in heavy metal, classic rock, and punk later led to his love for bangin’ electronic music like drum ‘n bass and breaks. It wasn’t long until he was turned onto house and techno, and his obsession has only grown with time. Craig has proven himself to be a skilled DJ with a wide musical range, being able to warm up the dancefloor as well as destroy it with peak-time beats.
Hailing from Alaska, Sammy D’s story is quite different from most. He grew up in the Christian non-denominational cult known as Gospel Outreach and was only allowed to listen to religious music. Perhaps throwing himself into West Coast raves was a way to break out of his repressed past, as he surrounded himself with the sounds of jungle and played under the name of Northernman for five years. Now based out of San Francisco, he brings a sense of darkness and grit to techno that sets his style apart.
Having released tracks on labels like Nightshift and Robsoul, along with hosting a weekly with his collective S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics), Nikola Baytala is one of San Francisco’s most respected underground artists. He’s shared the stage with artists from Daft Punk to Jane’s Addiction, proving his ability to appeal to a broad range of crowds. Nikola’s notorious afterhours sets feature a mix of grooving, dark, and techy sounds, seamlessly tied together and always sure to keep the dancefloor moving.
For more info on [KONTROL] events and to check out the artists’ mixes and live recordings, go to www.kontrolsf.com
The Detroit-based techno producer, considered to be one of the most important names in the Detroit community of techno producers and DJs, will headline Decibel Festival 2008.
OPTICAL returns in 2008 with an edition that will be more extensive and stimulating than ever.
This year's theme is sustainability in the arts. We encourage artists worldwide to submit their works for consideration. OPTICAL covers multimedia performances, short films, animation, and other cutting-edge visual work by some of today's most provocative artists.
How to Submit your Work
Email
Send us your submission to opticalsubmissions@dbfestival.com. Make sure your email is less than 10MB, if you have larger artwork or film, please send by regular mail or email us a link to view or download your works.
Mail
If you are submitting film or audio files or large artwork you should send these to us on a DVD or CD. You may send an email indicating that you will be sending your submission by mail.
Decibel Festival
c/o OPTICAL submissions
8816 10th Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98106
USA
In the meantime, check out this video clip from 2006's critically-acclaimed performance by Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa at the Broadway Performance Hall.