The new wave of VANDIT Artists

The new wave of VANDIT Artists

20 June, 2011 | 2.23AM

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: adam kancerski, orla feeney, paul van dyk, reaves & ahorn, vandit

Since its launch in 1999, Paul van Dyk‘s VANDIT record label has seen releases from Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, BT, The Thrillseekers and 4 Strings, among other heavy-hitters. Not only that, but the label — whose mission statement is “No Art without Artists” — also gives a platform to a lot of new talent, especially through its sublabel VANDIT Digital. In the past it’s championed the likes of Giuseppe Ottaviani, Filo & Peri and Alex M.O.R.P.H., but at the moment, VANDIT’s less well known producers include Orla Feeney, Adam Kancerski and Reaves & Ahorn. We caught up with the label’s rising stars to find out more about what they’ve achieved in their careers so far and their ambitions for the future. Read on for the interviews.

Orla Feeney

Orla Feeney is one female DJ who doesn’t fall into the category of “busty hard dance vixen.” Instead, the Irish producer’s talents lie in uplifting trance riffs combined with layers of groove and percussion. Her productions include “Random Madness” and “Lesson Learned,” but it was the anthemic “Comic Strip” which was her first release on VANDIT back in 2009.

It says on your Myspace page that you’ve stayed away from being branded as a ‘blonde bimbo hard dance vixen’ – was this intentional?

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I updated my Myspace! That was written for me a few years ago now and I don’t think many people use it anymore. It wasn’t intentional – I think that at the time a lot of female DJs fell into the hard dance category, and it just wasn’t something I ever was.

Do you think it’s harder for female DJs to break into the scene?

I don’t think it’s any harder, nor do I think it’s any easier. I think the celebrity/model DJ has maybe made it a bit harder for serious female artists, because you have to prove that you’re not a novelty act, that you can mix and you’re aware that MIDI is not audio! Other than that, a DJ is a DJ; being male or female doesn’t make any difference.

Who are you most inspired by?

Positive, genuine, hard-working and passionate people who aren’t afraid to follow their dreams. And my great friends and family who I’m lucky to have.

What’s your favorite record at the moment?

Timmy & Tommy present Full Tilt, “Restrictor.”

You recently released “Bittersweet,” but what else do you have planned for the coming months?

I have a lot going on at the moment! I’ve collaborated with Timmy & Tommy present Full Tilt, which I’m really excited about as it’s very different to anything the guys or I have done before. It’s a really nice piece of music.

I played at Tom Colontonio’s Omega night recently in New Jersey and we spent some time in the studio working on a tune together, which is coming along nicely.

I’m currently working on my first vocal track with a well-known, talented singer/songwriter, but I’ll tell you more about that in the coming months. I’ve also remixed for a couple of artists, so there’s plenty to keep me busy and lots of fun times ahead!

What’s your ultimate career goal?

I hope that I’m fortunate enough to continue doing what I’m doing, as I really love and enjoy music, traveling and meeting lots of new people, and I hope that my radio show TASTER will continue to flourish on RTE Pulse each week. I’ll be adding a TASTER monthly podcast soon, so that we can make the shows available once they have aired.

Adam Kancerski

Originally releasing under the name Nucvise, Polish DJ Adam Kancerski started sending demos to VANDIT after seeing his remix of A State of Mind’s “Like a Dream” on Paul van Dyk’s playlist. “Even Better” was his first release on VANDIT, and since then he’s released two more records under his real name, collaborated with the likes of Filo & Peri and had his tracks played by Armin van Buuren and Above & Beyond.

Before you started making dance music you learnt to play the guitar, but which type of music do you prefer?

My music taste is very elastic. I don’t like hard metal and some opera stuff, but I can listen to any music that is good – rock, rap, pop, house or trance. As long as it’s good quality, I like it all!

Who are you most inspired by?

I don’t have a favorite artist at the moment, but my influences range from great weather to a good day spent with my girlfriend.

What’s your favorite record at the moment?

My favorite records of all the time are Tenacious D’s “Tribute,” Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” and The Animals’ “House of Rising Sun,” but at the moment it would be Sander van Doorn’s “Love Is Darkness” – it’s such a catchy tune!

You released “Liquid” last month, but what do you have planned for the coming months?

My plans for the next few months are to make more good music and to incorporate some different styles. I’m starting a new housey project, as I have so many happy vibes in me that I feel I need to make it!

What’s your ultimate career goal?

My biggest dream is to get the right attention and to have some TV and global radio support. I’m dreaming about gigs in other countries, traveling and being recognizable not only in Europe, but also in other continents. Gigs, gigs, gigs – that’s what I’m dreaming about!

Reaves & Ahorn

Since they teamed up in 2003, Berlin-based duo Dan Reaves and Niels von Ahorn have had remix and licensing requests from the likes of Ministry of Sound, Cream and John Askew’s Discover Records, hosted their own radio show, Digital Anthologies, and remixed Tiesto ("Knock You Out"), Judge Jules ("Ordinary Day") and Paul van Dyk ("Detournement"). In fact, PvD liked them so much he signed them to his label.

Like Paul van Dyk, you’re from techno-loving Germany – but what’s the trance scene like over there?

It’s hard to say, because we don’t know exactly how the trance scene is in all the other countries, but what we can say for sure is that the scene here is not as bad as it is often stated. When you take a closer look at Germany and its artists, you will see names like Kyau & Albert, Cressida and Alex M.O.R.P.H., to name just a few. This proves that we still have lots of artists who are known for quality trance music – although we prefer to call it electronic dance music in general rather than just “trance.” Germany has always been at the forefront when new styles and variations of electronic music have been introduced. Lots of classic records have been produced in Germany. Just take a look on the Beatport charts and you’ll probably see a lot of German artists and labels within the Top 100 charts.

DJ duos and trios always look like they’re having so much fun when they play together – would you enjoy it less if you were performing on your own?

Actually, it’s just Dan Reaves who is really a DJ, but we show up together on bookings, and with both of us on stage it certainly is a lot more fun as there’s more interaction.

What’s your favorite record at the moment?

It’s a tough question because there are so many great tracks out there, but the record that has probably got the most replays on our iPod would be “Rift” by Matt Lange. He has done a lot of cool stuff lately. For more four-to-the-floor stuff, it would be Giuseppe Ottaviani. Every single track and remix he’s released proves he’s really on fire at the moment. We love his music.

What have you got planned for the coming months?

Our main goal for the next few months is to lock ourselves into the studio and work on some new material. We’ve only done remixes lately, so we want to focus more on our own material. We have some exciting new ideas and less typical stuff in the making, so we just need the time to finalize some tracks.

What’s your ultimate career goal?

Well, we don’t see our involvement in the music scene as a “career,” as we both have full time jobs. Niels is a self-employed designer and developer, which takes up a lot of time. When it comes to music, of course we want to get better and be more productive and play more gigs, but we do it for the love of music, not to get rich and famous. Music is a passion; it’s pure fun and we want to keep that feeling alive, so we’re happy about how things have proceeded so far, and we’re thankful for everything we achieve. We’re glad that there are some people who like our tracks – that also keeps us going. We just want to share our passion for electronic music with as many people as possible, so yeah, maybe that’s the ultimate goal for us – to reach as many people as possible with our music.

• (1) Comments
• (1705) Views