DJ Gossip

Gabriel & Dresden return with a new album

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: dave dresden gabriel & dresden josh gabriel

After they reunited for a one-off New Year’s Eve gig last year, house and trance duo Gabriel & Dresden officially announced they were getting back together. Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden went their separate ways in 2008, after winning their second Best American DJ award at WMC and playing their last gig at the Beatport Pool Party in Miami. The duo behind the massive records “Tracking Treasure Down” and “As the Rush Comes” (as Motorcycle) wanted to concentrate on their solo projects, but in April this year they finally did what their fans wanted and reunited. We interviewed them ahead of the release of their new mix album, “Mixed for Feet,” due out this September.

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Interview: Giuseppe Ottaviani

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: giuseppe ottaviani paul van dyk vandit

In the 10 years since Paul van Dyk signed Giuseppe Ottaviani to his VANDIT record label, the Italian trance titan has released the massive singles “Through Your Eyes,” “No More Alone” and “Angel,” won awards for his spectacular live shows and released his debut artist album, “GO!” In February, he launched his own radio show, ”Go On Air,” and just recently he released a compilation off the back of it. He found some time in his hectic schedule to speak to us…

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Eddie Halliwell releases debut singles

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: eddie halliwell fire it up neon

It’s been a long time coming, but legendary DJ Eddie Halliwell has finally released his much-anticipated debut single, ”Neon." To celebrate this unification of DJing and producing, he’s also released the first of his “ED-IT” productions – a series of tracks with parts that enable people to remix and re-edit the tracks in the studio or live on stage in their DJ sets. In his 15 years as a DJ, Eddie’s achievements include hosting his own radio show on BBC Radio 1, seven Essential Mixes, and launching his own Fire it Up radio show. We spoke to him to find out why he’s now decided to take the next step in his career and turn his skills to producing…

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Interview: John OO Fleming

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: goa trance interview john oo fleming joof

Hailed as one of the forefathers of the rave movement, John OO Fleming is extremely well-respected on the trance scene. A pioneer of Goa trance in the 1980s, he then moved on to hard trance and psy-trance, producing under the pseudonym OO.db. After a successful career spanning 24 years, it may come as a surprise to learn that he’s only just about to release his debut artist album Nine Lives on August 15. We spoke to him to find out why it took so long in coming and what he thinks of the trance music today. Read on for his interesting insights…

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Armin releases James Bond-inspired video

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: armin van buuren feels so good nadia ali

Thankfully, the video for Armin Van Buurenhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif’s latest single, “Feels so Good,” features none of the scantily-clad, gyrating girls you usually see in pop-dance videos.

Instead, the world’s number-one DJ has gone for a Casino Royale theme for the fifth single to be taken from his latest artist album, Mirage.

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Interview: Laidback Luke

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: cream ibiza laidback luke swedish house mafia

In his 15 year career as a DJ, it’s apparent that Dutch house producer Laidback Lukehttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif has been anything but laidback. As well as owning Mixmash Records, he currently ranks #17 in the DJ Mag Top 100 and he’s been nominated in the Beatport Music Awards three times. He’s also worked with some of the biggest names in dance music, including David Guettahttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif and the Swedish House Mafia, receiving an IDMA for Best House/Garage track for “Leave the World Behind.”

More recently, he’s collaborated with Steve Aoki and Lil’ Jon on “Turbulence” and he’s about to release the latest Cream Ibiza compilation in honor of his Super You&Me residency at Amnesia this summer. We spoke to him about his enthusiasm for the growing popularity of house music and what he has planned for the future. Read on for the full interview.

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The new wave of VANDIT Artists

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

Since its launch in 1999, Paul van Dykhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif’s VANDIT record label has seen releases from Tiesto, Armin Van Buurenhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, BThttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, The Thrillseekershttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif and 4 Stringshttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, 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 Ottavianihttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, Filo & Perihttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif and Alex M.O.R.P.H.http://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, but at the moment, VANDIT’s less well known producers include Orla Feeney, Adam Kancerski and Reaveshttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif & Ahornhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif. 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.

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Interview: Tiesto protégé Richard Durand

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: in search of sunrise richard durand tiesto

In 2007, Tiesto tipped him as an artist to watch. Four years on and Richard Durandhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif is doing his mentor proud – he’s released two artist albums, had his records played out by the likes of Paul van Dykhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, Ferry Corstenhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, Judge Juleshttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, and Eddie Halliwell and has remixed for the likes of The Prodigyhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, Armin Van Buurenhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif and Tiesto himself.

In fact, he impressed Tiesto so much that last year the superstar DJ handed the mixing duties over to him for the legendary In Search of Sunrise compilation series.

Ahead of the release of ISOS9: India in June, we caught up with the Dutch DJ and producer to find out how he feels about what he’s achieved so far…

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Have festival lineups become boring?

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: armin van buuren bestival coachella creamfields festivals glastonbury global gathering matt hardwick mauro picotto mysteryland

Across the world, festival season is either in full swing or fast approaching. But with lineup announcements that read the same year in year out, long gone are the days when you waited in anticipation to see whether your favorite artists would appear on the bill.

Large festivals like Glastonbury, Coachella and Global Gathering are often criticized for their predictable rosters, and with superstar DJs now casually flitting around the globe, it’s inevitable that many of the same acts end up headlining all the big festivals worldwide.

But is this such a bad thing?

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Interview: Mauro Picotto on his new festival and DJ competition

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: alchemy festival mauro picotto

His big break came 22 years ago when he won Best Italian DJ in the Walky Cup Competition in Italy. Since then he’s worked with Tiesto, had chart success with the tracks “Lizard (Gonna Get Ya)” and “I Feel Love” (under the pseudonym CRW), and he hosts his mighty Meganite parties in Ibiza and Miami. But now Mauro Picottohttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif feels it’s time to give something back.

As well as planning Italy’s open-air underground music festival, Alchemy Festival, in his hometown of Cavour in June, he’s holding a DJ contest to discover the next up-and-coming performer, who will be flown to Italy to play alongside him at the festival.

We caught up with the techno DJ and producer to find out more…

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Interview: Calvin Harris on his new single, Twitter and touring with Rihanna

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: awooga burns calvin harris michael woods thomas gold

It’s been a whole year since Calvin Harrishttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif released his last single, “You Used to Hold Me,” but finally he’s back with the long-awaited followup, “Awooga”. Out on his own Fly Eye label, the record is the first single release from his forthcoming artist album and will be available exclusively on Beatport for the next six months.

We caught up with the Scottish DJ and producer—whose achievements include the gold-selling albums I Created Disco and Ready for the Weekend—to find out what he plans to pull out of the bag next…

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Interview: Innovative trance producer Arty

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: anjunabeats anjunabeats worldwide arty

Since releasing “Rush” on Anjunabeatshttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gifhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_l.gif last year, Russian DJ and producer Arty has been setting the trance scene alight. His melodic anthem “Zara” reached the #1 spot in the Beatport trance chart in January, his remix of the Ferry Corstenhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif classic “Punk” is arguably the best remix of the year so far, and he’s just mixed the latest Anjunabeats Worldwide album with Danish trance champion Daniel Kandihttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif.

We interviewed Arty as part of our Artists to Watch 2011 earlier this year, and we’ve caught up with him again to talk about the upcoming Anjunabeats Worldwide 03 release, his career so far and the trance scene in general. Read on for the interview…

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Interview: Paul van Dyk on major labels + pop crossover

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: emi music paul van dyk

Last month we reported on Beatport’s deal with EMI Music, which gives the site access to the the major label’s catalogue as well as those of its dance-oriented sublabels like Positiva and Astralwerks.

The move is a major step towards making Beatport’s catalogue the most comprehensive one possible, bringing on board such key artists as The Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystemhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif, and electronic icon Paul van Dykhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif.

Nevertheless, the deal has faced criticism from some users, who fear the dilution of Beatport’s focus on dance music. Beatport CEO Matt Adell recently addressed those concerns in an interview with Resident Advisor; we caught up with Paul van Dykhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif at WMC to get yet another perspective on the matter. He also catches us up to date on his summer plans and speaks to the prospect of an imminent pop/trance crossover; read on for the interview.

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Could trance come back?

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: above & beyond armin van buuren tiesto trance

Trance music is all over the music TV channels, mainstream radio, and commercial charts at the moment. Armin Van Buuren has teamed up with pop princess Sophie Ellis-Bextor for “Not Giving Up on Love,” Tiesto has made the chart-topping “C’Mon (Catch ‘Em By Surprise)” with Diplo, and Busta Rhymes and Above & Beyond‘s “Sun & Moon” has just been added to BBC Radio 1’s playlist.

But what are the possible implications for trance’s pop crossover?

Whether or not commercial success is a good thing for electronic dance music has always been a hot topic of debate. Artists are often criticized by their most dedicated fans when they start selling more records and appealing to the masses – but why is popularity unpopular with purists?

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• Get top trance tunes on Beatport