The Final Drop

As the semester has come to a close I am saddened by the thought of not being able to share my thoughts on what is trending in the EDM world right now. To recap there are a lot of great festivals that are happening this summer including EDC, Lollapalooza, North Coast, SummerFest, Spring Awakening and so much more. If you are not engaged or in tune with the EDM culture I highly suggest checking out of the listed festivals. I feel like the majority of the time I have spent on this blog, I only talked about the news surrounding EDM but never really shared my personal favorite artists or songs. I have been listening to EDM/Dubstep/Techno/Trance/House music since I was in the 8th grade. That is just shy of 10 years of listening to a specific genre of music. I can say that I may have varied tastes from some people but I claim to be a veteran in this music field.

My list (No Particular Order)

1.Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites-Skrillex
2.Harder,Better,Faster,Stroner-Daft Punk
3. Leave Me-Taska Black
4. Fire-Louis The Child
5. Don't You worry Child- Swedish House Mafia
6. Get Free- MajorLazer
7.Raise Your Weapon- Deadmau5
8.To U-Jack Ü
9. Tell Me- Bauuer
10. Rough Neck Bass- Skrillex

These are just a few of my favorite songs that I believe give me the most amount of energy when I listen to them. These songs are not the best songs in the genre simply some of the more notable ones that I have heard in the past 9ish years. This is my parting list for those who are interested in listening to some of my favorite songs. It has been a lot of fun making these posts and I hope to continue making them in the future.

Electric Daisy Carnival

Electric Daisy Carnival. No don't think too literally here, this is not a carnival of lit up flowers, it is one of the biggest EDM festivals around. EDC is a huge EDM music festival that is put on by Insomnia, an independent entertainment group. The festival this year is over the weekend of June 16,17, and 18. It among most festivals is a three-day festival full of thrills and excitement. The feature that stands out the most is that they make the festival resemble a carnival with different amusement rides and vendors. They bring two different types of entertainment together to create the perfect festival experience. The festival takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is already the party capital of the world and draws in much more people from across the nation and the globe. There are so many lights that you could see the festival from space, literally.

The most unique and fortunate part of this festival being in Las Vegas is EDC week. They have a whole week dedicated to the festival. Each big club in the strip will feature an artist and play a show in a club each night that week. The festival strategically plays in Las Vegas with the intent of making more shows available and profiting off that. All that aside, EDC has been a pioneer in the EDM festival field and has continued to create more spectacles throughout the years. The culture welcomes an interesting amount of characters and ravers to the festival. It is a festival that is celebrated by many different kinds of people and is an expert in pertaining to the hardcore EDM fans. It has so many other features including a chapel where people can have EDM themed weddings. Yes, real weddings have happened at EDC and those people are legally married. It is easy to see why this Festival is such a destination because it is so unique compared to any other festival.

Gorrilaz keeping us on our toes. New app and merch

Yes, this is another post derailing a bit off the EDM track to talk about one of my favorite infamous bands, Gorillaz. With the huge amount of buzz, they are getting plus the amount of listens their 4 newly released singles from the album are getting, Gorillaz have seen an opportunity to come back to music in a big way. The group after releasing that they will debut their album this month has been planning to come back to mainstream music in a big way. To relate the band back to EDM they di have some songs that incorporate electronic music. Since Gorillaz is known for their music mashing it is no surprise that they will release songs with an EDM sound. The group has just launched an app which gives the viewer a full in depth tour of the animated band's new home, the spirit house. The spirit house is a psychedelic fun ride full of haunted beings, hence the name 'spirit house.' The app allows you to interact with each of the band members and take a look at their new digs.

Along with the new house, the band has been working on making new fan merchandising and even creating a Gorillaz clothing line (my inner fan is screaming). They wanted their comeback to music to be more than just a listening experience but a full out campaign. The band is looking to reconnect with all of their loyal fans (me again) and also looking to expand their fan base even further. Most people have heard their song 'feel good inc' and are familiar with at least some aspects of their work, however, this new app and whatever else they have planned can help their popularity. There is no doubt that fans are raving about Gorillaz and how much they are ready to give back to their fans. As 5-time platinum winners they have a high bar to beat but with the releasing of their new singles, it is easy to see how they will be on top again. 'Humanz' is due to release on April 28th and I could not be happier as a fan to experience the music and the culture that is Gorillaz!!!

GOSU

GOSU is a new bubble tea shop that has taken its love for EDM to new heights. The tea shop is located in San Fransico and has been getting a lot off buzz right out of the gate. There is a beautiful aesthetic to the shop with a sleek interior and T.V.s everywhere playing EDM music videos on repeat. It's a place where you can get a "treat with a beat" as I like to think of it. The tea shop opened back in December of 2016 and has been doing so well ever since their launch. Bubble tea for those that don't know is a type of fruity tea with tapioca balls inside that squish when you bite them. The teas have a mild taste and are super refreshing on a hot California day.  The Owner Tran said that being Asian, "it was hard to tell my parents that I don't want to go to school anymore, but after seeing how successful he had become they believed he'd made the right move.

Some of the best parts of the tea shop that I read about include the names of the teas and the wall of PLUR. Tran has named some of the teas after popular EDM songs that make the give the customers a great experience and offer them a more interactive sexperience. Another great thing that Tran does is incorporate the PLUR wall which he allows people to hang "candy" or rave bracelets. I have made a post about PLUR and its meaning but as a reminder, the acronym stands for Peace, Unity, Love, and Respect. I believe Tran receives all of those things from his customers on a daily basis. What is cool is that Trans keeps his tea shop modest during the day, but at night amps is up into a bubble tea night club. I was fascinated to see how Tran was able to take two things he loved so much and make them into a business. It is truly inspirational and I would love to visit this place one day.

The Ultra Experience

For those EDM heads out there like me, this past weekend was the kickoff to festival season! The Ultra festival is one of the biggest EDM festivals out there and is where most DJs feel the pressure of putting on the perfect set. Ultra music festival tours all around the world but mostly to Asian and latin American countries. Ultra music festival only has one U.S. location and it is located in Miami. The one marketing strategy that works well for Ultra is that they hold their music festival in march which is usually during spring break for most college kids. Ultra is a huge deal for the DJ community because it is a great place for up and coming DJs to get their name out and a huge experience for them.

The headliner acts included big names like GALATIS, Tiesto, DJ Snake and others that pumped out amazing setlists for the fans. The biggest thing for me was the fact that they were live streaming the festival all of the days of Ultra so people around the world could join in on the action. I thought this was relevant to bring up in my blog because Ultra executed their live stream perfectly. They incorporated their hashtag #Ultra2017 were they would post Tweets and interact on stream. It is amazing that we know have the ability to see events live streamed over the internet and feel like we are apart of the experience. My roommate and I spent hours watching our favourite DJ acts on a live stream and couldn't believe the quality of the sound and the visuals. For a company that has only been doing music festivals for a short time, they have mastered the art of social media.

LOLLAPALOOZER?

Well, it is that time of year again, and for those who don't know, it is a festival season. The beginning of summer through the end of August there will be dozens of festivals all over the nation hosting amazing talent. Chicago being one of the major cities that holds a festival of such magnitude has already started to gear up for the many eager preteens and adults looking to listen to some amazing artists. Lollapalooza is notorious for having amazing line ups and draws in a crowd that will make the city of Chicago look small. The concern for this years "main event" is the lineup. A good number of people are concerned that there are too many mainstream acts that are going to be played and not a lot of underground music. The other big thing is that the lineup has more mainstream rap and rock artists than any EDM. This is something that has made a lot of people skeptical about going to Lolla this year as it has been a great place for up and coming EDM artists to get their shot at glory. This year line up has gone back to the traditional rock/rap vibe that the festival started out as 25 years ago. The only problem with this is that the EDM fans will not have as many peopel that they will like to see so it could hurt sales on Lollas end.

The main reason this is a concern is because the music of this generation revolves around EDM. Most mainstream songs have some sort of EDM undertone and or beat which makes it unique. Another festival that happens early in June called spring awakening is held in Chicago and has all EDM music. My guess is as good as yours on where the majority of EDM fans are going to be spending their money ( it's a joke clearly Spring Awakening).

Throwing Shade

The EDM world is shaken as ZHU publicly calls out Chainsmokers, Kygo, Marshmello, Steve Aoki, and David Guetta in his new promo video for Nightcrawlers. Nightcrawlers is allegedly ZHU's new ep that will be dropping soon. This is a cocky move from the young DJ trying to show up some of the biggest names in DJing right now. Critics are still trying to find out if these were personal attacks on the from ZHU or if he is really sure that his music will take over the scene. Either way, it is a risky move to throw "shade" at some of the biggest names of Djing and the top grossing DJs of today. ZHU feels as an article by run the trap states "he is feeling like a goth gangster." ZHU's dark video that he realized about these DJ's seems less than desirable to many people in the Djing world. Most of the DJs that ZHU called out are more successful than ZHU may ever be. 

The video is a dark shoot with many people dressed in ZHU merch carrying a coffin to a burial site. The video goes on for a couple seconds till you see the names of these artists painted and crossed out on the coffin. This is alluding to the fact that ZHU will be "burying" these artists in the charts and claiming his title as the best EDM DJ. As an outside who follows the community, I believe that this is just a ploy for ZHU to get attention and hopefully become a respected DJ in the process. He has a long way to go if he believes that he will be on the top of the charts but hopefully, with his new ep he proves all of the EDM community wrong and doesn't have bad blood with the other Dj's involved. Either way, we hope for the best for this DJ but if things go wrong we can't say we didn't see it coming. 

Goriilaz Return to Music

This post is not going to contain much about EDM but more so about how one of my favorite bands is getting back together and creating a festival for it. The Gorillaz's are known for their most famous song "Feel Good Inc." that was a huge hit back in 2005. Gorillaz left the music game in 2010 however, just as we thought there was no hope for a return they have announced themselves getting back together. They have not played a show since 2010 and they are announcing a festival called Demon Days that will be focused on them coming back to music. As a band that has been so influential to many people in the past years this a huge comeback to music for this
group. Musician Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett met in 1990 when guitarist Graham Coxon, a fan of Hewlett's work, asked him to interview Blur, a band Albarn and Coxon had recently formed. Hewlett said, "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell – there's nothing of substance there. This was a perfect quote from Hewitt who took the Idea and made the first original cartoon band.

Gorillaz, got its popularity by being the first cartoon band to win a multitude of awards ranging from a Grammy, to MTV music awards, to btiish music awards and so on. They went double platinum in the U.S. and 5 times platinum in Britain. It was the first time in history that a fictional cartoon band had ever won any awards (probably because there were not in existence before then). They revolutionized a genre of music and the way they music is presented in this day in age. I have yet to find a band that has come close to being as original as the Gorillaz and that's what makes them so unique. 

Meeting your SOULmate

No, this post is not going to be about how to meet your soul mate or finding the person right for you, so if you are looking for that then stop reading. This is a post about two music producers who came together and formed one of the most influential duos of this DJ revolution. The name of the Duo is "The Chainsmokers" and it consists of Drew Taggart and Alex Pall. A musical genius by the name of Adam Alpert noticed these to boys and saw talent in both of them. Adam was a well-recognized music producer and was looking for a star act. He found one, Chainsmokers have since blown up after the group was initially formed.

Where does the journey start for Chainsmokers? It all started when they opened up for another great musical group known as Timeflies. Timeflies is known for their remixes and mashups of old songs that have been remastered by their lead vocalist/rapper Cal Shapiro. Chainsmokers were the opening act for Timeflies at Terminal 5 a music venue in New York City. The duo had just released #SELFIE a song all about selfies and how to take the perfect one. Since this song came out roughly around 2013-2014 it was very popular due to the fact that it was the time of the selfies. They took their production talent and turned a global sensation into a hit single. The song reached 10h on the EDM/Dance music charts on Itunes and struck a chord with many people across the globe. Since there hit they released EP and notably singles like "Roses", "Don't Let Me Down", and most notably "Closer". They have seen so much success in the past few years and have made a name for themselves in the industry in such a short period of time. They rose from DJ Magazines number 97th to number 18 on the list in just 2 years. That is a huge leap in such a short amount of time. Their creativity is hard to match and they have locked down their key demographic.

The Rave Scene

P.L.U.R. is an acronym that stands for Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. My objective with this blog is to show that EDM has a positive influence on the community. Everyone has a purpose and EDM helps people find their purpose. Electric Dance Music is a phenomenon that has completely revolutionized music festivals and the rave scene.  They have made these places common ground for people who struggle with the challenges of everyday life. It has been said that Electric Dance Music is an art form that frees people and makes them dance in ways they wouldn't before. It is the simplistic melodies, to the heavy use of bass that makes each song a heart pounding experience in itself. It is a quick escape from reality where people can lose themselves in the music and fully immerse themselves in the culture.

The reason that the acronym P.L.U.R. is so popular is because it represents something more than the music itself it represents an experience that you won't get with any other music genre. Most rave goers dress up in fair costumes and cover their arms in bead bracelets other wise known as "candy". It is not just a cheap plastic to these people but a common symbol of respect for the other. The goal of these bracelets are to share moments with other people, to have a connection with others that you would most likely not get outside of the realm of EDM. This is a movement that has started with our generation and looks to be paving the way for the others as well. I can say that first hand that it is on of the most influential genres of music that we have seen next to classic rock and old school hip hop. EDM has changed the way we see music and how we hear it as well. It is a revolution that has made shifts in the way we listen and "live through music".

"I'll Sleep When I'm Dead"

The documentary "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" takes a dive into the life of one of the most influential DJs of this time, Steve Aoki. The documentary is a dedication to Steves father, Hiroaki Aoki, the famous creator of the restaurant chain Benihana. The documentary takes the viewers on an adventure and showcase how the now famous Steve Aoki perfected his craft and made a name for himself. Aoki is one of the most well-known DJs of this era and is constantly finding new ways to make his shows unique and special. He does all of his work to appease his father and to live up to his name. Aoki's mother and father split up at a young age and ever since then Steve has believed that he was living in his father's shadow. The documentary goes into detail about his past and how he started in the music industry. 

Aoki was a huge part of the La underground music scene back in the day and was actually part of a screamo band that focused on punk influenced music. He recognized the talents of many local bands and DJs and decided to create his own record label, Dim Mak. It was through his underground music phase that he befriended DJ AM the world renown DJ who soon became Aoki's mentor. Aoki credits the majority of his success to AM and was deeply saddened to hear of his passing. Furthermore, he used AM as an inspiration and continued to perform until he made it to the top. Steve Aoki has been playing festivals all over the world and has been lucky enough to end the festival Tomorrow land on the main stage. He plays shows nearly every day and has played in nearly every city globally. He means it when he says "I'll sleep when I'm Dead." He truly shows the world what it takes to be an amazing DJ and he is continuously striving to shwo his father what he is made of. It doesn't matter that he is gone out of my life, said Aoki, "what matters is that he is watching over me." Aoki recognizes that his father would be proud of what he has achieved. 

The Scene

P.L.U.R.P.O.S.E is an acronym that stands for Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. My objective with this blog is to show that EDM has a positive influence on the community. Everyone has a purpose and EDM helps people find their purpose. Electric Dance Music is a phenomenon that has completely revolutionized music festivals and the rave scene.  They have made these places common ground for people who struggle with the challenges of everyday life. It has been said that Electric Dance Music is an art form that frees people and makes them dance in ways they wouldn't before. It is the simplistic melodies, to the heavy use of bass that makes each song a heart pounding experience in itself. It is a quick escape from reality where people can lose themselves in the music and fully immerse themselves in the culture.

The reason that the acronym P.L.U.R. is so popular is because it represents something more than the music itself it represents an experience that you won't get with any other music genre. Most rave goers dress up in fair costumes and cover their arms in bead bracelets other wise known as "candy". It is not just a cheap plastic to these people but a common symbol of respect for the other. The goal of these bracelets are to share moments with other people, to have a connection with others that you would most likely not get outside of the realm of EDM. This is a movement that has started with our generation and looks to be paving the way for the others as well. I can say that first hand that it is on of the most influential genres of music that we have seen next to classic rock and old school hip hop. EDM has changed the way we see music and how we hear it as well. It is a revolution that has made shifts in the way we listen and "live through music".

The Rise To Stardom

The DJ industry is continuously growing and we are seeing an increase in younger DJs dominating the market. These new DJs are creating sounds that are now known as future bass, this is a new term to describe the different frequencies used. Two Chicago natives are taking the rave scene by storm with their new tracks.  The duo from the west suburbs of Chicago consisting of Robby Hauldren and Freddy Kennet are mixing rap/hip-hop and future base to create their own genre of music. It is good to see that they are adventuring outside the norms of rave culture and creating their music. The group has been on tour for the past few months and they are starting to build up their musical empire. They have a small following on Instagram and Facebook, however, they are starting to get recognition on a global scale. It would not be far off to say that the duo will have a global tour coming soon in the next few years. 

As a music lover from Chicago this is inspiring for me to see success come out of such a great city. It is to no surprise that the duo is becoming more recognized due to the fact that Chicago is a huge influencer on electronic music. In a growing genre of music seeing younger people staring to blow up ensures that there will the music will keep growing along with it. Louis the Child will continue to tour through the spring and keep growing the genre every step of the way. They have been adding new songs to their playlist as they move continue to tour the country. They have been working on their EP for sometime now and they will hopefully be releasing new music at the end of 2016 early 2017. This will be a huge step for the group as this will be their fist EP that they have ever made. EDM lovers have faith that it will be a great EP because of the amount of work they put into the singles that they have already released from the EP. EDM fans are looking forward to the great music the duo has to come. 

The DJ who started it all

Dj AM is a name that will reside in the minds of many music lovers for centuries to come. Dj Am aka  Adam Goldstein, was a pioneer in the world of DJs, more so known as the first millionaire Dj ever. He had an inspiring track list ranging from Hip-Hop beats to electronic music, you could hear his sound in most clubs or featured in music of his time. When you are on the top it is hard to stay there without the temptation of drugs, alcohol, money, and fame. However, those addictions were not the driving force for his career, his passion for being a Dj and his determination to get better is what made him rise to the top. Like most people on top they eventually fall, unfortunately, Dj Am literally fell 30,000 feet out of the sky as his plane crashed. He remarkably survived the crash however he was mentally and emotionally scarred from his near death experience. He was later found dead in his New York apartment in August 2009 after overdosing.

So even after the death of AM, his story lives on. He has been an inspiration for many big DJs such as Diplo, Skrillex, and Steve Aoki. He was not only a mentor but a friend, many of these DJs use AM"s influence in their music to pay tribute to one of the greatest the world has ever known. It is because of him that the music became as popular as it today. Now there are thousands of DJs that are playing festivals and bringing together avid listeners of the genre to create a movement.  Electric Dance Music is not dying, it is growing and blossoming into the new norm of this generation's music. His name will not be in vein and his legacy will live on. Dj AM was arguably the best DJ the world had seen when he was at his peak of stardom. It is tragic to seem him go but he is an example of what DJing was, and also an unfortunate example of what the industry can do to you