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.