It's always a blessing to see a DJ really work it. Not just playing breakdown to breakdown, but really getting after it and crafting a narrative with the beat. Los Angeles-based HoneyLuv does just that in this mix for LP Giobbi's Femme House and Killed With Kindness.

Born in Cleveland, HoneyLuv got her start spinning R&B and hip hop. And it shows as she breezes through bass-forward house, thumping tribal, and high energy disco beats from Proper Villians, Mark Knight, Illyus & Barrientos, and of course her own club busting productions. 

There's a clear distinction between dance music DJs and open format DJs who play house music. Those who move into house music, just do it better. There's swag in the style and an undeniable precision that carries over from learning on some of the hardest music to mix. HoneyLuv stands out because not only does she know her way around the decks, she's a dynamite producer as well with releases on Insomniac Records, Thrive, and Popgang.

Mix Of The Week: HoneyLuv's Blazing Tech House for Femme House

French performer and producer Rodriguez Jr. has spent over twenty years a the forefront of dance music, absorbing myriad styles and enlivening each with his expertly tuned ear. He started as a mentee of the legendary Laurent Garnier as an artist for the esteemed F-Communications imprint. 

Through the years, he's reinvented himself first as part of French electro duo The Youngsters and then again as a solo act and imaginative purveyor of melodic house. His powerful live performances bring his studio to life for the dancefloor as he weaves together a patchwork of vivid synth work and indulgent rhythms. 

Worakls "Nikki" rework raises the slow-burning cinematic epic into a transcendental dance floor groove. Rodriguez Jr. lays down a thumping beat with just enough shuffle to move your hips to. Layered atop are disco-tinged string hits and a grinding bassline groove—it crescendos into a lush orchestral break before laying the powerful back on for a strong finish.

The original track is from Worakls acclaimed debut album Orchestra. It came accompanied by a music video pulled from the French short "Nikki Marianne," for which he wrote the score. The intensely emotional video with his original further proves how the young artist can translate the breadth of human emotion into a sonic masterpiece.

Track of the Week: Rodriguez Jr. Remixes Worakls 'Nikki'

Whether you love smooth deep house or pounding industrial techno, all electronic dance music originated in the black communities of Chicago and Detroit. We wouldn't have house music without innovators like Frankie Knuckles and Marshall Jefferson, nor would techno even exist without disruptors like Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson. Black pioneers are the lifeblood of the dance music that we know and love today, which has grown over the years to encompass an incredible array of sub-genres and scenes across the globe. 




Frankie Knuckles

Widely renowned as the Godfather of House, Francis Warren Nicholls, Jr. - aka Frankie Knuckles - is often credited as the originator of house music. After moving from New York City to Chicago in the late 1970s, Knuckles got a regular stint DJing at Warehouse, a nightclub now enshrined in history as one of the birthplaces of Chicago house. Knuckles developed his style there, fusing disco, indie soul, European synth disco, and more into what would later become house music.

After buying his first drum machine in 1983, Knuckles crafted the quintessential essence of the early Chicago house sound: stripped-back drum machine rhythms underpinning vibrant disco classics. In addition, knuckles went on to raise funds for AIDS, homelessness, and educational charities. On Aug. 25, 2004, the Mayor of Chicago proclaimed the date Frankie Knuckles Day. He commemorated his seismic influence on dance music by naming a section of Jefferson Street, not far from the original location of Warehouse, after him. He passed on March 31, 2014, leaving a legacy that stretches across the globe.




Marshall Jefferson

Another instrumental figure in the early Chicago house scene is Marshall Jefferson. Starting as a record producer in the Universal Recording Studios of Chicago, Jefferson met Larry Sherman, the owner of TRAX Records. Massive releases from Jefferson, such as "Move Your Body" (1986), helped bring TRAX Records into prominence and catapult house music onto the world stage. "Move Your Body" was the first house track to incorporate pianos. He followed that up with a torrent of groundbreaking material. In 1987, Jefferson produced "Acid Trax" by DJ Pierre, which galvanized the development of the acid house movement worldwide. 

Follow Marshall Jefferson on Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud




Larry Heard

The velvety tones and soulful deep house melodies are largely rooted in Larry Heard - aka Mr. Fingers - a mainstay of early Chicago dance music. His 1986 track, "Can You Feel It," was one of the first deep house records ever made. Heard built the classic tune using the Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, the Roland TR-909 drum machine, and two cassette decks. A marvel of modern simplicity with an inimitable vibe, "Can You Feel It" soon attained legendary status. In 2017, Mixmag included it on their "Best 20 House Classics from Before 1990" list, and in 2018, Time Out ranked it at Number 5 on their "20 Best House Tracks Ever" list.

Follow Larry Heard on Instagram | SoundCloud







Kerri Chandler

Equally vital in the origins of deep house is the New Jersey icon, Kerri Chandler. With timeless tracks like "Climax 2" (1993) and "Where Is Love" (1995), Chandler played a pivotal role in the development of house music throughout the 1990s. Chandler grew up in a town that pulsed with the energy of multiple music scenes, from funk and soul to jazz and hip-hop. His music drew life from these sources, consistently possessing an infectious groove and a spiritual beat, eventually earning him the title of the 'Stevie Wonder of house music.' A technical wizard with a flawless eye for detail, Chandler played a mind-bending, hour-long, reel-to-reel tape mix for Resident Advisor in 2020. 

Follow Kerri Chandler on Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud




Paul Johnson

A prolific creator and an undisputed inspiration to all DJs and producers, Paul Johnson, knew how to get people moving as soon as they entered the club. Yet another Chicago legend, Johnson uniquely wielded both the ability to slot the perfect disco sample into a classic house tune, as well as the ability to layer up a hardened "ghetto" beat track. The result was a pioneering artist whose music won the admiration of fans in every nation. His 1999 house jam, "Get Get Down," made the charts in 14 countries. Despite losing both legs, Johnson continued to DJ and produce and maintained an unbeatable work ethic; at times, he wrote up to six full tracks in a single day. 




Juan Atkins

The true pioneer of Detroit techno – and, by extension, techno itself - is Juan Atkins. Born in Detroit in 1962, Atkins teamed up alongside Rick Davis as Cybotron in the early '80s. Together, they dropped the 1982 electro track "Clear," which also marked the birth of what became 'techno music.' Unlike previous electro tracks, which merged aspects of Kraftwerk with hip-hop, "Clear" was an amalgamation of techno-pop and club music. 

After leaving Cybotron to work alone, Atkins released his most impactful material from 1985-1987. In 1985 he founded his label, Metroplex Records, which became a cornerstone in the history of Detroit techno, and launched his first single as Model 500: "No UFOs." Along with singles like "The Chase," "Night Drive," and "Interference," these records flew off the shelves. 

Atkins' sound was futuristic, mechanical, and brooding, eliciting thoughts of late-night drives down the I-96 freeway and big, bellowing factories. By the late 1980s, Atkins had taken Britain by storm. His music largely inspired acts like 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, LFO, and Black Dog. 

Follow Juan Atkins on Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud




Kevin Saunderson

Motor City is where innumerable techno greats emerged. While attending Belleville High School, Atkins befriended Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May. The three musicians were among the few black students in their high school and would go on to be known as the Belleville Three - the inventors of Detroit techno. 

Kicking off his career in 1987, Saunderson paired Detroit's raw, metallic sound with the warm humanity of house music which, at the time, was exploding in popularity a few hours down the I-94 in Chicago. Coupled with the elated vocals of Paris Grey, he released tracks as Inner City. Merging the magnetic glow of pop melodies with the driving rhythms of Detroit techno, Inner City saw huge success amongst both underground and commercial scenes alike, earning 12 UK top 40 hits and selling over six million records worldwide at their peak. Saunderson is also intrinsically linked with Detroit's flagship Movement (previously Detroit Electronic Music Festival / Fuse-In), having produced the event in the mid-2000s. 

Follow Kevin Saunderson on Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud




Robert Hood

The Belleville Three paved the way for the second wave of Detroit producers, who evolved techno in the 1990s into uncharted territories. Robert Hood is the creator of minimal techno: a stripped-back, pure approach to the genre that prioritizes soul and experimentation over showy posturing. Alongside Jeff Mills and Mike Banks, he was an early member of the Underground Resistance label (UR), which shaped the future of modern techno. Underground Resistance artists soldered acid and industrial sounds onto a blend of Chicago house and Detroit techno. All recorded on a gritty four-track. 

The label formed the basis of underground electronic scenes worldwide due to their anti-corporate and militant political ideology. Despite leaving UR in 1992, Hood remained hostile towards all economic threats to inner-city communities and continued to fuse his musical projects with social activism throughout his career. 

Follow Robert Hood on Instagram | SoundCloud




Jeff Mills

Jeff Mills is a man who requires no introduction. Known the world over as one of the biggest names in techno, his bulletproof, sharp-edged productions, and blindingly-powerful DJ sets took the genre to new heights during the 1990s. The meatiness of his sound on early UR-related releases like "The Punisher" and "Seawolf" was later refined and polished. After leaving the label in 1992, he switched from the rudimentary four-track to higher-quality recording and production methods. With its hypnotic chimes and thumping kick drum, "The Bells" (1997) is now one of the best-known techno tracks in existence. 

Follow Jeff Mills on Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud







Carl Craig

A living example of musical experimentalism being boundless, Carl Craig has molded Detroit techno into countless new forms. From his early releases in 1989-1992 into the present day, Craig has never failed to look at dance music from unorthodox perspectives. His 1992 Innerzone Orchestra cut, "Bug in the Bassbin," triggered the evolution of drum'n'bass. Craig later transformed "Bug…" into a live jazz composition in 1996 and wove jazz into his 1999 Innerzone Orchestra album, Programmed.

He was one of the first to combine techno and classical music in a mesmerizing way with his LP, Versus (2017). The record saw him collaborate with orchestral pianist Francesco Tristano, French orchestra Les Siècles, conductor Francois Xavier Roth, and producer Moritz Von Oswald. In 2000, he launched the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and has since started his own non-profit, the 501-C3 Carl Craig Foundation, which acts as a platform to facilitate the growth of young musicians in Motor City. 

Follow Carl Craig on Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud

10 Black Pioneers of Dance Music

Kaleena Zanders is a singular artist. She has a distinct soulful sound, a catalog of successful dance records, and a thriving fanbase. Yet within the music industry, she and a plethora of other immensely talented artists are relegated to the category of "electronic music vocalist."

It is true that Zanders and contemporaries like HALIENE and Anabel Englund initially made their mark contributing vocals to tracks from other electronic artists. However, they are far more than their voices, and it is time they get proper recognition for their art.

"I'm an electronic artist period. 'Vocalist' implies that we're separate. That we're providing a service," Zanders tells Gray Area. "I'm tired of blowing up other people and not having my own career." 

On October 27, 2021, Zanders made an Instagram post speaking her truth on the matter.

"EDM Vocalists are artists, songwriters, collaborators, producers, and are just as much an integral part of the dance experience," Zanders wrote in the caption. "So basically, when y'all see a dance vocalist/artist with their own slot or set SHOW DA FUQ UP."

In reality, that's what it will take for artists like Zanders, Englund, and HALIENE to receive proper respect. They have certainly done more than enough for the scene, and people need to show up for them. 

Among Zanders, Englund, and HALIENE, they have created cherished music that lives in the hearts of millions. Their voices are the connective tissue between the mortal world and the invisible realm of sonics in a genre that is mostly made with computers.

"When there are vocals, melody, lyrics, the song becomes personal. It becomes imprinted in your mind," Zanders says.

Furthermore, that kind of humanity and relatability has translated to significant commercial success. 

Zanders has collaborated with artists like SNBRN, LP Giobbi, Chris Lake, and Breathe Carolina to produce songs with tens of millions of plays on Spotify.

Two of Anabel Englund's vocal collaborations, "Underwater" with MK and "Waiting For You" with Yotto, became Billboard #1 US Dance Airplay Singles. 

"Don't Wanna Fall," by HALIENE, Seven Lions, and Last Heroes hit number 20 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales Chart. "Rush Over Me," the joint track from HALIENE, Seven Lions, ILLENiUM, and Said The Sky, reached 35.

Their contributions to dance music are immeasurable. Yet booking agents, talent buyers, producers, and fans continue to overlook them as relevant solo acts. It's time that the status quo be changed. 

Zanders has experienced significant pushback in the realm of live gigs. Her Instagram post described her experience as an artist and explained why HALIENE's solo live set at EDC Las Vegas 2021 shouldn't be an anomaly.

"She had to fight to be there," Zanders says of HALIENE's performance. "We're electronic artists, why do we have to fight to stand there on stage and do what we do with songs people already know?"

It's a fair question. The answer hinges on profit. When talent buyers book a show, they have to account for all the venue and staff expenses while ensuring the fans enjoy themselves. Every booking is a risk, and to mitigate risk, talent buyers at dance venues will frequently adhere to expected formats such as programming an entire night of DJs.

"It really comes down to the agents and the promoters who are booking what works for that customer, for that environment." says Mark Harris, Englund's manager. 

Many in the industry have told Zanders that she needs to DJ if she wants to play live gigs. They insist she has to put her name first on her collaborations. And that she needs to be the "focal point," all, so agents and promoters think she's a fit for a club environment.

"Hearing all these conversations of what I should be doing and how I should be doing it really started to make me jaded," Zanders says. "I should be able to, at the very least, do some opening sets for DJs. Or at a festival I can do a 2PM or 3PM slot. What makes a difference if I have a DJ and I'm singing?"

The formats Zanders mentioned are far from uncommon in the grand scheme of live performance but are a departure from the norm within the dance environment. The programming is still almost entirely DJs at major dance festivals like EDC Las Vegas, Electric Zoo, and Ultra.

Remember, the idea of DJs being the centerpiece is a new phenomenon. They used to be hidden from view while everyone focused on the dance floor. No one would expect a live vocalist with a DJ. The shifting of that needle has opened opportunities for artists like Zanders to rise, but the culture of the past has yet to catch up to her new form of artistry.

"Dance clubs, dance shows, dance festivals. It's very DJ-driven and very DJ heavy. So it's just the culture of what it is," says Harris. "Clubs are totally different than live performance rooms. Two different vibes." 

Zanders calls Los Angeles home. It's a massive city with dozens of venues, from clubs to live performance rooms to stadiums to arenas. With so many spaces and such a strong music culture, many, like Avalon Hollywood, for instance, have naturally come to adopt a widespread pallet of programming. 

Avalon has a history as a live performance room. It hosted the Beatles first West Coast appearance in 1964, and artists like Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, and The Beastie Boys in their heyday have all blessed the stage there. It now frequently caters to DJs. At the time of writing, Walker & Royce, Ben Gold, and YehMe2 all had upcoming events.

The booking team at Avalon is comfortable taking risks on different formats. On November 13, 2021, Zanders opened for Cedric Gervais. This may be a "gamble" for other venues, but they showed up for her. The fact that she made her name through her voice was not a concern at all.

"We've done far more dangerous things than that," jests says Brig Dauber, Entertainment Director at Avalon Hollywood, over Zoom.

Zanders performed with a backing DJ on the night in question while she sang her tracks. Carle Clayburgh, Artist Relations Manager at Avalon Hollywood, recalls that the night was a smash hit. A packed house. Bartenders and other staff members texted her about how much they loved the set.

"A lot of the crowd was there for her," says Clayburgh. "I knew she had a catalog of her own songs, and she's such a personality and she's such an entertainer. It was never a question of 'What if she only sings?' because she's so much more than a vocalist."

Dauber mentions that he did expect Zanders to "DJ a bit" after the fact of booking her, but he was glad she didn't.

"She is bridging a gap. Most vocalists stay vocalists and that's it. She really partied with everybody and that added another dimension," says Dauber. 

So, as it turned out, booking Zanders was not a risk. On the contrary, it was hugely profitable, and the dance crowd loved it. After all, before performing her own set at Avalon, Zanders had proved her metal performing as a guest numerous times. She's performed at Sound Nightclub for Space Yacht, EDC Las Vegas with LP Giobbi, and Coachella with AC Slater.

AC Slater and LP Giobbi are just two of the dozens of producers with whom Zanders has provided vocals on a collaboration. Amongst the producer community, she is more than just well known, she is in demand, but producers can still do their part to show up for her.

Because she gets labeled an "electronic music vocalist," other producers often see Zanders as a means to an end. They want her voice to help their track, and that's it. They don't see her as a fellow artist.

"The amount of people who will hit me up every day or every week, it's harassment," Zanders says. "I could say 'Hey I'm not doing any features right now.' I could say 'I'm working on my solo stuff.' I could say anything and people will still ask, but that's how important a vocal is."

For producers, showing up for Zanders and her fellow artists is to treat them as equals in the process. To understand their value and respect the time and effort they give to you.

Zanders has built that relationship with the ascending house music duo, Win and Woo, made up of Nicholas Winholt and Austin Woo. Together with Zanders, they produced "Right In Front Of Me," their 2019 single on IN/ROTATION, and at the time of writing, have several works in progress coming soon.

Winholt first met Zanders through J. Worra, an impressive house artist who collaborated with Zanders for "On The Run." Instead of immediately asking Zanders to sing on one of his productions, Winholt invited her to work on music together, putting time into both of their projects.

"[Zanders and I] hit it off in general. I liked her vibe," says Winholt. "It's more fun if you can make a friendship out of it first. I think the deeper you get to know somebody, the easier it is to get those ideas out."

After being on the receiving end of disrespect from producers for many years, Zanders has set down certain principles for collaborating. First and foremost, she is always in the room with the producers. They create the music together.

"I like to be in the room with the person because then it establishes that track is ours. It says 'I'm going to listen to you and what you like, and you're going to listen to me and what I like.'," Zanders says. 

When Zanders is in the room, she also contributes to components beyond her vocal, engaging in what she calls the "Rick Rubin style" of producing. She doesn't press the buttons, but she knows what she wants from the track. She knows where she wants the hi-hats, the string-line, and how everything should support her voice.

"Whether it's her song or our song or a song for somebody else she definitely has her own ideas that she wants to hear," says Woo. "It's really nice to have someone who's vocal about what they want in the creation process because outside of that it's just our perspective. She's also good at doing the opposite. If we have vocal ideas like melodies she's super receptive to those, too."

At the end of the day, it's about trust. When there is a foundation of trust, collaborative relationships continue, and everyone benefits equally, as is the case with Anabel Englund.

Englund has collaborated repeatedly with artists like Jamie Jones, MK, and Lee Foss throughout her career. Englund and Foss have not only worked together on music, but the two have shared bookings on international tours, with Foss DJing and Englund providing live vocals.

"When I work with producers I am very trusting of their capabilities & I seek to work with them specifically for their personal style and flavor," says Englund in answers provided over email.

Personal style and flavor are also why fans enjoy Englund and Zanders. That's why so many producers want to work with them. That's why their music has reached millions of people and led to real charting success. That's why everyone goes crazy when they come out on stage.

So, while they continue to give their entire soul to their craft, the dance community can do their part to deliver these opportunities. Buy the ticket to their show. Check out their set at a festival. Stream their music. Follow them on social media. 

Larger forces within the music industry pay attention to these metrics, and the community has the power to lift these artists who have given so much to the scene. Essentially, as Kaleena Zanders would say, "SHOW DA FUQ UP."

Why Dance Music Vocalists Should Be Headliners

This week we welcome Alex Castillo, booking manager for elrow. He started his journey at 19, working in nightclubs in Barcelona. He then moved on to Amnesia, Ibiza, where he spent nearly a decade moving up from a street team promoter to working for their exclusive artist agency, Black Spider. 

When he started operating his own MBA Agency managing the bookings for Laidback Luke, Hardwell, and Armin Van Buuren, he met elrow CEO Juan Arneau. He accepted a job managing artists for elrow and took on more responsibilities little by little. He's an invaluable part of the team now, working directly with artists and managing many aspects of their worldwide tours.

He's picked Dutch artist Jooris Voorn's January 2022 open to close set from Fabric, London. Voorn kicked off the first Saturday of the year at the legendary London institution with a six-hour journey. All-night sets are (sadly) not something that dance music DJs regularly take on. Voorn reminds us that it's something we need more of. One DJ sets the tone, tells the story, and carries us home.

"I can't deny I feel a special sentiment for Joris Voorn. As a booker, he's one of those who makes your life easy. You can sleep peacefully as you know he's always a safe bet. He always delivers. Never fails, "Castillo says. 

"As a clubber, I've always enjoyed listening to his long sets, big time. He can take you into a real journey and proof of that is this fantastic set he has luckily recorded at Fabric London. He's a perfect music curator and one of the best [at] reading the dance floor, always driving you through different music styles, house, progressive, techno … it doesn't matter, he just never disappoints."

Mix Of The Week: Jooris Voorn's Open to Close at Fabric London

We're happy to welcome Victor de la Serna, Bookings Director for elrow, as this week's guest curator. Victor is a driving force at the Spanish experiential party brand. He is in charge of all artist bookings for elrow's many worldwide events. He's also a direct line of support for elrow CEO Juan Arnau helping to guide the creative and logistical future of the company. He's an industry veteran who established and managed the Australian and Spanish editions of DJ Mag and spent over a decade as a resident DJ and booker for parties at Pacha and Ministry of Sound. 

For this week's pick, Victor tagged in one of elrow's resident artists, Bastian Bux. His recently released Kriminal Fried Chicken EP wonderfully encapsulates the vibe of an elrow party. Here's what Victor had to say.

"Bastian is definitely one of the most knowledgeable producers I know out there and he demonstrates it with two house cuts ready for the dance floor. "Kriminal Fried Chicken" is built around an unconventional vocal sample and a powerful beat. The track crosses over genres and is suitable for a wide range of DJs and audiences. "Clickbait" is an introspective track halfway between minimal vibes and classy tech-house. Synth layers and robotic vocals do the dirty work. Enjoy at very high volume of course."

Track of the Week: Bastian Bux 'Kriminal Fried Chicken'

When we talk about dance music, it is essential to honor its Black forefathers in Detroit, Chicago, and New York. It is also vitally important to celebrate and uplift the next generation of Black talent keeping dance music alive and moving it forward. While there are more artists than we can count on both hands, Gray Area has chosen 10 rising Black dance artists you should be watching and grooving to.


TSHA 

You probably already know and love London-based DJ/producer TSHA. In 2021, she released her vibey, sunny OnlyL EP, was named BBC Radio 1's "Future Artist," and made her Essential Mix debut. TSHA's productions are versatile, warm, and inviting, drawing on house and R&B and adorned with gorgeous layers of sound (her eye-catching album art is an excellent visual compliment).

The self-taught producer signed with legendary UK label Ninja Tune in 2020, who released her last two EPs. TSHA self-released her debut EP, Dawn, in 2018, which she followed up with the Moonlight EP on Counter Records.




DJ Holographic

DJ Holographic is the new generation of Detroit-bred artists keeping the city's rich legacy of experimental and cutting-edge techno and house alive and thriving, along with its funk, soul, and R&B roots. She dropped her debut EP, Parallel Shifting, three banging tracks with Alex Wilcox, in 2020 on her Hitchhiker imprint. Last year, Detroit forefather Carl Craig tapped her to deliver the Detroit Love Vol. 5 mix album on Planet E, to which she brought a groovy blend of house, R&B, and techno to, along with her powerful original track "Faith in My Cup."

DJ Holographic has found fans around the globe with her funky, joyful, and energetic DJ sets, which she's brought to Movement, Smart Bar, Panorama Bar, Output, and many more legendary dance spaces.




Ash Lauryn

Detroit-born, Atlanta-based DJ, producer, and music journalist Ash Lauryn has made it her mission to support and uplift Black artists in dance music. Seeing a lack of representation for younger Black producers in electronic music, she launched her Underground & Black blog, which she's evolved into a full-on platform including an annual Movement party, a monthly NTS Radio show, a podcast, and more.

Lauryn's sound is rooted in the rhythms and creativity of her hometown and her deep love for house music. She dropped her debut EP, Expressions, with Stefan Ringer in 2020 on Ringer's DIY Atlanta dance label, FWM Entertainment. She followed that with 2021's Truth EP, also on FWM.




HoneyLuv

Cleveland-born, Los Angeles-based DJ/producer HoneyLuv knows how to get the party going. Starting as an R&B and hip-hop (one of the hardest genres to mix) DJ in LA and across the US, she revisited her love of house music and began to make waves in the dance community with her banging house, tech house, and techno sets. She also had a past life as an NCAA basketball player and a sailor in the Navy.

As a producer, she put out her powerhouse debut single "F R E E" in 2021, which sounds like an artist's statement of sorts: "Free the people, free us all, free your mind, just let go." She followed it with a string of remixes, collabs, and another banging solo track, "PAIN."




Life on Planets

Baltimore-bred Life on Planets is the lively, soulful house project of singer, guitarist, DJ/producer, and astrology lover Phill Celeste. His music is a sweet blend of house, funk, R&B, and soul, bolstered by his rich voice, specially crafted to make you move and feel. His joyful music is made not just to get the dance floor going off but also to help revelers envision a brighter future, with lyrics that celebrate love, friendship, hope, and other-worldly dimensions.

He's been putting out groovy tunes as Life on Planets since 2014, always adding more vibes to his prolific catalog. In 2020, he dropped the Only You EP on Soul Clap Records, led by a captivating cover of Steve Monite's Afro-disco classic of the same name. His latest release, "Nomad Lyfe," is a pure groover driven by a thick, funky bassline.




Brandon Lucas

Inglewood-bred singer, producer and DJ Brandon Lucas brings his gospel and R&B roots (he grew up in the church and was once in an R&B group) with captivating house beats. In 2020, he gave a taste with his inspiring debut single, "Got That Hope," featuring words from none other than Dr. Cornell West. (He first connected with Dr. West in 2008 to help him build an online presence). Along with the single, he launched his Purple Label Sound imprint, for which his vision is to uplift fellow rising house music producers of color. He's since dropped a handful of vibey, energetic house tracks, all bolstered with his warm, deep vocals. The most recent bop is "Trippin (Vocal Mix)," featuring Life on Planets.




AMÉMÉ 

AMÉMÉ is a self-taught DJ/producer from Benin living in Berlin and Brooklyn. His music and DJ sets incorporate African rhythms with house, which is really the genre's foundation. He runs One Tribe, a global music, party, and fashion brand centered on creating community and good vibes.

The powerhouse West African artist has DJed at hotspots worldwide, including his home cities, Ibiza, Miami, Paris, and Black Rock City, and will be making his Coachella debut this year. He dropped his debut single, "Talk To Me," in 2020 and has delivered a solid, always-lively string of originals, remixes, and collabs, including his Gaou EP in 2021 and "PATCHIDO" with Don Bello Ni in 2020. Of the latter, he explains, "the main vocal of the song comes from my culture. It's a traditional chant that people sing everywhere."




Marytn Bootyspoon

In addition to having one of the best names in dance music, Montreal's Jason Voltaire, a.k.a. Martyn Bootyspoon, brings a playful sense of humor and up-front sexuality to industrial techno beats. He credits his sense of humor to his hometown: "There's a lot of slapstick and tacky things that happen in Montreal," and ghettotech producers DJ Assault and DJ Funk as early inspirations.

He served up his first dose of dance floor sexiness with the Silk Eternity EP in 2018, dropping an EP and more singles every year. His most recent are the self-released acid housey Incognito Tabs i EP and the bright, upbeat house jam "As Clear As Day" on LuckyMe.




NEZ

NEZ has already made a name for himself in hip-hop as half of the production duo Nez & Rio, whose credits include regular collaborator ScHoolboy Q's 2014 hit "Man of the Year" and A$AP Rocky's "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2." In 2020, Nez stepped out on his own as a solo artist, dropping the swagalicious bop "Wild Youngster" featuring ScHoolboy Q. He made his live performance and festival debut with an energetic set at Lollapalooza 2021. He then unleashed a series of bouncing DJ sets across the country, including opening for Seth Troxler at Circoloco's LA party.

As a solo artist, Nez sings, raps, and produces his infectious beats, tapping collaborators from hip-hop and house to bring all that vivacious energy to dance music. In 2021, NEZ dropped the Midnight Music EP, featuring Felix Da Housecat on "Lift Off" and Flo Milli and 8AE on "To The Money."




Tony H 

Panama-born, Seattle-based Tony H makes bouncing tech house, melodic house and techno gems released on Desert Hearts, Dirtybird, Observatory Music, Space Yacht, and more. He founded his own Late Night Munchies imprint in 2015, adding the techno-focused arm Munchies After Dark more recently, and is the label manager for LA's Space Yacht. He also hosts The Drive-Thru mix series on SoundCloud, highlighting other rising dance acts. He balances all this with a busy DJ schedule, sharing his energy regularly at shows in his home city, San Francisco, Chicago, and other dance locales.

He's an effortless multi-tasker, and his complimentary sonic dexterity is evident across his productions, which date back to 2014. His most recent single, "Shoulder Pop," for Late Night Munchies, is a driving eight-minute tech house burner. His groovy three-track 2021 Desert Hearts EP, She Moves The World, proves his diversity in sound. Featuring the disco-tinged title track, tech house heater "Get Physical" with swaggy lyrics from Icausetreble, and '90s house nodding "Little Pieces" elevated by Ingrid Hakanson's captivating vocals.

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Some styles of music take their name from the places that germinated them. Such is the case with garage, the vocal-heavy, R&B-indebted, East Coast-identified house style that emerged alongside the trackier Chicago version. Its namesake is Paradise Garage, a club located for a decade, 1977 to 1987, at 84 King Street in Manhattan. Fifteen years later, Mel Cheren, a prime investor in the club, called the opening night a “disaster”—the sound equipment was stranded in a snowstorm. But once the Garage was truly ready, it gained a large and devoted clientele due to its DJ, Larry Levan.

Levan’s sets at the Paradise Garage were typically slower in tempo than Frankie Knuckles or Ron Hardy in Chicago but full of enough singular drive and drama to garner him a cult. “When I was going to the Garage in early days, Larry didn’t always blend the records together,” the late Boyd Jarvis said in 2013. “Sometimes, he just stopped and turned another one on.” 

Larry Levan @ Paradise Garage

But Levan’s feel for drama carried even the jankiest segues. As Josh Milan of Blaze recalled, Levan “was the first DJ I heard to play different music. He would play a slow record or a Curtis Mayfield record. That to me was important. That was his contribution to my musicality. When I realized that you could do that sort of music in a club situation that opened up a new world.”

In the studio, he could knock out tracks and remixes that sparkled as they carried
on. A twelve-minute rinse-out of Instant Funk’s “I’ve Got My Mind Made Up” (1979) cut to the knuckle before teasing out a full build for maximum effect, while Taana Gardner’s “Heartbeat” (1981) became a master class in suspension of tension. They’re also prime progenitors for what would come to be called dubbed garage. 

But despite the style’s name, garage was defined by another DJ at another club. Tony Humphries was the resident at Newark, New Jersey’s Zanzibar 1982 until late 1990. While there, he began to move away from the more abstract elements of house in favor of something more traditional. 

Tony Humphries at Zanzibar

“I would focus on more of the gospel part or more of the jazzy part or melodic part if there is a rhythm or guitar to it,” he told Jonathan Fleming in 1995. “The more it sounds closer to a real band or something from the past, then the more I’m gonna lean towards that.” 

In his house history Pump Up the Volume, Sean Bidder noted that garage was a “conservative brew of soulful vocals, snappy hi-hats, and 4/4-pinned beat.” It took off “largely thanks to records by Adeva, Paul Simpson, and Blaze, who’d make tracks specifically for Humphries to play, in much the same way that others had tailored their tunes for Levan years earlier.”

They also tailored it to the clubbers who went to Zanzibar expecting to sing along. “House music lost its black audience and gained a big white audience when it became instrumental,” said writer Frank Owen, who attended the Paradise Garage’s final night in 1987. “Vocal house was very much in tune with that tradition of R&B, of the church. That was all jettisoned.” But not at Zanzibar, where vocals reigned supreme. New Jersey vocalist Adeva had the right idea in 1989, when she told Owen in Spin, “Perhaps they should call [garage] Zanzibar music.” 

Barbara Tucker

Just ask the house-music singer and choreographer Barbara Tucker, who frequented Paradise Garage and Zanzibar. “Really, downtown Jersey is the capital of house music,” she said in 2013. “Unlike New York or Baltimore, it’s not strange for you to hear somebody blasting house music constantly in their car.”

After the Paradise Garage closed, many of its regulars began spending their weekends dancing to Junior Vasquez at the Sound Factory in the early 90s. “It was like there was a void when the Paradise Garage closed and we wanted to fill it with a party that was special, so that’s why we decided to do a members only party,” Vasquez recalled. “We didn’t think anything big was gonna happen but boy was we wrong!”

Todd Edwards | Credit: Red Bull Music

Another Jerseyite, Todd Edwards, would foreshadow garage’s next wrinkle. Inspired by MK
(Marc Kinchen), the Detroit-bred producer who made sampled snippets into instruments of bubbling syncopation, Edwards took the approach to dizzying levels, first on a series of remixes, many for garage artists, such as his reworking of Da Mob feat. Jocelyn Brown’s “Fun.” In the UK, DJs (particularly DJ EZ) began speeding up these tracks—the stepping stone to UK garage. But that’s another story.

Garage House and the New Jersey Sound

Destructo and DJ Glen have never met in person, but their love and respect for each other—and creative compatibility—run deep. And today, January 28, the energetic duo shared their first collab, "Distorted Reality." The six-minute track goes hard from the start and is a sonic response to the unhinged state of the world. With its extra-long build-up—a hallmark of DJ Glen’s sound—it is made to stir the dancefloor into a frenzy.

The accompanying video is also a wild trip, featuring images from the DJs' hometowns (São Paulo and Los Angeles), protests, raves, and the FLUF World metaverse (see for yourself below). Read on for Destructo and DJ Glen's first interview together, in which they dive deep into the new track, their admiration for each other, and what’s to come in 2022.

"I play a lot of Glen's tunes when I DJ—for years now. He's got a very distinct sound. I really like the way he does breakdowns," Destructo shared over Zoom from his L.A. home. "I was stoked he reached out. I always try to find stuff that other people don't play, and it's hard to find that stuff that's really good. It's always Glen's stuff."

"He sent me some stuff and I was like, 'We should do something.' And this one resonated, especially with the vocals. I'm kind of tired of doing happy party tracks. I always feel like I want to say something with the music…The words are very simple, but it [speaks to] the world that we're living in."

"I've followed Gary [Richards, a.k.a. Destructo] for years and I realized we have the same rock and roll roots," Glen added, from his home studio in Americana, São Paulo. "I think a lot about how to bring my roots into electronic music, and with Gary, we found a way to do it."

"After I started to sent some ideas, I watched the whole MasterClass from Tom Morello, who is my favorite guitarist ever. Then, with his ideas, I made more tension, with the biggest drops," Glen explained.

Destructo noted they referenced Rage Against The Machine several times in "Distorted Reality." Morello uses guitars like a synthesizer or turntable, Glen did the reverse; using synths like a guitar. Proving that the best music is often uncomplicated, the track uses scant elements to bring the dancefloor to a fever pitch: one drum, two synths, and his voice with a vocoder.

As for the collaborative process, Destructo tested the track out at his shows last year, observing and adjusting its elements after each play. He and Glen worked on a version to have ready for his Electric Zoo set last September, and when he played it, the reaction was priceless. The whole crowd waved their arms from side to side during the buildup without any prompting.

DJ Glen hasn't been able to play "Distorted Reality" out in his home country yet to see the reaction there, but it's likely to be a powerful one. He draws the connection between the big build-ups in his music and Brazilians' love of soccer:

"Brazilians like soccer so much because they like to be a part of a bigger crowd and bigger scene, they like to be together with people who think like them. And this is why the drop and the one big crowd dancing together at the same time is so special here, because everybody likes to be together as one. You need to be very clear in the music to make it happen and [when you do], it sounds like a goal in soccer stadium. if you're gonna play in Brazil, you need to make bigger goals and bigger drops. They don't care about the things you put between the drops. Just put the fucking drops and make the goals and everybody screams together. It's so cool."

When asked to describe his production style, the Brazilian powerhouse explained that beyond creating tension and massive drops, it's really about being true to himself and using the music to speak beyond words and connect with others.

"I try to be totally true with myself, using the music as a universal language. For example, Gary understands my music, the way I produce, all my references without us talking a lot about it. I don't know your language very well, I cannot express myself using the words, but using music I can be whatever I am. When I'm producing in the studio, I can be 100 percent honest with myself, [which is] different than when I'm playing, because it's a little hard to put all yourself in your set because there's more people in the room," Glen said.

"I released an album [Every Hi-End is a New Beginning in 2020] was this kind of vibe. I made it for me, not for the dance floor. There's a lot of tracks that work in the dance floor, but I made it for me and the things I believe."

For Destructo, remixing Dolly Parton's "Jolene" was a worthwhile and fruitful challenge.

"It's a big one to not fuck up.” he laughs. “When I do a remix, I don't try to change everything. I try to just figure out how can I take the song and the melody and make it work for the dance floor. It was a long process, but I was very excited and happy that Dolly liked it and that it got out," the "Shine On" producer said.

"I think it was around the same time we were working on 'Distorted Reality,' I was playing some shows and I was like, 'How am I going to play this in my set?'…I think I played it probably the same time as 'Distorted Reality,' towards the end of the set, just to see the reactions. And the reaction I got immediately for the Dolly one was like nothing I've gotten on a song ever, ever, ever—immediately, 8000 people singing the song. I was like, holy shit! It was the same thing with "Distorted Reality," when I played it, that's when you really know. We're lucky we get to make shit and play it out and see what happens."

And even as the years roll on and his discography of bangers grows, Destructo is still stoked on his big bops from the past, including 2014's "Dare You 2 Move," and "Party Up" with YG. "The only reason why I started making songs, is so I could play them when I DJ… I was just trying to get tunes that are unique to me. So they're all kind of weapons to begin with. And we're just adding more to the collection now."

You can expect more collaborative weapons from DJ Glen and Destructo in 2022, possibly an EP! And both artists have more of their own tunes up their sleeves to keep you moving all year.

Destructo & DJ Glen Talk Debut Collab "Distorted Reality" & Wowing The Dance Floor

When it comes time to emerge from the nightclub, there’s one item that many find essential: their cellphone. 

Research by the Night Time Industries Association and London-based phone charging solution Joos finds a significant increase in anxiety and stress linked to a dead or dying phone when out at night in the UK. Eighty-two percent of young adults reported feeling unsafe when in such a situation. Additionally, 64 percent of females answered that they feel anxious or scared when out with a dying phone battery at night. Mobile devices are of great importance in getting home safely, whether through a traveling home alone app such as WalkSafe or a rideshare service like Uber. 

Interestingly, the study found that young people living in the U.K. find their phones more important than wallets. “Crucially, for younger people, smartphones and wallets are becoming one and the same,” the study says. “The push towards a cashless economy has been in the works for some time and, with younger citizens already bought-in, it speaks to the need for more charging points.”

Prior to Covid, the research shows that over 12 million nights spent out in the U.K. were abandoned when dealing with such phone issues. The results were staggering: there was a $497 million loss of revenue for the hospitality industry as a whole, resulting in $1.3 million per day. The study says this has likely risen since initial research due to the increased need for mobile devices in hospitality. In addition, U.K. nightlife is the fifth biggest industry, generating  $88.3 billion per year. The study added that 8 percent of all British employment is in the nightlife industry since the pre-pandemic study.

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Looking down the list of upcoming festivals in Croatia this year, it’s clear the plague has not dented the Balkan nation’s enthusiasm for raving. 2022 will see (fingers crossed) the return of Hideout, Senses, Outlook, Sonus, Dimensions, Ultra, and SuncéBeat, among others. 

Almost every weekend from June to September, there’s a huge electronic music festival taking place somewhere in Croatia – usually on a sun-drenched beach surrounded by the turquoise blue of the Adriatic Sea. So how did Croatia transform itself from a post-Soviet warzone to the capital of the European festival scene? 

Croatia was part of Yugoslavia for most of the 20th century. For a communist bloc country, it was relatively liberal and by the late ’70s was already known for the bold, experimental electronic words of composers such as Mario Marzidovšek. 

During the ’80s, Yugoslavia had a small synth-pop scene with acts such as the excellently named Denis & Denis (check this amazing video) and Max & Intro. When the USSR collapsed, Yugoslavia broke up and plummeted into war. By the time it was over, more than 20,000 Croatians had been killed as the nation finally staggered to its independence. 

In 2004, a UK music promoter called Nick Colgan moved to Croatia with his wife, Charlotte, to open a bar in Zadar, a city on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast. Tourism was starting to pick up after the war, he later told The Guardian. Business was slow, so they decided to put on a party and fly in some friends. This was the first Garden Festival, held in 2006 for about 300 people in a fishing village called Petrcane. It returned the following year and by 2008 had grown into an event pulling in a few thousand punters and headliners such as Mr. Scruff and Norman Jay. 

Other promoters started to take note, and in 2008, the first Outlook Festival was held. Arranged by the Leeds-based SubDub crew, it highlighted bass music from reggae and roots to dubstep. The following year saw the inaugural Soundwave festival and, in 2010, the first SuncéBeat, with sets by Ron Trent, Theo Parrish, and Larry Heard, among other legends. 

“We fell in love with Croatia when we first saw Petrcane,” says Alex Lowes, one of the founders of SuncéBeat. “It was the most amazing discovery, full of wonder and charm ­– an idyllic hideaway.” 

Like most festival promoters arriving in Croatia, Lowes worked with Nick and Charlotte Colgan to arrange the event. “It was a nascent scene then, with festivals including ours and intimate get-togethers with a mix of UK, European, and Croatian guests … What was happening in Petrcane was a defining moment for the events scene. It could only grow.”

And grow it did. 2012 saw the first Hideout festival, with guests including Chase & Status, Scuba, Richie Hawtin, Seth Troxler, and Jamie Jones. The following year the Sonus festival arrived – five days of house and techno with a lineup including DJ Sneak, Matthias Tanzmann, Ricardo Villalobos, and Seth Troxler. The same year saw the first Ultra festival in Croatia, a more commercial event held in a stadium in Split with Fedde Le Grand, Avicii, Carl Cox, Armin van Buuren, and Hardwell. 

In the following years, more promoters piled in, with Love International, Defected, and Movement all joining the party in 2016 to showcase some of the most celebrated DJs in the world, including Sven Väth, Nina Kraviz, Ben Klock, Kenny Dope, Roger Sanchez, and Marcel Dettmann. 

Nick Colgan and his crew had by now opened a dedicated festival site, The Garden Resort in Tisno, with outdoor stages, camping facilities, and a club – Barbarellas – in a nearby village to host after-hours parties. The Garden Resort has become the de facto home of festivals in Croatia. It hosts many of this year’s highlights, including Love International, SuncéBeat, Outlook Origins, Defected, Dimensions, and Dekmantel Selectors in Tisno since 2016. 

Spanish party people elrow also joined the fray in 2021, taking over an entire island for a 72-hour festival reserved for just 800 people. No news yet whether that will return this year, but for those after an island vibe, Sonus is held this year on Pag Island, from August 21-25, with a lineup including Dixon, Anfisa Letyago, KiNK, Maceo Plex, and 999999999. Senses is also held on Pag, from July 11-14, with the lineup still to be announced.  

“For us, Croatia is the perfect mix,” says Alex Lowes of SuncéBeat. “It’s a simply beautiful country. The beaches and bays are stunning, with historic cities and beautiful inland areas. The weather is, of course, sublime, so it creates the perfect mix of holiday and festival in one.”




Dates for 2022 Festivals in Croatia

Xistence: (psytrance): June 27th-30th

Fresh Island: July 1st-8th 

Ultra Europe: July 8th-10th

Senses: July 11th-14th

Love International: July 13th-19th

SuncéBeat: July 21st-28th

Outlook Origins: July 28th-August 2th

Defected Croatia: August 4th-9th

Sonus: August 21st-25th

Dekmantel Selectors: August 25th-30th

Dimensions: September 1st-5th

Words by: Nick Taylor

How Croatia Became the Festival Capital of Europe

Like most terms without a dictionary definition "deep house" has held many meanings. But the first definition remains one of the most apt. In the words of one Chicago-bred aficionado in 1999, "Deep house is strictly disco and old R&B. Screaming black lady music . . . DJ Rush on a Sunday night at the now defunct Medusa's. The original Bad Boys of Chicago. Frankie Knuckles. Farley. Hearing Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' over a track."

So the term acts as an umbrella for pre-house classics—not all of them R&B or disco,
either—ranging from Liquid Liquid's "Cavern" or the Police's "Voices Inside My Head" to Loose Joints' "Is It All Over My Face" or Carl Bean's "I Was Born This Way." But that's not all it is—and no, it's not the crisp, digital, bass-heavy tech-house with the occasional sampled vocal snippets that Beatport has insisted for a decade on calling "deep house," either. 

Instead, let's rewind to 1987. In New Jersey and New York, "a deep style of club music based on a heritage that had its roots firmly in R&B . . . was taking shape," as house historian Phil Cheeseman wrote. "The emphasis was on songs, which came with Arnold Jarvis' 'Take Some Time Out,' Touch's 'Without You,' [Blaze Present] Exit's 'Let's Work It Out,' and a record on Movin, a new label run from a record store in New Jersey's East
Orange—Park Ave.'s 'Don't Turn Your Love.'" 

In Chicago, Cheeseman added, "The record that defined deep house was the Nightwriters' 'Let the Music Use You,' mixed by Frankie Knuckles and sung by Ricky Dillard, a record that a year later was to become one of the anthems of the UK's Summer of Love." 

The Summer of Love is a helpful demarcation point. Prior to 1988's season of mass raving hysteria in the UK, the term deep house was hardly necessary. In Chicago, at least, house
meant the seventies tracks as well as the newer ones by Frankie, Farley, et al. It referred to a style of playing and a lineage, not necessarily a genre. But when the Brits went doolally over "acid house"—meaning all of house, to them at the time—it necessitated a more specific terminology.

In 1993 Chez Damier, Derrick May, and Ron Trent started Prescription Records. Damier, a Chicago native, May were the founders of Detroit's legendary Music Institute. Trent's career began at 15 when he made history with the still-astonishing "Altered States."

Prescription issued a knot of 12-inches—in particular, Chez-N-Trent's "Morning Factory"
and Romanthony's "The Wanderer (Journey Man Thump)." Along with the work of Gemini, aka Spencer Kincy, these records defined "deep house" anew. Music made in the present
day with gospel, blues, and jazz running through the grooves. 

"Apart from each other Ron was a fairly decent keyboardist but you can hear the difference and the energy," Damier said in 2010. "So when we came together that was the magic, because you had that kind of intense versus mellow combination actually happening."

Nineties deep house defined the difference between club and rave crowds. By 1993 in New York, Darshan Jesrani of Metro Area once said, "There was a total split. The deep house
sound was a little more urban, a little older, a little more sophisticated, a little gayer. Raves were for everybody else—all the outer-borough kids."

But it wasn't just ravers that deep house reacted against; it was also house music's early-nineties commercial ascent. 

"There was a whole era where house music was number one on the radio," said Larry Tee, who earned a gold record in 1993 for producing RuPaul's "Supermodel." 

"A lot of songs that were happening from '90 to '93, like 'Pump Up the Jam' [and CeCe Peniston's] 'Finally,' went Top 5." House DJs, Tee added, "at that point needed to choose a side, because if you were going to try to play different kinds of music [than house], you were going to get left [behind]."

Deep house was typically American in the eighties and nineties, particularly in Detroit. Producers like Moodymann, Theo Parrish, and Mike Huckaby stepped forward in the late nineties. Huckaby first recorded for Rick Wade's Harmonie Park label, which also issued
many stellar tracks by Wade himself, collected in 2009 on Harmonie Park Revisited, released by Rush Hour in the Netherlands. "Almost instantly, I began getting a lot of gigs after Harmonie Park Revisited came out," Wade said in 2012. "Almost every week, there's a new offer."

Deep house had been commingling with European minimal techno for a while by then. The key album there is Luomo's Vocalcity (2000), which one fan recommended for "early Chez-N-Trent fans . . . wondering where you can scratch that itch with newer artists . . . vocals that creep in and out of the murky dubbed-and-dialed-out deep house."

In particular, UK producers who'd matriculated in dubstep during the mid-2000s swerved into deep house as the 2010s approached. 

"A few years ago, Nick Craddock linked me to these cassette rips of a Spencer Kincy set at a night . . . called Deep in the Flowers," Ben UFO said in 2012. "Hearing those for the first time completely changed my perspective on how house music was 'supposed' to be mixed. His mixing style couldn't have any more in common with UK pirate radio DJing—hyperactive cutting, quick blends, and spin-backs . . . I can't overstate the impact that set had on my DJing." 

No surprise: Deep house remains the gold standard for serious dance-music lovers.

House Music History: What Is Deep House?

Desert festivals might be some of the hardest to come by, and not just because those barren spaces are few and far between. Raving in 100-degree weather is just something that most people wouldn’t dream of, and it might seem even more improbable in such a remote location. So, why do ravers take to these arid sandscapes to dwell in the desert for days on end?

Despite the unforgiving environment, desert landscapes make for some of the best festivals in the world. Often without any towns or cities within earshot for miles, the lack of noise licenses allows for larger than average sound systems with no time constraints. Deserts also provide a completely blank slate meaning they can play host to any kind of creativity or blueprint, whether stages, art installations, or campsites. After dark, once the heat settles over the planes or dunes, it’s high time to let loose, and party as the dry daytime air subsides, creating the perfect starlit setting for any eager raver.

So, with that, let’s dig into some of the best desert festivals across the globe - and no, it’s not just Burning Man!




Monegros Desert Festival, Spain

We’re kicking off this list in Europe - an unusual spot considering the continent’s vast greenery. In the dusty region of Aragon, Northern Spain, a growing community sets up shop in the Monegros Desert, where the eponymous festival takes place. By day, festival-goers take shade under enormous fairytale-esque mushrooms, later lit up by trance-inducing lights transforming the space into a psychedelic oasis. Monegros Desert Festival is known for its prodigious lineup too. Promising one of the most exciting performances of the year as Wu-Tang Clan take to the stage in July 2022, accompanied by a slew of DJs including Adam Beyer, Charlotte De Witte, Seth Troxler, Maceo Plex, and more. This year’s event falls on July 30 for a full-frontal 24 hours.

Website | Instagram | Tickets



Transahara, Morocco

Over in the Sahara Desert, early summertime event Transahara kicks off this year on May 13th-17th deep in the barren zone amongst the “mythical dunes of Merzouga.” With a traditionally psytrance lineup, this South Moroccan festival is a great escape for fans of higher-tempo tunes. Yet, previous lineups have included house and techno artists whose soundscapes fit for the mystical desert environment like John Aquaviva, Nitin, Matt Caines, and D-Nox. Due to the fragility of the ecosystem surrounding the venue, the festival is capped at 1500 and accommodations in one of five hotels and camps nearby. Accommodations are quite reasonable ranging from $30-80 a night. Transahara beautifully fuses art, music, and culture for a grand celebration under the starlit sky every spring. 

Website | Instagram | Tickets




Burning Man, Nevada

Photo Credit: Michael Holden

Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without Burning Man. It might be the first one that comes to mind when you think of desert-based festivals, but many don’t know the full ins and outs of this unusual event. As thousands of people - 80,000 to be exact - make the pilgrimage each year to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, festivalgoers land in the barren metropolis of Black Rock City surrounded by art installations, burning structures, adventurous outfits, and a heck of a lot of bicycles. Black Rock City doesn't have traditional stages, the music is instead hosted by sound camps that each add their own artistic aesthetic to the dusty environment. Soundcamps like the fire-laden Opulent Temple, Debouchaerous day party Distrikt, and Carl Cox led Playground have hosted some of the biggest names in house and techno, including Carl Cox, The Martinez Brothers, and Joseph Capriati.

Website | Instagram | Tickets




Ragasthan, India

Previously dubbed ‘India’s craziest music festival’, Ragasthan has a lot to live up to - and it does. The three-day camping event takes place in the medieval trading town-turned-desert of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, just off the border of Pakistan. Boasting a lineup of both electronic and indie music, India’s top-tier festival also includes cinema screenings and fly-by art on top of late-night DJ sets from the likes of Christ Burstein, Bemet, and more amongst the mystical landscape. Ragasthan takes place each year in February to ease away those winter blues.

Website | Instagram | Tickets




AfrikaBurn, South Africa

Burning Man's sibling festivals are called regional burns. Founded on the same 10 Principles of Burning Man (Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation, and Immediacy) they give the worldwide community a chance to relish in its spirit closer to home.

Afrikaburn is the second largest regional event after its sibling festival Midburn in Israel. And it's a worthy contender. Originally taking place on Stonehenge farm, AfrikaBurn later moved to South Africa’s Quaggafontein, where it sets up a similar event with the same ethos as Burning Man. The experiencial festival is said to be a ‘playground without politic’ bringing together the South African Burner community. This year’s event kicks off in the Western Cape province on April 25th until May 1st.

Website | Instagram | Tickets




Desert Daze, California

California’s Desert Daze Festival has consistently had one of the better lineups over the past few years in the arid, mountainous destination of Lake Perris. Though more a beach than a desert festival, this dry setting has previously hosted the likes of Floating Points, Boards of Canada, Flying Lotus, plus a few pop, rap, and rock numbers. Desert Daze takes place annually toward the end of the year to avoid peak summertime heat, but with a lake just metres away, there’s always room for a quick dip. Expect some more magic in the desert this year from September 30th until October 2nd.


Website | Instagram | Tickets




Sandbox, Egypt

Sandbox is a once-in-a-lifetime event taking place mid-summer. As the sun hangs low over the Gouna Red Sea next to Egypt’s El Gouna desert, almighty lineups including Folamour, Palms Trax, Mella Dee, Sweely, and more play to intimate crowds. The desert plane hosting Sandbox sits next to the turquoise waters of the red sea, making it the perfect respite for anyone seeking some time away from the unforgiving heat. This year’s dates are currently unconfirmed, although you can bank on a glorious weekend somewhere in mid June.

Website | Instagram

Day Zero, Israel

Finishing off our selection is Israel's Day Zero festival hosted in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Masada, not to be confused with the festival’s second event held in the jungle of Tulum. As termed by the festival itself, Day Zero is ‘a convergence of mysticism, music, natural wonder and apocalyptic sentiment’, set amongst the scenic desert space in the heart of Israel. Here, you can find a bill of impressive house and techno artists from all over the globe with previous residents including DJ Tennis, Black Coffee, Four Tet, and Dennis Cruz amongst others. Day Zero celebrates 10 years this year kicking off on September 23rd, 2022.

Website | Instagram | Tickets

Desert Festivals to Visit Around The World

Roland released the TR-909 in 1983 as a heavy-duty, programmable drum machine, a more realistic-sounding successor to their TR-808 and TR-606, which came out a few years before. While their TR-808 (released in 1980) had a fat, artificial, electronic sound, the "Transistor Rhythm" -909 was more thumping, with a tight, punchy kick drum, bright snares, and full, metallic-sounding hats. 

It used analog circuitry to create all the sounds, except for the hi-hats, crash, and ride, which were samples. It was Roland's first use of sampled sounds in a drum machine, designed to compete with the sample-based LinnDrum and Oberheim DMX, which were the drum machines of choice for high-end studios at the time. 

The TR-909 became one of the most-used instruments in electronic music, first for house, then for techno, where it did as much as any other piece of technology to define the sound. These days, if it's a pounding 4x4 beat, it's probably a TR-909 (or more likely a sample of a TR-909 or one of the 909 clones you can pick up – such as Roland's TR-09 or Behringer's RD-09). 



Mr Fingers – "Can You Feel It" (1986)

Released on Trax Records in 1986, this seminal cut from Chicago producer Larry Heard has never really gone away. All the drums are from a TR-909, but it's that ride cymbal that starts up after the first eight bars that's so distinctive. Add to that the clap that kicks in four bars later, and you're in deep house heaven.




Inner City – "Good Life" (1988)

Kevin Saunderson is best known for being one of the originators of techno, alongside his two high school friends, Derrick May and Juan Atkins. But in the late '80s, he had a string of enormous house hits with vocalist Paris Grey under the name Inner City. This was the biggest hit of all and comes with a delightfully cheesy video shot in London. Check the lovely, disjointed 909 snare rolls that lead into the chorus. 




Gene Hunt – "Modevation Process" (1994) 

Chicago DJ Gene Hunt released this acid workout on Saskia Slegers' Djax-Up-Beats in 1994. Ever wondered what a 909 sounds like through a shitty guitar distortion pedal? Here's your answer. The stuttering closed hi-hat, and the enormous clap are enough to shred your speakers. 




Drexciya – "The Countdown Has Begun" (1994) 

Released on Detroit's Underground Resistance in 1994, this is dark, dystopian electro made with a TR-909. The pitched up kick drum

(the 909 kick has tune, decay, and attack knobs), gives it that abrupt punch. The double-timed snares on the rolls mean the track was probably written via MIDI rather than the 909's internal sequencer. The TR-909 was Roland's second MIDI-enabled drum machine, and you can trigger individual drum sounds from a sequencer or sync its patterns.  




Jeff Mills – "Untitled A2" (1998)

The Wizard of techno, Jeff Mill's career is an ode to the TR-909. The Roland drum machine drives almost every release on his Axis and Purpose Maker labels. He is known for dragging a TR-909 into the club to play it live over the top of his DJ sets. In 1998 he put out an EP of live recordings made at the Rex Club in Paris of him playing a TR-909. In this track, you hear him improvising on a 909 while he plays an Axis release underneath. Drool over those 909 toms.  




Peaches – "Fuck the Pain Away" (2000) 

This sex-positive anthem from Canadian artist Peaches remains her biggest track. The TR-909 is front and center throughout. Check the rolling 909 crashes that underpin the chorus. Fun fact: Peaches never recorded this track in a studio. The version we all know was recorded onto a cassette by the sound engineer at one of her live gigs. He gave it to her after the performance, and she put it on her second album, hence the hiss and grit of its sound. 




Bryan Zentz – "D-Clash" (2003) 

Another piece of classic techno made on TR-909, Bryan Zentz's "D-Clash," came out on Carl Cox's Intech records and was a huge club hit. If you can make them out underneath the wall of bright metallic rides, you can hear the TR-909's shuffle feature on the hi-hats – it's one of the most used and loved features on the 909. 




Shit Robot – "Simple Things (Work It Out)" (2009) 

This acidic, vocal house cut from the Irish producer Shit Robot was released originally on James Murphy's DFA Records before coming out on Shit Robot's first album, From the Cradle to the Rave. Check the cheeky 909 woodblock that cuts in and out of the track, evoking the Chicago house sound of the '80s. The rest of the drums are pure TR-909, too, with a slow flange added to the hi-hats to give them a soaring metallic effect. 




Skatebård – “AGFACHROME RSXII” (2016)

This lovely piece of deep house reminds us that the TR-909 sound is utterly timeless. Norwegian producer Bård Aasen Lødemel is behind the Digitalo Enterprises inprint, but he put this out on Otto Kraanen’s label Bordello A Parigi. Its simple hook and straightforward TR-909 drifts woozily on for almost eight minutes and never gets tired.




Peggy Gou – "I Go" (2021)

Proof that the 909 sounds as good today as it did 40 years ago, Peggy Gou's latest release is a straightforward pop-house banger driven by her soft, melodic vocals and a classic TR-909 pattern. I love those bright, hissy crashes that mark the track's transitions and the sharp, snappy claps near the start. It sounds like Gou used a TR-909 clone (like the TR-09) because of the pitched-up woodblock  – something the TR-09 can do, but the original can't. Whatever – it sounds great.

History of the Roland 909 in 10 Tracks

Upon returning from Tulum this week, the Gray Area office was buzzing with new music recommendations. Among them was Argy's "Tataki," a chunky techno anthem that ignited the dancefloor during his set at the Afterlife showcase. The UK-based artist's set was a highlight of the lauded imprint's showcase in the jungle. He played alongside the label's head honchos Tale of Us, Mind Against, Stephan Bodzin, and Recondite.

The track's chugging low-end thump, and a meditative chant are entrancing. And as "Tataki" opens up, it expands into a psychedelic patchwork of sweltering synth swells and hip-shaking vocal edits. 

Greek-born Argy has spent the last decade releasing genre-spanning music on labels like Cocoon, Cuttin' Headz, Crosstown Rebels, Play It Say It, and Archie Hamilton's Moscow Records. The dynamic producer is also a masterful selector. He was a resident at Berlin's Panorama Bar at the tender age of 20 and has since rocked the decks at countless clubs, including residencies in Ibiza at Amnesia, Space, and Pacha. The consummate crate digger is consistently ahead of the curve and revealed the talents of artists like the Martinez Brothers and Solomun in the early '00s, years before they dominated the dancefloor.

Follow Argy on Instagram | Soundcloud | Facebook

Track of The Week: Argy Unleashes 'Tataki' at Afterlife Tulum

Legendary artist Roger Sanchez and young legend Oliver Heldens give an education in proper DJing amidst a gorgeous London sunset with this mix for Ministry Of Sound. The undeniable chemistry of two artists at the top of their game makes for an unforgettable set that the Gray Area team has had on repeat since we stumbled on it in our YouTube feed.

There's some magic happening behind the decks on this one. They aren't just playing track to track. They're telling a story. And watching these two communicate is just as fun as listening to the mix.

Sanchez is one of dance music's most revered DJs and producers. The Grammy Award winner discovered DJing in the '80s as a young breakdancer and graffiti artist. From his earliest days selling mixtapes on the streets of New York to his multiple residencies in Ibiza, Sanchez has exhibited unmatched creativity and innate musical ability. In his decade-spanning career, he's released countless dancefloor-filling hits and remixes for artists ranging from Michael Jackso to No Doubt.

Follow Roger Sanchez on Instagram | Facebook | Soundcloud | Spotify

While Oliver Heldens career doesn't go as far back as Sanchez's, he's cemented his legendary status through a relentless drive to reshape the face of dance music. The Dutch DJ was a pioneer of future house, and helped make it a global phenomenon. His Hi-Lo alias has allowed him to expand his musical footprint beyond mainstage EDM. He's become well respected in underground circles and worked alongside Nina Kraviz, Will Clarke, Sian, and Alok. He is among the top 500 most streamed artists on Spotify.

Follow Oliver Heldens on Instagram | Facebook | Soundcloud | Spotify

Set of the Week: Roger Sanchez and Oliver Heldens Go b2b for Ministry of Sound

This week in House Music History, a look back and celebration of pioneering artist Frankie Knuckles. Known as the Godfather of House Music, he paved the way for dance music culture. He would have been 67 this week.

The Bronx-born artist studied textile design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In 1971 began working as a DJ playing soul, disco, and R&B. He was a close friend of Larry Levan, resident at the legendary Paradise Garage. Knuckles soon became a regular at New York's top nightclubs such as Better Days. In 1977 he moved to Chicago when his friend Robert Williams opened the Warehouse.

The Warehouse was a nightlife staple among Chicago’s Gay, Black, and Brown communities. Dancers were free to express themselves with no worry. With Knuckles at the helm as a resident, DJs developed their own style and experimented with house music as it began to emerge from the Chicago underground. 



He continued DJing there until 1982, when he started his club, The Power Plant. When the business became challenging to manage and failed, he returned to his musical roots in New York. He picked up residencies at The World and The Choice. When Junior Vasquez took over Sunday mornings at The Sound Factory, he recommended Knuckles take over Saturday nights at the infamous Hell’s Kitchen hotspot.

He immersed himself in producing, remixing, and recording and created some of the most iconic house tracks of all time. His earliest remixes include First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" and Jago's "I'm Going To Go.” As house music spread, producer Chip E. took Knuckles under his supervision and helped produce his first recording, "You Can't Hide from Yourself.”  He produced countless releases such as "Baby Wants to Ride" and later, "Tears (feat. Robert Owens)" with Satoshi Tomiie. 

In 1991, Frankie Knuckles released his debut album Beyond the Mix on Virgin Records America. The album contained classic cuts such as “The Whistle Song," "Rain Falls," featuring vocals from Lisa Michaelis, and “Godfather.”

Knuckles was in a period of creative abundance. Some of his biggest remixes came out, including his rework of the Electribe 101 anthem "Talking With Myself" and "Where Love Lives" by Alison Limerick. In 1997, Knuckles won the GRAMMY Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical. 

Knuckles remained part of the underground scene for years to come. He was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005. 

He passed on March 31, 2014, leaving an indelible legacy. Defected Records released a compilation, House Masters Frankie Knuckles, a year later. Knuckles selected the tracklist before he passed away.  In celebration of this titan of dance music, press play on any of his tracks to remember the beautiful life of the Godfather of House Music.

This Week in House Music History: Frankie Knuckles

This week, the Mixmag Lab starts the New Year off with a trip to Goa, India. From atop the Salud, Ozran Beach Indian DJ Discokid leads the Mixmag staff on a journey from breezy laidback funk to glittery disco and sultry house music.

One of India's fast-rising stars, Discokid—aka Fatema Hakim—has cemented herself as one of the country's most dynamic artists. The musician, yogi, and budding entrepreneur is a resident DJ at boutique pop-up Paradise Disco and the creative mind behind Goa's Disco Diwali.

READ THIS NEXT: Track of The Week: Kevin Saunderson Remixes Andrea Oliva's "Transit"

Throughout her seven-year career, she's shared the stage with Lee Foss, Pig & Dan, Yolanda Be Cool, and Boris Brejcha. Setting the tone with her impeccable track selection and razor-sharp mixing. Her ability to brilliantly blend the classic sound of 70s and 80s dance with the low-end thump of the modern dancefloor is leading her into a monumental 2022. She will expand her Paradise Disco brand across India. And begin to make waves in the international scene.

Follow Discokid on Instagram | Facebook | Soundcloud

Mix of the Week: Indian DJ Discokid in the Mixmag Lab Goa

In techno, it doesn’t get more legendary than Kevin Saunderson. One of the Bellville Three (with Juan Atkins and Derek May), he’s credited as one of the founders of techno. His work with vocalist Paris as Inner City produced two of dance music's most classic cuts, "Big Fun" and "Good Life." And the bass line for his 1988 track "Just Want Another Chance" was the first known use of the Reese bass and was hugely influential in the Drum and Bass scene.

Listen on Apple Music

On January 7th, his remix of Swiss-born Andrea Oliva’s “Transit” dropped on Oliva’s freshly minted All I Need imprint.

Saunderson leans heavily on the staccato strings from the original, making them the centerpiece of the remix. The spicy rhythmic play is exposed when it breaks down, accenting the wavering synths and a transcendent layer of strings. While Oliva’s original pops and bounces, Saunderson has crafted a remix that shakes and slides. The breathtaking rework is at once cinematic and club-ready.

Follow Kevin Saunderson on Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify

Oliva is an iconic act in his own right. He taught himself to DJ at 13 and quickly rose to prominence in Switzerland. Since he was first invited to DJ at Space, Ibiza in 2004, he’s been a fixture of the White Isle’s scene. The longtime resident of ANTS at Ushuaia recorded his Essential Mix live from the legendary party in 2016. However, his impact as a DJ and producer extends miles beyond Ibiza. He’s genuinely a globally lauded talent.

Oliva’s label All I Need (a sublabel of Armada) is an extension of the pivotal role music plays in his life. Part record label, events series, and fashion brand Oliva is cultivating something that will carry his legacy for years to come.

Andrea Oliva will drop one of his iconic sets for OCHO 3 on Diplo's Revolution this January 22, 2022.

Track of The Week: Kevin Saunderson Remixes Andrea Oliva's "Transit"

Techno has many beginnings, but let's start with the most obvious one: Kraftwerk. The German synth-pop inventors' 70s and 80s albums had an immeasurable impact, but we can certainly point to their lineage in Detroit. Techno's inventors all worshiped Kraftwerk, to the point that when the group played the Motor City in 1998, one producer thanked them for his career.

"I've always called my music techno, from day one," Juan Atkins once said. "Even with Cybotron, we called that techno." And if any one person invented techno, it's Atkins, whose first project, Cybotron, a duo with Rik Davies, was classed as electro in the early eighties. But that would change in 1988, with the release of Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit, featuring Model 500's "Techno Music"—another Atkins alias. 

"The working title was The House Sound of Detroit," Atkins said in 2012. "I submitted my track—it was one of the last tracks submitted—called 'Techno Music.' Most of the artists on the album [said], 'We learned our craft from Juan Atkins.' Well, how can we call this house music? So, they changed the title."

This music was defiantly futuristic. "The future is really the most open-ended subject you can have," Atkins said in 1997. "It can be whatever you want it to be. You're not confined to any kind of parameter." 

But techno was, and is, also in constant conversation with its antecedents. The electric jazz and fusion of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock are key touchstones. Detroit's Underground Resistance titled a key 1992 track "Jupiter Jazz." And Carl Craig (also from Detroit—sense a pattern?) created the Innerzone Orchestra's Programmed (1999), an album steeped in Hancock's pre-Head Hunters work on Sextant.

   

Once techno left Detroit, it spread fast. In 1989, New Yorker Frankie Bones' track "Call It Techno" caught the spirit: "Computer noise and pounding bass/Hits you in the face/Like a hammer." But the New York techno records that turned heads belonged to Queens-bred Joey Beltram. 

His Volume 1 EP, in 1990, featured the landmark "Energy Flash." Even more explosive was 1991’s “Mentasm,” by Second Phase, a.k.a. Beltram and Mundo Muzique (born Mike Mundo). For a while, nearly everyone who made techno worked audible variations on the "Hoover" noise at "Mentasm's" center. "People were making different sounds by fucking with the waveform and the attacks on it," says Adam X. 

Techno's real home overseas was Berlin. Tresor, the club and label, booked and released numerous Motor City producers, from Atkins to Blake Baxter to Jeff Mills. "You felt this alliance," Tresor founder Dimitri Hegemann said in 2002. "Tresor was the first to invite Detroit DJs to Berlin and bring techno to Europe. They helped develop the music a lot. They really influenced it. but we also assisted them, we gave them a space."

Berlin became a mecca for techno—and in the early 2000s, it became its de facto home, particularly as numerous American DJs and producers moved there in the wake of the era's rave crackdown. In 2002, one DJ told The Wire, "There's too many DJs in Berlin." 

The sound du jour in Berlin during the mid-2000s was minimal techno—pioneered by Robert Hood and Daniel Bell in the 90s, both from, you guessed it, Detroit. Hood is a former member of Underground Resistance. But Berlin plays a decisive role there, too, thanks to Basic Channel's run of mysterious, hazy, and entropic 12-inches from the 90s, among others. But the 2000s' minimalism, while often artful and cunning—see the Perlon catalog—was also widely criticized for being too intellectual and arty, missing the music's sweaty essence.     

In some ways, it resembled a thumping variation on IDM—or "intelligent dance music," the unfortunately named listening-first style. The term comes from the two Artificial Intelligence compilations that Warp Records issued in the mid-90s. Their lineups tell the tale: Aphex Twin, Autechre, Dr. Alex Paterson (the Orb's leader), Speedy J. The music wasn't intended for dancing, per se. 

"I prefer it when people stand around," Richard James, a.k.a. Aphex Twin, told Spin in the mid-90s. "It's amusing hearing what tracks people like shagging to, but I don't care what people think."     

Thankfully, most techno artists do want people to move. In the 2010s, the big move has been to emphasize the industrial/EBM (electronic body music, a la Front 242) side of techno, which is sizable—Jeff Mills played in the industrial group Final Cut before moving into techno full time. DJs like Helena Hauff and Nene H have been playing some of the most blistering sets around by commingling two kinds of hard, dark music together. Far from simple or limited, techno has proven a widely varied and variable template.

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