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Soul Candi Celebrates a Decade of Dance

Formed in 2001 by DJs Harael Salkow and Mbuso Tulwana, Soul Candi has reached the significant milestone of a decade in dance music – prompting the always innovative label to both reflect on the past and to look at the future through an unbelievable 10 CD collection in the form of two 5-disc box sets: The Classics and the Future.

Each release in Soul Candi’s extensive catalogue is a snapshot representing a slice of the label’s history. The best of these releases have been selected for the first CD box set Classics which includes compilations by DJs Fresh, Mbuso, Simon Dunmore and Terance as well as a DVD of music videos and a documentary on the history of Soul Candi.

But Soul Candi constantly reinvents itself through its artists and the style of music; pushing the music they believe in as well as moving and adapting to the ever changing times. Thus springs the release of the Future, consisting of albums from the rising stars of the label’s stable: DJs Shimza, Euphonik, Lulo Café, Harael Salkow and Whisky.

Classic DJs

DJ Fact-file: DJ Mbuso

My first DJ gig that I actually got paid for was….

This was in a Tavern, I think it was called Bennies Tavern in Sebokeng; I rocked a 12 hour set-from 18:00 pm – 6:00 am the next morning and only got paid…wait for it, 50 bucks!

If I wasn’t a DJ I would probably be a…

Network Engineer, DJ, Programmer, DJ, or maybe a DJ.

Favourite: Classic House Track?

Not sure about track but the electronic group Electribe 101 for sure.

Favourite: 2011 Dancefloor monster?

Tholi Indoda – Dr Duda -it still works even now.

Favourite: City to play in.?

SA-Durban; has so much energy. The same energy but different… Internationally – Batafor in Paris – it’s an after-party spot that opens at 3 am and closes @ midday.

One thing most of my fans don’t know about me is that I….

I’m a family orientated person and I love people, I also never judge.

Shout outs to Soul Candi on reaching 10 years of dancefloor beats…

Big up to everyone that’s supported us… Blessings!!

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DJ Fact-file: Terance

My first DJ gig that I actually got paid for was…

Uncles wedding got paid 500 bucks–

I started DJ’ing because…

I was fascinated by hearing someone was playing music and the music didn’t stop!!!

If I wasn’t a DJ I would probably be a…

Sound Engineer

Favourite: Classic House Track?

Alexander Oneil –Tears. It was the first 12 inch that I bought.

Favourite: 2011 Dancefloor monster?

Newtown Soul -Solid Ground. Because I feel they’ve dropped something fresh in the music industry and I always include it in my set.

One thing most of my fans don’t know about me is that…

I’m a sucker for different genres of music even pop music, some Mbacanga (Zulu traditional music @ times); basically something that sounds good, I’ll listen to.

The SA dance music scene needs more…

People in the industry must stop doing the same thing – times are changing; Creativity is Key!!!

Shout outs to Soul Candi on reaching 10 years of dancefloor beats….

Legendary is an overused term in the industry but Soul Candi deserves that title.

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Future DJs

DJ Fact-file: Lulo Cafe

My first DJ gig that I actually got paid for was…

It was a varsity gig in 2005 and I got paid R 250

If I wasn’t a DJ I would probably be a….

Working in a Hotel – running or owning a Hotel.

Favourite: Classic House Track?

Franky Knuckles –Tears. One of the first tracks that got me into house.

Favourite: 2011 Dancefloor monster?

I wanna Love you—Lulo ft Nothende and the remixes came out and it carried on. The track is HOT – the most requested song wherever I play.

The 5 words that best describes my DJ style are…

Soul, melodic, jazz, guitar and LOVE!

A world icon I would love to have dinner with is…

Caephus Semenya and Leta Mbuli.

Shout outs to Soul Candi on reaching 10 years of dancefloor beats…

Here’s to 10 years and more! Love u stax.

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Get Turned On

Video may have killed the radio star; but never fear, the internet is here to administer CPR. Most commercial radio stations are just noise: generic warbling of pop music, advertisements, and of opinionated, yet poorly informed disc jockeys. The programming is generally bland and obvious; and aimed at the lowest common denominator—or so they think.

Suppress individualism in any way; and the consequence will always be some kind of underground movement. And, online radio is the response to the sea of meaningless broadcast content.

Bedroom DJs, so called because all they need is a laptop and a broadband connection, are here to turn us back onto radio. Imagine tuning into a radio station that plays your style of music, uninterrupted by noxious jingles? Internationally, internet radio has set the web alight, with literally thousands of stations to choose from. And, although our internet can be slower than a homing pigeon (true story), we’ve followed suit.

There are a number of underground stations to tune into. One of which is Mutha FM. Not just a broadcast medium, but a platform for the SA music industry as a whole; a place to showcase home-grown talent, whether it’s EDM, or rock ‘n roll. “It’s like the Mickey Mouse Club on crack,” says Caely Jo Levy host of Swingin’ Sundaze. “We work for free; but there’s a great creative and supportive energy amongst the talented team, and a huge passion for music!” [Quote from Nick E Louder re: payment; “we are now paying about 40% of the DJs through sponsorship deals, as I said everyone can make their bit if they bring in sponsors.]

Originally a pirate station started by well-known DJ Nick E Louder, it ran for six years before making it official on the World Wide Web. Mutha FM also broadcasts live from La Vie on Sea Point’s promenade every Friday: expect the likes of the aforementioned Nick E Louder, Tony Finger, and Danalog, amongst others throwing down during cocktail hour.

“And the best part,” says Caely, “is that you can listen to it anywhere in the world. All you need is an internet connection.”

2oceansVibe Radio, another front-runner in the digital radio scene, style themselves as ‘different, but deliberately so.’ Born of famous blog, ‘Two Oceans Vibe’, this radio station ‘aims to talk to you like a grown-up’. The focus is on irreverent social commentary and hip tunes; their line-up reads like Cape Town’s cool collective. What’s interesting about this station is that not only can you stream it online, but you can buy an app—so you can have smart-asses on your smartphone.

The first time I ever listened to online radio was, funnily enough, in my car. We had downloaded a Kevin Shu mix from Frisky Radio: that’s the beauty of this medium; you can choose when, and where, you want to listen to it. It’s not just the underground stations though; you can also download podcasts from most commercial radio stations, if you really wanted to…

The rise of these stations highlight a point: the listening public don’t want to be dictated to. They want to interact, and make informed decisions led by people whose taste they trust. Not everyone wants to plug into ruler-of-radio Gareth Cliff’s brain-numbing sermons.

Heard of Mixcloud? This online platform allows anyone to upload a mix, or radio show; and enables friends to share and comment on uploaded ‘cloudcasts’. Then there’s Playdio, a combination of a playlist and radio, which lets users make their own radio shows by creating playlists edited with spoken links.

Last.FM is also worth a listen. A multi-platform online radio community, where you ‘scrobble’. Yes, scrobble. This is a function that keeps note of what you’re playing, what your friends are playing, and so on, it aggregates this information and ‘helps’ you discover more music, according to your tastes.

Yes, the future is most certainly here for radio, unfortunately, as Caely from Mutha FM tells me, the biggest challenge is sponsorship. Can these stations survive without it? And if they can’t, I’m afraid it may mean that they’ll have to let in some of the noise. And what a good way to get turned off.

DJ Christos: Magic in every Session

DJ Christos is the kind of person they had in mind then they coined the term OG. Producer, DJ, label owner and mentor; in a career that has spanned more than two decades, Christos has co-founded the Kalawa label, as well as his own Katsaitis Music. He has mixed and released some of the finest deep-house compilations, played to audiences from Miami to Mafikeng and groomed numerous talents who have since become legends in their own rights.

Affectionately known as the Godfather of House, he has been a pioneer in the South African house scene from the very earliest days and has played a pivotal role in shaping it into what it is today

You’ve just dropped Magic Sessions 2, the follow up to Magical Rhythms (2002). Why the change of name?

We realised that there was a naming conflict, and I’d been hosting the Magic Sessions events for a few years now, trying to put out a certain quality of house music, so it just seemed very appropriate to go with that title for the album.

Tell us more about the Magic Session events.

The Magic sessions have been happening for close on five years now in Joburg, Durban and Cape Town, drawing crowds of five to six hundred people. We’ve brought down artists like Rocco, Franc Roger, Manoo and Ralf Gum, focusing on delivering high quality music through high quality sound set-ups to crowds that appreciate soulful, musical house.

Tell us about your partnership with Ralf Gum and GOGO Music

We’ve got a great working relationship with Ralf. We brought him down to one of the early Magic Sessions events, which led to him releasing Shana’s Uyangichomela through his label GOGO Music. We’ve been working together ever since. Katsaitis music is also Ralf’s booking agent in South Africa and we’ve just released Ree Morris’ Inside of Me through GOGO music.

Katsaitis music is the label you started after leaving Kalawa?

Yes. Katsaitis Music started as a small scale set-up, again focusing on high quality productions and grooming artists to grow enough to go out and do their own thing; Black Coffee is an example. We also do events and artist management.

There is hardly any difference in quality between locally and internationally produced house tracks these days…

That’s true. South African producers are among the best in the world, many of the tracks in the top download sites are locally produced. You look at the number of local productions on the album (Magic Sessions 2) and it gives you a good indication of how good the sound is getting. It wouldn’t surprise me if in the next few years you only see one or two international tracks on our compilations.

How important are vocals in a good quality house production?

Vocals are vital to any production. As a producer, you put out an instrumental track and sure, it may become popular, but people will generally know it as “that great instrumental track”, whereas if you have good vocals on a track, it becomes instantly recognisable and people can associate it with your work. You look at guys like Liquideep and Mi Casa who do very good vocal house; there’s not much that’s distinct about Mi Casa’s melodies but their vocals grab your attention and that’s what you remember.

You’ve been around since artists were selling house albums in six figures. Do you the think the advent of the internet age has hurt the industry?

Not at all. Artists make more money from performing their music than they do from album sales in any case. The internet has just made it quicker and easier to get your work out there to the people instead of relying on a record label to do it for you.

You’ve been heavily involved with promoting the South African brand of house at the Miami Winter Music Conference. What remains the biggest challenge to local producers trying to penetrate the international market?

Knowledge. Local producers need to gain the knowledge to go out and do it themselves, and to realise that they don’t need to rely on international record labels to push their sound; they don’t have to share their money.

Speaking of knowledge, how important is the South African Music Conference [www.samc.dj] as a knowledge sharing platform?

SAMC is the most important event of the year, and it will continue to happen with or without sponsorship. So many of the top producers in the country are products of the SAMC, and it’s great to see those same artists going back to teach and share their knowledge and experience.

You’re known as the kind of mentor who would give someone the shirt off your back. Do you think there is still room for that kind of humanity in an industry that’s becoming more and more about the business of music?

Definitely. If music is your love and your passion, you’ll give everything you’ve got to it. That’s just how I see it. I’m always looking for something new, what else we can give the market. The unity among DJ’s has helped put the music scene where it is today, and it’s an enduring part of what it is to be DJ in this country. If you go into music to become popular, make a lot of money or get women, then you won’t last long. It’s all about the passion for the music and producing the best quality of work you can.

Passion over Profit?

Exactly.

How do you balance being a family man with your career as a DJ?

You’ve just got to give time to both. I play and tour most weekends so it’s important I take time out and go on holiday with my kids. Children really change your life. I love what I do and I love my family, I work at making time for both.

Tell us about the Urban Beat Radio show you host on Metro FM

The Urban Beat started just about three years ago now. It was an effort to reproduce the club vibe on the radio. It’s all about exposing new music, new artists and new vocal talents. You’ll hear a range of mostly deep house music, including instrumentals and local productions. It’s become an industry platform, because a lot of new music is being broken on the show that you normally don’t get the chance to hear anywhere else. It’s great to work with Vinny and Zeal. She and Siyanda also host a Saturday edition of the show which has a slightly different mood to our Friday night show.

Favourite…

Classic house track?

Shadows of Your Love – Steve “Silk” Hurley

Own production?

Hey DJ ft Lebo Mathosa – DJ’s At Work

Own remix? Ralf GUM ft Kafele – Complicated (DJ Christos Magic Sessions Mix)

Place to play? Definitely Pretoria, the crowds there have such a great appreciation for the musicality in house music.

Magic Sessions 2 features international productions and remixes from Atjazz, Anane and Rocco, with quality local contributions by 60-Hertz Project, C.9 and Hoodnatives among others. It also features a wicked update of Brenda Fassie’s classic Weekend Special by DJ Christos himself and is available in stores now.

JUDGE JULES

Judge Jules aka Jules O’Riordan is a multi-award winning Dance Music Producer/DJ who has been up and club banging it since 1987. He runs one of the longest standing, premier club nights in Ibiza: ‘Judgement Sundays’ at Eden Night Club. He also won the awards for ‘Best Trance DJ’ in 2001 and ‘Best Trance Night’ at the ‘Ibiza Pacha Awards’ in 2003.

I called him up long distance for a little chat a few days ahead of his SA December 2011 Tour in Cape Town, Durban and Joburg.

What do you think has helped sustain your long standing DJ career?

Definitely not being a prisoner of my own style; I think my exposure on Radio 1 and playing in Ibiza. There are only a handful of nights in Ibiza that have been running as long as mine, which is a great success. I would also say, serving yourself on a plate to the discerning Dance audience the way I have been doing every year for four months a year. You have to keep at it and continue re-inventing yourself.

Out of all the distinguished genres and sub-genres in Electronic Music. Why Euro-Progressive Trance?

I sometimes think that genres are created in order to explain it to people or fans. The majority of DJ’s I know do not pigeon hole themselves. Music and sound is a lot more varied than just a certain boxed idea of a genre. So if there is a sound like Prog Trance for example that I really enjoy working with, I work with it.

How would you describe your Judgement Sunday parties at BCM Mallorca?

My nights in Ibiza are incredible and so important for a DJ’s career and the audience there is definitely more mature which is great. But, what is also great are the BCM Mallorca nights; these are more British and appeal to a younger crowd aged 19-21. This again is very important; to stay relevant you have to keep reintroducing yourself to the new and younger clubbing crowd who are probably going to party for the next three or four years. I enjoy opening myself up to this audience.

How, in your opinion, do accolades, awards and high honours impact on the quality of music from a producer?

I think that awards are just a tangent to the most important aspects of the job. They shouldn’t affect the quality of the music and don’t, yet in some cases they do. Aside from this there will always be an element of people who will say that your music sucks now since you made it big. It’s just how it is, even if it’s not true.

What is the one thing that can take a set from good to great?

There are all sorts of technical issues that can really affect the quality of your set. Like last Saturday when I was playing at a club in Russia, the promoters had the monitors put way too far at the back. So it wasn’t that good, but at the same time the crowd didn’t know and you still have to be a pro and keep the show going at its best even when you are being challenged. One thing that can really make a set great is a big crowd that is open minded to the music and are just loud! Love it.

Your favourite live music instrument?

Wow, I hardly think of that but I’d have to say the Bass and Acoustic Guitar.

One of the craziest things a fan has ever said to you?

When I’m in the UK there are always people coming up to me and saying… “I’m your cousin” or… “I know your cousin really well.” It’s the weirdest thing and has been happening to me for years and they are always wrong, we never are related. [Laughs]

Related or not, his fans sure feel close enough to his music, that it simply just feels something like family.

Spaza$hop Boyz

The name Spaza$hop Boyz has been swinging around the JHB hip-hop scene for a while now, making it hard to ignore them. My first experience was when I caught them live at a street event earlier this year. They had a bigger than life presence that automatically made you wonder, “who are these kids?”

That was shortly answered when they took to the stage with their distinctive ‘swagger’ raps and catchy snap-back, clap production. The crowd sang along to songs, danced in agreement and before my eyes I saw that they were indeed on to something.

Jonny JoBurg and Charlie Maccare stretch beyond just music; they seem to be developing a following that inclines towards culture, fashion and a genuine feel good vibe. Suggestive of that slick, yet in your face New Age Hip Hop streaming in from LA’s independent scene that the likes of the Cool Kids and Odd Future have made popular, it is something that seems to be growing every time I hear of one of their performances. Their charismatic, bright-clothed personas are more than enough to grab your attention; whether the music can stand up to that is something they are pushing to prove… and with an ever increasing fan base, they seem to be on their way to solidifying themselves on the local scene.

I caught up with Spaza$hop front man, the Prince of Joburg… Jonny JoBurg, to discuss their flight up till now…

Define the Spaza$hop Boyz, musically, persona and objective wise? You list yourselves at Alternative/Progressive Rap, how are you living up to those classifications?

SPAZA$HOP BOYZ are quite simply Hip-hop. Hip-hop’s nature is to mutate. We are just the next level. And the last thing we’ll ever do is live up to a classification. It is our intention to keep switching it up.

The new album is gaining some traction with the Joburg crowd, how do you feel a distinct Joburg mind frame will transcend through the rest of the country or abroad?

Johannesburg is the cultural hub of our country. Johannesburg sells cool to the rest of the country. Our debut video for Rehab Tony will solidify us as the new cool countrywide. Regarding international… There are no more boarders. SPAZA$HOP on every corner.

With continuing criticism that South African mainstream Rap’s sound and style is a derivative of popular American culture and Music, what separates Spaza$hop Boyz from those comments?

SPAZA$HOP BOYZ feel no obligation to regionalize our music. It is our intention to show the people kokasi; the world outside the township. Too many of our people are trapped. We want to take people away from the hood and allow them to travel when they listen to SPAZA$HOP.

The future, what you got for the devotees?

For the near future we have our debut music video, Rehab Tony. For the not too distant future we have ROCK-STARDOM. The best thing an artist can do for a fan is be successful. We don’t disappoint fans. Ever!

For a taste of the Spaza$hop Boyz

peep the FREE Download link to their song BlaK on Blaque

Search SpazaShopBoyz on Reverbnation or Facebook to stay in touch with their movements…

5 Mins with… Harael Salkow

1. What 5 words epitomise the South African sound of urban dance music?

Unique, Innovative, Trending, Soulful, Groove.

2. Big Daddy H.!!! There must be a story behind the name. Who first coined the phrase?

Ask Roger Goode

3. Did you like the nickname at first or was it a case of it just stuck and you had no choice?

The latter

4. Casting your mind back on the 10 years – what three things stand out to you as pivotal moments in the growth of Soul Candi?

Soul Candi Sessions 3, The Death of Vinyl because that forced us to invest in new activities and Spring Fiesta.

5. White boy – black music. Well not exactly but certainly a large part of what Soul Candi Music offers release wise, happens to cater for the urban (read – black house) music market in this country. Were you and your school mates into the same music growing up or did you always have a deeper, soulful side to your music tastes?

I was introduced to this style of music by Mbuse & Claude and I am forever grateful.

6. You have a reputation as a smart businessman who fortunately for urban house in this country happens to love music too. Were you formally educated (business school, varsity etc) or is it good old street smarts?

I started a Bcomm the same year I started Soul Candi but unfortunately [or fortunately] Soul Candi took preference and that was the end of my student life. I credit our success to our great team and their hard work.

7. The SC 10 Classics and Future Box Sets are a great way to commemorate a decade in dance music. Was it tough to decide who to mix each of the 10 CD’s?

Not really since it was a team decision.

8. What is your favourite classic house track of all time?

Kings Of Tomorrow – Finally. Does it get any better?

9. And on the Futures box set. Which track stands out for you as one that represents the future of Soul Candi?

That’s not possible as Soul Candi represents more than one sound hence the 5 different styles across the 5 discs.

10. My favourite way to relax when I’m not working is….

I play tennis

11. The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is….

I turn on CNBC

12. Steak or sushi?

Steak

13. The one thing you will always find in my fridge is….

Phat Jack

14. I DJ because….

I love it

15. The one thing most people don’t know about me is…

I love trance music

16. The South African dance scene needs more…

Better DJ set ups and attention to technical specs.

Psychedelic Summer Killerwatts

Killerwatts

What happens when a legend of psytrance gets together with a new up and coming star of the scene? Killerwatts of full-on power!

I got to speak to both Avalon & Tristan about their return to South Africa at the end of January for the Origin Festival and to find out more about their lives both as solo artists and the all new project aptly called Killerwatts.

Leon ‘Avalon’

Leon ‘Avalon’, he of psytrance project Avalon fame, is following quickly in the footsteps of one of his heroes, Tristan, with what will be his third consecutive visit to our sunny shores this summer. But this time instead of coming with an English posse of nutters, he arrives armed with a second power project and one of the biggest names in psytrance at his side…

You’ve become SA’s next best friend after Tristan. He’s been here umpteen times but at the rate you’re going, you’ll soon catch up. Looking forward to partying in SA again?

“F**k yeah! I can’t wait; it has always been one of my favourite dancefloors to play to. The energy, the vibe, the people. Love it!!

Last year was quite mad with the whole Pommie posse…

“Haha, well get ready for us again. Here we come!”

So how’s 2011 been for you?

“It has been a huge year, gigs have pretty much doubled since and I have had some awesome times on my travels. Burning Man 2011, Samothraki, Indigo in israel; the list goes on. Studio wise, been a busy year too. Made an album with Tristan and about 10 Avalon tracks are also just waiting to land.”

Where do you find yourself gigging the most, worldwide?

“I would say Europe at the moment; been playing a different country every week. But there has been some great Brazil tours and just played Mexico for the first time which was a blast!

So Killerwatts with Tristan. Amazing that now you’re making tunes with someone who was possibly one of your heroes 8 or 10 years ago…

“10 years ago was my first party, Samothraki 2001. I remember asking ‘who is this DJ?’ (as it blew my frikken mind). A girl told me Tristan. Ever since he has been my favourite DJ. If you would have told me back then that 10 years later I would not only be playing on that island, but with Tristan together, with our new project! I would have never believed you!”

What’s different about the Killerwatts sound as opposed to Avalon?

“Well it’s a hybrid of the Tristan and Avalon sound, with a twist. Top quality production on this album has been a huge focus for us. We’ve learnt so much in this area while making it. Hold on to your brain cells, ‘cos they’re going for a ride!”

And finally, 2012…. Is it the end of the world? What’s your take on things?

Haha, I’m actually playing the ‘Last Day in Time Festival’ in Mexico by the Mayan Temples on Dec 21st 2012. Pretty far out! So I will let you know, I guess.

Tristan

Tristan is of course Cape Town’s very own ‘psychedelic, prodigal son.’ He has been here so many times and for good reason. He loves us and we love him behind the decks! After last year’s disappointing no-show he owes us a big one and knows it. He explains…

So I guess the first thing to ask is ‘Are you definitely going to make it back to SA this time around?’

Yes, Yes, Yes!!! I spend much of every season as I can in Goa, but 2 years ago the Indian government changed the laws so that if you left the country you couldn’t return within 3 months… bummer! That’s why I couldn’t make it to Cape Town last year. However… this year I have the correct visa which does allow me to travel freely in and out. So here’s a big middle finger to all the idiots in government out there that try to control us and stop the freedom of movement of people around the globe!

How’s the guitar playing?

Good, I managed over the years to reach an intermediate level; so I can play songs, jam and improvise a bit, but to take it to the next level I would really need to graft and practice a lot, and I just don’t have the time to commit to it. I got a piano for my 40th birthday and have started lessons which I absolutely love so that’s my new craze at the moment. Having a foundation of musical theory makes it so much easier – but again it’s sitting down and practising!

A few years back you opted to stop DJ’ing and only do live sets i.e. play your own music. Is that still the case nowadays?

Yes. I was forced to stop DJ’ing as a result of an increasing level of tinnitus in my right ear. Doing live sets (i.e. only my own music) is less intensive on the ear drums as I’m more concerned with production on stage than simply beat mixing; so thankfully it hasn’t got worse. It was a complete blessing in disguise, as focusing on my own music has made a massive difference to my level of production and arrangements and the overall quality has definitely accelerated since the switch.

Your new EP rocks! Working with the Antidote must have been interesting. The two styles definitely work… Tell us a bit about Trance Odyssey. [Available on Nano Rec’s]

We wrote that tune in Serge Antidote’s studio which is in Ibiza, designed by himself, underneath his swimming pool! Amazing… it gets really hot out there in summer; so when you finish a section on the track and have built up a bit of a sweat… just step out and jump in the pool! Doesn’t get more pimping than that!!!

Speaking of collaborations you’ve teamed up with Leon from Avalon who is quite a prolific composer I believe. Tell us a bit about the Killerwatts project. What’s the dynamic that exists between you two?

The Killerwatts project has been quite a journey! We have strived to take things to the next level with the UK psychedelic sound and I believe we have succeeded in creating something big, fresh and definitely kicking! Most of the album has been written in my studio, simply for practical reasons (main one: I don’t want to spend too much time away from my family) so Leon comes to mine, sets up camp for a week, we graft our asses off and emerge from the studio with a belter!!! The album is 95% finished now; and certainly completed by the time we get to South Africa… which I am really excited about.

And finally, I asked Leon the same thing; 2012…. Is it the end of the world?

I think the world is in a tricky place right now, simply because we don’t have the right people running the show. I’m not the Armageddon/end of the world type, (although many of my friends think the Mayans had something going on;) so I don’t think any sudden enlightenment or catastrophe is about to happen in the next 12 months. However I think the governments around the world certainly need a rethink about the distribution of wealth on this planet and I wish they’d sort it out… soon!!!

Shout outs: [Tristan added this special message to Cape Town’s psytrance massive].

“I’d like to add that I cannot wait to come to South Africa and rock on the dancefloor with some of the best party people on the planet!! It’s been way too long and I look forward to seeing many friends very soon! x x x x”

The Origin Festival is from

27-29 January 2012.

Keep up to date at www.originfestival.com

Psychedelic Summer: Ace Ventura @ Rezonance NYE 2011/12

Yoni Oshrat’s first visit to South Africa as Ace Ventura in February this year was certainly one to remember as he blasted his way through two sets of powerful, progressive psychedelic music. The event was highlighted not only by the response from the crowd who absolutely loved his music but also by Ace’s own reaction which was a simple “when can I come back?” he was so impressed with the quality of our dancefloors. Well he is back. For New Year’s Eve at Rezonance – a 4 day, 3 night electronic music extravaganza designed to serve up the cream of local DJ talent alongside top internationals.

Yoni started his psytrance music career as one half of Psysex alongside DJ Goblin, a project that lasted eight years and bore three very good albums. Predominantly a full-on project the duo also experimented with slower tracks as well as what Yoni describes as “breakbeat and freestyle tunes…just enjoying creating music.” I pick up the conversation from here…

What was the final deciding factor for you to give up Psysex and start your progressive projects?

“There were a couple of reasons. After 8 years working as a duo it just got a little old so it was really attractive for me to try and do it on my own. But the main reason was being fed up with the full-on scene and getting into the prog scene which had a totally different vibe to it, different people and much better parties. I was encouraged by my friend, Yuli Fershtat (aka Perfect Stranger), to try and produce a progressive track, and so Cardiac Arrest was born, which Yuli released on his compilation for Iboga records. After the positive feedback from this release, it gave me the push to make a change and take a leap of faith, to try and go in a new direction.”

Yoni is of course a Jim Carey fan although the adoption of the moniker has as much to do with the movies as it has with his father whose real last name is in fact Ventura! “Cardiac Arrest was about to be released and I didn’t have a project name… so I had to choose one real quick… didn’t go for the most original choice in the world, but it kinda sticks with people as it’s a catchy name that rings a bell…”

You reintroduced a much needed (in my opinion) tougher sound back into progressive trance. Was this always your intention or a result of your Psysex days?

“To be honest I didn’t have any master plan, I was just going with it. Obviously some musical notes from Psysex carried through… some tracks were more progressive and atmospheric and some had more power and floor blasting qualities – the latter by now being my signature sound.”

Chatting to Reshef [Captain Hook] recently he reckons full-on psytrance is dead in Israel now…

“It’s not completely dead but it’s obvious that in the last few years progressive music has taken over the public’s taste in Israel. Actually the Israeli Trance scene has been really kicking in the past few years… parties 3 times a week and of course big ones on weekends. Progressive trance has been the sound of choice but nowadays one can also hear Techno and prog-house at trance parties.”

Aside from Yoni’s Ace Ventura project, he has several collaborations on the go and reckons 2012 is a big year;

“Some serious releases on my part are due out. The second Ace Ventura album on Iboga records, the debut album with Rocky [as Easy Riders] will be released on HOMmega and another album which is underway is the debut Zentura album, my project with Zen Mechanics. Also a few Liquid Ace DJ sets [with Liquid Soul] are booked around the world… and last but not least, I just did my first live act together with Captain Hook a week ago in Tel Aviv and it kicked major ass – we will have more shows together in 2012. So it’s going to be a good year!

Catch Ace Ventura and a host of SA’s finest at Rezonance NYE 2011/12 this year.

Facebook Event:  Rezonance NYE Festival 2011-2012

Kode 9

Kode 9 is a somewhat of a legend and genre ‘main dog’ for anyone who considers themselves a Dubstep fan. Real name Steve Goodman born in Glasgow, Scotland, in his teens he traded in the chequered kilt for some turntables and beats with distinct Reggae, Hip hop, Jazz and Funk influences. He owns the largest, most successful and renowned Dubstep Record Label in the world, Hyperdub.

He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Warwick and lectures Sound/Music theory at the University of East London. He focuses on the science of Rhythm Analysis and how it effects life cycles, thought process and the fundamental power it has over nature, people and its ability to start wars. Fittingly, on this topic he has published a book titled Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear, which explores the use of acoustic force and how it affects whole populations. The book is published by MIT Press.

Ahead of his visit to South Africa for Rezonance NYE he had this to say…

The Days just before Dubstep

“I just remember loving the Reggae and Dancehall vibes in UK garage around 1999, and noticing how similar they were to jungle from 1994. For me early Dubstep was a continuation of that lineage. Now it’s somewhat different. In 2000 I was doing little nights in Brixton and also Forward was happening and a couple years later DMZ [regular night hosted by DMZ records] started. All these nights had a focused, intimate atmosphere, and everyone who attended seemed to be involved in the music in some way,” he says.

The start of his career

Goodman started deejaying in Edinburgh; he explains, “there were actually quite a few decent clubs and DJs playing a similar kind of mix of music. This was just at the same time that early hardcore was beginning to fuse all these elements into a single rave genre.”

The Jungle Effect

His first Jungle encounter; “The speed, the intensity, the bass and the way it wove together every music style I had ever been into. I can’t remember where I was, but I remember the feeling of shock and awe.” Kode 9’s influences range from a variety of Jungle producers who he says got under his skin. Namely El-B and Benny ill whom he credits as being instrumental in influencing many producers, himself included.

The new Dubstep Producers and the Pop Music Cross-pollination

Steve says his music these days is largely influenced by House music. “I moved on several years ago. I’m neither a purist nor welcome cross-pollination for its own sake. It is what it is. There are so many different strands of the genre now. I don’t even have an overview of the whole thing. There is certainly stuff I dislike and stuff I like. I play some in my sets, but not that much anymore.”

His radio show on Rinse FM

“Flying Lotus was a friend of mine in London, and he invited me onto the show as a regular feature. This brought together the worlds of Dubstep and West Coast beats properly for the first time for a lot of people, introducing them to the sound.”

The Reggae Influence

“It’s actually not that prominent in my production just now at all, apart from recent work with Spaceape, who because of Jamaican family origins obviously brings that flavour lyrically. But recently my music has been more influenced by house, than reggae.

South Africa anticipation

“I’ve been in North Africa but never South Africa, so yes this is my first visit. I work with the artists LV on Hyperdub who do a lot of recording with South African vocalists, so I’ve heard a lot from them. Also friends like Scratcha and Mala have been over and had a great time. But really I don’t know much, but my ears are open.”

Catch Kode 9 on the Technodubfest stage at Rezonance NYE festival – 30 December – 2 January 2012.

BELLERUCHE

Belleruche arrived at Rocking the Daisies as a dynamic trio that nobody could put their finger on. The genre-less three-piece came all the way from the UK and included us in their tour. Fashioned out of leading lady, vocalist Kathrin deBoer, guitarist Ricky Fabulous accompanied by DJ Modest, Belleruche are a successful encapsulation of a variety of music styles that really works well.

Kathrin, who is a proper lady, all eyelashes and shimmy-hips, breathes rich, smooth vocals into an arrangement that incorporates soul, trip-hop elements and a lustrous exotica sound. What’s so great for me about these three is how they’ve gone down a slightly dark alleyway with their tone. There are areas which have managed to take the slippery airs and graces of a traditional soul sound juxtaposed on electronica and bring the whole thing to a dank and crunchy composition.

When I met with Ricky and Kathrin after the show backstage I got the feeling straight away that these musicians aren’t charmed with the idea of being compared to other artists past and present, “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about us!” exclaims Kathrin when I remark that they are a genre-less act if ever there was one. What I can put to them as merely a likeness so as to illustrate their vibe, is a nice underground 90’s feel that weirdly enough reminds me of the aesthetic Tricky and Portishead sometimes indulge. Their opinion of us is also pretty good as they slug Black Label, singing the beer’s praises.

Belleruche is about to wrap up their new album, 270 Stories which I am lucky enough to have a listen to later on Ricky’s iPod. Leading up to this point, the three have been through a lot of open minded trawling and tethering of mixed ideas to reach this incredibly broad sound they are putting out. DJ Modest and Ricky met in college and were always mucking about, sampling different bits and pieces of anything that took their fancy and seeing if it could wind up together. When they met Kathrin it all seemed to go down well and the next thing they knew, they had an album. When questioned about how they put it all together, Ricky answers, “Music is music and if it’s good it’s good. Saying we’re genre-less is a compliment. I’ll be listening to punk, walk past Kathrin’s room and she’s listening to Nina Simone and it’s that kind of weird comparison that just sounds good.”

Kathrin agrees how they all have to make compromises in order to write songs together as between her, Modest and Ricky, they have a huge range of tastes going on. She bats her huge Betty Boop eyes and tsks, “You know when you get something that you really feel for, I’ll leave it with these two to listen to and then I’ll come back and anything that was there is completely gone!” she gasps. “Yet the way that I write, I work really closely with the melody and when I leave something with the boys in the studio and they put in an amazing bass line under it or something like that, I just love it. I really love it.” Ricky laughs and rolls his eyes as they go on to bicker about ‘mood’ and ‘tone’ over what they consider a happy song and what another would sum up as a heartbreak anthem. “We’re dark! Not happy! Things will not end well!” growls Ricky and Kathrin giggles along which really compliments what they’re saying about their ambiguous creations.

They’re a couple of truly lovely people and it’s awesome to see how an artistic project can take older media, rework it and create something relevant and nostalgic at the same time.

A band well worth checking out and what goes down as one of the top acts at Rocking The Daisies this year in my opinion.

For more go to www.belleruche.com

Exclusive Interview: Wretch 32

North London, Tottenham born Jermaine Scott, aka Wretch 32 has been blowing up global mainstream Hip Hop charts via MTV and BBC TV over this past year with the release of his album Black & White and at the time of this writing was poised to go No. 1 on 5FM Radio Station. He has put together a newer, fresher and lighter sound to something that is now a lot less underground and Grimy than his previous work; featuring a sort of easy listening and digestible R&B influenced radio friendly Hip Hop.

He has also been given the wink and thumbs up by artists such as Adele, Jessie J, Liam Gallagher, Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent, P Diddy and Mark Ronson. The album boasts hit singles such as Traktor and Unorthodox; these two and every track on the album all feature guest appearances by some of Britain’s top of the pops artists. [See our review in the last edition of BPM Mag]

Black & White has seen his popularity surge with many asking the question, why a previously Grime MC has gone soft or switched up his style to this degree. He has been criticised by Grime fans on Forums for “making ‘bait’ Hip Hop and labelling it as Grime” accusing him of never quite having been raw enough to start with. I challenged him on this as we chatted for an hour over the phone…

“These people are on a forum and there are like five of them. They don’t even deserve an answer. I’m a musician who makes the music that I love. I’m successful, making money and paying those bills. Who cares what they think?” he laughs.

Wretch 32 originally started out as a member of ‘The Combination Chain Gang‘ and he cut his teeth rapping with this Hip Hop collective. The initial aim of these London boys was to poise themselves as the best Grime lyricists in the game, but things changed and they all moved on to different things leaving Wretch 32 to carry the torch as he forged ahead. The crew he has since formed known as ‘The Movement’ with Scorcher, Ghetts, Devlin and Mercston are set to unleash a few more releases next year, he tells me.

“The stuff coming off of ‘The Movement’ release is going to be more focused on the verses and will be a lot more lyrical than my personal stuff. On my album the stuff I write is more personal to me and my experiences.” he explains.

Scott owes the influence of his take on UK Rap to English artists such as Soul Solitary and Kano while his USA influences include the likes of none other than Jay Z and Nas.

I ask him how he feels about the notion that Hip Hop is an American thing, being badly copied by other nations across the world?

“That’s a load of bullshit to be honest. People like making the music that they like. If you are feeling something and you are into it, you are going to get more involved in it. I don’t think you get into hip hop just because you looking for something to familiarise yourself with culturally,” he asserts, pausing for a minute.

“Everyone has their own swag. Being American is a culture, it’s the way they carry themselves along with the way they talk and their accents. I’m English and will only ever be just that. Nothing about me is American. I’m British, I drink tea and I rap,” concludes Scott.

Opportunities are becoming increasingly brighter for North London artists working at breaking into the music industry. Salutations can be given to acts such as Wretch32, Sway, Skepta and Chipmunk who seem to be paving the way.

The one ‘downside’ to being from that part of London is the bad local news rep they have for crime and violence. Which if you ask me, never really hurt any wanna-be rapper’s road to glory. What’s a Cinderella story without some dirty coal stains on the knuckles?

Wretch 32 swears that he keeps nothing from his fans and part of his success is telling his life in stories through his music. The tea drinkers are up and at it! I personally look forward to watching them switch up the face of global rap.

Lookout for Wretch 32’s Album – Black and White in music stores nationwide.

Behringer South Africa presents the Summer of Sound Competition

Interview: Pascal & Pearce

Pascal & Pearce, affectionately known as ‘P&P’, are two of the hottest rising Electro House DJ stars to bump off Cape Town shores in recent months. They signed to leading independent label, Just Music Records, in May and in a few short years have catapulted into the limelight, filling up their résumé with remixes of artists such as Flash Republic, Locnville, Goldfish, Zebra & Giraffe and Roger Sanchez.

I caught up with them a few short weeks before the release date of their very first and highly anticipated double disc studio album titled, Passport. Arriving at Dave Pearce’s home (and home-studio) I turn left from the entrance and into a room where… an ‘Irie Beanie’ man hangs from the door knob sporting an easy-happy grin, giving off a warm and welcome vibe. I smirk right back as I turn the handle. We sit down in their cosy Sea Point studio that is totally ‘P&P’d’ out. A graphic of their laughing faces hangs aboard a framed poster sitting on the front wall. Tilting my head I see in the background a picture of none other than The Beatles in their glory days. The aura of the room strikes me as somewhat eclectic as I poise myself on their comfy pink couch, settling down for what turns out to be a fun hour…

The Pascal & Pearce Sound

Their sound has been described since their early days in ’07 as fresh, filthy and wobbly influenced by Brazilian rhythms and percussion. They have in fact grown since then and now describe their sound as…

“Uplifting Progressive Driving Electro Filth… We have changed completely but for the better. Our understanding of the use of the tools we work on have improved. Technically our quality is so much better,” explains Pascal [Ellinas].

Dave [Pearce] studied contemporary music and this experience he says laid a foundation for the appreciation of genre differentiation.

He elaborates, “to say we are Fusion doesn’t even come close to describing what it is we do when we make music. I got tastes early on of different genres such as Hip Hop, Jazz, Rock and Country and with that my thinking just broadened on what great production can entail. And that’s what I bring when producing and so does Pascal.”

“Some people come up to us and will say… ‘I could tell that was your track it sounds just like you,’ and we will be like okay we didn’t realize that our sound was that specific because we keep mixing it up. But it’s great if someone can listen to our music like that. It also shows you that people perceive music differently,” adds Pascal, thoughtfully.

Hit Track ‘Disko… Biskit’

“We were stoked with the success of Disko… Biskit. It did really well in Amsterdam and the USA surprisingly enough. I think that also just shows how much the Dance scene is growing and coming back globally. It’s a great episode and time to be a part of” smiles Pearce.

The experience since signing to ‘Just Music’

“It’s been coming on for the past year and since we signed it has been ‘out-of-this-world’ great. We got to work with amazingly talented and down to earth artists like Tamara Dey, Louise Carver, Roger Sanchez and the Locnville Boys. Karl Anderson [Just Music head honcho] has helped open up a lot of doors for us and it’s definitely a great platform for us to be on. They handle everything from promotion to the distribution of our album which will be available at Look & Listen and Musica outlets countrywide,” Pearce enthuses.

What fans can expect from the upcoming album ‘Passport’

“It’s a double disc CD set with the first being all of our own original tracks and the second disc will be all of our remixes of other artist tracks. From what we know this is the first SA release of its kind with all the work being original and then a remix disc too,” they tell me.

Pascal adds “It‘s going to be a showcase of what we are capable of.” He pauses, considering his statement, “Because we make a lot more stuff than we actually put out. When you listen to it you will find that each song is a little different from the other, proving once again our take on diversity in production. Everyone always takes away what they interpret from music, whether that was the intended message or not. The idea is to make an impact and I believe you make that impact when you put real soul and passion into your music.”

Separating P&P from other Cape Town DJ’s… “We have a genuine love for what we do and really enjoy our jobs. Not a lot of people can say that. We also make music because of the appreciation we have for it and the feeling that goes into our production. Aside from that; hey… nothing else separates us from other Cape Town DJs” adds Pascal humbly.

Pre-DJ Rituals

“Hmmm…we actually don’t have any really… Well I would say that we have that ‘sink in moment’ feeling before a performance. In that instance before we go up and play, we kinda look up at the powers that be and just feel so grateful. We get to do what we love for a living. Yeah… I’d say gratitude is definitely a pre-DJ set ritual for us.” says Pearce.

Downtime with P&P includes…

“We love what we do and not a lot of people are able to truly say that, so most of our energy goes into producing and deejaying. We dig soccer, table tennis and X-box. When we get the chance we will hang out at spots like Trinity and Sapphire depending on the night of course.”

Pascal & Pearce have forged a well built and passion fuelled foundation of fans that now have a palette for their flavour of music in South Africa. They plan to take their onslaught global after the release of their debut album – Passport – you can take it from me, it’s music worth checking out. Catch them this summer too burning up the decks across the country.

Follow Pascal & Pearce on Facebook click here.

WIN 1 of 5 Autographed copies of Passport by Pascal & Pearce + a Just Music hamper valued @ R1200 including:

Roger Goode – Saturday Surgery 7, Sander Van Doorn, Above & Beyond, Example, Flash Republic, Goodluck, Ministry Of Sound- Club Nation, Roger Sanchez- Release Yourself 11

To Enter – Click Here

Exclusive Interview: Justice By Mary Honeychild

“It’s symbolic of the coming together of people and the power that religion has over them.”

A 7 PM phone call to West-London puts me in a long distance uninterrupted forty-five minute conversation with Xavier, one half of Grammy Award winning Electro House Duo, Justice. They debuted on Ed Banger Records in 2007 releasing the smash hit D.A.N.C.E. EP that played non-stop on MTV and Trace music channels throughout that year.

But since 2009 they have been signed to Elektra Records, from where we can expect their latest album Civilization to be released. Xavier’s thick French accent takes my South African ears a few moments to get used to as we introduce ourselves with the help of a few polite exchanges. His professional and humble approach to the chat sets a tone for what is destined to be a comfortable and enjoyable interview, this despite having spent all day fielding questions from various media around the globe. I perk up as I picture him chilling on the couch in the condo he shares with his friend and DJ partner, Gaspard Auge.

The duo have captured adoring fans and audiences the world over with sold out global concert tours and chart topping hits and remixes. They scooped the Grammy Award for ‘Best Remixed Recording’ of MGMT’s Electric Feel in 2009 and have since remixed tracks for pop stars and other world renowned producers and DJs, such as Lenny Kravitz, Britney Spears, NERD, Fatboy Slim and Daft Punk, to name a few.

Their symbol is a cross that glows bright and strong front centre at every performance, where the party and DJ setup takes the form of what seems to be more like a cult Rock concert. My first question to Xavier as we casually saunter into light chatter is … ‘Why the cross and what exactly is the symbolism behind it?’

“It’s symbolic of the coming together of people and the power that religion has over them,” he says. “The cross is a symbol used by powerful people to bring others together like the Pope for example. But this is neither. We are not trying to say we are Christian because we are open and appeal to fans of all races and religion. We just understood the power of the symbol of the cross and how it works. Music can, and does have the same power over people that religion does.”

Do I detect a sense of subtle domination here? Or… it could just be the perfect a-political scheme to get and grab indie, hipster dance loving young people’s attention. Either way, kudos to them for thinking of it first. People are in two places about what their sound originally started out as and what it seems to be growing into. A popular fan description of the Justice sound is – ‘Grimy, bass slapping Electro with a heavy metal influence that boasts cut up bass lines along with compressed and distorted synths.’ Other descriptions are ones of ‘good old fashion House music’ thanks to hits like DVNO and D.A.N.C.E.

Considering the various opinions from fans I am curious as to how else he would categorize their sound.

Xavier pauses for a while as if pondering this thoughtfully, “We never actually felt like we were making House music. We are doing the same sounds as before with small differences. We weren’t trying to make dance music… [He drags the word music out as he says it] because we have never really been interested in dance. It’s all the same thing with parts of it changing. I guess people hear what they hear and then interpret that, seeing their own version.”

Their latest album Civilization has a few strong influences of what is predominantly categorized as ‘Rock Metal influenced Electro.’ This gives it more of an album feel and from what I understand he insists that they simply take the production as it comes and make whatever they feel is good. As artists grow and progress into the sort of music they enjoy making this is a common occurrence, it seems. No need to fret, they will continue bringing the hits we love.

I ask him if they were nervous at all when putting the new album together and of what fans may expect this time around.

“No way! We were not nervous at all. I think nobody really knows what to expect and that is great as it makes the anticipation more intense,” he laughs. “I know that nobody has made a sound like ours and it’s original to us. If you like it, you like it and if you don’t that’s also cool too,” De Rosnay adds emphatically.

There has been some well documented controversy around fans accusing them of faking ‘Live Sets’. Their response to this is that a picture was taken of them during a DJ tour in 2008. The snapshot saw Gaspard DJ-ing with an unplugged Akai MPD24. They insist that the equipment was unplugged very briefly before being re-attached. [Believe that if you like, Ed].

These two Euro, Alternative Pseudo-Punk, Leather jacket donned, cigarette smoking French boys have been delivering their distinct brand of Electronic music to major festivals all over the world for the last five years. They have graced stages at festivals like Coachella – USA, Sonar – Barcelona, Niigata – Japan and the ‘I LOVE TECHNO Fest’ in Belgium amongst tons of others.

In closing I let him know that they have loads of fans over here. Will we be seeing them anytime soon, I prod?

“Well, right now it’s very competitive to get a tour in South Africa because of so many different artists being booked and going at the same time. And this is of course because of the World Cup last year that got your country more attention. But if we could we, we would definitely love to,” he says stuttering his words in that typical thick French accent.

They would love to. What does this mean for the fans in SA? Perhaps we could start a petition campaign by going in and grabbing his management’s attention!

But for now, we can look forward to their latest and unpredictable new album release Civilization and wet our palettes on just that.

Feature: Earthdance Cape Town 2011

If you chat to anybody that runs a successful business or organisation they will no doubt cite the need to always stay on the move; always look for new methods to improve your service, new ways to re-package your product and clever concepts to further your cause.

Now this may seem a strange analogy when thinking about Earthdance but in fact the people behind the annual Cape Town festival, Good Times Events, epitomise this very ideal as they strive each year to reinvent, reinvigorate and revitalise. Respect!

I settled in for a Skype chat with Regan Tacon from Good Times about this year’s setup…

BPM: Some big changes this year. The main Trance rig (Origin Stage) starts on the Friday I see.

Regan: Yes. For one thing we really want to give the trance core as best an experience as they deserve as this was Earthdance Cape Town’s roots. Last year showed us that the Friday night rocks and it’s time to expand the festival into the full weekend of big rig sounds. It’s also great to get more DJs onto the bigger rig.

BPM: So Friday night’s music will also be psytrance on the Origin floor?

Regan: Yup! The night has been programmed by the Labyrinth team. There are some great acts. We will definitely have a good section of techno into-prog-psy first and then get into the deep tribal stuff. I have no doubt it will be a total blast. Psy trance all the way baby!

BPM: Another observation I have made is that the Music Box Stage has no bands although you spoke of the ‘Solar Stage’ which will include some acoustic vibes too?

Regan: We have mixed things up a quite a bit although pretty much everything that was there before is still there, but now on bigger sound systems and with even more room to shine. We did this to make things fresher again, but the main reason is to make areas more focussed and create an even better festival vibe across the event. The Music Box stage will now feature the brand new Red Bull Sound System. It’s based on the Valve rig from the UK, and it will be loud! The focus on Music Box is urban electronic beats. The Homegrown crew are included in this floor this year too, which I’m really happy about. It will be great to hear them on the bigger rig compared to what we had for them in the past. Basically we have given more time to the cutting edge electronic acts in SA. The new Solar Stage will be a calmer funky stage, between the 2 big rigs. We are now including more chilled acoustic live acts there on Saturday daytime while Saturday evening will be a great little party with acts like Jeremy Loops, Toby2Shoes and James Copeland. The Greenpop dome is back and the charity organisations we work with will now also be in the middle of the event and be interacting with people during the days in this area. So really, we have a whole new hub in the middle of the event. I’m very excited about it. The Solar Stage will run from Friday afternoon right through the weekend. Friday night we will have some amazing movies there too, and Sunday will have reggae, world beat and other groovy sounds. I really think it’s a great addition to the event. Music Box will now have more of a dub and techno feel on Sunday. The techno scene is growing nicely in Cape Town now, so it’s nice to give that sound some space to flex its muscles.

Earthdance 2011  gets LOUD(er)

As has now become the tradition at Earthdance, the psytrance floor will also host a leading international artist and this year will see the first appearance of LOUD, the Israeli duo who have been making some serious waves in recent years… Here’s what Haifa locals, Kobi Toledano and Eitan Reiter had to say ahead of their imminent visit…

BPM: What is the current state of psytrance in Israel right now? As strong as always, more diverse…

Eitan: Psytrance in Israel is very big at the moment. We had the chance to play at some super mainstream events in Israel and I can definitely say that these days the same people who are into rock or pop are also into psytrance.

BPM: What came first? Going to a psy trance party or hearing the music from a friend to have influenced you into wanting to produce the music?

Eitan: For me – definitely music I heard from friends.

Kobi: For me I can’t say I understood the music I heard at a friend’s homes at first but when I got to the first Outdoor Party I suddenly realised what it was all about.

BPM: Right from your first album – Some Kind of Creativity – you received good reviews and people started to take notice.

Eitan: It was a starting point for us. We put a lot of effort into that one yet we had no intentions but to make music exactly the way we like it!

Kobi: The first album was like a beginning of a journey for us, one that is still evolving and taking us to new places with every track we produce.

BPM: Israeli’s seem to have this bond throughout the world so that when you travel there is always close support from your countrymen. Do you agree?

Kobi: Israel is a tiny, tiny country and if two Israelis meet elsewhere there is a connection right away but to be honest we are more than happy to meet the locals and to every country we are invited to play our music, we are happy to see and feel new things, explore new food and drinks and just enjoy new vibes by meeting cool people. [They’re gonna love Saffas, Ed]

BPM: Do you have Israeli friends in South Africa?

Eitan: A few friends… it will be nice to meet them once we arrive.

Kobi: Well, a few but not so many. Facebook helps a lot to chat to people from SA and expose our music in your country as well.

BPM: What’s the best thing about being a psytrance producer?

Eitan: You wake up and make music!

BPM: And the worst?

Kobi: I don’t think there is “A Worst thing” if you are doing something that you Love (in general, not only in music).

BPM: Right now what is your favourite album to listen to? (Non-trance).

Eitan: It changes every week but right now; Radiohead – The King of Limbs and Wu Tang – 36 Chambers.

Kobi: As Eitan says it’s very dynamic but right now; Radiohead – The King of Limbs and Amon Tobin – I Sam.

BPM: And current favourite trance track?

Eitan: This also changes from week to week heh, heh – but the last track that blew me away was the super old tune Union Jack – 2 Full Moons and a Trout

Kobi: Son Kite: Let Us Be… for now.

BPM: Last question; A message to South Africans ahead of your show here…

Eitan: Play it LOUD

Kobi: Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be one helluva a ride!

BPM Life is giving away a set of double tickets to Earthdance 2011. To enter simply hop on over to www.bpmlife.co.za

For More Event Info - Click Here

Interview: Tony Finger By Romy Hi-Hat

Tony Finger is an Italian born, world stage gracing, and now, Cape Town based Electro House producer and DJ. He has made an impression in cities like Paris, London, Moscow and Ibiza and decided several years ago to make the Mother City his base. He also hosts a radio show on MUTHA FM every Monday between 20:00 & 22:00. We talk about his latest release, his recent Ibiza trip and why he reckons there should be no more cheese for the mouse.

Tell us about the creative concept behind your latest release This is Not a Goodbye?

This is my latest release on my label, Touch it Records. Behind the title is my trip to Ibiza this year although it was not a goodbye as I will be back soon. The track was inspired by Ibiza and the magic of the music you can hear on the white island.

Of all your countless nights at PACHA in Ibiza, which one stands out the most when I say the word… ‘insane?’

The most memorable one then must be the Masquerade Motel with Swedish House Mafia, starting from Cafe Mambo for their pre-party in St. Antonio straight back to Pacha. The party was amazing, the music was stunning and the reaction of people in the club was so crazy. But also I had the chance to chat with the men themselves, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso.

The beaches in Ibiza are notorious for the displays of hot sun kissed bodies. How would you sum up the picturesque view you got to see as a daily norm?

Yes many of them are lying roasting in the sun on the beach, sipping cocktails and showing off that Hot Body (that kind of reminds me of our Camps Bay beaches during summer) … that’s the party island and that’s the ideal life one could think of (if you like to party of course). Ibiza was fun, sun, party and business.

I’m just curious and you can call me the cat in this instance. Please tell us who is the mouse and why isn’t he getting any cheese? I am of course referring to another one of your latest releases on PACHA Recordings Inc. ‘No cheese for the mouse’.

Well the track actually was referring to the Mau5 himself [Deadmau5] … I couldn’t use the real name as it would not be right. Joel is a very talented artist. I do love and respect his music. So basically that’s where the idea started from… No more cheese for the Mouse / Mau5 in a rhetoric sense.

What do you think the SA Dance scene is lacking as far as drawing crowds to the right parties?

That is a good question; I wish I had the magical answer. South Africa (Cape Town) has been my home base for the past 6 years and I must say in the last 2 years things have changed drastically. Everybody is complaining but nobody is doing. I think we need to have more promoters that know what to do. Club owners to be more open to risk, not only playing commercial music. There are lots of people that have different tastes and don’t want to listen to the same Radio Hits over and over. I personally struggle when I go out to find a decent place where I can have fun and listen to some great music. In Ibiza I was in Heaven. Why can it work there in Ibiza and not here? I am busy planning some Pacha Recordings parties here for the coming summer, so if anybody is interested to be involved as a sponsor for the events, contact me.

I have to ask… How wide and glorious is your collection of PACHA T-shirts?

[Laughs] Not that huge but I have a couple of them. I’m waiting for some more to be shipped over here. I do still prefer my simple black one with the Cherry on it. A classic Pacha Ibiza T-shirt.

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INTERVIEW: Romy Hi-Hat

Artist Feature: DJ HYPNOSIS By Sive ‘Msivovo’ Booi

It’s always refreshing to speak to a beat-maker who brings something unique and fresh into the mix. Hypnosis fits the mould of those beat-makers. He has been in the game for more than ten years and has worked and rubbed shoulders with some true SA musical luminaries including the likes of Oskido, Abicah Soul, Stephanie Cook and countless others. He has also stayed relevant and been able to transcend the musical divide by having a digital presence on platforms like www.traxsource.com

We caught up with him to find out about the man behind the music and about his participation on the brand new release Candi Roots amongst other things…

Who is DJ Hypnosis?

I am an enthusiastic young guy who believes in quality music. I have been making tunes since 1996 and commercially since 2001. I have worked with all the major labels in the country and contributed to projects from all genres for many artists along the way. I am not just about house music, I am very diverse. Ideally I would like to take South Africa to another level and work with international artists. I make beats for all genres, except rock (haha).

Describe your sound?

I have a diverse soulful sound. I give the world what it demands at a particular time. Music in a beat makes a track a song.

Hmmm, explain further…

You have to have musical elements when making a track, not just churning monotonous stuff for the sake of it. Music has to be at the essence of what you are making, not just beats.

Do you think this sets you apart?

As I mentioned earlier I make music for most genres not just house. So I am versatile, my sound is very soulful. I put a lot of myself and how I feel into making music.

What impact has the digital age had on you as a music producer?

Well it has saved me a lot and given me the opportunity to expose myself to the international market. As an artist I have grown spontaneously and worked with some of the best in the world like Stephanie Cooke, Amera Light and Chris Idh. So in terms of growth and exposure it has been good for me.

You DJ too… Describe your perfect set?

Well the set has to be very melodic with feminine vocals to add that sensual touch. I mean I do work with male vocalists but there is nothing like a female vocalist. Jazz and vocals make the set complete for me.

Tell us a bit about Candi Roots. How did the project come about?

Soul Candi called me about a project they were doing to introduce three new artists into the mix. Immediately I wanted to be part of this, no questions asked. I didn’t even check who else was going to be involved! Originally I wanted to do a solo with them but this project has never been done before so I felt I just had to be part of it. Three artists all releasing music produced by themselves, local quality productions. I felt this was going to be a legacy so I had to put my unique touch onto it.

What tracks should we look out for?

Well there is Soulfiction which is a national anthem among DJ’s. There is the Adella remix, Roots of Asia and Now I Love.

I have a thing for Intombi Yakho; those vocals…

Yeah you could say that track defines me as an artist, it is really beautiful, soulful and melodic.

So I guess you must have some cool future projects on the go too?

There are a couple; ElectroCandi, DJ China, DJ Choice’s Casanova album and we’ve just finished shooting a video.

Wow thanks for the invite…

Ha, ha no man nothing like that; we were wrapping up some scenes just yesterday, next time maybe yeah? My album Music and Legacy is also coming out. I am also really excited about a project that I am doing with a guy called Decency. It’s something that has never been done before. It’s a combination of love songs and acapellas; a triple disc banger.

Lookout for Candi Roots in stores now and make a note of the name DJ Hypnosis – this man’s going places and gets our vote as one of SA’s premier music producers.

INTERVIEW: Sive ‘Msivovo’ Booi

Pioneer Next Level DJ Competition

Sónar 2011

Trentemoller

BPM was there to soak up the sunshine and basslines. Here’s what went down…

Day 1

What struck me first was the eclectic mix of people— the tattooed Spaniards in their shorts and designer shades; the painfully pale British kids; the electronica geeks whose pretention was perfectly offset by the hoards of gorgeous woman in their bohemian-chic festival outfits. Whoever you talked to had one thing in common: they wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the world except Sónar.

Walking into Sónar By Day is one of those festival experiences which has few rivals. Becoming familiarised with the clean, austere architecture of the MACBA and CCCB (two galleries) and each of the 5 distinctive stages really makes you feel like a kid in a candy store. The next step is to rush around trying to see all the acts you’ve highlighted on your programme – and then realising that you’d need to split into at least two people to see all the acts you want to see! The plethora of music, the infectious excitement of the crowd and the excellent venue makes Sónar by Day a truly extra-sensory experience.

When we arrived Floating Points was spinning a cocktail of sexy disco and downtempo house. Then on to SonarDome where beat scientist Kidkanevil was dropping a bad-ass blend of dubstep and instrumental hip hop. Later, Little Dragon’s lead singer Yukimi Nagono redefined the term ‘stage presence’ with her soul-wrenching vocals and percussion. We then ventured into the cavernous SonarHall where obscurity hunters stared wide-eyed at Open Reel Ensemble (Japan), a group who constructs their music by playing sounds, melodies recorded on magnetic tape reels. South African wonder-kid Jullian Gomes made us beam with pride as he closed the jam-packed Red Bull Music Academy floor with his South African flavoured deep house. We see big things ahead for Mr.Gomes.

That night the official opening concert featured the works of world-renowned composer; ‘godfather of minimalism’ Steve Reich – who wasn’t there in person due to bad health, so we decided to give that a skip and save ourselves for the next two days of mayhem.

Day 2

Day 2 the festival shifts into gear and the venue is noticeably busier; the beats a touch heavier.

Sónar by Day

We started at SonarDôme where we caught a wicked set from cool-as-ice DJ Zinc who made his name in Drum ‘n Bass but has since shifted to his own style of dubstep/house beats (which he describes as ‘crack house’). Next England’s new diva of dubstep and pop, Katy B seduced the crowd with her angelic voice and the support of a full live band. To my surprise, a huge crowd had filled the open-air floor SonarVillage to see Fourtet, one the artists on my must-see list. His live set blew me away: familiar Fourtet melodies over crunchy tech beats, gradually building up to a manically fast finale. Discodeine, a duo from France played some dirty and deep tech house in the SonarDome and they join my “must-google” list. We then ventured into the subterranean SonarHall which was well-suited to Ghostpoet’s melancholy rhymes. He performed with his laptop— recording vocals, creating loops and manipulating them live during his set. This was, in my opinion, the top Hip Hop act of Sonar. Check him out.

Sonar by Night

The Sonar by Night venue is constantly described as an aeroplane hangar and when we arrived we understood why. The exhibition venue Fira Gran Via space is immense. Again, the night time’s festivities are divided by the 5 stages each with a unique look and outstanding lighting and sound.

Trentemøller’s live set was the night’s top act for me. The Danish producer performed with a live ensemble and vocalist amidst eerie stage props. On the main stage, over-hyped headliner M.I.A gave a lack-lustre performance but this was counteracted on the SonarPub stage by Dizzee Rascal who blew the roof off. At one point, the thumping sound managed to bump the DJ’s table right off the raised platform, leaving the CDJs and mixer dangling from the table! But Dizzee took it in his stride and simply shouted “Quick! Make a video! YOU TUBE, YOU TUBE!”. Next up Die Antwoord on the outdoor stage. I asked the guy standing next to me what he thought and he replied “they have really cool music videos but their music is crap”. Waddy and Yolandi didn’t impress me much either. The final act for the night was A-Trak (5 time World DMC champ now collaborating with Armand van Helden). He had all the gimmicks: a tuxedo and a massive 3D stage set-up in the shape of an A, but the nature of his performance – a turntablism and house combo didn’t quite convince me. At half past 3 in the morning you really want to dance rather than concentrate on technical cuts, scratches and beat juggling. Just as the crowd was beginning to enjoy a track, A-trak was cutting and juggling and breaking its flow. Technically, the man is a genius but I felt as though his set would’ve worked better earlier in the evening.

Day3

We rolled into the last day at Sonar with shades on and heads a little heavy from two previous days of madness. We arrived at Sonar by day quite late and only caught the tail end of the day’s festivities, sadly missing the third and final South African act ‘Shangaan Electro’. From there we caught some tapas in the Gothic quarter, a famous section of Barcelona just outside the venue and then hopped on the Sonar bus to Sonar by Night. As we approached, the whole bus erupted into cheering and applause – everyone shouting ‘Sonar, Sonar, Sonar!!’ . Despite mass exhaustion after two solid days of partying, the enthusiasm hadn’t faded. Little moments like these add a lot to your experience.

Despite my scepticism, Underworld were very good live and stirred up a lot of buried memories with their nostalgic anthems. The Gaslamp Killer, who I’d been dying to see (and who’d been hyped-up a lot by the media) was set to play at 2.15am, but his manically energetic and eclectic performance didn’t manage to excite the crowd. Obscure Japanese rock from the 60’s wasn’t quite cutting it. Luckily we discovered Austrian DJ Clara Moth on the Sonarcar floor who delivered the goods. Magnetic Man (dubstep “supergroup” made up of Benga, Skream and Artwork) was up next on the main floor. I’d also been very excited about seeing them but found them very boring and subdued. Their emcee kept bellowing into the mic and there were long uncomfortable silences between the tracks. Their set lacked the energy required to rock a 35,000 strong crowd at two in the morning. Most of the crowd streamed off the main floor in favour of a crisp techno set from Paul Kalkenbrenner who rocked a packed outside floor. The final night seemed to be plagued by line-up oversights, but this didn’t detract from an excellent collection of acts overall.

The faultless organisation and attention to detail makes Sónar a pleasure to attend, but perhaps Sonar’s greatest strength is the diversity and quality of its line-up. By placing of the more experimental and ‘out-there’ acts alongside well-established artists and presenting this cross section of global electronica as one event— it creates the sense that all electronica is connected; as are all it’s followers. In my mind this is the point of music festivals and I felt truly enriched by the days and nights I spent with Sónar as my host.

Photography By : Paul King

Written By : Heather Mennel

Interview: Broken Jimmy a man who swings both ways…

Imagine being given a demo on a TDK tape. I imagine some of you reading this may not even know what a TDK D90 tape is! The year was somewhere around 2000/2001 I think. The name scrawled across the tape was Damage. Two young lads from Paarl had sent the demo to Alien Safari and whilst the music was a little on the rough side, it was one of the most promising bits of psytrance to emerge from South Africa back then.

Not long after that the duo were rocking dancefloors and in less than a year thereafter one half of Damage – James Copeland – gave birth to his solo project; Broken Toy. The rest, as the cliché goes is history. As Broken Toy, James has gone on to release two stellar albums and tons of singles since. Today he is one of the most booked psytrance acts on SA dancefloors and if he can motivate himself to bang out another Broken Toy album he will no doubt become a regular fixture on the global circuit once again.

A gifted producer with a penchant for the less than obvious, our man Jimmy has recently also given birth to a new project simply called James Copeland. Essentially a minimal tech[house] project with a penchant for vintage sounds, swinging horns and even a touch of blues and rockabilly, Jimmy now swings effortlessly between the high-octane futuristic sounds of Broken Toy and his slinky, throbbing minimal tech project.

We caught up for a little chat across the interweb (he was on tour in Europe somewhere) and as usual James was honest, forthcoming and quite chatty…

So, top psytrance producer turns to electro-swing-tech… Now you wouldn’t be the first psy producer to explore new genres but you’re beyond just exploring. You’ve created a whole new persona haven’t you?

Yes, although I don’t think it’s something I can rigidly adhere to. These days people’s appetite for music is so insatiable it’s become difficult to stand out even if you are damn good at what you do. You only have to look at the success of Jack Parow or Die Antwoord to see that creating a character to express your music through lends a whole new perspective that listeners latch onto. Some might consider it a piss-take, but in essence it’s making your music 3D – adding a new dimension to it that pushes songs into the realm of entertainment rather than just music. I don’t want to put on an act, but I do want to create the headspace in which I want the music experienced.

But with your talents you could have opted for something more mainstream or radio friendly…

Well I do enjoy a bit of a challenge – even to the point of self-sabotage – but the bottom line is this; when I sit down in the studio and I’m working on something that I’m not into, I start to get nauseous and I have to bail. My stylistic choices are always instinctive and inescapable. The brief on the James Copeland stuff was simply that I’d do something focused on vintage sounds as opposed to the hi tech science fiction noises that dance music is normally associated with, and at the moment that includes everything from Balkan beats, rockabilly, swing and beyond.

Surely you’d like to write a hit song or massive club anthem one day? Something that would get extensive radio play. Not all hit songs are bad after all….

Not so concerned with radio, but a club anthem… Wow! Let’s try and quantify the power of that. Small clubs being rocked by a simple melody creating absolute unity and euphoria – that magic moment clubbers yearn for. Now multiply that by the amount of clubs in the world and repeat the formula adding and including bigger clubs and festivals with millions more people etc and etc. Extrapolate the formula over time and it would be mindboggling to be the person who brought that amount of euphoria into the world! It’s a serious achievement and it is something that gives me a bit of a tingle to think about. I`d love to achieve something like that, but I’m not actively striving for it – I don’t think that’s the point anyway.

It didn’t take you very long to get the James Copeland music released…

I`ve gotten some fairly random connections through Soundcloud with Nesono [another of James’ projects], which people generally thought was curious, but not something they could play. As soon as I made the JC stuff which was more to their tastes, it spread like wildfire and ended up in the right hands within the first month of starting the project. It was a very satisfying experience considering how long I’ve waited on certain projects to bear fruit.

I love your new EP, Jade Garden [Sleepwalker Records]… some great remixes too.

Yep! I`m a good mate with Jimmy Chronic and he liked this slightly deeper and mysterious track. I got some mates in to remix it and I think it’s a great and varied little package. I really like the different spin that both Danalog and Emile gave it on their remixes.

It’s no secret that selling music is tough. Have you resigned yourself to this fact?

I have completely resigned myself to the fact that there is no money in it at all and it’s a catch 22 because if you give your music away for free, people don’t think it’s worth anything, so it still has to be released through the normal channels so people [at least] think it’s worth stealing!

How’s the overseas tour going? Are the punters as crazy as us Capetonians?

The gurning punters of the UK are flying the flag very high. Clubbing here is a way of life for these people, whereas Cape Town clubs always seem to be a bit over policed with militant bouncers, dress codes and elitist attitudes. I definitely saw tons of stuff here that made Capetonian dancefloors look more than a little bit conservative.

First some swing parties, then Glade! Be honest now. Did you appreciate the familiarity of psytrance again?

I`m in love all over again every time I play a Broken Toy gig. I`m truly blessed – I can’t remember the last gig I had where I didn’t receive serious dancefloor love. The added bonus to Glade is that I haven’t played a UK festival in ages so it wasn’t like it was in the bag to begin with. There was a bit of winning over to do, but pretty much business as usual. Awesome party.

You’ve clearly spent much of the past year re-inventing yourself with James Copeland Music, how does this impact on Broken Toy? Are we still going to hear another album from you?

People would naturally assume that if you`ve got a few projects running that some of them are suffering or not as loved as the other, but in my case this is untrue. Anything you do for an extended period of time will get boring and create unrealistic creative pressure, so I’m constantly changing and keeping my projects feeling fresh to me. As for another Broken Toy album, I`ve been keen for the last 2 years but labels aren’t interested in anything other than digital EPs these days and I`m thinking of ways to get around this. BT really needs a whole story rather than a collection of tracks to get people into it, so its very possible that the next album will be released on a label I start myself. Stay tuned.

Now, as you look back on your month away from home, probably feeling just a teensy bit homesick, which memories are going to give you the biggest giggle?

UK festivals are well known for their rain, and Glade did not disappoint on the last day. I had a moment on the dancefloor in my wellies and raincoat with torrential rain and punishing wind ripping at me where I suddenly felt totally impervious to it all. Calm inside a bubble, I opened my eyes and saw a raging dancefloor with a bunch of friends of mine giving it everything in the mud, shading and decor flying away and a fence blowing over with people in the background running for cover. The chaos of the moment was ultimate, but we were still there grooving – untouchable. It’s hard to describe the joy I found in this and other similar moments I’ve had in the UK to people who haven’t experienced this sort of thing, but it’s really what I consider earning your right to party, no matter the cost or how wrong it seems.

And from a career perspective… has this trip opened your eyes to new opportunities and some more doors maybe?

These trips are always great to re-establish contact with people in the biz, which is hugely important. There`s a community out there that you need to be in touch with and online chatting doesn’t cut it. You need to get down and party with the peeps! On a personal note, it’s also shown me how I need to take even more control of what I’m doing. It’s a tough game, and there are few people in your corner pushing to make things work for you. Take charge. Rock it.

Hed Kandi announces spectacular weekly residency at The Fez.

Hed Kandi is destined to become a big player in the Cape Town nightlife scene having launched their Saturday night residency at the awesome super-club, The FEZ in Mechau Street Cape Town on 2 July to an up for it crowd. Each week a top international Hed Kandi DJ is flown to the Mother City from Ibiza or London to perform to the Cape Town faithful. The recently renovated Fez Club has undergone many changes to accommodate this global phenomenon. “Production levels of this magnitude have never been experienced before in SA club history” reveals Tom Pearson Adams, Director of the Fez Club.

Lloyd Cornwall from Hed Kandi says “Following many exceptional years hosting events at El Divino, Ibiza, and at some of the world’s greatest cities, we will now be embarking on a new adventure to take the party to a brand new country with a brand new level of clubbing. Launched on Saturday 2nd July for an exclusive on-going season, the incredible and recently renovated super-club, The Fez will be our new Cape Town residence.This move comes out of our desire to develop our event offering around the world, and the Fez is the ideal venue for Hed Kandi. Not only does it provide us with the opportunity to increase the scale of our illustrious production, but it also enables greater scope for the live element of the night whilst accommodating our ever-growing legion of devotees”

He continues “South Africa has never before seen this level of production in a weekly club residency. Hed Kandi has become synonymous with the ultimate night out and we are very excited to land in Cape Town for this weekly event. This move will take the Hed Kandi experience to a whole new level.”

Tom adds, “The Fez will give Hed Kandi the opportunity to grow creatively and show our loyal (and new) customers a totally new experience in SA club culture, with an even bigger and better party experience. Cape Town is our showcase and we promise to give clubbers something old and something new, and most of all a night to remember”.

Hed Kandi – the brand.

Hed Kandi is one of the world’s most fabulous music and lifestyle brands. They are a record label, a chain of bars, a fashion brand, a radio show and an international clubbing sensation.

Since the brand was born in 1999 on the back of humble dance compilations Hed Kandi has flourished and grown to become the global phenomenon it is today with a catalogue spanning over 100 albums showcasing their feel-good signature sound selling 500,000 copies yearly with 5 million albums to date, a host of top 40 hits and one thousand global events annually to 1.5 million partygoers.

Hed Kandi has been delivering flirty sounds with a sense of humour to grown-up clubbers since their first club residency in London in 2002. Word soon spread about the most lavish and opulently produced events that the UK had seen, resulting in road-blocks and huge demand for their parties nationwide. Before long, Hed Kandi had a network of UK residencies and now operates across the globe, with clubbers from Sydney to Sao Paolo to Ibiza enjoying the Hed Kandi sound every month. The brand now defines the sound and vision of the international party scene. Radio listeners can also experience Hed Kandi on the Kiss Network across the UK every Saturday night and daily on Ministry of Sound Radio.

The brand also opened its first UK bar in Clapham, London in December 2010; numerous UK and international bar launches are planned for 2011 and they have recently launched a super cool range of iPhone accessories and headphones.

Hed Kandi’s instantly recognisable visual world of impossibly beautiful girls in uber-elegant surroundings is brought to life by their illustrator du jour, Jason Brooks. Jason’s illustrations have captured the imagination of many as he continues to communicate the essence of the brand, image after image. Each and every stunning girl, drawn posing for the camera with a cheeky glint in her eye, excuses the sophistication and sex appeal that is synonymous with Hed Kandi.

Over the past decade Hed Kandi has well and truly established itself as one of the world’s most glamorous dance music and lifestyle brand. Whatever they do, it feels like a fabulous and exclusive escape. From the city to the beach, sunset to sunrise, Hed Kandi is first class travel to destination chic… every time, all the time.

Come join the Hed Kandi fun @ the Fez each and every Saturday

Each Saturday night a Hed Kandi DJ will jet into Cape Town from Ibiza or the UK to man the decks at the Fez to serve up some delicious Hed Kandi.

Andy Warburton (9th July), Andy Daniels (16th July), Sam Cannon (23rd July) and Andy Norman (30th July) are your deck masters for the month of July.

For exclusive interviews, Dj mixes, free ticket giveaways stay tuned @ BPMLife.co.za every week ahead of each Saturday night event.

Also check out www.fez.co.za for updated action.

Independence And The Success That Comes With It Is What L-Tido Lives And Celebrates

L-Tido is one Hip-Hop artist that is part of the surging growth of aspiring performers who are up on the get-it-to-go themselves. Free and independent of a binding and often crippling record deal contract, he released, marketed and distributed his own first mix tape City of Gold, selling over four thousand units. He also scooped the ‘Most Gifted Newcomer Channel O Award – 2010’ last year; a reflection of the fast rise to success he has enjoyed.

With just a few weeks ahead of his All or Nothing album launch series tour, which by the time you read this would have taken place [30 June - 3 July 2011], the L-Tido camp have been on a grind inspired by the promise he has made to bring fireworks to the performance. His album includes collaborations with K.O. from Teargas, Nigerian superstar Banky W, Tumi from Tumi and The Volume and Da L. E. S of Jozi and the Glitz Gang.

A great deal of his commercial market appeal is that he chooses to rap in English instead of Zulu and Tswana. I ask him if he feels judged for this and if so, does he care? “Yes, I have received flack from a few people but it doesn’t bother me because I wanna be heard everywhere by all nationalities. English just so happens to be the language understood by most people.”

Since a lot of artists pursue the independent route [with fewer reaching fruition] I am curious as to his strategy in self promoting and selling his first mix tape City of Gold? “I was selling my CDs at shows after my performances. With the money I made from my CDs I invested that back into making videos which ended up giving me great exposure.” He continues, “Artists should be more educated about the industry and take more initiative in their own careers. Labels should also start adopting new ways of marketing. The game has changed and labels need to keep up with the current trends.”

L-Tido is very clear that his climb to the top won’t stop in South Africa and that he plans to break internationally. He believes that the top three elements it will take to achieve just this will be none other than talent, hard work and vision.

All or Nothing [his new album] is a collection of tracks that represents the sacrifices he has been forced to make to achieve his goals with little time to stop while certainly not settling for anything less, hence the title. “I deserve to be where I am right now and all the awards I receive. I don’ t want a piece of the pie, I want everything!”

Aside from his own music, L-Tido is positive about the current state of Hip Hop in SA; “The growth has been really amazing over the past years. Everybody has really stepped their game up from the music production, videos and marketing ideas.” Setting the record straight: As far as publicity stunts go, for those of you who are wondering whether or not he started the beef with rival Hip Hop MC AKA for the pure sake of it last year, he claims that he didn’t; “its old news and I wish AKA the best of luck.”

L-Tido is a self confessed workaholic and can be spotted gigging most weekends at clubs in Johannesburg. On his down time he prefers chilling at his crib with friends. What can fans expect once the album launch is done and dusted, I ask? “I’m currently working on several international digital distribution deals. We are also conceptualising a DVD of the tour for a Christmas release and a new mix tape. There is so much… I don’t want to reveal everything at the moment. Just wait and see it’s gonna be an exciting year, big things ahead!”

A lot can be said for the fierce, independent and rearing-to-go spirit of L-Tido. This stands as an example of what these qualities can achieve when you set your mind to something.

His hit track We Rollin’ has reached number one on the Channel O Weekly Charts, MTV Base African Chart, ETV’s Club 808 Chart and French music channel Trace TV’s Africa Top 10 Chart and stayed there for five straight weeks. Enough said!

Written By : By Mary Honeychild

5 Mins With Missredd

3. If I was an MC my aka name would be…

Rooi Rok Jokie

4. Seduction is being able to…

Be noticed – when applying the art to the mind, body and soul.

5. Happiness is…

Doing what U LOVE……’Cos U LOVE what U DO!!

6. Complete the sentence… ‘House music is…..

SPIRITUAL THING – A Mind Body & SOUL THING.

7. If I wasn’t a DJ I would get my kicks from….

Shufflin’ on the dance floor – Just Joking

8. The one talent I never openly admit to having is…

the best time.

9. I never leave home without my….

Sunglasses

10. The best thing about being a DJ in South Africa…

Is being able to express myself through house music and to unite like-minded people regardless of age, gender, or race – without saying a word.

11. And the worst...

I always prepare for the worst – That way you won’t be disappointed. I also just remind myself of the reason I am here pushin’ on – Passion.

12. Before I play a set I always…

Get extremely nervous.

13. Sex on the beach is overrated because…

The sand exfoliating reality factor is not as glamorous as it appears from that dreamy romantic vision you once pictured in your mind

14. One thing that really irritates me is…

That there’s actually more than ONE thing that irritates me.

15. The first thing I said when I woke up this morning was…

Attention all shoppers!

16. My favourite SA DJ/Producer is…

I have more than one favourite for different reasons. They all inspire me in their own way.

17. My favourite international DJ/Producers are…

Inland Knight and any artist who has ever released their beats on DROP MUSIC recordings.

18. When I’m not rocking to dance music I like to…

Chill with a bit of everything actually, depending what space I am in.

19. Favourite restaurant…

Capri… The “Cheeza Steak”…is worth the drive.

20. What attracts me most in a man is…

Personality & Handwriting…

21. The word that describes me best is…

Mis-READ

22. In my fridge you will always find…

Depends what colour the fridge is?

Competition: The Goematronics Remix Competition

1. Download samples from the Creative Cape Town Goematronics Soundcloud page. You can search for Goematronics: Experiments in Local Distinctiveness or type in this direct link:  http://soundcloud.com/creativecapetown/sets/goematronics-experiments-in-local-distinctiveness
2. Create a track of new music drawing on Cape Town’s musical legacy, Goema.
3. Upload your remix to the Soundcloud: Goematronics remix competition group – http://soundcloud.com/groups/goemarati-remix-competition

Prizes: Valued at R 40,000 includes;

A full week of studio time @ Red Bull Studios, Cape Town

Cakewalk Music Production Software from Paul Bothner Music.

The winners: Will be announced at a special event held during Creative Week Cape Town – 9 – 18 September 2011.

For more Info go to: www.creativecapetown.net

You Can Call Me Mister

Interview: C.9ine Lifting the experience to what is better known as cloud nine.

Danny and Skitzo from Bass Breaks & Beats Records are two musicians/producers with roots in the East Rand of Joburg who for more than five years as a duo pride themselves on the delivery of their live music performances. They bring together an Electronic House sound that is fundamentally infused with a strong up-tempo Jazzy feel, complimented by insightful lyrics and smooth vocals [done by Paul Oliviera] in English, Swahili and Portuguese.

Their crossover style of producing music widens their market appeal globally with a focused aim on the greater parts of Africa.

“We make music for people who are into enjoying a good life. A life that is inspired by growing and being diverse. Who are willing to try something new and be adventurous” says Skitzo.

Danny originally formed part of Afro-Pop group ‘Mellow Ring’ playing the acoustic guitar and keyboard. While Skitzo grew up around a mom who was a vocalist and his dad, Babsy Mlangeni a Jazz musician. The developing influences in the early part of their lives laid the foundation for the pillars that holds up the House of music they are improving, maintaining and building upon each day. They draw inspiration from a variety of artists such as 4 Hero, Foreign Exchange, Jazzanova, Flying Lotus, Zakes Bantwini and St.Germain.

Their breakthrough hit Heaven is Here is the fruit of what first got them noticed. There is an embedded truth behind the meaning in the title.

“At that time in our careers before the release of that track we were struggling. We were listening to powerful stuff. Out of all our disappointments the only remedy for what we were going through was to get in the studio and express ourselves in a positive way. So in more than one way Heaven is Here was the breakthrough and relief for all our efforts” they explain.

C.9ine collaborated with Suges, Fish Go Deep, UPZ and Gene King on Harley & Muscle’s Deep House 5th Chapter CD. An impressive cut off this compilation is the remix of the track Sunrise.

“Sunrise was our dopest remix off that album. It has a lot of experimental elements. We threw a beat box on top of a House tune and the result was great!” explains Skitzo.

Their debut album Sound Garden, released last year, is an exploration of all that’s lush and deep in modern dance music. It has tracks like Wonder and Chasing on top ten hit rotation of national radio stations like Metro FM, Y-FM and Uhkozi FM.

Last month they were in Cape Town putting material together at the Red Bull Studio for two new tracks titled Chora with vocals in Portuguese and Garota also in Portuguese with hints of Swahili.

They were also on a national tour of Cape Town, Joburg, Durban, Newcastle and Rustenburg with promises of a kick-ass live set by their three man band which includes their vocalist Paul Oliviera.

I ask them how they respond to claims that they have previously ditched gigs by not showing up and how they feel this may have made them look.

“It has a lot to do with the management problem that we are having and working on at the moment. Sometimes we are double booked. Either Danny on his own or me; what we never do is send half or part of the product. We are a live act and deliver on that performance every time” says Skitzo.

“We stay true to our promise of delivery of the music quality. If people want to know for sure if we are definitely going to be at a gig it will be on both our Facebook profiles and the C.9ine fan page” adds Danny.

Other than their regular gig rotation and studio sessions when the duo are free of work commitments, separately they prefer spending it winding down with some relaxing home and family time.

Wondering what the fuss is about? Hop on over to bpmmag.co.za and checkout the video to their hit single Wonder.

Written By : Mary Honeychild

Interview: Viva La Vinny Da Vinci The Legend Lives On…

Vinny Da Vinci

I must be the biggest closet groupie there is and you know what; when it comes to Vinny Da Vinci I can confidently and with impunity wear my badge of admiration for the man. Let’s be honest; not taking anything away from other stalwart South African DJ’s, Vinny Da Vinci is one of the few sonic manipulators who cares about delivering refined, gilded and sifted-to-perfection beats that will take you to cloud nine and back.

Aside from having made major advances in introducing different interpretations of House music, especially Deep house music to South African urban audiences and with House at an unprecedented apex in the country there’s no better time for pioneering another instalment of his Deep House Sound compilation series.

Interview: More Than GoodLuck

Although strictly a duo, GoodLuck often includes a third member when performing live… “Raiven [Hansmann] is a great asset to our live show. We realised our live format was missing something and we wanted to include Jac Sharp members in the new format,” Peters explains. “His jazz background and performance experience is exactly what we were looking for. He’s able to improvise and he’s such a consummate performer.”

Interview: 5 Mins with… Ms. Giinja

1.  What’s the best thing about being a DJ in South Africa?

Playing for a rainbow nation that can Dance.

2.  And the worst?

I guess its being a female DJ… lotsa vendettas out there!!!

3.  If I wasn’t a DJ I would get my kicks from….

Radio DJ; which I am doing currently anyway.

4.  The last time I deejayed this guy came up to me and said….

Hey! You play better than a guy.

5.  Don’t you just hate people who stand in the front of the dancefloor but don’t dance?

I like the attention, because it shows that I’m pulling the crowd “literally.”

6.  Complete the sentence… ‘House music is…..

Zinnia (you can never explain it).

7.  Favourite SA DJ/producer and why….

Black Coffee…he is a mentor

8.  Favourite international DJ/Producer and why…

Atjazz, he’s the best remixer around in my opinion; he never disappoints.

9.  What’s always in your fridge?

A bottle of my Giinja branded mineral water.

10.  The first thing I look for when I wake up is….

My radio switch so that I can listen to the presenter before my morning drive show.

11.  Any phobias or pre-set rituals to calm yourself down?

I like to listen to some jazz, to ease the mind beforehand.

12.  What word describes you best?

“Ginger” the life of the party.

13.  What’s the sexiest part of a man’s body?

The hands, as they always show how gentle he can be (or not, Ed).What’s more important – personality or good

14.  What’s more important  personality or good looks?

Personality.

15.  Ever taken advantage of a groupie/fan just because you could?

Yep I sure did; I made them carry my bag before and after my set.

16.  Favourite restaurant?

Beefboys in Potch – you have to go there to understand.

17.  Dancing means….

Letting go and losing yourself completely.

Interview: We can always do with more Headroom…

When did you start producing?

Yeah, you do seem to find a lot of techy, minimal psytrance for your DJ sets. There’s not a lot of that around. Where do you find all those killer tunes?

www.KillerTechyFreePsyTunes.com ..Kidding…. Being a part of the producer circle has the benefit of access to unreleased music. It’s through sharing with other producers that l have come across certain tech-psy gems. Often the producer hasn’t found the right label for the tune or simply isn’t comfortable releasing it yet, so it can remain hidden in limbo i.e. my CD wallet, heh heh.

How much have you enjoyed the travelling overseas? Are you bored yet?

It’s been a real blessing and has made me a far more rounded person. Although l’ve had times where l hated individual trips, l wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Definitely not bored.

I believe you’re going to spend most of our winter enjoying the European summer. Tell us a bit about the gigs you’re booked for…

So far  I have closed Glade (U.K.) , Solstice (Holland), Blissful Festival (Portugal), Colour of Forest (Switzerland), Sonica (Montenegro), Aqua Veda Festival (France), Aurora Festival (Greece) and a couple more are still in negotiation.

So life’s good then?

Well it’s a rollercoaster but l’m loving the ride.

One more trance related question… last month our Little Misfit columnist wrote an opinion piece on the CT trance scene. Do you think she was spot on, or a little unkind to the board short boys from the ‘burbs?

On the whole she’s on the money but maybe a tad harsh to the boardie boys.  l think all of us who’ve been in the scene for  a long time will feel somewhat alienated by certain stirrings created by the younger blood but this exaggerates our assessment of the state of our scene. The youthful troops are the strongest supporters and energy bringers so it’s wise to accept them all and help them settle down into a calmer more respectful party existence.

And finally…. Beef or chicken?

Beef.

Bacon & eggs or lentil & tofu?

Bacon & eggs.

What’s ALWAYS in your fridge?

Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Hit the snooze button

And the last thing before bed?

It’s X-Rated!

If you did not live in Cape Town, which city can you see yourself living in?

Melbourne

Written   By   :   Dave Mac

Interview: Armin Van Buuren – The Man, the Music and the Motivation

Armin Van Buuren

Four times DJ MAG Top 100 winner, Armin van Buuren is one of the world’s most prolific DJs/Producers. Meeting him [during his ASOT500 tour in South Africa] I soon realise that the driving force behind what he does is his overriding passion for dance music.

He walks in wearing sneakers, blue denim jeans and a branded t-shirt looking like your average Joe. As our press conference starts Armin chuckles “I would just like to thank my ancestors for building this castle so many years ago so we can do the interview here today.”
 
Hailed as the ‘Beethoven of Trance Music’ by ardent fans, he quickly lets us know that this is a title he is honoured to have and is humbled by as he eases effortlessly through the barrage of questions. After the conference I grab a chance for a little one on one chat. Here’s what I asked him…
 
BPM: What is your take on the Progressive Trance music culture in South Africa?
Armin: The scene here is small but healthy and seems to be growing. I really like the talents of Protoculture; he is doing big internationally and I had featured him on my show before I knew he was from here. He is definitely one to look out for!
 
BPM: Do you think you have reached the pinnacles set for ASOT500 when you started out with it?
Armin: At the start not really but I followed my passion and instinct. People were saying, wow you’re doing a two hour radio show on trance every week. Who is going to listen to that? Now the same people who criticised me also have their own radio shows. It just shows you the power of radio and of the internet. Back in 2001 the internet and radio was still up and coming. At episode 100 we did a small party on the beach and it was a huge success. We did another one at episode 250 and it was at a club. The funny thing is that my show starts at eight pm [CET] on a Thursday and who goes clubbing at eight on a Thursday? But the club was full and the fans were there.
 
BPM: What three things does a DJ need to do in order to prepare for a nine hour long set like you have done before?
Armin: Well, change your clothes, eat something and most importantly go to the toilet! Mine is actually a funny story. You see in the two minutes I get to change and go to the toilet I’m always backstage and this is right before I come on. At this point the announcer goes “Ladies and gentlemen welcome Armin van Buuren…” the crowd’s going crazy and I’m peeing, it’s really funny but that’s what happens.
 
BPM: You revealed on Twitter that you and your wife are expecting your first child. How would you feel about your son or daughter taking on a DJ-ing career such as you have?
Armin: Just as I have I will encourage my child to follow his or her passion and work hard. I believe that this is important, but hey it’s my first kid so ask me again in ten years!
 
‘A State of Trance 500’ is a Global tour spanning five continents that kicked off as a pre-party in Cape Town, SA on Thursday 17 March airing the 500th episode of the radio show. Over one thousand fans were treated to the event which included a live broadcast of the show and all enjoyed VIP access as no tickets were allowed to be bought. The event was strictly by invite only. The official kick off of the tour took place the following Saturday 19 March in Johannesburg, SA. I went to the Cape Town event and enjoyed one of the most historic parties of a lifetime. Can anyone say bucket list?

 
Written By:   Mary Honeychild

Interview: “Flawless, fancy beats with a touch of sexy funk”- BEATARMY

I caught up with Elster and Darryl better known as the House DJ duo BEATARMY who have recently been signed to Gallo Records (RPM Dance) just hours ahead of the launch party for their second album I Love House Music Vol. 2. What fans can expect from this double-disc offering they say is “some cutting edge Tech House on the one side while on the other you’ll get to experience some Progressive Electro complimented by old school classics remixed by the big guys at The Spinning Label!” Their sound and track selection is also largely inspired by producers like Chris Lake, Alex Kenji, R3hab, Dr Kucho, Stefano Neforini and Jewelz.

BEATARMY is based in Johannesburg and boasts a strong home following in the East Rand, throwing and promoting their own parties at hot spots all over the city and the rest of the country too. Together the pair have decided to split from the rat race and take on a career in the ‘making them people dance’ industry. Being signed to a division of a major record label like Gallo has its advantages and I asked them what it has been like since they got their deal. “From the first late night of ordered-in pizza and collecting wav tracks for the album to the final release it has been amazing. Heath Cordier [RPM Dance A&R] is a legend and great guy to work with.”

While managing a DJ career of your own and staying on top of the latest releases, genre development and sound differentiation, it can be tricky to organise and promote one’s own events with the same gusto. BEATARMY takes it in their stride.

“The three top factors in running and promoting our own parties has to be making sure we have a proper sound and DJ setup, DJ line up and far in advance advertising,” explains Elster.

They also run their own DJ school and get involved in helping other up and coming DJ’s by building a strong rapport with their fans and community. While Elster has been DJ-ing on and off over the past ten years, BEATARMY has been rocketing to major levels of success in the industry over their first year on the scene. Their impressive list of gigs speaks for itself. They opened up the main floor at Nicci Beach for the ‘All White Affair’ H2O party this year.

“H2O was absolutely amazing and is by far the best and biggest party! To have played on the main stage was nerve racking the first time but awesome. To play on a big stage to thousands of people is something all DJ’s should strive for,” reckons Darryl.

They have also been featured [and impressed] on SA’s hit radio station 5FM on the Fresh Drive Ultimix at 6 and Erica Elle’s Studio 55.

So is the BEATARMY a torch bearer for the crazy all out parties?

“We party when we get a chance; we love Nicci Beach… it’s a top class venue but we’re usually gigging on weekends. From time to time we like to go back to the coast for a surf. ”

For two guys with such a love for dance music I just have to find out what’s on the top of their own personal iPod playlists when they hit the gym….

“This is a tricky one,” says Elster; “we download new tracks every day of the week. So we have new favourites almost all the time,” he laughs knowingly. I guess Le Clochard – Heart IK… the original mix and Tell Me Why by Amna, the Tom Boxer and LLP mix.

If paired up DJ combos are the future for the delivery of some rocking house then BEATARMY is definitely one team to be looking out for. Don’t take my word for it though… go ahead and check out I Love House Music Vol.2 to garner your own opinion.

Written  By   :   Mary Honeychild