Category: Featured

INTERVIEW: The M Machine (2013)

San Francisco-based EDM group The M Machine gained major attention when Skrillex released their debut EP “Promise Me a Rose Garden”/”Glow” on his OWSLA label.? The trio of Andy Coenen, Eric Luttrell, and Ben Swardlick were inspired by the classic movie Metropolis for their follow up EPs and their name.? Their remixes of Arty, Passion Pit, and Madeon gained a lot of attention as well.? The artistic trio are really involved with the full aesthetic experience of their music – focusing on creating a live audio and visual show as they tour.? We caught up with them in Nashville when they were touring with Markus Schulz on the Scream Bus Tour.

DJ Ron Slomowicz: How is the bus tour going?
Ben: We are in a new city every day, it?s great and we are very happy. Markus is awesome and his crowds are really intense which is great for us. Andy just programmed a big video show and we get to use his giant LED screen, so the timing is perfect.
Continue reading INTERVIEW: The M Machine (2013)

SONG OF THE DAY: The Presets – “Fall”

The Presets have always had a dark tone to their music – with their first two albums blending ’80s new wave and rock with industrial and the piercing voice of singer Julian Hamilton.? The new single keeps that dark tone but contrasts it with a pretty, almost perky, ’90s synth groove feeling like 808 State as interpreted by Hot Chip or Empire of the Sun with a touch of atypical stadium. As a love song, it borders on emo (if not hipster) with the lines about finding heaven while falling into hell.? Dramatic, cinematic, and yes, again reminiscent of fellow Aussies Empire of the Sun.? Or maybe I just have Empire of the Sun on my brain because of the incessant YouTube ads.? Of the various remixes by Alan Braxe, Erick Rincon, SymbolOne, and Tomas Barfod, the energetic progressive electro mix by Hook N Sling stands out as being the perfect blend of aggressive and pretty. The video is spooky and angelic at the same time with guys sky jumping from a plane while either wearing masks or keeping their faces completely motionless through the whole experience.

Image Courtesy of Modular.

INTERVIEW: Markus Schulz – Scream Tour (2013)

‘Think differently’ was the slogan for Apple back in the late ’90s, and it seem like Markus Schulz has embraced it as his personal mantra.? When we last spoke to the German DJ/Producer, he had just released the incredible ‘Scream’ album.? To support the album, he loaded up a bus with Khomha and the M-Machine and toured the US. At his stop in Nashville, I caught up with him and asked him about his new project with Ferry Corsten (New World Punx), the idea behind the Schulz Music Group, and more.

DJ Ron Slomowicz: I eMailed my readers for questions to ask you; and the question which kept coming back was what city in Germany were you born in?
Markus Schulz: I was born in Eschwege, which is a little village by Kassel in between Frankfurt and Gottingen.

RS: The big news since the album release is the New World Punx, why are you and Ferry Corsten joining up like this?
Markus: Well it all started one day at a barbeque in Ibiza, we were just hanging out chatting and vibing and we both thought ?god, why haven?t we ever worked together in the studio.? We got in the studio just to have fun and work together and we ended up have such great chemistry, we were dancing around, high-fiving, and it just evolved from there. We started doing back-to-back sets and had such good chemistry that the promoters wanted to book us back-to-back. We decided to come up with a brand name for it so that people understood that New World Punx was different than just Ferry and Markus. Ferry and I are both at a stage in our careers that we just want to have fun right now, we have both done so much and sometimes the politics of the scene can get to you and we just want to have some fun with the project.

Continue reading INTERVIEW: Markus Schulz – Scream Tour (2013)