Tag: sidney samson

INTERVIEW: Firebeatz (2013)

2012 was a massive year for the Dutch duo Firebeatz, Jurgio Ratello and Tim Benjamin.? Their track with Chocolate Puma, “Just One More Time,” was a big Beatport hit and gained massive support from Pete Tong.? A slew of solid remixes, including Pink’s “Blow Me,” has expanded their reach from the underground to the mainstream.? With so much going, they were quite in demand during the Amsterdam Dance Event, and I caught up with them for a quick chat.

RS: How did the two of you meet up?
Jurgio Ratello: We met at School of Rock in Tilburg.

RS: Were you DJs first or producers?
Tim Benjamin: I was a DJ first and played music, and then I started to create the sounds that I played. In the beginning, it was mostly drum and bass/hip-hop stuff. Later on when we met at school, it was more house music and that genre.
Jurgio: I started DJing first and was more into the original house sound. That is where we get this unique combination of all different influences.

Continue reading INTERVIEW: Firebeatz (2013)

SONG OF THE DAY: Sidney Samson ft Martin Garrix – “Torrent”

Honestly, it was hard to choose which of the two tracks to write up – “Dutchland” or “Torrent.” “Dutchland” is straight-ahead dirty dutch-style electro – if I closed my eyes, I would think it sounds more like Afrojack. Aside from the dark mellow keyboard break and Daft Punk-y synth line, this could have easily been produced at the same time as “Shut Up and Let It Go” or “Riverside.” The vocal samples “are you happy now” and “this is what you want” seem like he is taunting the listener with that point, that they want him to return to his more classic original sound. “Torrent” has a much more evil, aggressively futuristic feel – with the tone of dubstep/grindcore, yet still in the “genre” of dirty dutch electro. You can definitely hear the contribution of rising star Martin Garrix – the dark feel that was in “Bfam” and “Keygen” are definitely in evidence here. When released, “Torrent” will no doubt be a massive club track. With these two tracks, Sidney shows how he can work with big stars on pop records while still capably turning out massive big room club records with a more underground feel.

Image Courtesy of Rock the House.

SONG OF THE DAY: Sidney Samson ft?will.i.am?- “Better Than Yesterday”

will.i.am?of the Black Eyed Peas is definitely embracing EDM, working with everyone from Steve Aoki to Wolfgang Gartner.? For “Better Than Yesterday,”?will.i.am?teams up with Dirty Dutchman Sidney Samson for a surprisingly subtle club track.? Yes, of course it’s energetic, but the influence of stadium/bro house (and a touch of rock) is evident in the intro and first verse. The lyrics of the first verse are quite meaningful – uplifting and positive about a better world, but then the second verse devolves quickly into gratuitous namechecking and excessive partying/getting drunk.? The disjointed nature makes it feel like the first half was written by a Swedish House Mafia writer and the second verse was a spoof of LMFAO/Pitbull.? “Better Than Yesterday” is definitely a great club track, but I will be doing my own edit, removing the tacky second vocal verse before I drop it in my sets.

Image Courtesy of Spinnin.