From the WatchTheDJ archive
DJ Mag
Featured sets
May 2017
Laidback Luke - Live @ DJ Mag Ibiza 2017
From his origins in the house and techno underground through to his current more eclectic style, Laidback Luke has always been a leading light in music of present day as well as the future. Dutch hero Laidback Luke is enjoying a hugely varied and consistently noteworthy career in the game. With a reputation as a serious talent spotter and for being one of the nicest guys around, he has built himself a mightily impressive musical empire that has touched the highest reaches of the music industry. Within his first year of producing in the mid-’90s, he was remixing dance legends like Green Velvet and Moodymann and having his tracks licensed by Carl Cox for his compilations, laying down a marker as an artist to watch. A prolific output saw him conquer the underground and by 2003 he was remixing the likes of Daft Punk. As the noughties progressed, he laid the foundations for the distinctive Dutch house sound that would provide one of the building blocks of the EDM sound and help bridge the gap between dance and pop / urban music. Now with chart crossover hits and remixes for the likes of Mariah Carey, Robin Thicke, Madonna and Nicki Minaj plus three albums under his belt – not to mention hundreds of dance floor hits – he is a hugely accomplished producer. His eclectic third album Focus, released in November 2015, proved him once again to be an artist with wide ambitions and a very accomplished spectrum of styles, while his steady run of singles continues to keep him at the forefront of dance floors across the world on a constant basis. His scouting skills have served up an impressive array of big hitters on their way up including Avicii, A-Trak, Bingo Players, Knife Party, Afrojack and Steve Angello to name just a few, all while pushing the commitment to unearthing and supporting new talent that is at the heart of what he’s all about. He has emulated that role in capacity of founder and A&R for his own Mixmash Records renowned for presenting music trends of the present and future. His wealth of experience and ear for talent have seen him assume the role of a mentor for the dance scene, while his dedication to personally replying to every tweet he receives makes it clear how much he values his huge, loyal fanbase. As a DJ, he’s a continual fixture on all the biggest dance stages in the world, with dates across 2016 at Sensation India, Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland Brasil and Creamfields to name just a few. His Super You&Me club nights gave early bookings to the likes of Skrillex, Snake, Dada Life, Zedd, Diplo, Hardwell and Avicii even made his worldwide DJ debut on one of the infamous Miami editions of this all inclusive event, again cementing his track record of supporting big names ahead of the curve, and it continues to swell in size with regular parties in Miami, Ibiza and beyond. His popular weekly vlog The Real World: DJ Edition gives an insight into his intense life and maintains a direct connection with fans, while his healthy lifestyle sees him extol the virtues of tai chi, yoga, healthy food and his beloved kung-fu over hedonism and excessive partying. All this combined makes him a truly unique and inspirational figure in the dance music industry, and one who will contain to play a vital part in it for years to come.
May 2017
Artwork - Live @ DJ Mag HQ 2017
May 2017
wAFF - Live @ DJ Mag HQ 2017
May 2017
Enrico Sangiuliano - Live @ DJ Mag HQ 2017
Born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, the exact period of which is not yet known to experts. Little Enrico spent his childhood manifesting a particular adoration for percussion, creating real performances on pots and pans, school benches, traffic signs, and the drums. After hitting any kind of existing material he realized that with computers he could create sounds on surfaces unknown to reality and could make them reverberate in virtual non-existent spaces. Enrico began his career through illegal rave parties. He has played in the most important raves created in Italy in the last 11 years, earning space thanks to his numerous unreleased productions that became "party hits". In recent years he has started putting his releases out into the international techno scene. In 2009 he sent his first demo and got 2 tracks released and remixed by the Swedish duo Hertz. In 2010 he won the Beatport "D-Nox & Beckers" Remix Contest" and released his "Call Me" Remix on Baroque Records. In 2011 he won the Mauro Picotto's "Alchemy Festival & Competition” with the song "HMI" and thanks to its live performance at Alchemy Festival (Turin, Italy). In 2012, as part of the Alchemy team, he continued to collaborate with Alchemy Records releasing "Mechanisms Of Utopia EP" and "Joga Bola" Remix for Mauro Picotto. The 'greatest thing' about 2012 was a collaboration with Frankyeffe. Released on Adam Beyer's Truesoul in vinyl "Consciousness EP" was played everywhere by Sven Vath and used in the soundtrack in the "Time Warp Holland" video. In 2013 he secured his producing skills on the most prominent of techno labels in the scene: the strong Octopus Recordings, Secret Cinema's Gem Records, Jewel Kid's Alleanza and the Austrian Driving Forces. In 2014 we have to expect something really great. There are already two new production bases for 2014: Stephan Bodzin's Herzblut and the Belgian Rhythm Converted run by Tom Hades. His tracks are rhythmic, deep, hypnotic and technological... Techno from the heart. Supported, selected and played by: Adam Beyer, John Digweed, Carlo Lio, Karotte, Monika Kruse, Christian Smith, Gregor Tresher, Joseph Capriati, Tom Hades, Ramon Tapia, Steve Lawler, Davide Squillace, Mark Reeve, Joel Mull, Alan Fitzpatrick, Umek, Tony Rohr, 2000 and One, Mihalis Safras, The Advent, Kyle Geiger, Stephan Bodzin, Mauro Picotto, Sasha Carassi and others.
Apr 2017
Sante - Live @ DJ Mag HQ 2017
Berlin’s Santé emerged as part of a wave of new producers with a different cut to their electronic jib around the time that deep house was losing its way somewhat. His productions ooze character, charisma, soul, colour, humour and above all a sense of humanity. After teaching himself to play the guitar in his early teens, Santé bought himself an Akai MPC-2000 when he was 16 and set the ball rolling for a life entrenched in electronic music. “I was totally into sampling and house” he recalls of those early days of button bashing and experimentation. He left his hometown when he was 21 to immerse himself in the dance music mecca that is Berlin. The plan was to study music at university, but failing the entrance exam meant he had to pursue other endeavours. A studio internship blossomed into a full-time career, with the emerging talent spending six years producing jingles and ad music and nurturing his passion for house music at any opportunity. Nothing was released, however, until one of his demos found its way to Matt ‘Radio Slave’ Edwards. His first ever release came out on Edwards’ acclaimed REKIDS imprint, setting the bar incredibly high and garnering him a lot of high-profile attention in the process. The next major stepping stone for him was meeting two guys named Ali and Basti - also known as Tiefschwarz. “They were looking for a new engineer and took me to their label Souvenir, where I got the freedom to release my music and have a playground” he explains. This fruitful, intense relationship lasted three years before Santé decided to fly the nest in search of new pastures, his sophisticated sound developing all the while. In recent times, his style has taken on yet more verve, with the warmth of the house he has always known and loved now bolstered by a loose techno rhythm and percussive drive. The sensuality remains, yet with more dance floor urgency. Whether its one of his acclaimed live shows or one of his DJ sets you’re listening to, the infectious energy is always there. He describes himself both as a party animal and a studio gremlin (“because you need to be both to do music!”), and cites his biggest influences as The Cure, Talking Heads, Aphex Twin and the Detroit techno pioneers and legends. Embracing both the convenience of the present (producing wherever he goes on his MacBook) and the charm of the past (one look at the rented 808 in his studio will attest to that), he is a producer who effortlessly spans the old and new skool in the most uncontrived of ways. A look at his upcoming release schedule spells out what a diverse producer he is and how far his popularity ranges - from bastions of techno like Cocoon to the kings of big room house Defected, through to underground darlings like Desolat, Supernature and 8Bit. Few producers can claim such a breadth of imprints to be associated with at any one time. When you ask Santé to describe his musical style, he says he doesn’t really know how to - which goes someway to explaining his widespread appeal. Plans for the future include his long-awaited debut artist album, which he promises will be more of a song-based affair than a straight-up collection of dancefloor grooves (“to show a few more skills”), and his fledgling Avotre brand, currently housing a record label and with a clothing line in the making. With his impressive release schedule to boot, he’s looking to be bigger than ever over the coming months.
Apr 2017
Sidney Charles - Live @ DJ Mag HQ 2017
It might have come as a surprise to some that Hamburg’s Sidney Charles topped Resident Advisor’s Top 100 Most Charted Artists of 2013, but it’s an accolade that speaks volumes about both his approach to music and his prolific, consistent output. Born Sidney Charles Hurricane Vieljans (yes, really), his journey towards the world of house and techno began when he first started DJing hip-hop, soul and funk at the age of 15. Taking his cues from the golden age of turntablism and associated culture in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, his attentions were led towards other sounds of the era also enjoying their first heyday. His infatuation with those classic 4/4 club sounds is something that lives and breathes vividly in his music today. “I see myself mainly connected with the raw house sound” he says of the style he projects with his productions and DJ sets today. “I am highly influenced by the early ‘90s. Jacking beats; heavy kicks; dirty highs. But I also like to experiment a lot to not make people bored of a certain sound.” Whatever shade of house or techno he’s producing, it’s always packed full of hard grooves, raw sounds and a classy simplicity that lets the track do what it’s supposed to do: make your ass wiggle. For a producer who only started releasing music in 2011, Sidney’s achievements are all the more impressive. In the space of just three years, his works have graced bastions of house and techno such as Avotre, 8bit, I Am A House Gangster, Moda Black, Off, VIVa, Kling Klong, SCI+TEC, Suara and Area Remote - each release adding to his clout and helping him to become one of the biggest names in the underground. And that’s where he wants to stay. He has no lofty aspirations to play arena shows or break through into the mainstream of electronic music. He’d rather stay true to the scene and surroundings he loves and develop and grow therein. “I think the most important thing for me is that people take my music as a personal part of me” he says. “That means I can create an image mostly characterised by authenticity. So I don’t need to play for the biggest fees in the biggest clubs. I am mainly interested in the underground scene itself and being an active and creative part of it. With my music and my activeness in the scene as a DJ or otherwise. I want to give my part to keep the underground alive. As my music is meant to be honest, I also see myself more playing in clubs which are not fancy or posh-like. I see myself in more underground-orientated locations like Sankeys, fabric, Watergate, Panoramabar…” Along with his lengthy studio stints and packed DJing schedule, his role as A&R for Santé’s burgeoning Avotre imprint and the occasional parties he throws in his hometown ensure that he’s constantly immersed in his passion. While his focus is on making dancefloors vibrate, he’s also working on an album and a project with like-minded star Darius Syrossian and is keeping plans for his own record label in the back of his mind. With the diversity he’s displayed and the continually acclaimed output he’s been creating, there’s little doubt that Sidney Charles can continue to grow and evolve in the years to come - even within those refreshingly focused parameters which he has set for himself.
Apr 2017
Charlotte de Witte - Live @ DJ Mag 2017
If there’s one DJ about to take the world by storm, it’s Charlotte de Witte. Never shying away from a challenge, always malling her career and music the way she envisions it. And scorching through a myriad of uncompromising, agressive techno sets across Europe every single weekend. No surprise then, that the rest of the world is calling for Charlotte. After already having toured Asia, the U.S. and Canada, she’ll be heading to Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America next. Few dj’s belong to the group that can work on that level - from the biggest stages to the sweatiest basement raves. Still her heart remains tied to the both the underground Techno scene and Belgium where she can be found championing new talent both on her Saturday night radio show, ‘Playground Charlotte de Witte’ on Studio Brussels, Belgium’s leading radio station, and at KNTXT de Witte’s residency at Brussels Techno institution Fuse. Having moved into production, de Witte has wasted no time in establishing herself as a serious talent in the studio as well as behind the decks. But whilst a Charlotte de Witte DJ set is guaranteed to get you moving, Charlotte’s own music has provided her with a chance to reveal another side. Her agressive, stripped-down approach to her own tracks is a testament to that beforementioned dark side, while the tracks also often feature her own vocals. “Making music really gives me a chance to tap into the more emotional side of electronic music that I love. Music that has that melancholic side to it, I just find it so much more interesting, whether DJ’ing, producing or just listening myself at home.” Her release on Tiga’s Turbo Recordings “Weltschmerz EP” gained massive national and internatonal support. For now, with her upcoming releases, her ongoing radio show, Fuse residency and a packed tour diary de Witte shows no sign of slowing down. Despite her love of all things dark, the future for Charlotte de Witte looks very bright indeed. This is only the beginning, it seems. “My Feeling”, from Charlotte’s follow-up EP on Turbo Recordings “Sehnsucht”, was Mixmag’s Track of 2016, the year in which Charlotte won Red Bull Elektropedia’s Award for best producer in her native Belgium. To top it all off, Trax Magazine dubbed her ‘nouvel espoir de la techno belge’ while Tsugi coined her “revelation for 2017”.
Apr 2017
Federico Gardenghi - Live @ DJ Mag 2017
Prodigious Techno DJ, Federico Gardenghi is set to become the youngest ever DJ be streamed live by DJ Mag, when he plays an exclusive set from our London offices on Thursday 13th April. At just 12 years old, Gardenghi has developed a style that has impressed DJs including Carl Cox and Maceo Plex. His fortnightly 'Techno Fridays' live streams reguarly go viral - with some of his videos clocking up to 7 million views. Last time DJ Mag caught up with the young DJ, back in 2013, he told us about how he selects the music he wants to play: “The songs have to be powerful, have emotion and get people moving … if a song is a good one … the genre doesn’t really matter."