Salacious Sound » Electric Daisy Carnival 2011

Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 – Thomas Gold Interview and Performance Review

Cal — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:02:22 +0000

Thomas Gold on Soundcloud | Twitter | Facebook

It’s pretty exciting to be able to score an email interview with a world-class artist like Thomas Gold, but to do so and then follow up with a sit-down in Las Vegas a couple hours before his main stage set at the 2011 Electric Daisy Carnival has left me feeling elated and accomplished. In fairness, the interview is mostly as good as it is because of Thomas’ love for what he does and for those around him who are also making music – mostly. I also happen to be a huge fan, and having followed his work avidly for the last year or more made it pretty easy to pick his brain.

He has a lot to talk about, and the two different interviews cover two different sides of the story. The email interview is a bit more personal, and you can tell he spent some time caringly crafting his answers. The sit down is all about the current – what’s new, and what’s about to come up. Be excited – it’s a big year for Thomas!

I’ve included some photographs of the main-stage performance at EDC, and when you watch the video you’ll also see some footage I recorded. One special note: there is a pretty hilarious panning shot of the audience that is probably the shakiest footage I’ve ever captured. I was working with a new grip rig for my DSLR that I hadn’t really taken for a proper test drive, the adrenaline was rushing, and the stage manager insisted that I be quick. Nonetheless, the footage gives a sense of scale – the main stage was HUGE!! Definitely the biggest production I’ve seen yet.

At the bottom of the article you’ll also find a copy of Thomas’ set, which I’m sure you’ll agree is top notch. As promised in my interview with him, it is loaded with new tracks and special edits! If you’re interested in what a top-notch festival set sounds like, as crafted and delivered by one of the world’s foremost EDM producers, then have a listen.

Click photo + use left/right directional keys to navigate

Cal: With your current tour schedule, producing at your studio in Berlin is rarely an option. How are you enjoying producing on the road?

Thomas Gold: I really got used to it and actually I love it! In the beginning I started producing on the road with a small laptop model and i found it often hard to work with, due to lack of processing power and the little screen. Also I just had to get used to working without a mouse, only with headphones etc. Now I have a better laptop and this one is really fast! So i can nearly do the same stuff as i do in my studio, of course without the big monitor speakers. But I can work on my tracks, remixes and all other stuff whenever I want to. Really appreciate that, as otherwise I would not be able to spend much time in the studio with all the traveling!

Cal: As someone who likes to play melodies on a full keyboard I imagine the transition was difficult. What tools do you use to facilitate experimenting and getting creative when writing songs on a laptop at an airport?

Thomas Gold: I tried a couple of things. Drawing notes with a mouse or the trackpad is not my thing. So I either use the apple key-board feature (you can use the keyboard like a piano key thing – somehow) which is not often easy but it works, even for chords haha! Or – which i do prefer – i use a small USB midi keyboard. I had to try around with a couple of them, but in the end, I now have a mini keyboard, with 2 octaves which works well and – it’s very compact and lightweight – perfect for traveling, also at airports

Cal: How do you stay organized and focused while traveling?

Thomas Gold: I have all my music and production stuff on my laptop, also emails, diary etc. So actually I take my complete ‘office’ with me when on the road. I try to keep my stuff organized as much as possible, but of course sometimes an email gets lost or forgotten or some data goes missing. I’m looking forward to be able to work with the ‘cloud’ system in the future, so I can access all my data from anywhere in the world and nothing gets lost…

Cal: On the one hand, you’ve had some breakthrough originals and collabs, with talk of future releases on Toolroom and Size. On the other, incredible remix work with top artists like Adele and Lady Gaga. Do you know if your focus in the next few months will be on remix work or more originals? Why?

Thomas Gold: As I focused a lot on remixes in the past months, I’m now getting back to my own original productions. I did a track with Kim Fai (which will be out on Size) and just finished another one together with Dirty South (out on Phazing soon) and I have two more track on the go, which will be released on Axtone – so I’m excited to get them out around this summer and autumn!

Cal: You’ll be spending time in Ibiza this summer playing at Masquerade Motel, and probably a bit of relaxing too right? What’s your favorite lesser-known spot on the white isle to kick back?

Thomas Gold: Sometimes I like to go to Cala Jondal beach – it’s a nice and small one, not as crowded as the other big beaches, perfect for chill out… And you can have some nice fish at the restaurant there! But keep that to yourself!

Cal: As a musician selling records right now, you must have some ideas or feelings about attitudes towards purchasing music. What has to/will give? Will music sales never be the same, and will musicians just make money off touring? Or will sales improve as new services grow like iCloud and Spotify?

Thomas Gold: I think looking at the actual development, track sales won’t be that important anymore in the music business. Nevertheless I think it’s only fair to pay for music – it does not have to be much, but behind all those tracks there is a lot of work, and even musicians and producers have to pay for their lives. On the other side, i think it’s nowadays an important tool of marketing and self-promotion to get your music spread over the internet by bloggers and fans. I only hate those people who steal music and then go and sell it – this destroys a lot and does not help any artist! But all in all I think that most of the money artists make will come from their tours. But not all DJ’s or producers are able to do live gigs, so they will definitely lose here. And I think that this is kind of a problem as then many of these guys have to stop making music, which will be a loss. Maybe in the future with those new internet services things will change, so let’s see, fingers crossed!

Video Interview With Thomas Gold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPZrHstBnJU

Thomas Gold - Live at Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 Las Vegas 26-06-2011.mp3

Tracklist:

01 Thomas Gold – Abart (Intro Edit)
02 Jay C & Felix Baumgartner – Souk / Djuma Soundsystem – Les Djinns (Thomas Gold Remix) w/ Shakedown – At Night (Acapella)
03 Quintino – Raider
04 Arty – Across The World w/ Adele – Rolling In The Deep (Acapella)
05 Marcus Schossow – Acid Festival Champagne Bitches w/ Matisse & Sadko – Hi Scandinavia
06 Thomas Gold – Headbang
07 David Tort, Thomas Gold, David Gausa – Areena (Original + Dirty South Remix) w/ Everything But The Girl – Missing (Acapella)
08 Steve Lawler – That Sound (Thomas Gold 2011 Rework)
09 Thomas Gold – Marsch Marsch w/ Delerium ft. Sarah Mc Lachlan – Silence (Acapella)
10 Calvin Harris – Awooga w/ Justice vs. Simian – We Are Your Friends (Acapella)
11 Bassjackers – Mush Mush w/ Stefano Noferini – French Kiss w/ Paul Johnson Get Get Down (Acapella)
12 Tim Mason – The Moment (Thomas Gold Re-Edit) w/ Hool vs. Bruckheimer – In The Beginning (Acapella)
13 Lady Gaga – Judas (Thomas Gold Remix)
14 Green Velvet – Flash (Nicky Romero Remix) vs. Sander van Doorn – Intro w/ Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside (Acapella) (Dirty South vs. Thomas Gold Mashup Re-Edit)
15 Cirez D – On Off (Thomas Gold Re-Rub) w/ Erick Morillo – Dancin (I Got The Pills) (Acapella)
16 Sander van Doorn – Reach Out (Thomas Gold Remix)
17 Hard Rock Sofa & St. Brothers – Blow Up (Thomas Gold vs. Axwell Remix) w/ John Dahlback – Blink (Acapella)
18 Adele – Set Fire To The Rain (Thomas Gold Remix)
19 Dirty South & Thomas Gold – Alive
20 Sidekick – Deep Fear w/ Henrik B – Acid Rocker (David Tort Remix)
21 Cygnus X – Superstring (Thomas Gold Edit) w/ Chuckie & Gregori Klosman – Mutfakta (Promised Land Remix)
22 Sander van Doorn – Koko (Thomas Gold Rework)

Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 – Pleasurekraft Review

ReySon — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:13:47 +0000

Pleasurekraft on Facebook | SoundCloud
What set the pace for our Salacious Sound author Cal on EDC Day 2 (Zedd Sets the pace for Day 2 @ Neon Garden) differed from what would set my pace. Tech-house has a place in my heart and Pleasurekraft at the Circuit Grounds stage is where i needed to be. As Cal and I filtered our way through the crops of rainbow colored ravers we soaked in musical vibrations from all ends, and from every spectrum of the music. Neon Garden stage behind us was hosting Porter Robinson, bassPOD stage to the left of us was preparing for Bare, and Circuit Grounds dead ahead was already putting out hooky house beats. Cal and i were like little kids in a candy store.

As we arrived to Circuit Grounds, overhead misters greeted us with a refreshing cool glaze of droplets on our bodies. We began meshing ourselves deeper into the crowd while the warm house rhythms of Pleasurekraft started to overtake our motor-skills. Within seconds we were head bopping (yes, even Cal), and definitely jiving to the sound. Everything around us could be felt, from the thickness of the kicks and the crisp-clear vocal stabs, to the dust kicked up by nearby shufflers. The energy and atmosphere around us was very palpable. Then came the stage performers…a small cluster of clowns, albeit the sexiest clowns i had ever laid eyes on. These Tim Burton-esque creations slowly made their way around stage giving the crowd a visual snack, and perhaps reawakening them from the trance Pleasurekraft had set them in. As fast as they came, they were gone. They fled off to find their next stage to entertain.

With a dozen or so minutes left to go in their set i suddenly snapped back into reality myself. I began to hear something fresh. Pleasurekraft was laying on us a quirky pattern from a new track entitled Satyr Song, and i was digging it. As Kaveh (one half of Pleasurekraft) smoothly blended the track in, he quickly realized the track was a definite crowd pleaser. In response, with the widest grin and the most joyous hop to the sky, Kaveh reciprocated to the audience an equal amount of energy. Success, the energy had come full circle.

Have a listen and be the critic yourself. Pleasurekraft – Live @ Electric Daisy Carnival 2011…

Pleasurekraft - Live at Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 Las Vegas.mp3

Tracklist
01. Green Velvet – Harmageddon (Pleasurekraft Sideshow Remix)
02. Style of Eye + Magnus the Magnus – The Antidote (Pleasurekraft’s ‘Gorillas in the Mids’ Remix)
03. Sneaky Sound System – We Love (Pleasurekraft Dub)
04. Pleasurekraft – Anubis
05. Pleasurekraft – Carny
06. Mike Vale – I’m Gonna (Original Mix)
07. Miles Dyson + Aaren San – Zooloo (Pleasurekraft Remix)
08. Style of Eye – Sexx
09. Pleasurekraft – Satyr Song
10. Green Velvet – La La Land (Pleasurekraft Sideshow Remix)
11. Luca Morris – Lamu (Original Mix)
12. Pleasurekraft – Tarantula (Original Mix)

Newest release…
Style Of Eye & Magnus The Magnus – The Antidote (Pleasurekraft ‘Gorillas In The Mids’ Remix) by ElectricDaisyCarnival

Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 – Skrillex Performs For a Massive Crowd @ Neon Garden

Cal — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:10:20 +0000

Skrillex was one of the few artists at EDC this weekend that I really like and wasn’t anticipating hotly, because I wasn’t sure how much of his set I’d be able to catch on account of the fact that him and Zeds Dead were booked in roughly the same time slot. This year has been a great one for the 23 year old Los Angeles native, with dozens of original and remix productions, and over half of those becoming huge chart-topping hits. No surprise then that the mostly Californian crew at EDC was out in droves to show their support for the man who has done much to bring dubstep to the forefront of popular music in America.

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As it turned out, I was able to catch about 20 minutes of his performance before having to swim through the massive crowd swarming the Neon Garden stage, and the stop off was well worth it. Shuffling was rare as he began his set with his biggest hits, each proving more anthemic than the next with the skanking, 2-stepping, thrashing fans. His opening track was the only real curveball – the debut of a previously unreleased original production. I was permitted to do a short recording of his set and the quality turned out reasonably well, though with some difficulty in processing it at home – we were rather close to the stage as you can see from the footage, and the thunderous bass was so loud that each pulse would compress my chest (and consequently it overpowered much of the rest of the recording).

Skrillex - Unreleased (Live at EDC 2011 Las Vegas).mp3

Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 – Zedd Sets the Pace for Day 2 @ Neon Garden

Cal — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:58:37 +0000

Zedd on Facebook | Soundcloud

Day two of EDC Las Vegas 2011 began early in the day at the Boys Noize Liquid pool party, setting a high bar for the festival. Little did I know, as I awaited an artist shuttle on the Vegas strip in the hot dry breeze, that my expectations would continue to be exceeded.

The small limo bus arrived at about 715pm, 45 minutes before Zedd’s opening set, and was a welcome respite from the 40+ Celcius (104 Fahrenheit) temperatures we had been facing for the last five hours. We cracked a couple cold beers, and started chatting up the lighting producers for Skrillex’s visual show who waxed rhapsodic about the display we were about to take in. Strange as it may seem to praise a bus ride on a music blog, I have to say the shuttles were one of several small details that made EDC an outstanding festival experience. By 740, as we were nearing the Las Vegas Speedway, throngs of ravers clogged the highway trying to get to the front gates, and our shuttle entered its special priority lane which allowed us to bypass the throngs of arriving ravers and enter through what seemed like a secret rear aqueduct directly in to the artist trailer area. Much to my surprise, we were greeted by the friendliest event staff I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with (indeed, every single staffer, producer, and bouncer that I dealt with this weekend was incredibly friendly and helpful).

We explained to the EDC staff that it was our intention to go check out Zedd’s opening set over at Neon Garden, and they offered to scoot us over in one of the dozens of waiting golf carts. In just under a minute we were looking at the back of the impressive array of lights and LCD panels on the stage, where Zedd has just begun his set with Alesso’s remix of Party Rock.

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Zedd’s performance was the perfect start to day 2, starting at dusk on my personal favourite stage from that evening, Neon Garden. The atmosphere was electric, as the mostly Californian, body-painted, neon clad ravers danced to his selection of electro anthems from the last year and a half amidst the impressive stage visuals and brightly LED-lit fair ground rides, as the sun set on the desert horizon. By the time it had grown dark, Zedd’s crowd of several hundred enthusiastic fans had grown in to a frenzied sea, where thousands of dancers shuffled, breakdanced, and perhaps even fist-pumped a little as they sung every hook in unison. Zedd’s technical proficiency was the unsung highlight of the show though, as he looped and weaved tracks together to create dizzying drops, and applied mixer effects expertly to create epic breakdowns.

But don’t take my word for it – have a listen to this absolutely world class set for yourself!

Zedd - Live at Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 Las Vegas 25-06-2011.mp3

Tracklist:
01. LMFAO – The Party Rock Anthem (Alesso Remix)
02. Deadmau5 & Wolfgang Gartner – Animal Rights
03. Skrillex feat. Sirah – Weekends!!! (Zedd Remix)
04. The Black Eyed Peas – The Time (Dirty Bit) (Zedd Remix)
05. Ke$ha – Blow (Circuit Remix)
06. Wolfgang Gartner – Illmerica (ID Remix)
07. Lady Gaga – Born This Way (Zedd Remix)
08. ID (well-known tune, probably Zedd’s remix)
09. Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke feat. Lil Jon – Turbulence
10. Major Lazer ft. VYBZ Kartel – Pon De Floor
11. Bart B More – Brap
12. Zedd – Dovregubben
13. The Bloody Beetroots feat. Steve Aoki – Warp 1.9
14. Zedd – The Legend Of Zelda
15. Zedd – ID (his new track)
16. Deadmau5 – Reward Is Cheese
17. Skrillex – Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites (Zedd Remix)

Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 – Interview With Wolfgang Gartner

ReySon — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:14:37 +0000

Upon closure of Day 1 at Electric Daisy Carnival it became evident that all senses had been stimulated and well nourished. The festival had begun without a hitch. EDC was proving itself as top-dawg in the arena of large electronic festivals and solidifying Las Vegas as the next EDM hotspot. With a smorgasbord of artists on the festival roaster for the first day alone, it seemed unfair that I could only attend a select few. One of these few…happened to be Wolfgang Gartner. As Joey finished chalking up another mind blowing performance on the board, we had the privilege of stealing a few words from him afterwards. Here are his words from his mouth to your eyes…

ReySon
How do you find your set went tonight, and how are you feeling about the festival itself?
Wolfgang
That was actually the first experience we’ve had with the festival this year, besides Dallas last weekend. We literally got here an hour ago, and just walked on stage and started. It was great man, it was great. It was kind of an earlier set, 10:45-11:45, just kind of building up and the response was good, everything seemed great. No complaints.
ReySon
Dubstep has seen exponential growth over the past year and seems to have stolen the EDM spotlight, how has dubstep influenced you and your music recently?
Wolfgang
Dubstep has not had any influence on me whatsoever in the slightest bit. I don’t listen to it, I don’t try and make it, I will never try and make it, and probably never listen to it. There are few people that are very good at making it and occasionally when they send me things I will sort of analyze them from a technical perspective…like Skrillex for example, “like holy shit, how does he do that”, but from a musical perspective, it doesn’t hit me. His music is amazing, but music to me is house music. There’s a reason everything is 128bpm, four-four-four-kick, I could never get into anything that wasn’t that.
ReySon
Let’s talk about your upcoming album, is it going to be different from previous albums? When can we expect it?
Wolfgang
I think it’s just, it’s me. It’s coming out the second week of September. There will be quite a few tracks that are just instrumental Wolfgang tracks, there will be some tracks with cameos, like the thing we did with Eve tonight. Its all my music and the stuff with vocals is just an addition to that. There are rumors floating around that when it comes out, there are going to be people that are gonna say that “you went David Guetta, you went David Guetta, and got rap vocals on this shit.” They like to put categories and say if this has a rap vocal on it then i don’t like it anymore, its not cool because everybody knows about it. The more people that know about it, the less cool it is. Its all just bullshit. I just make music, and whatever the fuck people think about, I really don’t care.

ReySon
Who would you say owns the game in EDM at the moment? Who do you respect completely?
Wolfgang
I mean there isn’t anybody. I’m not saying I’m the best, there are a ton of talented amazing producers out there that make a lot of different sounds, but there’s not one person out there right now that just makes me go, “holy fuck, I aspire to be that”, you know?
ReySon
Not even Deadmau5 perhaps, you have collaborated with him in the past?
Wolfgang
At one point he was that person, ya. But, he hasn’t come out with new music in a while, so I just haven’t heard it in a while. Maybe he’ll come out with a new album and maybe it’ll make me go “wow, that’s what I need to do again”. But, a long time ago he was kinda that guy and now hes kinda gone a different direction. We did the thing together, so there’s less mystique now, since we sort of seen how each-other work.
ReySon
Joey, I’m coming from Toronto, how much do you love Toronto, do you respect the city?
Wolfgang
I respect Toronto. I think maybe some of the choices of venues around that area that I’ve played at have not necessarily been the best places for me. I think I should probably be playing the Guvernment instead of some of the places I’ve played. I’m just saying that it seems more of a suitable place for what I play. And, I have had a very limited number of gigs in Toronto. Uhmm…The MOD, that one was fucking insane! That was an amazing gig!
ReySon
How about Beta, you were there just last week for BMF?
Wolfgang Gartner
Ya, that was kool, but I felt like they were kind of jaded. The crowd was good, it was sold-out, it was packed, but I just felt like the responses were…they reacted to the same shit, but just on a level of a 7 as compared to most crowds on a level of a 10, so they were just kind of jaded. Maybe they had been partying for a few days, maybe they took to much that night, I don’t know, but they were just a little bit zombied out.
ReySon
Fair enough. Well, thanks Joey for giving Salacious Sound your time, im sure we’ll see each other soon enough. Throw down a killer set on Sunday!
Wolfgang
Definitely man, take care.

Wolfgang Gartner on Facebook

Wolfgang Gartner - Anthology Mashup.mp3
Tiesto and Sneaky Sound System - I Will Be Here (Wolfgang Gartner Dub Remix).mp3

Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 – Boys Noize @ Liquid Pool Party

Cal — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 23:02:21 +0000

I arrived in Vegas yesterday at around noon missing the first day of action at Electric Daisy Carnival, after an all-nighter following my DJ set with LA Riots on Friday at Mod Club in Toronto. After quickly checking in and dressing appropriately for the sweltering 100+ degree weather, I headed down the strip to Liquid to meet up with SalaciousSound author ReySon. He had been holding it down for a minute at the Boys Noize pool party, and had assured me that a stop off would be well worth it. After jumping the line and checking in with my official EDC media pass, I spent the next few hours with a giant shit-eating grin on my face.

Nothing can really prepare you for your first Vegas pool party. You can hear about it from friends or see photos and videos, but until you’re actually a part of the action you’ll never really know. All the elements were there for me personally – plenty of sunshine and a warm breeze, gentle water noises, virgin mocktails, and comfortable cabanas where I could curl up and read a good book. Photographic evidence follows.

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In all seriousness though, this was a crazy ass party. Dance music and the outdoors were just made for each other. Taking in a great DJ such as Boys Noize outside – especially poolside – is a step above and beyond what you can experience in a club. The atmosphere was absolutely stellar, due in no small part to the constant stream of Boys Noize’s own hits mixed in with classic and current house and electro. The people were awesome too – ReySon and I made plenty of fast friends. From what I’ve been told, this is what to expect from the predominantly Californian crowd attending EDC this weekend.

Boys Noize - Jeffer.mp3
Boys Noize - Transmission.mp3
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Trick Pony (Boys Noize Remix).mp3
Boys Noize and Erol Alkan - Lemonade (John Roman Remix).mp3