INTERVIEWS
MORTEN on the Impact of Future Rave Music, Friendship With David Guetta, and Triumphant Return of ADE
Danish superstar MORTEN has had a special year in dance music. Touring all over the world, he was on a mission to proliferate his patented “future rave” sound, a genre he conceptualized with partner-in-crime David Guetta. The two released a slew of remarkable songs as the popularity of future rave music skyrocketed, such as a fan-favorite remix of the generational dance anthem “Titanium.” Following a triumphant outing at the momentous return of ADE Festival, EDM.com sat down with MORTEN to chat about the impact of future rave music and his plans in 2022. Jarett Lopez Recommended Articles EDM.com: How are you feeling after last night’s event? MORTEN: I just woke up and I feel great. I’m very happy. EDM.com: Let’s chat future rave. Where did it c...
Nicky Romero on Historic Protocol Recordings ADE Party, Monocule Alias and More
Label parties are an integral part of the Amsterdam Dance Event, offering imprints a coveted chance to showcase their artists. But despite its huge significance in the local Dutch music community, Nicky Romero‘s Protocol Recordings had yet to host their own label party at ADE. EDM.com sat down with Romero and Protocol’s A&R Director, Jorik Van de Pol, to chat about the milestone for the record label and learn more about the DJ’s various other ventures. EDM.com: Nicky, how are you feeling tonight? Nicky Romero: I’m feeling good. I’m a little—I don’t want to say nervous—but excited in a way. All of my friends and family are here. Literally, all my close friends and the people that mean a lot to me are here and normally when you play a show, it’s quite professional, but ...
Nicky Romero on Historic Protocol Recordings ADE Party, Monocule Alias and More
Label parties are an integral part of the Amsterdam Dance Event, offering imprints a coveted chance to showcase their artists. But despite its huge significance in the local Dutch music community, Nicky Romero‘s Protocol Recordings had yet to host their own label party at ADE. EDM.com sat down with Romero and Protocol’s A&R Director, Jorik Van de Pol, to chat about the milestone for the record label and learn more about the DJ’s various other ventures. EDM.com: Nicky, how are you feeling tonight? Nicky Romero: I’m feeling good. I’m a little—I don’t want to say nervous—but excited in a way. All of my friends and family are here. Literally, all my close friends and the people that mean a lot to me are here and normally when you play a show, it’s quite professional, but ...
Foals Return with “Wake Me Up” and Tease New Album: “It’s Back to a Sweaty, Late-Night Dance Floor”
One of Britain’s best rock exports are back: today (November 4th), Foals have released their new single, “Wake Me Up.” It’s their first release since the second part of their ambitious 2019 double album Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2, and also their first since the departure of Edwin Congreave, the band’s longtime keyboardist. “Wake Me Up,” is a fitting title, however, since it was written in a cold, bleak, lockdown winter in the UK. “We wanted to create a contrast between the outside world and the music that we’re writing inside this small room,” says frontman and guitarist Yannis Philippakis about their writing process. “We couldn’t help but reimagine ourselves on stage and how euphoric it will be once it returns.” Advertisement Indeed, it’s the band’s energetic and cathartic l...
Dinner With Dogleg: An Evening With Everyone’s Favorite New Post-Hardcore Band
About two hours after finishing their set at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana, California, the night before vocalist/guitarist Alex Stoitsiadis’s 24th birthday, the four members of Dogleg (and their trusty photographer/singular crew member, Erika) sit around a corner booth at a Southern California diner. The Saturday night show where they blasted through a half-hour set of their punk/emo/post-hardcore blend wasn’t their first in the area, but it was the only one since they stormed on to many people’s radar with their first full-length album, last year’s Melee. The Michigan quartet — Stoitsiadis, bassist/vocalist Chase Macinski, guitarist Parker Grissom, and drummer Jacob Hanlon — recorded Melee in Stoitsiadis’s house back in the summer of 2019, but they spent the rest of the year p...
Trevor Daniel On TikTok Fame, Evolution of His Sound, and EDM Influences
From his humble beginnings in Houston, Trevor Daniel’s career has been quite the rollercoaster—and a thrilling one at that. The meteoric rise of his TikTok-topping single “Falling,” the cancellation of a national tour, and performing at Chicago’s iconic Lollapalooza festival are just a few of the adventures Daniel has experienced over the last few years. And now that he’s back on tour, EDM.com caught up with him on his first trip to Canada, where he performed at Vancouver’s FVDED In The Park Festival. Trevor Daniel. Jarett Lopez EDM.com: How does it feel to be in Vancouver? Recommended Articles Trevor Daniel: I’ve never been here before, never been to Canada actually. Last year was COVID, and before that I was supposed to do this tour but my passpor...
Death Cab for Cutie Detail ‘Powerful’ File-Swap Sessions That Kick-Started Next LP
Early in the pandemic, Death Cab for Cutie‘s Ben Gibbard seemed to be ahead of the curve. In March, he launched a solo performance stream, Live From Home, helping blueprint a detour for musicians swept off the road. But with the camera switched off, he was just as confused as anyone else — and it took him a while to find his artistic footing. “The first couple months, especially when I was doing the livestreams — well, we all were there. There was this feeling of, ‘This is gonna last a month, and then we’ll get back to real life,’” Gibbard tells SPIN. “Then there was the panic of every day: ‘You can’t touch this; don’t do that; you’ll die if you do that.’ With the amount of anxiety, and also the thought that this would be a short-term thing, I did hardly any writing.” There were a lo...
RÜFÜS DU SOL on New Album Surrender and the Magic of Recording in the Desert: “It Gave Us This Sense of Place and Self”
There are few electronic acts with as much momentum as RÜFÜS DU SOL. Fresh off the release of their fourth studio album Surrender, the Australian trio have reached a massive turning point in their career. They’re selling out stadiums, winning over new fans, and ascending to the very top lines of music festivals all over the globe. Though it’s undoubtedly an exciting time for the group, they’re doing all they can to make sure they stay grounded. “We didn’t really have any sense of self-care,” says James Hunt about beginning the process of making a new record. “We got to reconnect and figure out a new way of writing music with some routine.” Hunt and fellow synth-scientist Jon George name morning meditations, workouts, and trips to the sauna as major aspects in creating a sustainable an...
Softest Hard Talks Moving to L.A. at 17, Touring With Skrillex, and More
After a relatively quiet 2020, LA-based DJ and hardstyle producer Softest Hard is back to touring. She’s no stranger to playing international festivals, having toured all over Asia and opening for Skrillex back in 2019. But her first festival performance in Canada was for the return of Vancouver’s beloved two-day music festival, FVDED In The Park, and EDM.com caught up with her after a heart-pounding set. Softest Hard. Jarett Lopez EDM.com: I didn’t realize you’ve played Vancouver before. What’s your vibe on Vancouver? Recommended Articles Softest Hard: I fucking love it here. I love Vancouver, everybody showing so much love, everybody so nice. Shoutout all the people at Fortune Sound for bringing me here first, but this has been such an experience having to pla...
How Biffy Clyro Learned to Embrace the Brightside With The Myth of the Happy Ever After
Is mankind hurtling to its ignominious end, like so many lemmings over a cliff? Simon Neil is sure he’s seen the telltale signs. And the gallows-humored Biffy Clyro anchor isn’t afraid of covering the extinction topic on his trio’s surprise, lockdown-sculpted new album, The Myth of the Happy Ever After. With no apology, it opens on the anti-Boris Johnson salvo “Dum Dum” (which lambastes the British prime minister for allegedly saying he’d rather have bodies piled up at his Downing Street door than impose another lockdown), then segues into a speed-bag-punchy “Witch’s Cup” (“I just hope when we go/That there’s something deeper”), the dissonant “Errors In the History of God” (“We’re trolls in this universe/happy just to torch shit”), and a funeral-parlor ethereal “Existed,” which finds the S...
Juelz On His “Paradise Lost” Concept Album, Working With RL Grime, and the Future of Trap Music
After almost two years without playing a show in his hometown fast-rising, Vancouver-based electronic music producer Juelz threw down at the city’s beloved FVDED in The Park music festival. EDM.com sat down with Juelz to chat about his meteoric rise and the future of trap music. EDM.com: So how are you feeling? You just rocked your second set at FVDED. Yeah, it was my second time playing FVDED, it’s been like three or four years since I played it last. Lots of shit has changed since. It feels good to be here, this is like my first hometown show in like a longtime. EDM.com: Speaking of that, you’ve been playing all over the place. When was your first show back from COVID-19 and how has it been on your various tour dates? First show back was at the Brownies & Lemonade fes...
Juelz On His “Paradise Lost” Concept Album, Working With RL Grime, and the Future of Trap Music
After almost two years without playing a show in his hometown fast-rising, Vancouver-based electronic music producer Juelz threw down at the city’s beloved FVDED in The Park music festival. EDM.com sat down with Juelz to chat about his meteoric rise and the future of trap music. EDM.com: So how are you feeling? You just rocked your second set at FVDED. Yeah, it was my second time playing FVDED, it’s been like three or four years since I played it last. Lots of shit has changed since. It feels good to be here, this is like my first hometown show in like a longtime. EDM.com: Speaking of that, you’ve been playing all over the place. When was your first show back from COVID-19 and how has it been on your various tour dates? First show back was at the Brownies & Lemonade fes...
