music blog
Former DJ and Electronic Music Producer Sells “Unicorn” Fintech Company for $1.1 Billion
Royalties, shmoyalties. Miguel Santos, a fintech entrepreneur and former DJ, has cashed out on his innovative company, Technisys. Santos recently sold the banking technology company to SoFi Technologies, a publicly traded digital personal finance giant, for $1.1 billion. Conceived more than 20 years ago, Technisys will now provide cloud-based digital banking solutions for SoFi. Santos may be best known for his role as founder and CEO of Technisys, but he’s also a longtime DJ and house music producer. Santos has an affinity for techno and melodic house music, often attending shows featuring the likes of electronic music legends such as Hernan Cattaneo, Solomun and more. Check out one of his own DJ mixes, which was recorded and uploaded in 2021, below. Recommended Articles Accord...
This Rave Promoter Is Also a Rabbi Who Curates Magic Mushroom Retreats for His Congregation
Ben Gorelick is likely the only religious leader who can also claim the title of rave promoter. As you may have already guessed, the ceremonies Gorelick leads for his community, The Sacred Tribe, are uncommon to anything you’d normally see in institutional religion. Based out of Denver, the congregation currently has around 270 members. Once a month, Gorelick reportedly hosts a psychedelic-influenced retreat where he and participating members consume psilocybin mushrooms and sink into a meditative state. One of Gorelick’s intentions with the experience is to help users augment “the relationship to self, community, and God.” According to The Denver Post, reactions among participants varied. Nonetheless, each was personal to the individual. “The level ...
This Software Lets You Design Trippy Visuals of Your Music—Then Mint Them As NFTs
We know—NFT this, metaverse that. But before you grumble at this umpteenth blockchain tech platform, consider its value for music producers. VOID is a Web3-based platform that allows musicians to generate and customize kaleidoscopic visuals with their own songs. Created by Dutch developer Triptcip, the sequencing software essentially takes your music and spits out a trippy, beat-reactive mosaic. Triptcip’s visual synthesizer, VOID. Triptcip VOID, which Triptcip says is the first of its kind, aims to arm music producers with an easily accessible visual synthesis tool. Visual designers have enjoyed the spoils of the digital art revolution, but many musicians have found themselves stuck in a new kind of limbo. Without a budget to join forces with a capable designer or a trusted partner au cou...
Ghastly Opens Up About Anxiety and How Content Culture Can “Drain an Artist to Their Lowest Levels”
Musicians are starting to experience the fatigue of never-ending social media content expectations, according to Ghastly. In a candid statement, the esteemed DJ and electronic music producer recently shared his thoughts on the toxicity that social media has created for musicians. He opened up about the overwhelming nature of content culture, which is causing artists to put their art on the back-burner in order to focus on “memeing” their lives and engaging their fanbases through parasocial relationships. Ghastly cited recent feedback he received while working on a song with someone who requested the music to be “more tik-toky.” “I want to be able to share my life at a level that makes sense to me as an artist and as a human,” Ghastly wrote. “I love...
JOE SATRIANI Is Still Open To Doing More Stuff With CHICKENFOOT
Joe Satriani says that he has stopped pushing for CHICKENFOOT to reunite for more live shows and possible new music. The supergroup, which features the legendary guitarist alongside former VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar, ex-VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith, has been largely inactive since 2012 when it toured with Kenny Aronoff on drums due to Smith‘s busy schedule with his main band. In 2018, CHICKENFOOT reunited at the Fillmore in San Francisco during the fifth annual “Acoustic-4-A-Cure” benefit concert. The even marked the band’s first performance together in just over two years. Asked in a new interview with SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” if he believes CHICKENFOOT still has some “unf...
PAPA ROACH Frontman On New Single ‘Stand Up’: ‘We Took Three Different’ Music ‘Genres And Slammed Them Together’
PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix spoke to Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA about the lyrical and musical inspiration for the band’s anthemic new single, “Stand Up”. Produced by Jason Evigan (Dua Lipa, G-Eazy, MAROON 5), the song brings massive energy and unique arrangements to Shaddix‘s uplifting and motivating lyrics. The track seeks to provide a signature, bouncing anthem for a world that is energized to stand up against injustice, complacency, and opposition, further exercising their agency towards the obstacles in this new year. Shaddix said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Trying to live my life in a more positive manner over the past 10 years and looking at life through a little bit of a different lens, I think bei...
Damnum – ALLEGAEON
RATING: 8.5/10 Still striving to be the last word in maximalist modern metal, ALLEGAEON have been a formidable force over the last decade. Stoically progressive, technically dazzling and yet always in thrall to the uplifting power of melody, the Colorado crew have already released several extraordinary records, and “Damnum” is simply another triumph to add to the list. Still rooted in melodic death metal, but increasingly adventurous in terms of both arrangements and dynamics, the band’s sixth full-length offers yet another great leap forward, but with more than enough brutality and showmanship to satisfy the faithful. Irritatingly, they make it look easy. Sonically pristine and located squarely at metal’s cutting edge, “Damnum” is what happens when absu...
LAMB OF GOD Is Recording ‘Slamming’ New Music With Longtime Producer JOSH WILBUR
LAMB OF GOD has entered a California studio with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) to record some of its brand music, tentatively due later in the year. The news of the Richmond, Virginia metallers’ latest recording session was shared by members of BODY COUNT who posted a photo of guitarists Ernie C and Juan Garcia, along with LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe, in the studio, and they included the following caption: “When your friend @drandallblythe invites you to do back up vocals on brand new @lambofgod material…you show up and support. And the new LAMB OF GOD is slamming!!! Great job guys”. LAMB OF GOD‘s upcoming effort will be the follow-up to the band’s self-titled album, which was released in June 2020 via Epic Records in the ...
Take a Look Inside Kanye West’s Miami ‘DONDA 2’ Listening Party
On Tuesday evening, Kanye West hosted a listening party for DONDA 2 at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. Creative-directed by Niklas Bildstein Zaar, the performance featured a burning house, motorcycles and a sprawling background ensemble. Throughout the two-hour event, West was joined by The Game, Pusha T, Alicia Keys, Migos, Baby Keem, Fivio Foreign, Travis Scott, Future, Jack Harlow and more. Each performer was decked out in new offerings from Balenciaga, which collaborated with the rapper on his Yeezy x Gap line, as well as exclusive DONDA 2 merchandise. The new album was introduced with an audio track of West’s real-time heartbeat. The rapper then gave the audience live performances of the singles “Security,” “Get Lost,” “Lift Me” featuring Vory, “Pablo” featuring Future and Travi...
Trading Whiskey Shots for Ginger Shots: RÜFÜS DU SOL Joins The What Podcast
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Radio Public | RSS RÜFÜS DU SOL frontman Tyrone Lindqvist joins Barry, Brad, and Lord Taco of The What Podcast to discuss the band’s journey in creating their most recent studio album, Surrender. Related Video Lindqvist discusses how the band was headed for drama when they decided to trade their whiskey shots for ginger shots, but how the trio is much healthier for it. The Australian musician also talks about how the forced time off over the last few years and becoming a father changed his life. Advertisement Plus, The What hosts reveal how your artistic talent could win you tickets to Bonnaroo 2022! (You can also get tickets here!). Listen to the new episode above. Make sure yo...
Elton John’s Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Hydraulics Fail at 10,000 Feet
Sir Elton John is safe and well after his private plane was forced to make an emergency landing following a hydraulics failure at 10,000 feet. The Rocketman had hoped to fly from Britain to New York on Tuesday, but it wasn’t such a long, long time before touchdown brought him around again to the UK. An hour into the flight, the plane’s hydraulics failed, crippling the functionality of some of its brakes, flaps, and landing gear equipment. The pilot quickly rerouted to Farnborough Airport on the southern coast of Ireland. Witnesses told The Sun that the plane struggled with 80 mile-per-hour winds, twice coming in for a landing only to pull up. “The plane was being buffeted and couldn’t make it,” one person said. “The aircraft’s nose was far too vertical. The plane was descend...
Aftershock Festival 2022 Lineup: Foo Fighters, Slipknot, KISS, My Chemical Romance, and More
The lineup for Aftershock Festival 2022 has been revealed, with Foo Fighters, Slipknot, KISS, and My Chemical Romance set to headline. The annual festival runs from October 6th through the 9th at Discovery Park in Sacramento, California. Other notable acts on the bill include Judas Priest, Rob Zombie, Evanescence, Lamb of God, GWAR, Meshuggah, Stone Temple Pilots, Bring Me the Horizon, Bad Religion, Papa Roach, The Distillers, Action Bronson, Killswitch Engage, Clutch, Code Orange, The Pretty Reckless, The Interrupters, Thrice, Underoath, Zeal & Ardor, Spiritbox, Helmet, Amigo the Devil Three-day GA ($359.99), single-day GA ($119.99), and weekend VIP ($699.99) festival passes are available to purchase via Aftershock’s website. Advertisement You can view the day-by-day lineup in th...
