Super Bowl LV has concluded, but talk of The Weeknd‘s Pepsi Halftime Show performance has not. The artist impressed fans with a next level performance that came together thanks to an uncompromising attention to detail and a vision for how the production could transform the storytelling aspect of the storied performance slot. In order to give fans a look into what it takes to make a performance like this come together, Showtime will air a 90-minute feature documentary later this year documenting the artist and the months of preparation the spectacle took to come together.
Titled The Show, Deadline reports that Pepsi’s in-house content studio and Boardwalk Pictures are the driving forces behind the project. Nadia Hallgren, who is behind Michelle Obama’s Netflix documentary Becoming, is set to direct the documentary. The Show will look into the months of work that went into the performance focusing in on first-time Halftime Show executive producer Jesse Collins, second-time executive producers Roc Nation and more. Showtime will highlight how the team came together “to pull off one of the biggest musical productions during one of the most challenging, unprecedented times,” the network said in its announcement.
“This historic year with Jesse Collins as the first Black EP of the Halftime Show brought an opportunity to tell a new story,” said Hallgren. “We get a window into the process of a diverse team of executives and creatives working at the highest level, in front of and behind the camera. It’s fun to see these masters at work while they also uplift others. I hope this can inspire people to pursue big dreams.”
The Show is set to premiere on Showtime later this year.
The Internet‘s Syd has shared her first solo track in almost four years – listen to ‘Missing Out’ below.
The last time the singer dropped any solo material was 2017’s ‘Always Never Home’ EP, but last year she confirmed that a new album on the way. She has also collaborated with the likes of The Free Nationals, Disclosure, Zayn, Lil Uzi Vert, and a host of others in recent years.
“As far as I can see, you and me could never be/ ‘Cause we didn’t spend the proper time tryna work it out,” Syd sings on her anti-Valentine’s Day ballad. “Hope you findin’ what you need or what you seek ’cause now I’m free.”
Listen to ‘Missing Out’ below:
In addition to it being nearly four years since Syd released any new solo. music, it’s been two and a half since The Internet dropped Hive Mind.
In a five-star review, NME‘s Carl Anka said of the album: “Syd Tha Kid and her R&B cohorts put their heads together to create a towering achievement that combines Motown melodies with pop heartbreak.”
In December, The Internet’s Steve Lacy released a number of his Soundcloud tracks and demos as an official project.
‘The Lo-Fis’ compiles a host of unofficial early releases from the guitarist, which Lacy said were recorded when he was in high school.
Meanwhile, Tyler, The Creator recently teamed up with Brent Faiyaz for a new song called ‘Gravity’.
The song, which was produced by DJ Dahi, who has previously worked with Drake and Vampire Weekend, follows the rapper’s recent collaboration with Channel Tres on the single ‘fuego’.
It is the first time Tyler and Faiyaz have worked together and the song is also the Odd Future rapper’s first track of 2021.
JOYRYDE recently threw down at Insomniac‘s drive-thru Electric Mile — and the live set is available now!
In true JOYRYDE fashion, the DJ/producer goes full throttle atop a hot set of wheels. The hour and a half set is filled with JOYRYDE favorites “The Box,” “I Ware House,” “Agen Wida” with Skrillex, “Speed Trap,” “Hot Drum” and more. Plus, music from Knife Party, Habstrakt, i_o, Tchami & Malaa, VirtualSelf and more.
JOYRYDE shares via tweet: “I had the honor of being invited to perform at @insomniaceventsELECTRIC MILE. If you don’t already know, Electric mile is a drive through rave with mind blowing set designs & performers of insomniac.”
Electric Mile delivers music fans (aka headliners) and their families with a musical, light-synchronized journey as they navigate through seven magical worlds. The drive-thru highlights staple Insomniac events — EDC, Beyond Wonderland, Nocturnal Wonderland, Escape and Countdown.
Check out the live set below and book your trip down Electric Mile here.
Dada Life has announced they’ve inked an agreement with Revealed Recordings to launch a new label venture, Crash & Smile. The duo has additionally bursted back onto the scene, dropping their first single on the newly-minted imprint, “Rumble Slow,” which was first debuted by the Revealed Recordings head-honcho, Hardwell, on the landmark 500th episode of Hardwell On Air.
Dada Life has come to be known for their larger than life persona, and “Rumble Slow” finds perfect alignment with their party-starting profile. The track’s vocals bellow with a hypnotic cadence as Dada Life ramp up their brisk, dancing piano chords into a voluminous, stadium-filling drop in a rush. The sequence illuminates the fact that these two tenured pros are masters at sending audiences into a heightened state.
Hearing the single and viewing the duo’s teaser has us wistfully longing for the frenzied pillow fights and banana-fueled antics that were par for the course at Dada Life’s chaotic, and sometimes record-breaking shows. Hopefully, with the duo’s new outlet at their fingertips, we’ll soon be hearing more about where this came from.
As one of dance music’s key tastemakers, when Mat Zo steps up with a remix, it tends to be well worth a listen. Zo’s latest project—an electrifying remix of Ferry Corsten’s “Rock Your Body Rock.” Over the course of the last year, Zo has been spinning certified heat on Anjunabeats, all while curating one of Dancing Astronaut’s best albums of 2020, Illusion of Depth.
Introducing the remix with some of Zo’s signature sonic hallmarks, “Rock Your Body Rock” bubbles over to make for one of the more lively weapons in Zo’s arsenal. Using Ferry Corsten‘s vocals from the 2011 bloghouse-era original, Mat Zo adds an expansive atmosphere, diving into a new world with a funky piano progression and a mountainous build-up.
After channeling an indie-rock expression with his latest release of the live version of his track “Problems” featuring Olan, the range Mat Zo exemplifies from release to release is nothing short of impressive. Stream Mat Zo’s “Rock Your Body Rock” remix below.
Featured image: Rukes
Tags: Anjunabeats, ferry corsten, mat zo, rock your body rock remix
Dave Grohl and Pat Smear have revealed that they get together with Krist Novoselic from time to time and privately perform Nirvana songs.
Foo Fighters stopped Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show on Thursday (February 11) to promote their recently released 10th studio album, ‘Medicine At Midnight’.
During the interview, Stern asked Smear – who joined Nirvana in 1993 – if he ever missed playing with the band. “Every once in a while, me and Krist and Dave get together and we do play as if we’re Nirvana,” Smear replied. “So I don’t have to miss it — we do it. If we’re in the same town together, or whatever, we’ll get together and jam.” He then revealed that the last time the three of them got together was at the house where the Foo Fighters recorded their new album. Grohl then chimed in. “We actually recorded some stuff,”
Besides the unofficial jam sessions, Grohl and Smear said it often hurts too much to dwell on Nirvana memories or revisit those records. However, Grohl revealed that he was surprised to learn that his daughter knew all the words to ‘Come As You Are’, after it came it on the radio during a recent evening drive. The surviving members of Nirvana reunited for a one-off show in LA last year for a charity event. In a review of the event, NME‘s Kevin EG Perry called it “a heavy, heart-bursting treat for fans”.
Last month, Dave Grohl revealed that he still has dreams that see him back in Nirvana.
Meanwhile, Foo Fighters have scored their fifth UK Number One album with new album, ‘Medicine At Midnight’.
The band’s new album, which arrived last week (February 5), debuted at the top spot with a total of 42,500 chart sales – 74 per cent of which were physical copies, including 10,500 on vinyl.
Diplo has publicly apologized for playing out his collaboration with Morgan Wallen during a Super Bowl party and has vowed to donate to the NAACP in light of recent events.
Last week, the country singer was caught on video using a racial slur and backlash commenced — Wallen was immediately suspended from his label and dropped from radio play. This was all leading up to Diplo’s Super Bowl gig and the DJ/producer’s decision to play “Heartless” during his performance came under scrutiny.
Although Diplo’s team did not provide an immediate statement, the producer has since spoken out on his official Twitter page:
Heartless is a old song of mine thats been in my live set for years. Im sorry, I didn’t mean to make anyone mad or offended by playing a song featuring Morgan. It was by no means a Political statement or a message.
Wallen has also come out with a five-minute apology video stating:
The video you saw was me on hour 72 of 72 of a bender, and that’s not something I’m proud of. I accepted some invitations from some amazing Black organizations, some executives and leaders, to engage in some very real and honest conversations.
He asked for those defending his actions to stop:
Please don’t. I was wrong. It’s on me to take ownership for this and I fully accept any penalties I’m facing. The time of my return is solely on me and the work I put in.
“Heartless” appeared as a single from Diplo’s 2020 country album, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil.
After facing scrutiny last weekend for playing a track featuring Morgan Wallen during a Super Bowl afterparty, Diplo has apologized.
Following the conclusion of Super Bowl LV, Diplo caused a stir by dropping his 2020 collaboration with MorganWallen, “Heartless,” during his performance. The song appeared on Diplo’s debut country album effort, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil. However, the producer has since addressed it, stating he did not intend to make a political statement and that the song had been a part of his set prior to the country star’s controversy.
Morgan Wallen was infamously cut from his record label earlier this month after video surfaced from TMZ of the country singer using racial slurs. Following the revelations, Jason Isbell, who collaborated with Wallen to write “Cover Me Up” announced he would be donating his profits from the song to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP.
Diplo is now doubling down on that action, announcing he would also be donating the proceeds from his own collaboration with Wallen to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Los Angeles-based event and music promotion company Space Yacht recently celebrated its six-year anniversary with its first-ever Tech My House label compilation and a 15-hour livestream event that foregrounded a slew of ascendant house artists. Space Yacht was founded in 2015 by Henry Lu and Rami Perlman, who have since forged Space Yacht’s quest of “showcasing the next generation of dance music” into more than 150 shows, including event showcases at festivals such as Electric Daisy Carnival, Beyond Wonderland, Miami Music Week, SXSW, Coachella, and more. What started as a secret party occurring each Tuesday in Hollywood’s tiny Golden Box venue, Space Yacht has organically grown into a platform for the talents that Lu and Perlman believe in.
In commemoration of Space Yacht’s six-year anniversary came the label’s very first compilation, Tech My House Vol. 1, which spanned 17 tracks from Mikey Barraeneche, Casmalia, Luke Andy, Qlank, Ocean Roulette, Ranger Trucco, SkiiTour, and many more. Space Yacht and Desert Hearts also collaborated on TECH MY HOUSE, a 15-hour livestream event that broadcast 18 DJ sets.
Dancing Astronaut caught up with Lu and Perlman to gain insight on their Space Yacht journey, what they look for when signing tracks, and their future post-pandemic. Tech My HouseVol. 1 and the interview can be found below.
How did you first become involved in dance music and how did this prompt your transition into curating your own events?
Perlman: “Dance music has always been a part of my life both as a fan and artist. I first started DJing back in college, in the early 2000’s, where I got heavily into house and drum ‘n’ bass. It wasn’t until years later that I got into events.
Henry and I met while working at a social media company, and we often worked late. I’d play him some demos of a new project I was producing, which eventually turned into LondonBridge, and we quickly realized that we were into similar styles of music. It was me wanting a place where I could perform, which then became the place for everyone to perform. The community vibe and opportunities within it became apparent quickly, and we nurtured it into where we are today. But all of this revolves first and foremost around our love for dance music and dance music culture.”
Lu: “In the beginning, I got involved as a student at UC San Diego volunteering at concerts and eventually became one of the coordinators for the big annual bash Sun God Festival (it was a huge school, so we planned our concert for 20,000 people every year). It was such a thrilling experience that I stuck around wanting to do more. Oddly enough, UC San Diego has some of the industry’s biggest power players as its alumni.
Fast foward, I’m interning at Z-Trip’s management and Windish Agency (now Paradigm), all through connections I made at UCSD. Throughout all of these unpaid internships, I started multiple businesses of my own to sustain my lifestyle, and this is where I found my life calling—starting things from nothing and causing a ruckus.
Throwing events was just my manifestation of wanting to create something from nothing. It’s my way of thrill-seeking. It’s the most liberating feeling to work on my own terms at all times. In another life, Space Yacht totally could have been an app or tech platform. It feels strange to say this, but it’s not necessarily music or even events that I am primarily obsessed with. I’m obsessed with creating. I just happen to love the music that I love, and when I met Rami, it was house music.”
Can you share some takeaways from your experience heading Space Yacht for the past six years?
Lu: “I’m absolutely blown away that an off-the-cuff idea we came up with became globally known and impactful across the industry. We never planned for this. We’ve learned an immense amount in the past six years, and the takeaway I’d like to share to the world is to just go for it. Obviously, come up with a plan and a fallback, but ultimately you will need to take action and follow through.”
Perlman: “My main takeaway is that consistency and quality are king. Just like a great restaurant, growing a brand is about providing the consumer with the best product possible, and being consistent with it—same goes for everything we do at Space Yacht. Another takeaway is how strong and loyal our community is. The fact that we are still able to engage and even grow our brand in these crazy times is a testament to the love that people have for the brand and the culture. It’s truly humbling, and we don’t take it for granted.”
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when going about throwing events throughout the years and how were you able to overcome them?
Perlman: “One of the main challenges was always about answering the question ‘how do we keep it fresh?’ When we started, there were only a few parties going on, but over the past three years there has been an explosion of dance music events, both large and small. Since so many of the DJs live in LA, it was always a challenge to make sure our lineups were unique and featured both new artists and fan favorites. It always kept us on our toes. To this day, we have a high bar for who we book and why. Like our label, it always starts with the music.”
Lu: “Being able to focus in a sea of distraction has been a growing pain both for myself and Space Yacht as a whole. We’re pulled different directions at all times, and the thing that has helped us find peace has always been to think back to why it is that we’re here. Knowing what you want and what your mission is the key!”
Moving forward, how do you plan to overcome the live event-related obstacles introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Lu: “I’m not sweating. The events will come back. Until then, we’re going to get good at all the things we’ve wanted to get good at. Instead of trying to expend our energy fighting the obstacle, we completely leaned into it.”
Perlman: “To me, we are just scratching the surface of what Space Yacht could become. Before COVID, the entire identity of the brand revolved around events. Our curatorial voice was only represented in the lineups we put together. Now, we get to play in a bunch of different sandboxes, from signing records we love to creating clothing lines to livestreaming on Twitch to producing NFT collections All of these new disciplines are new ways for the brand of Space Yacht to be creatively expressed. A lot of our new business initiatives just started over the past 12 months. It’s exciting!”
At what moment or period of time did it become apparent that your brand was going to grow a lot more bigger than expected, and do you see another point in the future where that might happen again?
Lu: “At some point, folks started lining up around the block, and I had to turn town celebrity types at the door simply because I literally could not fit another person in the venue. My thought was ‘well, where do we go from here?’”
Perlman: “I think when we moved the party to Sound Nightclub in Hollywood is when it really started to explode. Sound is known as on of the best clubs in LA for underground dance music, and the team that runs the club is best in class (they run and book the Yuma tent at Coachella).
The combination of the club, our brand, and our fans was a perfect marriage. Word started to spread like wildfire after that. I think we are in our second or third phase of growth right now since we’ve had to move everything online. The funny thing is that we are streaming to way more people than could fit in the 600-capacity club, so in a sense, we are still growing even without live events.”
Will you aim to keep these events more intimate upon the return of in-person programming?
Lu: “Absolutely, yes. In fact, now that we don’t have the pressure of packing out clubs, our music programming lanes have opened up significantly. We now have time to listen to music that we wouldn’t have as DJ bookers and it’s already showing in our label signings. Our attitude towards music is that we are here as scholars—there’s so much we don’t know, and it’s on us to see for ourselves. We simply share with the world all the things that excite us.”
Perlman: “Our brand is predicated on the idea of not sticking to one particular genre. House and bass genres are the most popular in our world, but we’ve been releasing drum ‘n’ bass records on the label and are planning a ton of niche compilations this year. I think we just follow the music that is interesting to us, and there are no rules when it comes to that. We can’t wait to get back to live events, but only when it’s safe to do so.”
What do you consistently look for when you’re listening to demos, looking for music to sign?
Perlman: “It’s always music first. It’s cool if someone has social media presence or things going on in their career, but we never prioritize that, even though we probably should. It’s always about the quality of the material.
One thing we do look for is a hook, whether it be a vocal or synthline. It has to be catchy and memorable. We think the TECH MY HOUSE compilation set the bar really high, so we are becoming more and more particular about what we sign. There is so much good music out there!”
Lu: “The main signing criteria is that we light up and share the collective feeling that know exactly what to do with the piece of music to nurture it within our ecosystem. If we are struggling to find a vision for it, at least in terms of what we can do to help, it’s usually a no.”
What’s something you want new fans to keep in mind when they discover the artists who first got their start on your platform?
Perlman: “Remember to support these artists! It can be through a simple follow or sharing their track on social media, or donating when they play livestreams. Most of these people have day jobs and are trying to find their way. Any support you can give them is valuable.”
Lu: “Come curious! There’s just so much more we can do with a fan or attendee who’s genuinely open-minded.”
Now that you’re six years in, what are some of your goals for Space Yacht moving forward?
Perlman: “The growth of the label and apparel business are both really exciting. We’ve already signed the next six months of releases and are planning some massive compilations for the third and fourth quarters.
We are also super excited about the crypto-art NFT movement that we’ve been lucky to be a part of. Our first two collections sold out in three minutes and people have been asking us to make more. A lot of people are just starting to find out about the space and huge artists like deadmau5 and 3LAU have already jumped into it. We see this as something that can intersect with the label as well as being its own thing. Our next crypto art drop is on Nifty Gateway on March 8, so look out for that!”
Lu: “We just started our Twitch and YouTube pages, and I can’t wait to hit our first few milestones. It’s going to help us reach a much more global audience once we get it together.”
Featured image: Martin Cabrera Lopez
Tags: henry lu, interview, label compilation, londonbridge, Q&A, Space Yacht, tech my house
System Of A Down’s John Dolmayan has spoken out in defence of The Mandalorian star Gina Carano after she was fired for sharing offensive and controversial social media posts.
The actor was sacked from the Disney+ show after she shared a post that compared US Republicans to Jewish people in Nazi Germany.
After Carano was fired, Dolmayan weighed in on the situation on his Instagram page. Posting a photo of the actor, he captioned the post: “It takes a lot of guts to put your career on the line for your convictions.
“History will honor people like @ginajcarano and condemn the cowards who instituted woke justice against her.”
In a statement, Lucasfilm said Carano – who played Cara Dune in The Mandalorian – had been fired because “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable”.
Fans of the show previously called for her to be dropped from the programme after she shared anti-masking tweets, unfounded claims of voter fraud and other posts that were criticised as transphobic.
She previously addressed the backlash in an interview on the Drunk 3PO YouTube channel, saying she “brings the fire out in people”. “I’m going to stick around and if my presence bothers you, OK, but also a lot of people are not bothered by my Twitter presence or my social media presence. So I focus more on those people,” she said.
Dolmayan, meanwhile, has also been criticised for his views and social media posts, with the drummer having criticised the Black Lives Matter movement and shown his support for Donald Trump in the past.
He recently claimed that people won’t work with him now because of his right-wing views. Speaking about his comic book series Ascensia, Dolmayan said during a recent podcast appearance: “Let’s just say that Ascencia could easily be made into a TV show or movie and I had an agency working on that with me. And that agency [had] to take a step back.”
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