Quiet Bison exploded onto the electronic scene in 2018 with his debut EP Trials and Tribulations. Stitched together with forward-thinking sound design and fearless experimentation, the project launched what quickly became an influential career for the young producer. With three EPs now under his belt, celebrated by Flume himself, Billboard Dance, Dummy Magazine, and tons more, Quiet Bison returns with “High Like This,” the first look into his debut album. Featuring rising rapper and R&B stud Reo Cragun “High Like This” is a trippy joint with cutting-edge synths and ice-cold soundscapes. Arriving at the intersection of hip-hop and EDM, Quiet Bison makes it known that his style knows no bounds.
“I could talk about the technical side of making this song, but I really want to take this time to say that working on it with Reo was really inspiring and I owe a lot to him for making this song something special. Thank you to Reo for being you.”
A textured and striking triumph from the always impressive Quiet Bison, “High Like This” is the genesis of a new era for the visionary. Listen below.
With five releases already to Year Zero‘s credit thus far, Tchami‘s debut full-length effort has been stoutly building a worthy case for inclusion amongst the year’s most applaudable dance music LPs, even while still awaiting an official end-of-year due date. Drawing out minimal time since reinstating the album’s rollout with Marlena Shaw on “Faith” at the end of September, Tchami is riding that momentum in full stride as he unloads the sixth addition to Year Zero, “Praise” alongside Gunna.
“Praise” is certainly far from Tchami’s first noteworthy collaboration of the year, with the producer having worked hand in hand with Lady Gaga on a slew of Chromatica favorites. While certainly a mildly unanticipated album feature from Tchami, “Praise” could not be more welcomed in open arms. Gunna provides a poised hip-hop crossover presence from the get-go as Tchami launches a torrid future house layout straight to the foreground to tie in both sonic fronts for an admirable complement to the herd of Year Zero‘s outings thus far.
Sometimes, love is so strong it consumes you. No matter what, that person stays on your mind. This is the ethos of Armin van Buuren‘s latest single, “Need You Know.” The Armada label boss called upon fellow Dutchman Jake Reese to deliver the dynamic and relatable vocals, creating a track that will have you moving all weekend long.
van Buuren doesn’t hold back on the production, throwing in a bouncy bit of attitude alongside Reese’s pitched down vocals. It’s more house-leaning than we traditionally hear from the esteemed trance producer. The bright piano chords and echoing bass paired with the sultry melody will have you feeling high off desire alone.
“You don’t always know when the inspiration for a song may come, but it struck me full force when I heard Jake Reese’s vocals and lyrics for this single,” Armin van Buuren explained in a press release. “I love how the story hits home so strongly and got lost in the vocal melody right away. It helped the track come alive very organically and I am very pleased with how it turned out. It’s another tune about love, because I know that’s precisely what you guys need!”
Armin van Buuren has not let quarantine slow him down. While on lockdown he’s released the expansive Lost Tapes album, the collaborative Hollow Mask Illusion EPwith AVIRA, and a single titled “The Voice” under his beloved Rising Star alias. He also helped launch a new genre series for Tommorowland‘s One World Radio.
You can stream “Need You Now” across all platforms here.
Tchami and Gunna team up for a smooth new collaboration, “Praise,” out now.
The French producer and Georgia rapper prove to be a perfect match with a song that’s been on the radar for months now. A club-ready house groover, “Praise” pairs the most infectious of basslines with Gunna’s slick vocoder vocals — a no frills combination destined to tear up any dancefloor (or living room).
With this release, the Confession label head and tastemaker comes one step closer to releasing his debut album YEAR ZERO. Fans await the album with much anticipation, so there’s no doubt “Praise” is well received.
In addition, Tchami recently uploaded his Confession Livestream in full. The hour-long mix features more YEAR ZERO productions, “Born Again,” “Buenos Aires,” and “Faith” featuring Marlena Shaw.
This week, Seth Hills sat down to chat on the EDM Prodcast.
Seth Hills is a Dutch DJ and producer who’s released on labels like STMPD RCRDS, Revealed Recordings, and Axtone Records.
We start off with Seth Hills background, discussing Seth’s transition from guitar hero expert to musician and producer. He exclusively produced hardstyle for the first few years, and he explains why he moved away from it to the more open club-centric style he’s writing now. He also breaks down why he avoided attending a music school, choosing to attend a marketing school instead, and how he got his first tracks signed to Revealed Recordings. Later on, Seth explains how he fell into ghost producing and how it helps him stay more creative as an artist, and what the process was for signing with Martin Garrix’s STMPD RCRDS.
On the production side, Seth Hills explains what his writing and production workflow is. He breaks down how he produces such creative arrangements, explaining how he uses synths, samples, and post processing to build his memorable drop sections. He also explains his approach to mixing, offering his best advice on how to achieve a professional quality mixdown.
Later on, Seth discusses how he’s been making the most of the pandemic situation. He also breaks down the exact steps he took to find his signature sound, offering his best advice for artists that are still looking for theirs.
Hoxton-based label, Organized Chaos have hit the ground running since its inception in May this year. Promising non-stop tunes and a devoted focus on tracks that cater for the 3am crowd, their latest release comes in the form of ‘Go All Night’, which sees Dubai-based hitmaking trio, Ruff Club, team up with fellow UAE locals, Fizzo & Jay. A high-octane stomper, primed for the peak hours of the party, it provides the perfect choice for those looking for that hands up and heads down moment, while hypnotizing with its narcotic vocal hook.
Ruff Club are British DJ’s and producers, Scott Forshaw, Joe Beck and Jack Harris. After spending time together in the studio in the UAE, they’ve been moulding and refining their unique style and sound, which they’ve kept under wraps until now. Focusing on bringing their individual, fresh influences to the studio, they have secured several releases on prominent UK based labels. Individually, they’ve had releases on labels such as Toolroom, Armada and Ultra and racking up over 5 million streams worldwide. Expect to hear plenty more of Ruff Club from here on.
Also based out of Dubai, Fizzo & Jay are well versed in the art of production, both being qualified audio engineers with bachelors in Audio Production. Their combined knowledge of the technical aspect in the studio makes a worthy adversary for their unwavering creativity, which will no doubt keep them on a steady incline within the industry. A fundamental part of Ibiza Global Radio’s UAE arm, their weekly podcast called ‘Fabricated Junk’ continues to garner the duo an increasing amount of attention as they build on their ever-increasing presence within the electronic community.
It’s not to say that Gryffin‘s originals aren’t indefectible in their own right, but whenever he inserts his one-of-a-kind vein into another artist’s work, he consistently elevates the track to an entirely different degree of mastery. Nearly a year to the day of the delivery of his freshman full-length LP, Gravity, and after sharing both “Hold You Tonight” with Chris Lane and “Cry” with John Martin in the new year, Gryffin is revisiting his remix roots for the first time since last summer’s take on Shawn Mendes’ “If I Can’t Have You.”
Tate McRae’s “you broke me first” has made the rounds just about everywhere over the past few months and any Gryffin fan, new or old, could immediately recognize that McRae’s lionhearted vocals were a qualified prospect for Gryffin’s reimagining purposes. Reminiscent of his earlier frontline revisions of CVRCHES’ “Clearest Blue” and Bipolar Sunshine’s “Daydreamer,” the remix sees Gryffin dive head first into the mellowed-out original, translating Tate McRae’s downcast sentiment into his staple propitious and acoustically-driven house tactics.
Featured image: Spencer Miller
Tags: Gryffin, tate mcrae, you broke me first, you broke me first remix
David Dann, the visionary music curator responsible for breaking the careers of ZHU, Gallant, and THEY., is back from a seven-year hiatus to relaunch his own artist project. The Mind of a Genius founder has returned to the studio to release his new single, “You & Me,” featuring French vocalist NICOLAS.
“You & Me” serves as not only a song for the quarantine age, with lyrics like “I can feel the distance in between us,” but also as a return to Dann’s live performance roots. It’s the type of deep house track that instantly transports you back to the dance floor. NICOLAS’ pitched down vocals present a bittersweet tone when paired alongside Dann’s chilled out sonics. It’s the perfect combination of introspective and euphoric stylings that will serve well for both home listening and those late club nights.
Dann’s return to the studio began during a night out at a club. After being instigated to step behind the decks at his birthday party in August of 2019 at LA’s Sound Nightclub, a spark awoke within him. “This was something that I forgot I even had in me.” He explained in a press release. “Performing live brought so much joy not only for myself, but for so many people around me. It was something that I had put to the side for so long, but recently had felt like something was missing in my personal expression. After that show at Sound, I rediscovered that love of performing, and that really reinvigorated me to give a serious solo project a shot.”
The seven years he took off from making music, however, did not mean he was sitting idly by. Over his 15-year career, he’s gone from DJ to music curator to label boss, taking on the challenges of bringing genre-defying talent to the market and carving out a path for others to follow. Lucky for us, “You & Me” is just the beginning. He plans to drop what he describes as a “visceral and cinematic music video to follow, which [he thinks] fans will find gripping like a classic action movie, but with vulnerable moments to match the song’s ethos.”
Electric Zoo is returning in 2021 with a new theme and fresh lineup!
With all festivals (more or less) cancelled this year, one of New York’s premier electronic festivals returns in 2021 with Supernaturals, a theme that opens the door to a host of decorations and set designs that should make the mind spin. Along with it, a lineup that is definitely worthy of your return to the festival grounds, should festivals return by then.
Scheduled for September 3-5, Labor Day weekend next year, you’ll have the chance to see Alesso, Kaskade, Zeds Dead, Seven Lions, Illenium, Liquid Stranger, Tiesto (performing a sunset set), deadmau5’s Testpilot alias, and more. There’s plenty of up and coming names on the lineup too, like Moore Kismet, Sippy, and JVNA.
Tickets are $250 for 3-day GA and an expensive $500 for VIP, though each comes with the option for a payment plan to make things easier. Check out the full lineup below and go here to buy tickets.
Revealing Phase One of our Supernatural artists for Labor Day Weekend NYC 2021! ?
Finding and choosing your artist name can feel like a very heavy task.
You want to pick something that fits your style while also feeling unique and true to yourself as an artist.
On top of that, you don’t want to pick something cheesy, dated, or something that has already been taken before.
Today we are going to talk about that. We’re going to go through:
How to pick your alias (and how to avoid getting caught in an indecisive spiral)
Whether aliases are even important
Things you must check before choosing a name
Some creative tools for generating artist name ideas
Examples of artist names and why they work
Let’s start by establishing if you even need an artist alias yet.
Do I Even Need An Alias?
Some people are under the impression that the day you finish your first track you must pick an artist alias.
I would disagree.
An artist alias is something that you should think about while you explore the world of music production. When you get started making music, chances are you’ll want to explore different genres and styles and that could affect what you pick for your alias.
So if you are a new producer who is still learning how to arrange a piece of music you can come back to the name later when you have a body of work completed.
You might be asking, “but I want to put my music on Soundcloud! How can I do that without creating an alias?”
If you are dead set on uploading your music to Soundcloud, I would say just use your given name or a random name. That way you can always pivot later when you are ready to create a brand around your music.
That leads me to my next point. What is the purpose of an alias? Why do you need one at all?
Well, the truth is you really don’t need one. It is just a tool to help you brand your music.
One all-encompassing name that categorizes your music, visual aesthetic, and message.
Can that be your given name? Sure! But you will want to make sure that it helps you advance your brand and doesn’t hinder it.
Recommended: How To Make Electronic Music
When Should I Make A Name?
So now, let’s say you are more advanced in your production style. You have a cohesive body of work, you have developed your own style, and you have advanced to the point where it is time to start developing a brand around your work.
These are a few questions you should ask before deciding on an artist alias and you decide on an idea.
1. Does it have meaning to you?
I probably haven’t played as many out of town shows or done as many interviews as your favorite artist, but I have done a few and by FAR the #1 question I get when I arrive at the venue or start an interview is, “How did you come up with your artist name?”
It’s a very common question.
If you plan on your music taking you to new cities, meeting new people, and moving up in the industry this will most likely be the #1 question you will be asked.
So it is best to have a good answer for this. It doesn’t have to be tear-jerking or have a monumental story behind it but a good story can go a long way.
It can be an excellent conversation piece when your fans tell their friends about your work.
Example: Deadmau5. His alias derived from a screen name on a forum. He literally found a dead mouse trapped in his computer.
He tried to change his name to DeadMouse in that forum but it was too long so he had to shorten it to Deadmau5.
That is a great conversation starter and gives his fans something to talk about outside of his music from the get-go.
Sure, a name generator can be helpful. But meaning always wins.
2. Has it been taken already?
This is a BIG one. Do not skip this step.
Building an artist brand is like building a company.
As you can see, I have a bit of competition on Google.
You wouldn’t want to start a company that shares its name with another already established company. Your alias is the foundation of your brand.
Once you get an established body of work and your fans learn what your music sounds like it will be tough to disassociate the two if you have to change your name later on.
You will want to:
Do a Google search
Check Apple Music
Check Spotify
Check Soundcloud
Check social media
Check and your country’s trademark database
…to see if your alias is available.
If it has been taken by another brand, this isn’t the end of the road.
For example, just because there’s a boutique cola shop with the name you’re planning to use, doesn’t mean it’s completely ruled out. However, you may fight to compete for Google search results.
First, check to see if they have the name trademarked. If not, you can trademark the name so you own it.
Trademarks can be expensive so it should be a decision you are 100% sure of before pulling the trigger.
A friend of mine recently found out that the alias he had been using for 6 years was trademarked by someone who was only using it for 4 months. In order for him to fight it, he would have had to hire an attorney and spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours to get it back.
Trademark your names if you can afford to!
Recommended: Marketing & Promotional Tips for Producers
3. Is it easy to communicate?
Do you have a hard time explaining to your friends what your name means and how it is pronounced?
It might be a good idea to simplify it a little bit.
There is always an exception to this rule. Someone might reference an artist with a difficult name to pronounce, spell, or search for it on social media and point to them as a rebuttal to this question.
In essence claiming that this artist with a bizarre, hard to pronounce and spell name is killing it so why can’t I? The point here is to make it easier for your audience in every way to become a raving fan.
Sure, you can make yourself FG42$$!*&$ and be massively successful but it won’t be because of that alias, it will be in spite of it.
You want your grandma to be able to pronounce your name, if she can so can everyone else. The only time I would make an exception is if the story behind the name is so powerful and it fits your brand like a glove.
The adage that, “if you are good enough people will learn your name” does ring true. But if you don’t absolutely need to complicate it, it’s best to keep it simple.
So if you are still unsure of what direction you want to go when choosing your alias. Here are a few different naming styles you can choose from.
Descriptive:
This one is the most obvious direction. A name literally describing what it is you do. This one works well with companies but can also be good for a musician.
Examples: Netflix, Dropbox, EDMProd
Suggestive:
This style implies a specific attribute about yourself or your style. If you want to convey a message about your work in the name alone this is the style for you.
Examples: Delta Heavy, RL Grime, Boombox Cartel, Sub Focus
Metaphorical:
Metaphors compare unrelated subjects by referring to one thing and meaning another. The name typically has a subtle connection to what your music conveys.
Examples: Marshmello, NGHTMRE, Eliminate, Nonsens
Neological:
Coming up with your own word can be a great approach. Using pieces of existing words or names to create your own is a creative way to catch someone’s attention.
This is the one I chose for my artist name – Haterade.
Other examples include: San Holo, Shadient, Taska Black, Flosstradamus, Skrillex
Historical:
Your name could have a historical connection. For instance, naming yourself after an influential figure’s signature technique or after a historical figure in your industry.
This is what companies like McDonalds use – name after the initial restaurant owners.
Examples: Camelphat
Arbitrary:
This one is where you can get creative. You can name yourself any word made up or not. It’s important to consider a personal connection you have to the name but usually isn’t apparent at first glance.
Examples: Avicii, Rezz, Flux Pavillion
Moving Forward With Your Artist Name
After picking one of these styles you will want to really think about the name you choose thereafter.
Picking an artist alias is almost like getting a tattoo. Sure, you could get it removed but it is extremely expensive and hurts like hell.
So be sure that you believe in the name with full confidence.
One way to get around the full commitment right off the bat is to do a ghost test drive of your name for a while.
Start saving projects with that alias, create a Soundcloud, make a Gmail account. You can test drive it for a couple of weeks and see how it feels before committing to it publicly and investing money into the branding side of the project.
One very important thing to remember when you are closing in on a name is to not tell a bunch of people before making that final decision.
My mom always told me, “When you get ready to have a kid, don’t tell anyone what you are planning to name him/her.” “People love to tear down name ideas until after the kid is born.”
This is a perfect analogy to naming your artist project as well. Sure, people still might poke fun at the name from time to time. But once you commit to it people are much less likely to give you their input.
If you really need help (and I mean really need help not validation) ask a close trusted friend.
Explain your reasoning behind your thinking, what the name means to you, and ask if they get it. They don’t have to like it 100% just as long as they understand it.
Finally, your name doesn’t have to be perfect.
You don’t have to have the most intricate story behind it or sound the coolest or be the most clever. Your music is more important.
As long as you are ok with telling complete strangers what your artist alias is, and have a story behind the origin of the name you are good to go. Even using your given name and changing your last name is a great option.
There are countless examples of this in the EDM world most prominently Martin Garrix.
It’s much less about what the alias is than what it means to you and your fans. Sure, having a catchy cool name is awesome but if it doesn’t have any emotional weight behind it other than “I thought it sounded cool”, it won’t stick.
Don’t rush into it, take your time. Sit with it. See how it feels. Once you feel confident about it, pull the trigger and start building around it.
Haterade is a veteran trap music producer from Southern California. With over 10 years experience in the industry he has had support from outlets like Trap Nation and many top tier DJs. He also runs an educational Youtube channel called The Productive Producer where he shares production hacks and producer lifestyle tips to promote longevity in your music career.
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