I've been putting off my first "proper" piece for Huffington
Post for six months now. People have been in my ear the whole time
egging me on to speak my mind and share my thoughts with the masses, far
beyond my Twitter followers & Facebook likers. That time is upon
us; 2013 is the year of the Snake and although I don't know exactly what
that means, I do know it's going to be an amazing year for EDM and the
emerging culture around it.
We are four days into a new year and already so much has transpired. Zedd performed "Clarity" on
The Late Show With David Letterman
with Foxes & Alvin Risk, accompanied by a sit-down string section;
Tiesto left his long-time management company for a much bigger one; and
Skrillex released some proper listening music that pays tribute to his
idols, Burial & Aphex Twin. Avicii has invited the world to help him
write and produce his next track; Armin van Buuren announced that his
'A State Of Trance' 600th show will broadcast from Madison Square
Garden; Diplo announced he's playing four shows in one night in four
different cities and MTV has turned the hashtag #EDMCASTING into
everyone's conceivable worst nightmare.
We are at the tipping point. This is it. This is what I've been
working at for 20 years of my life now. The moment when this music
becomes both a mainstream musical explosion and a cultural phenomenon
simultaneously. If that isn't something that causes growing pains, I
don't know what is. Some people who live for this music are turned off
by it rising into the mainstream, but the ones who are lifers and truly
love it will find their micro-scene to disappear into, while EDM takes
over the world. This is a sad fact because we would love to have those
people at EDC & Ultra, as they could show the younger kids the way
into feeling this properly and experiencing it on a much deeper level.
This is needed and I hope happens more frequently. I implore you to
mentor the younger Ravers and teach them something in the confides of
your brief psychedelic weekend encounters.
Earlier this week I performed at Afrojack's Jacked party, one of
the largest events I've ever played at in New York City and one of the
largest crowds I've played to in the States. Pier 94, with its legal
capacity of 6,500 (so let's say attendance was 6,500) is one of the best
venues for people to actually interact with each other. Massive LED
walls light up the room and if you stand at the back you can very easily
strike up a conversation with someone you can actually see. I heard
there were food trucks outside, so Polina, my Daniela and I made our way
through the crowd and the reactions of the kids were amazing. "What are
you doing out here?" asked one girl. I said, "Grabbing pizza, we're
hungry!" This seemed perplexing to a room full of kids shut out of VIP,
but as a former Raver, walking through a crowded event is always one of
the highlights of the night for me. I took hundreds of photos with fans
and passed out CD copies of my new EP. I haven't felt so connected to a
party in years; other DJ/Producers, I implore you to try this. It's
beautiful and truly amazing.
I have so much to say but don't want to bore you with too much at
once. Fans of mine are well familiar with my Twitter and Facebook rants
about love, music, politics and war, so I will attempt to keep this
fresh. We all have the attention spans of fleas, thanks to our phones,
so I will wrap this up quickly. This week's Billboard Top 40 is 25
percent straight up EDM tracks and another 25 percent EDM-influenced
tracks (see Swift and Bieber), so essentially, we have half the chart.
By 2015, I predict we will have almost 100 percent, as Europe has for
two plus decades now. But to everyone reading this who loves dance
music, please remember that these are the best days of it. Enjoy it
while it lasts, savor every moment and go out of your way to bring all
of your friends. We are on the right side of history and the whole world
wants what we've known forever. This is essentially still a secret,
even though people are making it out to be the end. It's not the end at
all. EDM is just growing up. The question you should be asking yourself
is, are you?
Credit :
Huffington Post
