EDM : Tommie Sunshine takes on ‘underground nut-jobs’ with ‘Where's The #EDM?’ mix

In his own words, the last few weeks have been “pandemonium” for hirsute dance music ambassador Tommie Sunshine. At the Amsterdam Dance Event last September, inthemix heard Sunshine expertly lead the panel ‘The United States Of EDM’, easily one of the most well-attended during the conference. Throughout the panel, the Chicago-bred DJ returned to the point that the U.S. ‘EDM’ boom should be welcomed, not agonised about.
“This is not a conversation anymore, it just isn’t,” he told the room. “There is plenty of pie for everybody. If you want to be David Guetta and write pop records, that’s fine. If you want to be Seth Troxler and freak out and play crazy music and eight-hour sets, there’s plenty of room for that. They just don’t need to exist in the same place.”
Since then, Sunshine has kept up his side of the argument, largely on his superhumanly prolific Twitter account and via a Guest Editorial for The Huffington Post, ‘EDM Is Growing Up’. Early last week, he praised the Platinum success of Swedish House Mafia’s single Don’t You Worry Child as a sign of big things for dance music in 2013. The comment sparked a discussion with Ed Simons of the Chemical Brothers, who dismissed the song as “drivel” that “sounds like Nickelback”. As Sunshine put it at the time: “Why is everyone from the roots of this music so fucking salty about the ones who are going mainstream?”

Tommie Sunshine’s position that “there’s plenty of pie for everybody” continues to stir up debate. Now the DJ has put together a new DJ mix to address his detractors. The Soundcloud mix – titled ‘Where’s The #EDM?’ and adorned with a cut-out of Pitbull’s face – is an ode to his Chicago house roots, before the flammable term ‘EDM’ was even on the radar. The likes of Jesse Rose, Solomun, Tiger Stripes and Duke Dumont all make the cut.
“In all of the pandemonium of the last few weeks I felt it necessary to make a mix that reflects my roots in Chicago & shows all the Underground nut jobs who berated me that I do, in fact, know the difference between EDM & House Music,” he writes. “This is a listening mix mean to be enjoyed loud. Make no mistake that I’m going this direction with my live sets for 2013; this is just a love letter to the city that made me want to be a DJ. These artists above are some of the best ones making this deep style & their catalogs are worth exploring. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did making it. I hope you dance as much as I did while making it. This is House Music. Enjoy.”

Tracklisting:

Duke Dumont – The Giver
Debora & Hannah Holland – Fight [Citizen Remix]
Dan Beaumont & Terry Farley – Fire
Rudimental feat. John Newman & Alex Clare – Not Giving In [Huxley Remix]
Jamie Jones – Road To The Studio [Fly Mix]
Northbrook – Dance [Tommie Sunshine Dub]
Jamie Jones – No Rush
Lana Del Rey – Blue Jeans [Omid 16B Remix]
Aphex Twin – Windowlicker [Tiger Stripes Remix]
Sidney Charles – House Lesson
Jesse Rose – Love The Feeling High feat. Ed Weathers
Deichkind – Leider Geil [Solomun Dub]
Deboa & Hannah Holland – Skentello [Donewrong Miami Mix]
Ts7 – Heartlight (Polygon)
Fake Blood – All In The Blink
Duke Dumont – Need U (100%) feat. A*M*E & MNEK
Chromatics – Ceremony feat. Ida No

Credit : InTheMix

EDM Is Growing Up - Written By Tommie Sunshine

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

EDM - Tommie Sunshine - Softer Drops (a W.ork I.n P.rogress) DJ Mix

This is Tommie's love letter (in his own words) to bottle service & its digestion of our musical culture.
1. Phat Deuce - Gangsta
2. Rihanna - Diamonds [Congorock Extended Mix]
3. Sidney Samson - Dutchland
4. Bassjackers - Let's Get Weird
5. Arno Cost - Lifetime
6. Loopers - Deal Breaker
7. Sandro Silva - Thug
8. Firebeatz - Disque
9. Clockwork - Seven Nuke Army [Wolfgang Gartner Vs. The White Stripes]
10. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) [Gigi Barocco Battle Dirty Extended Mix]
11. Rule Of Eight - Celadon
12. Galantis - Raveheart
13. Clockwork - Titan [The Partysquad Remix]
14. Dada Life - So Young, So High
15. Rammstein - Mein Herz Brennt [Boys Noize Remix]

EDM : Tommie Sunshine kicked off decks: “Everyone is now an expert of this music”

In amongst all the great parties going on out there, 2012 has had its share of stories involving DJs unceremoniously booted from the booth (followed by said DJ venting in a Tweet/blog post/interview). The most-quoted reason: the set wasn’t working for the bottle-service crowd. The latest incident happened to New York club stalwart Tommie Sunshine, who recounted his story to Vibe.com. Tommie was kicked off the decks at NYC’s W.i.P last Saturday 8 December for playing “too hard” – even though, as he told Vibe, his set included “Swedish House Mafia, a Ke$ha remix, the Pitbull track in the new Bud Light commercial, Avicii [and] some fun bootlegs.”

“A bit past halfway into my set I was informed that I was being taken off the decks while standing with Askay from MTV & my booking agent Cody from AM Only,” Tommie recounted. “We all had a good laugh about it because everyone is now an expert of this music, especially the ones who pay BIG $ to consume it. Not to mention the clowns who supposedly ‘run’ clubs.”

Later in the story, he added: “Basically their #1 priority is their ‘clients’ who spend money in bottle service & what they say dictates the music direction. The DJs who have to play to people who act this way don’t deserve this kind of abuse. Not only will I never play there again but they have a huge mountain to climb for pissing off AM Only who sent them both Skrillex & Wolfgang Gartner for shows there & now they pretty much spit in my & my agent’s faces.” You can head to Vibe for the full story from Tommie, and the response from a representative for W.i.P’s owner.

Moderating the panel ‘United States Of EDM’ at the 2012 Amsterdam Dance Event, which inthemix covered in-depth, Tommie Sunshine was positive about the current Stateside boom. “I’m excited about some kid in Middle America hearing a David Guetta record and going, ‘Oh god, fuck this’,” he told the room. “And then buying a synthesiser in a punk reaction, and deciding they’re gonna make music instead. That’s the music I want to hear. That’s how this is going to evolve.

“I came into this as a kid from Chicago who loved music; I never thought I’d be in Holland pontificating on where I thought the music was going. But anyone who loves this music is all already on the best side of culture, because we actually know how to have a good time. The rest of the world is trying to figure out what we already know.”

EDM : Tommie Sunshine Says He Was Kicked Off the Decks at W.i.P.

Many know W.i.P. nightclub in New York’s Soho as the place where Drake and Chris Brown famously duked it out over Rihanna. New York DJ/producer Tommie Sunshine, who was booked to play the club on Saturday night, says that he was kicked off the decks for not playing commercial enough music. “I was taken off the decks at W.i.P. in Manhattan tonight 40 minutes early,” Sunshine told us on Sunday morning. “I was advised 15 minutes into the start my set that I needed to play ‘more commercial music with softer drops and more vocals.’”

Sunshine issued the following statement exclusively to Big Shot:

It was a record release party for my remix of Faustix & Imanos “Ambulance” on Strictly Rhythm. Date was moved twice before because club didn’t promote it properly. I got stuck on the Brooklyn Bridge for (no kidding) two hours on the way to dinner in the city before heading to my gig. I dropped my [girlfriend] Daniela at Mister H where she dances. Then had to walk from Mister H to W.i.P. in the rain because of no cabs. I arrived and started to play. I played as commercial as I ever play. The “owner” started in at my second record asking for “more commercial music with softer drops and more vocals.” Mind you the track the release party was for has NO VOCALS. Then I was informed that they were “hearing from clients they weren’t digging it and thought it was too hard.” Swedish House Mafia, a Ke$ha remix, the Pitbull track in the new Bud Light commercial, Avicii, some fun bootlegs…a bit past halfway into my set I was informed that I was being taken off the decks while standing with Askay from MTV and my booking agent Cody from AM Only.
We all had a good laugh about it because everyone is now an expert of this music, especially the ones who pay BIG $ to consume it. Not to mention the clowns who supposedly “run” clubs.
W.i.P. also gave the five people I put on the guest list a huge hassle for not coming with girls and tried to sell them bottles for entrance to the club. They also wouldn’t take care of drink tickets for my agent at AM Only, the promotional director of Strictly Rhythm, Nick from The Disco Fries and Kevin who runs my label, Brooklyn Fire.
Basically their #1 priority is their “clients” who spend money in bottle service & what they say dictates the music direction. The DJs who have to play to people who act this way don’t deserve this kind of abuse.
Not only will I never play there again but they have a huge mountain to climb for pissing off AM Only who sent them both Skrillex and Wolfgang Gartner for shows there and now they pretty much spit in my and my agent’s faces.
I wish them luck and I feel sorry for anyone who has to play there. This is not what this music is about. This is not what I am about. That’s is my story and I’m sticking to it.

Please Respect The DJ! This is happening way too often!

Credit : Big Shot Mag

Tommie Sunshine Discusses Twitter Feud with DJ Sneak

What the hell happened last week between DJ Sneak and Tommie Sunshine on Twitter? Within the blink of a tweet the two DJs squared off and threw down on the social media network in a heated exchange. And it got very personal. Those who followers Sunshine know that he speaks his mind on a host of issues in addition to music (drugs, politics, life). Regular readers of Big Shot will remember that in March, Sneak, the self-described House Gangster, got into a bitter Twitter feud with Swedish House Mafia’s Steve Angello over comments he made about the act in an interview. “If you are going to do pre-recorded sets then call yourself a live act or a performer, leave the DJing to real DJs,” an unapologetic Sneak told us. “There are many DJs out there that can rock a crowd and do what they have to without faking it.” It seems that both jocks’ opinions clashed in a perfect storm. But what instigated the virtual brawl on November 12?
On November 13, Big Shot contacted Sneak and Sunshine to get their side about what caused the war of tweets. Dan Ross of X-Mix Productions, Sneak’s management company, said a comment would be forthcoming but none appeared (we followed up three times and didn’t receive a reply). Tommie Sunshine, however, told us his side of the story.

Tommie Sunshine: “This [incident] seems petty but maybe there is something bigger to learn here.”

“[I was] enjoying the endless irony of RichieHawtin‘s CNTRL_EDM feed as he was one of the first producers with a publicist and an ‘act.’ It set off a kid in Canada who then tweeted to Richie thus starting chaos. He then brought up Sneak in which I replied:

“I have had it with people talking about the good ‘ol days. I have always had the utmost respect for DJ Sneak and his illustrious career. He made many classic Chicago house tracks that have endured the ages. That being said, I always am disappointed when he complains about the state of our music. He has had a very amazing career in which he’s only ever done what he wants to do and the industry has let him. Why would someone like that have anything to complain about? It’s sad to hear legends complain about what is coming next. The kids rule the world. Without them, we don’t have careers. The whole vibe of this music has been taken back to the feel of the rave days in the early ’90s some 20 years ago. I’m thankful for that and am enjoying it all over again with the biggest smile on my face.”
Sneak then fired off a series of replies. Here are a few:



During the virtual fracas, a fan of both DJs pleaded for calm but received a Twitter smackdown from Sneak.

Later on, Sunshine took to Twitter to defend himself:

Though Sunshine has seemingly maintained nothing but respect for Sneak’s career in his tweets, the tussle opened up an old wound: Sunshine, who is now sober, accused Sneak of blowing pot smoke in his face after crashing his DJ set in L.A.


In spite of the brouhaha, both jocks with Chicago roots are carrying on. Sneak just played a show in São Paulo and remains active on Twitter. Sunshine released his Growth EP on November 15 and says his recent gig at EDC Orlando (where his DJ bag was stolen) was amazing (“It was tremendous. These kids were having the times of their lives.”)
With a few days perspective from the scuffle with Sneak, Sunshine seems now be in a pragmatic frame of mind about the feud. “This [incident] seems petty but maybe there is something bigger to learn here about us moving forward and the growing pains of it all.”

Credit : BigShot

Music Video : Tommie Sunshine - The Dominating Force Is Sound