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* WMC Awards Miami Best Producer * WMC Awards Miami Best Hi-NRG / Euro track * WMC Awards Miami The Ortofon Best European DJ 2004 * WMC Awards Miami Best Producer 2004 * TMF Award Holland Best Dance National * TMF Award Holland Radio 538 single of the year * TMF Award Holland Lifetime Achievement * Edison Music Award Best dance album ' Just Be |
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PAUL VAN DYK : |
Born December 16th, 1971 in Eisenhuettenstadt,
East Germany, Paul grew up in communist East Berlin. Prior to Germany's
reunification, he at least had an early window to the capitalist
world via the cross-border airwaves. Around this same period, Paul also started making his own original compositions. His first production "Perfect Day", put together with Cosmic Baby as "Visions of Shiva", was released in 1992. "I was pleased like a little child, holding my own very first record in my hands!,... Paul remembers. "Perfect Day" was published by the Berlin underground label 'MFS', and launched a promising career, which aimed without pause or hesitation for the top ! In 1998 his first album "45 RPM" was released in the UK, and the new remix of the single "For an Angel" attacked the worldwide dancefloors. The album buzzed for two weeks at number 1 in England and four weeks at number 1 in the German dancecharts, and also achieved major postings in the American, Australian, Dutch, Belgian and Scandinavian dancecharts. Today Paul's touring diary is incredibly hectic with regular globetrotting stops at major venues in London, Tel Aviv, Mexico, New York and Singapore. Between all that, Berlin is always there and waiting -- if not for the interviews and local club dates, then for looking after his own label, recording studio and radio show. |
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ARMIN VAN BUUREN : |
Armin van Buuren is a happy man,
and with good reason. Holding firm at Number 3 in the prestigious
public-voted DJ Top 100, he’s making the transition from talented
young upstart to leading light in the echelons of trance •
and beyond. 2005 has brought two new significant awards (Best Radio
Show, and Best Compilation for A State of Trance 2004 at the Miami
Winter Music Conference Awards), and a stunning new artist album,
Shivers, showcasing his debut as a songwriter. Born in Leiden, Holland (on December 25, 1976) to a musical family • his dad had a serious penchant for a diverse range of genres including punk and electronica “to get rid of the stress of everyday life”, while his brother is a prodigious guitar player • Armin indulged his passion for music from a young age, blowing all the money from his paper round on records. His mum won a computer when he was 10, “So as a little nerdy kid I was writing my own Basic programmes, and learnt about the technology from there.” He progressed from making the usual tapes for his friends, put together on a cheap set of decks that he wore out learning to mix, after discovering his uncle experimenting with different sequences on his computer. “I was so amazed at what he was doing, since that moment I’ve been addicted to creating music!” In the early 90s, Holland’s upfront dance scene meant that although Armin was too young to go clubbing, he knew the music inside out from listening to the radio. “I loved dance music immediately • this great rebellious sound that was so different to the ‘beautiful’ songs of the 80s”. Citing electronic pioneer Jean Michel Jarre as a major influence (famed for his awesome visuals as well as his groundbreaking synth sounds), as well as Dutch producer Ben Liebrand, who later mentored him in his mixing and producing, Armin was soon cracking out consistently stand-out tunes that graced compilations across the globe, and his DJ bookings were looking pretty healthy to boot. But despite his music career taking off at such an early age, Armin thought it was wise to have something extra in case the DJing didn’t work out, and studied for a law degree. He actually got a job offer with a law firm but says it’s not really his thing, though he does acknowledge he'd look good in a suit… Armin's Blue Fear, a Sasha and Digweed staple, previewed his signature style: divine layering of sounds, lush chords and a continuous driving beat with that intangible added extra, the unique essence that sets quality tunes apart when you hear them in a set. His subsequent productions and remixes (too numerous to list here • chuck him into a google search if you’ve got a day to read the resulting titles…), include Communication, Sound Of Goodbye, Burned With Desire, Touch Me, Free, Wamdue Project’s King Of My Castle, Solid Sessions’ Janeiro, and Solar Stone’s 7 Cities, as well as high profile collaborations with his peers. While the remix offers now flood in, Armin only takes on tunes that he really loves, and that “I wish I’d made myself!” His compilations strive to follow that precedent, always comprising the cream of his current favourite tracks and mixes. It’s what keeps him one step ahead. His desire to showcase more of the wealth of good music out there, along with the number of people sending him tracks they wanted to release, led to the obvious step of starting his own label, Armada, in 2003. |
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SASHA : |
| Sasha, a musician in every sense of the word, may have
fallen into that media led trap in the past, but now at 30 years young
he forges ahead with projects that will finally allow people to understand
who the man behind the myth really is. The best DJs know that Djing is first about being able to read people and then about being able to tap into that human experience and take it on a journey. Sasha has always been noted for being a master at this, and although his style is described as "Progressive Trance" with a good presence of House and break beat elements; his music has always reached beyond those record store titles, thus separating him from his contemporaries. Sasha creates and plays music that gives emotion a chance to speak. It is this universal appeal that he has tapped into that has established his strong fanbase around the globe. This ability to capture sounds on a universal level was most recently called upon when he was asked to write all the music for Sony Playstation¹s biggest game release of 1999, "Wipeout 3". Sasha wrote 5 original tracks to soundscape the game. "Wipeout 3" won not only the best racing game award, but best game of the whole show. Since then of course, Sasha has gone from DJ to superstar status in America, where "Sarsha" is a household name for many teenagers and his and John's residency has continued to provide the launchpad for British dance music into New York and beyond. The sound of Twilo: deep, pumping late night .h.o.u.s.e. is encapsulated on 'Communicate', Sasha and John's joint mix album for INCredible. Modern club anthems like Trancesetters 'Roaches' and Trisco's Muzak all blended in the late night, early morning way that New York's clubbers have come know and love. For Sasha, music is his first love, and what gives him a buzz is being able to share his music with others. From his presence at those all too talked about after hour parties where his special impromptu sets are heard, to his signature always present child like antics that leave people wondering if he has modelled his life after Peter Pan, to his DJ sets at clubs around the world, all lined with the backdrop of his own productions, Sasha leaves trails of memories, melodies and stories wherever he goes. These are the things that have been, and will continue to be remembered and passed on for years. And that is what legends are made of. |
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DEEP DISH : |
| Grammy award winning DJ duo Deep Dish are two of the most well-known and respected artists/producers in electronic dance music today. Recently honored as Rolling Stone magazine's #2 pick for the year's "Best Dance/DJ Artist", Deep Dish is poised to continue where they left off following an exciting 2001. Ali 'Dubfire' Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi, the Washington, DC-based DJs known collectively as Deep Dish, first rose to prominence following the 1998 release of their groundbreaking debut album, Junk Science. Since then, the two have spent the bulk of their time trotting around the globe at the request of the world's most famous clubs. Characterized by diverse and unexpected grooves, Deep Dish continues to enjoy mainstream success and underground respect. In addition, DEEP DISH ranked #10 in DJ Magazine's (U.K.) Top 100 DJ's readers poll for 2001--a direct result of constant touring and well-attended residencies from 1015 in San Francisco to Buzz in D.C. to The End in London and beyond. This month, they set off on the second leg of a DJ tour in support of Global Underground. | |
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CARL COX : |
| So much has been said about one of the greatest DJs
in the world. Carl Cox has excelled as a producer, artist, remixer,
radio DJ, businessman, and ambassador for dance music. In the UK he
is a full-blown 'Pop Star'. As anyone who has met him will attest,
Carl Cox is the living embodiment of the perfect gentlemen, the DJ
diplomat and progressive music pioneer. Carl Cox began 1996 with the launch of his own record label, Worldwide Ultimatum, releasing his debut self-produced album 'At The End Of The Cliche'. This album was a culmination of influences gained from 18 years of the experience. It took over two years to complete ans stormed up the UK charts attaining a position of #22. In addition, he began his own management company, Ultimate Music Management, which has blossomed under his watchful eye and boasts a roster which includes such well-known DJ's as Josh Wink, Laurent Garnier and Judge Rules. Carl Cox has rocked dance floors the world over and has conquered corners of the globe previously left untouched. Maintaining a constant tour schedule, playing throughout the UK and Europe, he recently mesmerized thousands in Israel, South Africa, Japan and Australia. Cox appeared at the legendary Love Parade (one of the world's largest raves) in Berlin playing to over 80,000 people. He is the featured DJ this year at T In The Park, and continues to play the UK's biggest clubs including Slam, Cream, Lakota and Minstry Of Sound. |
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FERRY CORSTEN : |
| The Dutch harbor city Rotterdam was Ferry Corsten's
playground when growing up and the city still is his current base
of operations. Being a full-time producer since 1991 Ferry has developed
into a true prodigy of the international dance scene. After initially producing some hardcore gabba tracks Ferry became more interested in clubhouse and trance. In 1996 Ferry achieved a position in the U.K. single chart at #46 with 'Don't be Afraid' by Moonman, his first major and European breakthrough as a solo dance Artist, producer & composer. In 1997 Ferry and his partner Robert Smit established the Tsunami dance label together with the Dutch based dance company Purple Eye Entertainment b.v. This collaboration would prove to be an almost instant success and eventually resulted in the creation of one of the most influential dance labels around today. These three parties have set up in the meantime another label entitled Polar State. In February 1999 Ferry's second solo project, system F, was released on the Tsunami imprint. The title 'Out Of The Blue' is a melodic and powerful twister and turned out to be one of the biggest trance track of 1999, achieved a top twenty position in the U.K. single chart and put Ferry on the world-wide dance map permanently. The follow up single "Cry" (produced together with Robert Smit) was again an UK top 20 single hit. In October of 1999 Ferry Corsten has been elected as 'Producer of the Year' during the Ericsson Muzik award in London, leaving fellow-nominees like Puff Daddy and Rodney Jerkins behind. In Mai 2000 he was awarded 'Best Remix' for "Barber's Adagio For Strings"' at the Dancestar 2000 awards. In Holland he received the prestigious 'Silver Harp' award due to his contributions to the Dutch dance music. |
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ATB : |
| From time to time in each music genre, artists turn
up who manage to stir up the scene and thrill the audiences. On the
international dance scene, ATB is without a doubt an example of this
type of producer and artist. Andre has a unique skill in combining ambient and trance with a wide variety of musical influences. He delivers dance songs with melancholic hooks and wonderful harmonious, smooth and relaxed sounds that carry you away. Andre has repeatedly laid milestones in modern club music. While many struggle throughout their careers, Andre immediately went into overdrive with his first ATB track "9 P.M. (Till I Come)", which reached the top of the UK charts in 1999 and brought his music to all continents of the globe. Few international artists who create their own style manage to make each of their songs sound different. You know the feeling when you hear a song on the radio for the first time and you immediately associate it with an artist. Andre Tanneberger, however, manages to give each of his tracks its own spirit while still surprising fans and always remaining ATB. That is exactly what it takes to make an internationally successful producer. Andre has worked with various artists again on his fifth album "No Silence". The first single "Marrakech" was recorded with British vocalist Tiff Lacey, who previously worked with trance legend Paul Oakenfold. Canada's Roberta Carter Harrison, who sang on "Let U Go", "I Don't Wanna Stop" and "Hold You", is also back on board. |
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PAUL OAKENFOLD : |
| Paul Oakenfold's musical career started from admirably
humble beginnings, playing soul and rare groove cuts in a Covent Garden
wine bar in the late 'seventies with mate Trevor Fung. By the early
'eighties, having decided that NYC was the place, Paul decamped there
armed only with the chutzpah to blag his way into a courier's job
in West Harlem. At that time, more than any other, New York was bursting
with musical invention: hip-hop was the freshest street sound around,
and Larry Levan - arguably the first ever superstar DJ, inspiring
a frenzy in the crowd that some guy playing records had never inspired
before - was packing out the Paradise Garage every week with the revolutionary,
hypnotic mixing style that would become the acid house DJ's stock
in trade. Remix galore followed, for Mondays labelmates New Order; Massive Attack; The Shamen, and Arrested Development among others, as Paul and Steve began trading under the name Perfecto. If the name was little known at first that soon changed with the 1992 Perfecto mix of U2's Even Better Than The Real Thing. The track, with delicious irony, attained a higher chart position on release than the original song, thus signalling a watershed in the history and growth of dance music. On the production front Paul began to release his own tracks as well as continuing to turn in remixes, while Perfecto expanded into a fully-fledged label. Its offshoot, Perfecto Fluoro, became the label of choice in the mid-'nineties for the harder, trippier Goa trance sound. Today Perfecto boasts artists as diverse as Arthur Baker, Harry 'Choo Choo' Romero, and Timo Maas on its roster, and has gone from strength to strength by refusing to pander to only one style of dance music. Alongside the building of the Perfecto brand, Paul released a string of superlative mix CD's, amongst them his awesome New York set for Global Underground - still the series' biggest seller to date. And who else would have been commissioned to write the theme for what was certain to be the biggest TV show of all time? How did you guess? Paul wrote and produced the Big Brother theme, as Element 4, with Andy Gray. In 1985 young Paul spent the summer on a beautiful Balearic island called Ibiza. Ever heard of it? Oakey is as much responsible as anyone for making it the clubber's paradise it is today, as two years after that first trip he, alongside mates Trevor Fung, Nicky Holloway, Ian St Paul, Danny Rampling and Johnny Walker, went there for a week to celebrate his birthday. If the first visit had been good, this one changed their lives forever. Dancing in the warm night air beneath stars at the then open-air Amnesia to the oddest mix of music any of them had ever heard, courtesy of island legend Alfredo, Paul's urge to import this incredible experience - and the Balearic sound - back to England became too great to resist. |
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JOHN DIGWEED : |
| The word "bedrock" holds two connotations.
Literally, it is a solid mass of rock that lies underneath layers
of loose, unconsolidated soil. Figuratively speaking, it refers to
a basic principle, an irrefutable, fundamental idea upon which other
thoughts and movements are derived. Whichever definition you apply,
British DJ-producer John Digweed and his 10 year-old Bedrock club
event have lived up to its implications. While lesser DJs bow to the whims of clubland fad and fashion, Digweed continues to stand as a reliable, steadfast pillar of dance floor excellence. He brings the same douse of driving enthusiasm and inspiring innovation to his two-and-a-half year old residency at Manhattan superclub Twilo (where he reigns with Sasha) as he did to his first Bedrock events in Hastings more than 10-years ago, where he emerged as a fresh, young talent who mesmerized faithful audiences with his soul-stirring progressive dance tunes. His resume of accomplishments makes his proteges swoon and his contemporaries nervous. He served as a resident at the northern club Renaissance during its early-to-mid nineties heyday. He was the first U.K. DJ (with Sasha) to hold a club residency in the U.S. He's consistently voted one of the top 10 international DJs in prestigious club culture publications such as DJ Magazine and Muzik. He's a talent whose appearances in locales such as Australia, Africa, and Asia are met with the same fervor and excitement they receive in Europe and America. And this DJ superstar continues to stay on the rise. It's the same strive towards excellence he brings to his work as a musician. His tracks, recorded with partner Nick Muir under, you guessed it, the moniker Bedrock, are bona fide classics, meshing the deep, luxurious hues of house with the atmospheric rush of trance in Digweed's characteristic style. 1993's "For What You Dream Of," the quintessential Bedrock tune, found its way from the Renaissance dance floor into the film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting in 1996. "Heaven Scent," the latest opus, has been embraced by every important DJ with a clue. And his most recent reconfigurations of cuts by Satoshi Tomiie featuring Kelly Ali from Sneaker Pimps, Danny Tenaglia, and DJs Heller and Farley, plus others have made him one of the most respected and in-demand remixers of the year. A strong, steadfast foundation on which the ever-expanding global club culture continues to lean. A standard by which all other promoters, producers and DJs can be measured. With the talent and ambition that has a way of separating the diamonds from the rough, John Digweed's Bedrock is set to move you in more ways than you can imagine. |