Day 2 started with a meeting with Musiqware, a company that tracks performance and master royalties via a specialized software program. Things are different on this side of the river as royalties are paid for master usage (not just publishing.) Herman Verkade will be writing an article on this for the site in the near future.
We met at a coffee house around the block from the Felix Meritis, and always the trainspotter, I heard Diana Ross' "My Old Piano," a number 5 hit produced by Chic in 1981, on the Muzak and commented that the hook was insane and I was surprised that no one had sampled it yet. Fast forward thirty minutes, I run into the label rep from Chuckie's label Selekted records and he handed me a sampler. In a song-by-song rundown, he mentioned a track by Ral El Canario "International Style" features a sample of "My Old Piano." How is that for fate.. or kismet?
The 'Right on Track' panel featured radio master Denis Deruyer interviewing Hardwell, Laidback Luke and DJ Sneak about their careers - Hardwell and Laidback Luke about getting started and breaking through and Sneak about his longevity. I was kind of surprised about the flippancy of some of the guys regarding legal issues and licensing, but considering their focus as DJs, I guess its not that surprising.
Surprisingly, I managed to make all my meetings - with the volume of people at the Dylan and Felix Meritis, it can be a challenge to find the people, especially if you have never seen them before. I found that wearing a distinctive piece of clothing (ie a white hat, brilliant scarf, etc) is a good way to make yourself noticed. I met with a few UK publicists who are some of the most interesting, chatty and fun people that I have worked with. Yes, they can be aggressive, but their cheeky sense of humor makes it fun to work with them.
Walking around badge surfing, I bumped into Hosh Gureli and we shared a nice, relaxing conversation over dinner at Thai Fusion. As someone who is normally running around and talking fast, it was nice to just chill and discuss the state of the industry. How long is this wave of dance music commercial acceptance going to last in the US? When did it start? Will there be a "disco suck backlash" again?
The Ultimate Controller
After a disco nap, I went to the network bash at the De Duif building - which I am guessing is some sort of religious landmark. DJ Dmitri was spinning techno and I noticed the "Emulator" on stage. The Emulator a see through flat panel device which is the size of a large 40" tv which is a highly sensitive touch screen device. Tilted on an angle, the crowd can see the display of the DJ software and how you interact with it. The host did a live demo and I was drooling. This monstrosity would be the ultimate dj controller for a club gig. The pricetag must be insane and as this is the only one in existence, I can only imagine what the production cost was. After the demo, DJ 2001 took over the decks and the dancefloor quickly filled up. The speaker horns were also quite interesting, I took a picture as I had never seen that kind of design before.
I headed down to Escape for the Stealth party which ended up being a massive success. The place was packed before midnight and shoulder to shoulder by 1am. There were too many tracks to discern (or even attempt trainspotting) yet the earlier DJs were having fun playing updates of modern club classics "Most Precious Love," "Hey Hey," "Yeke Yeke" in big room remixes that I had never heard before. The sound was full and powerful - you could feel it - yet you could chat with the person next to you. I ran into a lot of the UK commercial club world there along with some of my favorite divas - Inaya Day and Crystal Waters. After a few hours of dancing, I reluctantly left - knowing that I had some important early meetings along with big interviews - Tom Tom Club and Mync - the next day.
Songs that I am excited about:
Sherry Flavour ft Tara McDonald "The Grand" - Over 400,000 hits on Youtube for this track that originally got buzz as people wondered whether it was a Swedish House Mafia or deadmau5 track.
Real El Canario "International Style"
Oral Tunerz featuring Whigfield "To Feel Alive"
AstroShift "Tonight" (Stonebridge Remix)
Crazy White Boy "Love You Better"
Justin Kemal featuring BRUNO MARS "Her World Goes On"
D-Bag vs Les Trashick "Olga"
Darius & Finley ft Nicco "Hold On"
By the way, pictures will come next week.
