Weekly shows update

New shows have been added to the calendar on the right.

Do any of these DJ's interest you?

Tiesto
Brad Miller
James Gill
Matty & Romi
Avicii
Mark Knight
Carl Cox
Boyz Noize
Rusko
CircoLoco
Paco Osuna
Crookers
Art Department
Wolf + Lamb
Lee Burridge
Danny Howells
Taimur + Fahad
Axwell
Sebastian Ingrosso
Nero
Timo Maas
Sean Tyas
M.I.K.E.

If so, check the events listing to the right [yeah, it's been a while since I updated this]. They all have shows in the NYC Metro area in the next few months.

Weekly shows update

- Aly & Fila, Simon Patterson, and Tom Colontonio will be celebrating Massive Event's four-year anniversary with a show scheduled for October 9 at Webster Hall.

- The openers for deadmau5's trio of shows in late October at the Roseland Ballroom, in which he has dubbed "The Trifecta", have been announced. Performers include Afrojack, Sleepy & Boo, Pete Tong, Kaskade, and Busta Rhymes.

- Soul Clap and Nicolas Jaar, of Wolf + Lamb fame, will be at the Rivington Penthouse in a few weeks.

- Two notable names are coming to Pacha again: Mark Knight on October 23, and Stoneface & Terminal on October 15.

- Gareth Emery will play a show at Cielo on October 28 in support of his new artist album: Northern Lights.

- For the first time in over a year, Sasha will play a show in New York City in one of it's newest clubs: District 36.

Weekly shows update

- The lineups for the Trance Takeover event at Pacha during the upcoming September 24th weekend have been announced:

Friday: Marco V, Filo & Peri, Zack Roth, DJ Eco, Keryn & Dani Lehman, James Gill, Rory James, Wayde Rafnel, Ali Mahmud

Saturday: Andy Moor, Ronski Speed, Randy Boyer, Mike Saint-Jules, Harji & Watson, DJ Kaeno, Dave Correa, Frank Chiarello, Brendan Bartels.

- Chus & Ceballos will be at Cielo on Sunday night after Electric Zoo.

- Bobina and Danny Tenaglia return to Pacha in two weeks to play shows on Friday and Saturday, September 10 and 11.

- Boris will play a 6pm-midnight show at Water Taxi Beach on September 12.

- Dirty South will play Pacha on November 19.

- Paul Oakenfold will be at the Roseland Ballroom on November 24.

[Thanks to Enigmat on TranceAddict for compiling some of these]

Weekly shows update

- Sean Tyas, Ryan Tyas, MadRiverRai, James Costas, and Jay Kinard will be playing another boat cruise through Manhattan's harbor on August 20.

- Deadmau5's unhooked show with 22 other acts, which was originally scheduled for July 5  (but got canceled) at the pool at Harrah's Resort and Casino, has been rescheduled for October 3.

- TranceAddict and Massive Event are putting on a "Trance Takeover" event at Pacha on the weekend of September 24th. The only two names confirmed so far are Andy Moor and Marco V, but many more are going to be announced in the coming weeks.

- Sappho's Journey of Royal Advisor Records will be at The Bitter End this Sunday.

- Lastly, if you haven't bought tickets yet for this upcoming Labor Day weekend's Electric Zoo Festival, prices will increase again at midnight tonight.

Axwell added as Electric Zoo headliner

A couple weeks ago Paul Van Dyk was taken off the lineup for this year's Electric Zoo Festival.

So what does Made Event do? They announce today that Axwell (one-third of the Swedish House Mafia) has been added to the roster of performing artists. Not a bad choice for a replacement...

Also in that announcement is the details of one of the official afterparties, where Robbie Rivera, Sharam, and others will be playing Pacha on Saturday, September 4.

In my opinion, Axwell is the most unique-sounding member of the Swedish House Mafia when compared to Steve Angello, who played Electric Zoo last year, and Sebastian Ingrosso. He still carries that signature SHM sound, but at the same time produces some quality stuff outside the normal parameters, like his new single "Nothing But Love". The "Remode" version of the track is the one faring better on Beatport charts, but I like the "Classic Mix" more.

[Info credit: PlexiPR]

Weekly shows update

- If you're reading this blog and happen to live in the northwest, Brad Miller is returning home to play a show at Trinity in Seattle on August 14.

- Ferry Corsten is returning to New York, this time at Pacha, on October 1.

- I made an error on a previous post saying that Aly & Fila would be at Pacha this Friday. Instead, it will be John O'Callaghan and Matt Darey performing that night, with Mike Saint-Jules, Wayde Rafnel, and others playing some of the other rooms in the club. Danny Tenaglia will be at Pacha the following night.

- Hot Natured, the duo of Lee Foss (Culprit, Wolf + Lamb) and Jamie Jones (Culprit, Hot Creations) will be playing a daytime show from 2pm-Midnight at the Rivington Hotel on September 18. If you haven't heard their new track "Wintertime", it's worth checking out.

And lastly, the reason why I haven't been doing so many of these lately is because most of the shows for July were announced at the beginning of the summer, leaving substantial updates few and far between.

Weekly shows update

The biggest news this week is that the 2010 Electric Zoo lineup has been finalized with schedules released for each day (minus set times):

And at Pacha last weekend during the Oakenfold and Laidback Luke shows, flyers were being handed out to advertise a bunch of new events, including Aly & Fila's first-ever visit to NYC.

Lastly, Royal Advisor Records and their artists have a couple shows lined up for the next two weeks.

[Image credit: PlexiPR, Brad Miller @ TranceAddict]

Weekly shows update

- Mike Saint Jules and others will be playing three hour sets from 4-7 p.m. each Friday at Birch Coffee in Manhattan. Pretty cool timing for those who want to listen to some good stuff after work.

- Victor Calderone will be at Pacha on July 17.

Oh yea...that events listing thing

Over the last two weeks I've slacked a bit on updating local shows, mainly because news was slow last week and I've been quite busy this week.

So in order to catch up, here's the rundown on everything I missed...

At Pacha: Boris on June 12, Oscar G on June 18, and Jonathan Peters on June 26. Paul Oakenfold on July 2, Laidback Luke on July 3, and Erick Morillo on July 4.

At Governor's Island: Benny Benassi on July 5.

At Love: Tritional on July 17.

All ticket info and links will be to the right.

Weekly shows update

Once again not much to announce unless your a member of Blk|Market, which has recently listed a couple new events.

Something noteworthy though is the upcoming Unite Music Festival in Buffalo on May 28-31, featuring four days of events with performers Gareth Emery, Eddie Halliwell, Menno De Jong, Christopher Lawrence, Serge Devant, and others.

This weekend:

Friday: Love is hosting another dubstep event put on by Headhunter, Sepalcure, and Spatial. Agoria will bring Balance 016 to 50 Bowery, and Benny Benassi and Steve Aoki will play Pacha on the same night.

Weekly shows update

EnigmaT over at TranceAddict does a great job of compiling show dates each week, and after looking at his latest list, there's a few I forgot to include on this site.

For this entry, I'm also changing the format around a little bit to make it easier to find shows at a particular venue. So instead of randomly listing bookings, I'll compile them by club/venue.

Upcoming:

At Pacha: Mark Knight on June 5.

At Cielo: Dave Dresden on June 25.

At Love: Joris Voorn on June 11.

At Santos Party House: Afrojack on June 12.

This week:

Thursday: Alex Pierce at Cielo. 

Friday: Andy Moor, Mike Saint-Jules, Ali Mahmud, and Frank Chiarello at Pacha, David Squillace at Love, Moby at Webster Hall. 

Saturday: Sean Tyas and Simon Patterson at Webster Hall, Roger Sanchez at Santos Party House.

Weekly shows update

Upcoming:

- Pacha has announced two notable upcoming dates: Eddie Halliwell on May 28 and Hernan Cattaneo on June 11. 

- Agoria, whose Balance 016 Mix I reviewed a month ago, will bring the album's release tour to 50 Bowery on May 21.

- Seth Troxler, Lauren Lane, and Crazy Larry will hold a show at Cielo on May 27. On July 8, James Holden will perform there. 

This week:

Thursday: Roni Size, Hellfire Machina, Code of Arms, Odi, and Morphous @ Love

Friday: Three and Pete Bones @ Love

Saturday: Kaskade will be performing at the Roseland Ballroom with Infected Mushroom

[Flyer credit: Love, Info credit: TranceAddict]

Weekly shows update

Last week I didn't do one of these, since there really was nothing to mention. But it's back this week, with a couple tidbits of news.

Upcoming:

- Deadmau5 has updated his tour page with dozens of dates for shows this summer, two of which will be in New Jersey. On July 5 he'll play at Harrah's Pool at the casino in Atlantic City, and on July 27, he has a show at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair.

This week:

- Friday: Jason Jollins at Pacha

- Saturday: Brad Miller begins his Push The Night series of shows at Stay with Frank Chiarello and Harji & Watson

Weekly shows update

A lighter schedule this week after last week's jam-packed lineup.

Upcoming:

- Judge Jules and Christopher Lawerence will play Pacha on April 23.

- Danny Tenaglia and Jason Jollins will celebrating their birthdays at Pacha on April 24 and April 30.

- Benny Benassi and Steve Aoki will be at Pacha on May 21.

- Water Taxi Beach is starting up their summer party series with Carl Cox on June 20 and Victor Calderone on July 5. 

This weekend:

- Thursday: Sander Van Doorn @ Cielo

Weekly shows update

It's been kind of a slow week for NYC shows, since the WMC is this weekend. But anyway...

Upcoming:

- Paco Osuna will be playing Cielo on May 28, according to their web site.

- Pacha will be hosting Victor Calderone and Dennis Ferrer on April 17.
 
This weekend:

Thursday: Brad Miller w/Wobble @ Cielo.

Saturday: Tiesto @ the Borgata Events Center in Atlantic City, NJ.

And if you're at the WMC, check out Mike Saint-Jules' Myspace for a series of shows he's playing there. Ali Mahmud will also be playing Saturday at the Ultra Music Festival's radio stage.

Weekly shows update

Upcoming:

- On April 17, Brad Miller will be playing alongside Gui Boratto at Love.

- The Swedish House Mafia came to M2 last month, but now the individual members are hitting up various clubs in the city. Steve Angello will be at M2 on April 23.

- Calvin Harris will play a set at the Santos Party House on April 1.

- Chus & Ceballos will celebrate the release of their new album at Pacha on April 3.

This weekend:

In what's going to be the biggest weekend of the year so far for dance music in NYC, an incredible variety of acts are going to be playing shows across Manhattan. 

- Club Love will be hosting a dubstep show on Friday night- Dub War, which will be headlined by Shortstuff and XI. For more info, click here.

- More on Friday: Above & Beyond @ Pure in Buffalo, ATB & Zack Roth at Nokia Theatre, and Benny Benassi at Pacha.

- Saturday: Cosmic Gate, Richard Durand, and Brad Miller @ Webster Hall, Eric Prydz (Cirez D) & Sebastian Leger @ Nokia Theatre, the Desolat Bus Tour @ Pacha, and DJ Hell @ Cielo.

For ticket information to any of these shows, click the sidebar to the right.

Weekly shows update

Upcoming:

- Brad Miller will be playing with Wobble at Cielo on Thursday, March 25.

- Love resident DJ's Rich Medina and Akalepse are starting up a new party series for every Wednesday evening- "Props", with the first show being held tonight. For more info on weekly guests at these events, you can check out their official web site.

- Axwell of the Swedish House Mafia will be playing Pacha on April 2 with Erick Morillo. 

This weekend:

- Friday: A trio of shows in the local area: DJ Eco & various other locals will be playing at Love, Bobina will make his debut at Pacha, and Dubfire will play Glo on Long Island.

- Saturday: Victor Calderone at M2.

[Image credit: Cieloclub.com]

Weekly shows update

Upcoming:

- If you missed Dubfire at Pacha last week, he'll be here again soon- this time on Long Island, on March 13 at Glo.

- Laidback Luke has been announced as the opener for Tiesto when he comes to Atlantic City on March 27. However, all tickets for the show have been sold out according to Tiesto's web site, so if you haven't bought yours yet- either look for them on eBay or wait until the day of the show to see if any more are released.

- Remember that post I made about an upcoming busy weekend in March? Here's another show (yet to be officially confirmed) to look out for- on Saturday, March 20, Loco Dice will be at Pacha.

- Lee Burridge will be back again at the Santos Party House on March 6. Sander Kleinenberg will be there a month later.

- Mark Knight, Pacha's resident DJ, is celebrating his one year anniversary with a five hour set on February 26.

This weekend:

Thursday: Brazilian Luciano Pardini is playing Cielo.

Friday: Local DJ Brad Miller is joining Sultan & Ned Shepard at Quo.

Saturday: Andy Moor will be playing with local DJ Zack Roth at the Santos Party House.

Poker Flat Recordings artists Mr. C, Adultnapper, Martin Landsky will be joined by Taimur + Fahad and Crazy Larry for a show at a secret location.  You can buy tickets for the show here. As for the secret location, RSVP info is on the flyer.

Check the sidebar to the right for ticket information on any of this weekend's shows mentioned above.

[Info/flyer credit: TranceAddict, PlexiPR, Bullitt Bookings]

DJNY #1: Brad Miller

This is the opening installment in a series of interviews and profiles of New York-based DJ's. My first guest is Brad Miller.
 

You may know Brad if you've been out and about in the Big Apple at least once over the past couple years, as he has played many of the top clubs in the city , including Pacha, Love, and Sullivan Room. His podcast, Push The Night, is among the top 25 most popular music shows on iTunes, with his latest episode showcasing his picks for the top 20 tracks of 2009.

Earlier this week I had a chance to talk to Brad about his beginnings as a DJ, his experiences playing in New York, and his thoughts on the industry...

Where it all began… 

Binarysound: Where did you develop an interest in music as a child?

Brad Miller: I was in high school when I really started to get into music. I went to a lot of rock concerts back then- probably almost every weekend, to a place called the Roseland in Portland, Oregon, where I grew up. I just saw a ton of bands there including New Found Glory, Coldplay, and others.

But when I was out there, one weekend there weren't any good bands in town and I remember my buddy telling me "there's this guy BT in town", and I said "who's that?" So we went and saw BT live, and that was pretty much it…

Bsound: So that concert was where you got exposed to electronic dance music?

BM: Yea, definitely. That show was followed up by all the big guys at the time - Crystal Method, Moby, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, etc.

Bsound: Getting the equipment to become a DJ isn't cheap. What were you doing six years ago when you picked up your first set of turntables and how did you get them?

BM: I actually got my first turntables for Christmas, so I have to thank my parents for starting that off and giving me some faith [laughs]. I got two Newmark turntables and a Newmark mixer and then went out and bought my first vinyls at Platinum Records in Portland. I picked up Underworld's Cowgirl/Rez EP and Sasha's Xpander.
 

It's funny because back then [vinyls] were the more expensive part. These days everybody's saying "the equipment is so expensive", but back then, vinyls cost $10-15. You'd spend $100 or something dollars on ten tracks, and that's where the money problem really was. Getting started these days isn't really as hard because you can do a lot of stuff digitally. You only need about three hundred bucks for equipment and you're in business.

But at that time, I worked every stereotypical job- I've been a pizza delivery boy, a Christmas-tree salesman, a lifeguard, a clerk at a record store...

Bsound: How long did you practice in the bedroom before you played your first show?

BM: I spent probably six months in the bedroom trying to learn how to do it. DJing is something you never really ever master- you only get better at it. There's never a certain point where you say "ok I'm done practicing and I'm ready for everything".

I think with any gig no matter whether you're starting out with ten people or a club with a hundred, you still have to step up your game. You've got practice as much along the lines as you do when you're trying to get your first gig.

Bsound: Where did you play your first show and how nervous were you?

BM: I'm always nervous. I'm nervous before I get to the club, when I'm driving to the gig or in the cab, and then minutes before I go on I'm a complete wreck. But when I get actually behind the decks I forget about all that. I don't know how that works exactly, but at some point you have to embrace it and realize that being nervous is a good thing because it means you're stepping up to a new level. Anytime you play a gig out of your comfort zone it means you're moving forward. 

My first gig I played was this college party in somebody's dorm room for about 20 people. It's tough when you play your first gig because you're playing for maybe 10 or 20 people and it's hard to get a room of that size to rock. The people in attendance might be there to dance or just to relax, but unless you play hip-hop or something that everybody is going to love, it's scary to come into a house party and drop underground tech-house [laughs].
 

For that reason I think it can be better to play more commercial stuff at first to get people into it. It's invaluable to play those small rooms to learn how to react to the crowd, because by the time you get to a bigger room, you'll know how to rock it.

Bsound: Can you talk about your experience playing some of the bigger clubs in the Northwest as your career progressed?

BM: I love the scene in Seattle and I really got into it in college. At the time they had a really strong progressive scene, but now it's turned into a more trancier crowd. It's got a real community feel to it- you see a lot of the same people, everybody knows each other, and everyone is pretty friendly over there. A lot of the club owners will go to the afterhours spots and have drinks together.

When I play there, it's always a little bit more of a party as opposed to anywhere else- people  just want to have a great time and listen to stuff they can rock to. And there's some great clubs out there- Last Supper Club usually brings in a lot more of the underground stuff, and Trinity is one of the bigger clubs in the city, but they do electronic stuff as well. They were key to helping me get started- I worked there first as one of the lighting guys then started playing there on the weekends which was a lot of fun.

Coming to New York…

Bsound: So how did you end up in New York City from the Northwest?

BM: If you want to be in the music industry, you pretty much have to move to Los Angeles, London, or New York. When I was graduated college, I wanted to break into it somehow, so I sent out no less than 100 resumes to every nightclub or record label in the world that I could get an address for. The only one I heard back from was Crobar in New York, who offered me an unpaid internship.

So I packed up my bags, threw them in the car, and drove off the next week and came into the city knowing absolutely nobody. I slept on the floor of my friends', roommates', uncles', cousins', brother or something like that [laughs]. I basically watched my bank account get to zero over the next six months, but in life, you've got to make those decisions. You can either play it safe and stay at home or chase after your dreams. It's cliché I know, but why not?

Bsound: How did you get your name out here locally when you first got arrived?

BM: It was a little bit of luck, a little bit knowing the right people, and a lot of hard work. At the time I was working with Crobar and I did get some good slots there from DJ's arriving late to shows and whatnot (so always keep your CD's with you at a nightclub [laughs]). But what really helped kick things off was the help I got from both flawless and Massive Event.  All of us had worked pretty close together at Crobar over the years, and towards the end as they started to branch out they helped get me my first gigs in the city. At the time the gigs were still on more of a here-and-these basis though, and I knew if I wanted to make an impact I would have to work hard to build my own fanbase outside of the club, which is when I started my podcast and email list.

You also have to have a crowd before you can play to get a crowd. It's always this chicken and egg problem. After those first few gigs I was really focusing on trying to build my network so I could come to them again and say "hey look I can bring you a lot of people that really like my sound, give me a shot in the main room". After I convinced them I was ready, flawless gave me an opening slot for BT and Massive gave me an opening spot for Randy Boyer and Breakfast which really set things in motion.

Bsound: Can you talk about some of the upcoming shows you have here?

BM: Right now I've got two shows coming up- one on February 19 with Sultan and Ned Shepard at Quo and one with Cosmic Gate and Richard Durand at Webster Hall on March 20. I'm also working to kick off the Push The Night parties this year as well, so definitely keep an eye out for them.

Bsound: Over the past year, local electronic dance music shows have been popping up at new venues such as the Nokia Theatre and Electric Zoo Festival on Randall's Island. How do you feel about the recent growth of the scene here?

BM: I think it's really exciting - I think we're finally starting to see dance music become much more accepted here in America as it has been in Europe. While I know there are some that are afraid of dance music becoming too big and losing it's underground roots - in the end I think it really benefits all of us. Now more than ever I've seen a lot more of the smaller underground DJs getting the chance to come play in America - some of which I never thought I'd see over here.

Any weekend out here in New York City you can go see a top-level DJ or an underground, left-field sound. You can pretty much can hear anything you want and I think a lot of times people forget that. You just don't get that in a lot of other cities.

Bsound: It seems like there are a million DJ's out there making free mix podcasts each week for listeners to download. What would you say is unique about your podcast, Push The Night, that makes it stand out from countless others?

BM: There are several key differences. One is that I don't crank out mixes every week on purpose. Push The Night is not about the last 10 tracks that came out this week. They come out when they're ready and are meant to be experienced more than once.

Each episode is also something I put a lot of time into personally, because almost every single track on them is a re-edit or has been changed in some way. I change the keys in a lot of the songs, I mash them up, I restructure them- every mix is really a collection of my favorite tracks put in the best possible order I can make. The episodes are meant to be more about the mix as a whole rather than just the songs by themselves. I mix different styles not as a gimmick, but because I like to explore other genres of electronic music. I think Push The Night is one of the very few podcasts you can listen to that explores new and familiar territories in different ways.

It comes down to music in the end, and every day I spend a lot of time looking for new songs. If I make one trance set a year there are probably thousands of trance tracks I listened to just to find 20 of them that I think are worthy. To me, less is more, and I think that's important because people have so many podcasts to pick from. You have A State of Trance each week, Trance Around the World, Dance Department, the Essential Mix- people have way too much to listen to. If you want to stand out these days it needs to come from the quality. 

[Image credit: Brad Miller]