DxE Exclusive Interview with Felix Cartal
DxE was fortune enough to sit down with a huge rising star in the EDM world, Felix Cartal . Hailing from Vancouver, Canada, Felix released his second LP, Different Faces, earlier this year and is currently on a US tour to promote the album.
Felix Cartal is not your real name, how did you come up with this name for yourself?
I have always liked the name Felix growing up. I wish there was a cooler story but there’s not. I think there’s a store in Vancouver called El Cartal I think I was shopping there the day I chose my name.
How did you come up with the name for the album, Different Faces?
Different Faces was a different side of me. That’s what the title represents to me. I wanted the album to be fun. The branding of the album was very clear from the beginning. I had the girls holding the red balloons. For me that symbolizes a party in the simplest possible way. When you were young and you saw a balloon on someones house you knew it was a birthday party.
There’s so much diversity on the album, what was your process when you made this album?
For me the way I write albums is I had about 60 demos I went through to find 7 or 8 good tracks. Then I made the rest of the tracks to tie in together the album. “Higher” was one of the first tracks I wrote and I kind of took that piano tone from that record and used it throughout the album to make it sound like a concise body of work.
How did you chose the vocalists for the album?
I loved The Sounds growing up and I met them in Mexico when we did a festival together. I stayed in touch and they were really nice. [Maja Ivarsson] recorded ["Tonight"] on their tour bus and we corresponded through emails and made it happen. With, Death From Above 1979, MSTKRFT has always been supporters of mine so thats how that connection came about. Miss Palmer I heard on Steve Aoki and Afrojack’s song “No Beef” and was actually introduced to her by Steve. With Polina, I actually heard a demo of hers and thought it was awesome. She’s actually one of the strongest vocalists I’ve ever worked with and very talented.
Are there any vocalists you aspire to work with one day?
I really want to work with a vocalist by the name of Lights. She is a singer from Toronto and she’s really awesome. My shoot-for-the-stars, dream vocalist would be the lead singer from Muse. I think his vocal style would work very well on a dance track.
Would you ever sing on one of your tracks?
No, ha ha, I’m terrible at singing.
Do you feel like that nowadays an album is not complete without vocal tracks?
No. There are many albums I like that don’t have vocals. I have been doing instrumental music for a long time but I’ve always wanted to work with vocalists. I didn’t feel obligated to at all.
You seem to be on the bill for all the big upcoming festivals this year. How does it feel to be headlining shows?
It’s flattering. It’s really exciting. Festivals are the most exciting to me because it totally different from the typical club gig. This year I am most excited for Sasquatch Festival because its so close to Vancouver so I have a lot of friends coming.
What has been you favorite show you have played so far in your career?
I really enjoyed EDC in 2010 when it was in Los Angeles. I got to play during sunset and I was such a cool vibe with tons of kids and the ferris wheel in the background.
What can we expect to hear during your set these days? Are you sticking to mostly new tracks or can we expect to hear any older stuff?
I’m sticking to my new stuff plus other people I like right now. It’s hard because I realized I have a lot of music now. So I have to pick and choose what is “new”. Honestly though, I don’t think I have that bona fide hit yet, that song that I have to play. I always get people telling me I should have played a certain song after my set, but it’s never the same song.
How do you feel about MTV taking interest in your album, particularly premiering and featuring your video for “Don’t Turn on The Lights”?
It’s weird when you begin to get recognized by the mainstream outlets. When MTV was doing the video it was so crazy to me. They talked about the video for like 10 minutes before it came on and they talked about me and it was so surreal. It’s a really exciting time in music because you can get recognized by these mainstream “big” outlets without having major label support.
Is there one place you haven’t played that you really want to play one day?
I have always wanted to play Coachella. I also would like to go to Asia. Mostly I just want to go to cities I’ve never been to. Every time I go to a new city it’s really exciting.
What can we expect after this tour?
I’m planning to release a couple more singles but I’ve already been writing new stuff. I have 2 songs that I have that are already done and ready to be put out on the next album.
Click on the image to purchase Felix Cartal’s album, Different Faces.
MYNC & Nicky Romero to Release Cr2 Records 2012 Miami Music Week/WMC Compilation – “Miami 2012″
Cr2 Records are excited to announce their 2012 Miami WMC Compilation release – “Miami 2012″ – mixed by MYNC and Nicky Romero. Launched in 2007, Cr2 Live & Direct compilations have showcased the most cutting edge house music from some of the world’s leading DJ/Producers including Dirty South, Micky Slim, Oscar G, Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero & Jose Nunez, Arno Cost & Norman Doray, Danny Rampling and MYNC.
This year Cr2 pull out all of the stops and bring together two heavyweight names to come ‘Back 2 Back’ to mix up a selection of some of the current big room club souds rocking clubs around the world as well as showcasing over `5 brand new, unreleased tracks. On mix one, MYNC brings the Miami flavor right away by dropping the “Miami VIP” version of Chuckie’s party anthem “What Happens In Vegas” and winds his way through south beach with tracks from Lunde Bros, Pierce Fulton, Nilson, Azari & Ill and of course, MYNC, among others. Nicky Romero’s mix features a combination of his own original productions, remixes, DJ favorites, and a brand new exclusive track entitled “Se7en.” It’s all out big-room madness with huge sounds from Nicky and friends including Hardwell, Sandro Silva & Quintino, R3hab & Swanky Tunes vs. Hard Rock Sofa, Afrojack and Albin Myers, among others.
2011 was another stellar year for MYNC. Their collaboration with Space Ibiza resident Wally Lopez “Esa Boca Linda” was a summe rrevelation reaching a coveted Top 10 spot on Beatport and #1 on the Tech House Chart. Their massive “Don’t Be Afraid” (with Ron Carroll & Dan Castro) was played a staggering three weeks in a row by Pete Tong on his Radio 1 show, while official remixes of Avicii’s anthem “Fade Into Darkness,” ATB with Amurai feat. Melissa Loretta’s “Heartbeat, Jason Derulo’s “Fight For You,” and Azari & Ill’s “Reckless With Your Love” all received widespread acclaim. 2012 is already looking jam-packed for the London based producers with gigs lined up in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Portugal & the US and more productions and remixes on the way.
Nicky Romero can also look back at the last 12 months with satisfaction. 2011 saw Nicky release a string of Club Bombs that just got better and better as the year progressed. Any DJ will testify that his original tracks such as “Camorra” and “Toulouse” or remixes of Green Velvet, Tiesto, Flo-Rida and David Guetta will tear off the roof in any club. Top names like Tiesto, Fedde Le Grand, David Guetta and Sander Van Doorn all often feature tracks by Nicky in their sets and Nicky has quickly become one of the hottest, most sought after producers and remixers on the planet today.
MYNC and Nicky Romero will celebrate the release of this compilation with a massive party in South Beach during Miami Music week. More info to come on that.
Digital Release: February 20
CD Release: March 5
Pre-order links
UK+EIRE: http://bit.ly/
Rest Of World: http://bit.ly/
CD1 // Mixed by MYNC
1. Chuckie Feat. Gregor Salto – What Happens In Vegas (Miami VIP)
2. Lunde Bros. – Some Kind Of Monster
3. Inpetto – No More Serious Faces
4. Chris Melin – With You
5. Pierce Fulton – Who Wants Spaghetti?
6. Lunde Bros. – What
7. Nilson – Restless
8. MYNC – Stadium
9. Kura – Love Will Find You
10. Nari & Milani vs Maurizio Gubellini – Up (Instrumental)
11. Azari & III – Reckless With Your Love (MYNC Stadium Mix)
12. Jerma – Believe In Love (Instrumental)
13. Sexxx – Bound For Glory
14. Stevie Mink & Katt Niall – Everyday
15. Faroeh – Anthem
CD2 // Mixed by Nicky Romero
1. Umek – Next Turn
2. Daddy’s Groove – Wild World (Instrumental Mix)
3. Billy Mason – It’s All Sorted
4. Nicky Romero – Camorra
5. Nilson – Bottled
6. Vida – I Got The love
7. Hardwell & Nicky Romero – Beta
8. Tara McDonald vs Sidney Samson – Dynamite (Nicky Romero Remix)
9. Hardwell – Spaceman (Compilation Edit)
10. Nicky Romero – Toulouse
11. Sandro Silva & Quintino – Epic
12. R3hab & Swanky Tunes vs Hard Rock Sofa – Sending My Love (Afrojack Edit)
13. Albin Myers – Hells Bells
14. Nicky Romero – Se7en
And just to tide you over till the compilation is actually released, bump this Promo mix released by Cr2
Getting Inside with Nigel Ficke (The Insomniac Guy)
Nigel Ficke, otherwise known as the crazy pasty-sporting Australian at all big Insomniac events, has started a blog called “Getting Inside with Nigel Ficke”… and it is absolutely hilarious! In the brilliantly-awkward style of “Flight of the Concords,” Nigel will be doing interviews with DJs from around the world (with connections like that, I’m sure we’ll be seeing some of the biggest names out there). Check out his interview with Trent Cantrelle – it made me laugh, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too… and if you’ve been to an Insomniac event in the last 2 years, you’ll especially appreciate this:
DxE Exclusive Interview with Bingo Players!
The Bingo Players were in LA last week and played an awesome, high-energy show at Playhouse in Hollywood! It was a lot of fun! We were lucky enough to be able to sit down with Dutch House duo – Paul and Maarten – at their hotel right before… We couldn’t be happier to bring you our exclusive sit-down interview:
DxE: We’ve always wanted to ask: how did you get the name “Bingo Players”?
Bingo Players: There was a guy a few years ago who had a name on a chat program, like you guys have AIM, and he had his nickname: “Bingo Player.” We had to choose a name and I said, “How about Bingo Players?” We were both just like maybe it’s a bit too gimmicky or cheesy… but all our friends loved it. We started producing under the name and suddenly you can’t change it anymore and we stuck with it, it was just for fun. So it’s not like our grandmothers play a lot of Bingo! It’s funny, we are always in Vegas and the limo driver always has the sign that says: Bingo Players. And he thinks we’re like old, professional Bingo Players. And then he sees us and thinks, “Those must be some badass Bingo Players!”
DxE: For some reason, it fits your style. Do you have a name for that distinct Bingo Players sound?
BP: It’s so strange because we never hear it… people always tell us that they can hear when we make a track. And we just always try to do something different. Somehow, there’s something in the track that people recognize. Our new song, “Mode”, is really different than the stuff we normally do but everybody seems to like it. And still, people are saying: “I can hear, it’s the Bingo Players!”
DxE: Your recent hit “Cry (Just a Little)” sort of deviated, in our opinion, from your other original mixes. What was the process of that song?
BP: It’s an old song. We actually made it in 2004 or something… and it was just playing somewhere and we saw on Youtube that it had like more than a million views. And then we were reading the comments and people were saying “this song is magic.” People just seemed so enthusiastic about this song. Oh, and Steve Angello didn’t make it. We put it under “Eve Stangello,” just for fun. But everybody thought it was him… “You’re ripping off Steve Angello!” But no, we just said Eve Stangello because he was also doing disco-house at the time… it was just a parody, it wasn’t true! But then we thought we should make an update so we did it in like a day, sent it to the record company, and they just went ballistic!
DxE: You also have a couple new remixes out. Do you approach these differently than original tracks?
BP: When you start on an original track, you can think about anything and go there, so that’s why with original songs you get a lot more space. But remixes, we always have to start with the parts we get… But we don’t approach one like it’s more important, we want each track to be the best it can be, it has our name on it.
DxE: How do you approach different sets that range all the way from clubs to large massives and festivals?
BP: We always have to play a lot of our own stuff and our newest because people expect that from us, so we will always play our biggest hits. And for the rest… new stuff we are working on like new bootlegs, or original tracks, and remixes. We play some stuff we like from producers we like… and then we change it up a bit. I think like fifty percent is the same for a couple weeks and the other fifty percent depends on the audience. The US audience is really different than the European audience… so when we are in the US, we can play a bit harder. They like it a bit more rough and hard. The rest is just what we feel like, most times we don’t like to think about it too much.
DxE: You don’t plan the set out ahead of time?
BP: When we started out, we had like a list of songs in order. We were like: “One this, number two this.” But after you play that much, we know now to play what we love and hopefully everybody else loves as well.
DxE: If it’s the peak of your set and you have to play one song to get the crowd going, what would it be?
BP: I hate that question! You know, there’s always a new hot track every month or every couple of months. You always want to play the hottest track at the hottest moment. Maybe at this time… it would be like Avicii, “Levels” or something like that. When everybody is so pumped and you drop that track, it just goes over the top. But in a couple of weeks, it’s maybe a new one.
DxE: What’s in store for 2012?
BP: We are working on a lot of original stuff, hopefully some really good tracks. And then we are doing some remixes for Will.i.Am and Far East Movement… and some other stuff… collaborations… not being mysterious or anything…
Follow Bingo Players on: Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks again to the Bingo Players and their manager, David!
Check our Facebook later this week for pictures of the Playhouse show. But for right now, listen to “Mode,” the latest Bingo Players single (out soon on Beatport!) and enjoy:
Bingo Players – Mode by Bingo Players
DxE Exclusive Interview with Jonathan Davis of KoЯn!!!
DxE: So now that you’ve started working with electronic producers how has that process changed?
JD: It’s changed a lot, it was a different experience for us in a bunch of different ways. [For example] I used to write a lot of music on the road and then I’d bring the band and we’d rock it out [live]. “Munkey” (one of Korn’s two guitarists) has his thing where he’ll change stuff and we’ll just do stuff [live] in the studio writing. One time we had the producers come in, they came in with a basic idea, with a beat, then Munkey would jam out on guitar and give them an idea, and then they’d start writing the patches and treating the bass around it. That’s what we did for all the producers except for Noisia and Feed Me [because] they were in London and then [immediately travelled to] Netherlands. Noisia sent us five 32-bar ideas and I picked my favorite three. I put them in song form and then I sang on them. We did the guitars and mixed it and sent it back to Noisia. Then they did their thing to it and we mastered it. With Feed Me, he just sent me a track and I had to cut it all up and rearrange it. Basically I was working with all these guys to come up with parts and it was my job to arrange them into song form because it’s different from electronic music. [With electronic productions] it’s all about the drop and the build and I needed to have verses and pre-choruses, then a chorus…etc. Stuff like that; so that was the difficult part.
DxE: How’d you guys first come up with the idea to integrate electronic artists into your album?
JD: That’d be me. I’ve been a huge electronic fan forever.
DxE: Always dubstep?
JD: No not always. I started DJing when I was 16 so my cup of tea was the electro-hop sound like Egyptian Lover or Afrika Bumbata and then I started getting into freestyle music and Miami Bass. After that I really got into drum n’ bass stuff and that’s why I was really excited to have Noisia onboard because they’re gods in drum n’ bass. Especially having Kill The Noise and Feed Me was awesome because Kill The Noise was Ewun and Feed Me was Spor and they were one half of that group Lifted so that shit was amazing. Then I started listening to dubstep about a year and half ago, first thing I heard was Excision, Skream, stuff like that with more dub influence, you know more reggae. Listening to Excision I think he’s the one that invented heavy dubstep. Along with Datsik and Downlink he started taking their bass pack and they could distort them and make that shit heavy and sound like guitars and I really loved it. And then I called Sonny [Moore aka Skrillex] when his EP dropped and I was blown away by all the multi-genres he mixed together. I played the band two songs – an Excision song and a Skrillex song – cuz they had never heard that stuff before and their jaws hit the floor. And then I told them I have this idea of molding these two genres of music together and they’re like “Let’s do it!” So there it began.
DxE: So you reached out to all these guys individually and threw the idea at them yourself?
JD: Yeah, I picked out all the producers myself; I had a wishlist. When we started out we were gonna do an EP, just a couple of songs with with Skrillex and Excision. The first dubstep song we did was with Excision, Datsik, and Downlink and it’s on the album called “Tension”. That was just straight dubstep – no guitars, no nothing it’s just me singing. And that got me really hooked and so I called Skrillex in the meantime and he came down for 3 days, we wrote 3 songs and we did “Get Up!” in like 3 and a half hours. We were having so much fun and being so creative and feeling like we were pioneering into creating like a completely different genre of music that we just kept going. I had a wishlist and I just kept calling these producers and asked if they’d be down to work with us and they were like “fuck yes, we’re huge fans” which made me freak out again because I didn’t know these people knew my band. My last freakout was when we played New York and they took me to a Nero show and the Nero guys came in the dressing room going “holy shit, Jonathan Davis.. we’re huge fans!” so I was like oh my god and they’re one of the pioneers.
DxE: You mentioned the song “Get Up!” was that the first song to preview from the album? Cuz we were at Coachella in 2011 and saw the crowd go absolutely ape shit…
JD: You saw the reaction right? Yeah that one we debuted because we had that song in the can for like 6 months and I kept bitching at my manager like if we don’t get this single out right now someone else is gonna be doing this shit, we need to make our stamp and we made this song and it’s great and it represents both sides – the integrity of KoЯn is there and the integrity of Skrillex is there – lets drop it. So we dropped it that day that we did Coachella
DxE: So right now you’ve got the Path Of Totality tour going on.. your first West Coast stop is this upcoming Tuesday at the Hollywood Palladium (which is the same day as the release of the album). How are the shows different actually performing with the DJs?
JD: Well we play all the tracks live. [The DJs] open up for us; [for example] Downlink opened up with a 30 minute set then Datsik did a 30 minute set and then we came out and did our set. The actual dubstep stuff we do live where we have over 30 drum sets and they’re all automated triggers so they’ll be playing the verse and then when the chorus comes up the triggers change to chorus triggers. We got a keyboard player playing all the lead lines. Only thing that’s on tape is all the percussive stuff and all the bass wobbles cuz they’re tempo sensitive. Pretty much it’s all live.
DxE: So in your opinion is KoЯn the same band it was when you guys started or have you evolved into something new?
JD: I think over the years we’ve evolved, but we’re still the same band. We still have the goal to try and pioneer and do different kinds of music so each of our records is different. But I think over the years, after being together for almost 19 years, we’ve matured and we’re a lot better at what we do and this album we finally got to actually experiment with something we really like doing and it shined through.
DxE: Are you guys still focused on the same target audience or what’s the focus with it all?
JD: We’re branching out to electronic fans and we’re still embracing our fans. We still remember where we came from when we were a metal band. A lot of those fans hate [the new stuff] but we still play all our old songs so, you know, you lose some and you gain some. But we’re getting a lot of new electronic fans because of this new genre we’ve created.
DxE: Have you come up a name for that genre yet?
JD: No… I call it future metal.
DxE: Haha I like it. So now that this future metal hast started, where do you see it going from here?
JD: Oh I can guarantee people are gonna start doing it. It happened it to us in ’94 when that album dropped, how we fused funk and hip-hop together and then we had all the bands that came after.. I can guarantee you’re gonna start hearing bands put dubstep in their music.
DxE: And what’s the next step for KoЯn after this album?
JD: Keep it going man, we love playing together and we’re already 19 years deep so why stop? I mean I don’t do this shit for money or any of that, I do it cuz I love to play and I love to make art. And if that stopped then I wouldn’t do it, so that’s why this album is so important to me – we created art and we didn’t give a fuck what anybody thought.
DxE: I think that pretty much summed it up right there haha is there anything else you’d like to say to electro fans who may apprehensive about listening to KoЯn or a heavy metal rock band?
JD: I just want to thank all the electro fans that have accepted us, I want to thank the electro fans that have come out to my DJ shows cuz I’m a crazy electro head. I love the genre, I love to rage and I just want them to all know that I’m not a bandwagon jumper I’ve been in this game a long time and love the music. It just now, at this time, is starting to shine.
DxE: Awesome, alright Jonathan, on behalf of all of us from Death by Electro, wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk with us.
JD: Sure thing brotha.
Shogun Releases ‘Lotus/Space Odyssey’ EP + Exclusive Interview with DxE!!!
Artist Interview: Sticky K
Like many DJ hopefuls, Sticky K got his start producing music on a macbook in college. What started with a few garageband beats and mixing at house parties turned into something much greater after being signed to Switch’s record label Dubsided in early 2009.
As a fellow UCSB alum, I’ve known him for years and I’ve had the extreme pleasure of losing my hearing to his music at the aforementioned house parties and most recently at the Harder Stage at Hard Haunted Mansion in 2010. In between those, Sticky K headlined a small event called Neon Noize in Santa Barbara that forever cemented my love of EDM.
With two EPs already under his belt, his Persian-style techno banger Prince of Persia released earlier this year and the frontal lobe-rupturing Separate Your Mind appearing on Dim Mak Records New Noise Vol. 1 last month, 2012 seems poised to be a big year for Sticky K. Continue past the jump for answers to some questions about his music and the EDM scene as a whole.
First let’s talk about what you’re working on. Any new or upcoming projects you want to talk to us about?
My next release will be on Mad Decent. It will be a single called Persian Algebra. It’s a moombahton track, but as the title suggests, it has some Middle Eastern flavor! More detail on the release and previews are coming soon. [You can listen to the track on the September edition of Diplo's Blow Your Mind]
Another upcoming project to look out for is the new Major Lazer record. I co-produced one of the tracks with Diplo. Unlike my other work, this track is straight reggae.
You’ve mentioned before you’ve been working on a full-length release. Any updates on when we can expect it?
As far as full length goes, I’m actually going to be focused on releasing singles for the time being.
You recently tweeted about a collaboration you’re working on with Dillon Francis, can we expect more gold along the lines of Persian Algebra?
We were too hungover to come up with something good, I still have those chords he came up with and I’m supposed to work on it but haven’t come up with anything cool yet. Hopefully soon!
I’ve seen your music described as “donald duck basslines” and “laser synths,” and of course there’s the definite Persian Influence seen on your California EP and Prince of Persia. How would you best categorize your music?
I would best describe my music as a mix of hip-hop and house music. Obviously its dance music, but I like to incorporate percussion and vibes from hip-hop. Of course there’s the Persian influence in my music but not every tune I do has to have a Persian melody. That would be boring, I’m too ADD to stick to one sound anyways.
There are upwards of 100k music blogs. What are some of the ones on your blog roll?
My favorite blog/website is Southern Hospitality, a UK blog that covers hip-hop. Another UK blog/magazine I follow is for sure factmag. This is my go-to for everything club/dance as far as the UK underground goes. I don’t really try to look at the blogs because you risk listening to the same stuff as everyone else.
Biggest influences at the moment? Favorite up-and-comers?
Some of my favorite producers right now: Canblaster, Munchi, The-Dream. Surkin’s new album sounds amazing.
Who do you predict is going to really explode in 2012, like Afrojack did last year and Avicii did this year?
The thing is…you can never never really predict who is going to “blow up.” Two things I’ve noticed, whenever someone is touted as being the “next big thing” they never usually are. And people like Afrojack and Avicii back a couple of years ago were never publicized as “OMG THESE GUYS ARE GONNA BE HUGE.” That kind of success is always unexpected to a certain degree. Sooo, I really can’t say who is gonna be big next year.
Have you read the SPIN article about the “New Rave Generation“? What are your thoughts on the explosion of the EDM scene in the past few years?
I did read that SPIN article. It’s cool to see dance music get coverage like that, but it also worries me because this kind of coverage is a definite indicator that things are at the peaking level and things are only going to go downhill from here. I can already feel the backlash coming.
But at the same time, people have said the same thing about hip-hop and even rock n’ roll. So maybe EDM is just becoming the standard form of music.
Sticky K currently has no upcoming plans to tour or play in Socal, so if you like what you hear, join me in bugging him to get down here and play @Sticky_K.
Original Tracks by Sticky K
DxE Exclusive Interview with Wolfgang Gartner
DxE Exclusive Interview with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike!!!
We just came up with them at some point…
haha John Dahlback Wrap-Up Interview
