TOURING, says British house/trance producer Gareth Emery, “got the better” of him this year. “I only managed to make a few records,” says 32-year-old Gareth. “This year I ditched having a studio and transferred everything to a laptop. I’ve made over 10 new tracks this year, which I think are the best I’ve ever done.”
These tracks, says Gareth, will be part of his new, as-yet-unnamed album coming out next year. “Lately I’ve been loving the new wave of electro house that has emerged after dubstep,” says Gareth. “Lots of producers
MARKUS SCHULZ
“MY year’s been another super one, seeing how, in the US, dance music keeps growing and growing, and to be one of the ambassadors of the sound here has been very rewarding,“ beams trance star Markus Schulz. Despite that, though, he remains cautious. “I wanna make sure that the art of the scene doesn’t get lost in this whole boom. There are so many people who have worked so hard over the years in the scene and I hope they aren’t forgotten.“
He himself is one of those people — a US native since his teens, despite being born in Germany, Markus is a regular face at the biggest shows in the US from WMC to Avalon, at the same time as traversing the planet to play Ibiza, Brazil, the UK, Australia and countless more countries. “Electric Daisy carnival in Vegas was
Style: “Unicorn-slaying trance.” Best known for: “Playing more hours than originally intended!” Tune of 2012: “Beatservice ‘Fortuna’ and Omnia & Ira ‘The Fusion’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “KhoMha.”
crazy. Much of it was shut down because of high winds, but I ended up playing on a float in front of people who weren’t just into trance, but into dubstep, house, everything. There was no production and it brought me back to the old rave days. It was a real highlight.“
Other highlights, naturally, included the release of Markus’ latest album, ‘Scream’. It’s a vast, 19-track affair made up of as many vocal tracks as instrumentals and, for its unusual trance toughness, has earned Markus the title of ‘Unicorn Slayer’ from fans. As such, the coming months for this self-declared “anti-trance trance guy” will be consumed with a worldwide tour to promote the album, as well as a new LP under his other, darker, Dakota alias. KRISTAN J CARYL
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “To be invisible, then I can spy.” Should you play to the crowd or for your- self? “There is a fine line between the two. The art of DJing means you direct the vibe of the party, but you have to read the crowd and know your boundaries.” What does EDM mean to you? ”EDM is my life. Nothing touches my soul like the sounds that come out of these ma- chines. “ Should celebrities be DJs? “I think as long as the art of DJing is respected, anyone can be a DJ. Someone just pressing play and waving at the crowd is not respecting the art.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “No, but I have been on the opposite side, where I have had to replace someone who has been kicked off and it is not a comfortable situation for anyone.“ Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “Of course, DJing is not just matching beats.” Where is the next dance music capital? “Everyone knows about the boom- ing scene in NYC, LA, Miami, SF, but I think the smaller markets like Minneapolis, Atlanta and Denver are blowing up just as much now.”
Style: “House, progressive, electro, trance and whatever, really.” Best known for: “Simple but effective music, occasionally controversial.” Tune of 2012: “My own tune ‘Concrete Angel’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Porter Robinson.”
like Zedd and Knife Party have lifted some of the best sounds from the dubstep scene and implemented them into modern house and electro. For me that has been very exciting.” Gareth says that “deep, druggy, brilliantly- produced” tunes such as X-Press 2’s ‘Muzikizum’ are what made him want to become a DJ in the first place. “Before that it was all keyboards and guitars for me,” says Gareth. “Now I put all those elements into my productions.” CLAIRE HUGHES
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If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “Teleporting would save me a lot of time bored on planes, and allow me to see my loved ones more, so it’d have to be that.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “Obvi- ously it has to be both. Otherwise you just end up being a glorified jukebox.” What does EDM mean to you? “It’s a shittier way of saying ‘dance music’.” Should celebri- ties be DJs? “If they can DJ, why not?” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “In Dehli a policeman dragged me off the decks and hurled my headphones at me because they were closing the party down.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “You don’t need to beat match to be a DJ these days, although I do.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but I also see India as being a potentially huge market, too.”