PRESUMABLY just to spice things up a little, Laidback Luke set himself a challenge back in January. “At the beginning of the year I promised myself to release a new track every month. And so I did!” he states matter-of-factly. Plenty of them were collaborations with big hitters like Steve Aoki, Chuckie and Martin Solveig, and one of them you may well have heard even if you didn’t know it…
The man born Lucas Cornelis van Scheppingen’s ‘We Are The Stars’ feat Martel was used as Heineken’s theme song for the European Football Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
Like many of the DJs in our poll, Luke clocked up a dizzying number of air miles again this year, playing over 150 shows
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “X-ray vision, obviously.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “50% for the crowd and 50% for yourself. It’s all about the balance, but you should never play something you really don’t like.” What does EDM mean to you? “The Americanization of what we once called house music. I’m fine with it though, no matter what it’s called I still love it with passion.” Should celebri- ties be DJs? ”Yes and so should your cat and your grandma, the more DJs, the bigger the scene, the bigger the underground, the longer it will con- tinue.“ Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Yes once, back in 1999 I believe. For playing techno in a trance club. The promoter wasn’t aware that I wasn’t trance at all.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “If you play music in front of a crowd and make it a night to enjoy and remember, you’re a DJ.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “China or India, hope they’ll catch up soon. I’m looking for that spark that will trigger it.”
SKASKADE
tyle: Arena EDM. Best known for: No answer. Tune of 2012: “TJR ‘Funky Vodka’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Gregor Salto.”
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RYAN Raddon’s rise from purveyor of deep, soulful house music for the likes of San Francisco’s Om Records to euphoric stadium gauge EDM (taking in remixes for the likes of Katy Perry and collaborations with Skrillex) has been approaching meteoric, not to say somewhat surprising. “It’s been the biggest year of my career, that’s for sure,” he says. He embarked on his Freaks Of Nature tour, which saw him playing to stadium crowds, as well as playing slots high on the bill at Coachella, Ultra and the Electric Daisy Carnival. “The level of interest in dance music over here has never been higher,” he reckons.
As a curator, with Steve Aoki, of the travelling ID Festival, and thanks in part to his past work with Deadmau5, he’s found himself among the vanguard of electronic musicians bringing through a new generation of fandom. But it was finding himself selling out the Staples Center in Los Angeles this year which really made him take stock. “I couldn’t really believe it. When the show started, it was by far the most rock star moment I’ve ever had. It was a cool moment,” he says. BEN ARNOLD
MOVER NON
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “The ability to go without sleep. Sleep has always slowed me down.” Should you play for the crowd or for yourself? “I think a great DJ figures out the balance, and it’s somewhere in-between.” What does EDM mean to you? “A blanket term which covers all things electronic. When someone talks about EDM, you know you’re talking to someone new to it. It’s a good term for them.” Should celebrities be DJs? “Not profes- sionally. But if they want to get up and play records, I’ve no problem with it.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Oh yeah. Many times. Last time was like three years ago at the Winter Mu- sic Conference. In front of 7,000 people, I got two records in and they kicked me off. For me, it’s no thing.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “Sure. Why not? What we do now is different, so we need a different word other than ‘DJ’.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “Los Angeles.”
tyle: “Anything I like and works well on my floors.” Best known
for: “‘Turbulence’ with Steve Aoki feat Lil Jon.” Tune of 2012: “‘Knife Party ‘Internet Friends’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Deniz Koyu and Dyro.”
around the world, but how many of his peers also found time to compete in the British Kung Fu Championships and win two medals? “It was a different kind of sensation, but I very much enjoyed it!” beams Luke, before unveiling more of the year’s conquests, including a Speak Up bus tour of North America, proposing to, and then wedding, his girlfriend (Derrick Carter played the reception, no less) and hosting his own Super You&Me arena at TomorrowLand. Amazingly, despite all these activities, Luke cites the reason he does so many remixes is “to keep busy.” KRISTAN J CARYL