tyle: “Progressive trance and house.” Best known for: “‘Piercing The Quiet’.” Tune of 2012: “Zedd ‘Spectrum’ or Tritonal ‘Still With Me’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Seven Lions.”
THE Tritonal hitlist for 2012? A whopping six No.1 singles on the Beatport trance chart, their epic ‘Piercing The Quiet: Remixed’ double-disc compilation, plus gigs everywhere from ASOT 550 in Holland, to Creamfields in Australia and Tomorrowland in Belgium — not to mention Ultra Music Festival and Electric Daisy Carnival, in their newly EDM- invigorated home country of the US.
“We’ve accomplished and surpassed so many of our long-term goals in such a short period of time and feel so blessed,” say the Texan duo of Chad Cisneros and Dave Reed. “It’s amazing to see that as we’ve gained momentum, so has the US. Right now, many of our favourite festivals and clubs are literally a two-hour flight from home, so it makes things really easy.”
The pair have been so prolific in the studio that their sets now consist of 75% Tritonal tracks, and they’ve wholeheartedly embraced the more adventurous side of the trance sound. “We began incorporating influences from electro and house in our tracks a long time ago… we think nailing a slick, sophisticated groove takes a lot of creativity, trial and error, and development within sound design.”
The release of ‘Piercing The Quiet: Remixed’ completed the journey that began with the release of their debut artist album in 2011, and they’re now planning for stage two. “It’s forced us to start scratching our chins, so to speak, in terms of thinking of what we want to do next… now is the time to really begin experimenting.” Stay tuned. ANGUS PATERSON
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? Chad: “The selfless part of me would want to be able to cure dis- ease and heal millions of people around the world. The selfish part would like to be able to fly and live forever!” Dave: “Anything I touch, I would immediately know how to use and what it’s for.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “Both. It takes two to tango, baby!” What does EDM mean to you? “Everything! It’s my life, and I embrace it completely!” Should celebri- ties be DJs? “If you have talent and passion, I say yes. If there are other motives, maybe not.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Not to date!” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “Although we still beat match records on CDJs, there’s so much more to DJing that just beat matching records!” Where’s the next dance music capital? “I’d say LA, Vegas or Miami.”
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56 BINGO PLAYERS
DUTCH duo Bingo Players, aka Paul Bäumer and Maarten Hoogstraten, must have done something right in 2012, because after finishing 116th in last year’s poll, they have made the official Top 100 in 2012. This naturally begs the question, why? “Last year we had lots of club hits like ‘Rattle’ and ‘L’Amour’,” says Paul, “and they were still big for us this year. We also toured many great festivals and club gigs around Europe and the US. Tomorrowland, Electric Zoo and Ultra were all really special. The energy there is so special and so high, everyone is really into the music, and of course the great production helps!”
Marrying together any number of styles that could all come under the new EDM
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “We prefer to be rock gods like KISS. They had their own ac- tion figures!” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “When it comes to playing out, we think you need to con- sider the crowd and make sure everyone is having a good time.” What does EDM mean to you? “Really it is an American- coined term that hasn’t been around for very long. We just call it dance music, and it’s our life!” Should celebrities be DJs? “If they are talented, why not? If they are faking it then please, no!” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “No.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “I think one of the most essential elements of DJing is understanding music, read- ing the crowd and playing the right tracks at the right time.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “Dance music has truly gone global and so it’s hard to say where the next capital will be for the genre. At the moment it seems very universal.”
Style: “Dance.” Best known for: “Rattling some eardrums.” Tune of 2012: “Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl feat Georgi Kay ‘In My Mind (Axwell Mix)’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Madeon and Zedd.”
banner — from dirty house to main room electro — Bingo Players specialise in arresting shows and anthemic productions, with ‘Don’t Blame The Party (Mode)’ featuring Heather Bright one such hit for the pair this year. So big, in fact, it even placed well in a mainstream Dutch chart. “We always try not to copy ourselves, so every new release is not the same as the previous one,” admits Paul. “But people always say they hear the ‘Bingo sound’ in everything we do. That’s pretty cool, but also a bit surprising to us because we think they all sound so different.” KRISTAN J CARYL