Style: “House/progressive house.” Best known for: “Uplifting melody lines, ‘Set Fire To The Rain’.” Tune of 2012: “Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl ‘In My Mind (Axwell Mix)’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Otto Knows.”
THOMAS GOLD
ONE of the more memorable sights in dance music during 2012 was Thomas Gold’s live ‘drum line’ onstage at EDC Vegas and Governor’s Ball, NYC, heightening the electro house producer’s huge sound and epic breakdowns — “a fantastic experience”, he says.
Alongside heavy touring (“It was great to play alongside Swedish House Mafia in Miami and be part of some Size Matters parties”, says Gold), the Berlin-based producer also started
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “I would be able to beam myself and others to any place in the world, to avoid hours on the plane, and live life to the fullest.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “Keep your own style but play to the crowd. They only dig it when I enjoy myself!” What does EDM mean to you? “However you name it, it’s all about the music and emotion, energy and fun!” Should celebrities be DJs? “As long as they are great at DJing — why not?” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “My very first DJ gig ended abruptly. The owner of the club took me down and told me to go home and practice… which I did, and at the end I was allowed to spin at his club.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “There are differ- ent tastes and ways of DJing. As long as the DJ is good in what he/she is doing and people are enjoying it, everything is cool.” Where’s the next dance music capital? Hard to say, so many great cities evolving at the moment! But if I had to pick one — NYC!”
his own radio show on Sirius FM, and produced his first compilation, on Axtone Records. 2013 will see Gold “loving life and doing what I enjoy most — producing music and touring the world!” Sounds like a plan. TRISTAN PARKER
HEATBEAT
Style: “Trance and all genres.” Best known for: “‘Rocker Monster’.” Tune of 2012: “Ummet Ozcan ‘The Box’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Zedd.”
THE fact that 2012 is the first year in which Heatbeat have broken into the Top 100 — after years just outside — can be attributed to many things, according to one half of the duo, Agustin Servente. So too, though, does it seem that as Heatbeat come of age, so does the Argentinian scene as a whole. Coincidence? “This year we have done our first worldwide tour, we have started our own radio show and we have had two tracks top Beatport’s trance chart,” says Agustin, before adding: “Buenos Aires also had its first-ever edition of the Ultra Music Festival and it was amazing!”
In something of an ambassadorial role for their home country, Heatbeat are enjoying seeing more and more regular parties crop up around the largest Spanish-speaking
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “Flash! So we can never arrive late to a plane after a gig.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “Both. The moment you play a track that you and the crowd love, it’s sublime!” What does EDM mean to you? “EDM = Electronic Dance Music!” Should celebrities be DJs? “Everybody can be a DJ, doesn’t mat- ter who you are.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Never! We are afraid of heights.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “Yes you are. It’s all about music.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “Buenos Aires for sure.”
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country in the world. Of course, they’re also enjoying travelling the world in their own right, dropping their biggest bombs like ‘Chow Mein’ and ‘Extra Bacon’ as well as a slew of cheeky bootlegs and naughty edits. “We played A State Of Trance in Moscow,” beams Agustin. “And even though we were in the second room it was unbelievable, people were chanting “Heatbeat, Heatbeat” all throughout our set!” KRISTAN J CARYL