Event News The Importance of a Music Conference
Interview with Derek McNee & Mikey Duncan, Founders of Scotland’s First Ever Electronic Music Conference
The inaugural Scottish Electronic Music Conference 2020 (SEMCON2020) 17-18 July, will bring more than 100 industry insiders, speakers and experts to The Corn Exchange, Edinburgh for two days of essential seminars, workshops, product showcases and plenty more that promises to bring the whole industry together for two unmissable days of knowledge sharing and networking. We catch up with founders, Derek McKnee and Mikey Duncan and find out why this event will be so special.
Introduce yourselves and give us some background on who you are and your life in music?
DM — I grew up listening to dance music in the late 80’s and 90’s then a friend of mine Tony Moran who is a DJ taught me the basics of DJing back in 2002, after 2 years of hammering vinyl in my house I started a boat party on the river Forth in Edinburgh which proved really popular, this progressed into promoting events in Scotland and we successfully motored along doing that until 2013 when I started Digital:Groove Records with partners Mikey Duncan and Woody. We felt that we wanted to create a label to tie in with our branded events at Digital:Groove so could release what we felt to be our style and we continue to do that today. Mikey Duncan, Woody and I found our way into the thoughts of Carl Cox when he invited us to room host at his legendary Music is Revolution events in the last 4 years of Space, Ibiza’s existence which really has been the highlight of our career to date. We spend most of our time running the label and playing at events these days.
MD — I’m a self-taught DJ/Producer for over 15 years now. Heavily influenced by the electronic style of the 80’s as well as some of the more current sounds from the world of house, disco and techno from the last decade or so. Having
12 March 2020
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supported international artists like Carl Cox, Yousef, Kerri Chandler, Eats Everything, Richie Hawtin, Camelphat & Solardo to name a few and in venues at the top of the game such as Space, Ibiza it doesn’t really get much better than that for me. Especially when we held a residency for Carl Cox for 3 seasons in Space before it closed its doors.
Being involved in the A&R department at Glasgow Underground and having worked with Derek and Woody co- running our label Digital:Groove since 2013, the knowledge and skills I’ve gained along the way have enabled me to contribute vitally to the foundations of SEMCON in its infancy and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Why now for SEMCON? What inspired the idea?
DM — The conference has been in our thoughts for many years as we felt Scotland really needed an event of this nature given that the country is so driven by electronic music but for one reason or another we could not commit to the project until June last year when we made the decision to make it happen although the current blueprint was Mikey’s idea after a restless night in his bed I must add. Through our label we can see different levels of where DJs, promoters and producers would benefit from a little better direction or I bit more education on certain things. We feel that there is so much potential talent out there with very little or no platform to educate and inspire on to bigger and better things.
MD — SEMCON has been in our thoughts for quite a while now. What started as an idea I had in my bed one night when I couldn’t sleep has completely blown up, especially in the last 6-8 months. The timing felt right for us to do it now and we are certain we have made the correct decision.
What is the aim, who is it for, what goals are you working towards for the Conference?
DM — The event is for anybody at all really, we have catered for absolute beginners right through to seasoned pro’s. The venue will be split into 2 sections, the Academy which is designed for absolutely anybody from beginners to students learning their way into the industry as well as pro’s who want to brush up on certain things then there’s the Professional Theatre’s which will drill right into things like business matters, product masterclasses, A&R 121 Feedback and you can also get a flavour of what goes on at the world’s leading music school with Point Blank. Both sections will be split by a 500-capacity networking zone hosted by media giant Wunderground, we hope this will see people connect and help each other in their quest as well as getting involved in mini-workshops throughout both days. Our aim is to give people a better understanding of the industry whatever level their working at, we want the attendees to leave the conference with a lot more knowledge, inspiration and know how to take them to the next level. In terms of goals we wanted to try and make the event available to all which we feel we have achieved.
MD — We want to create an inclusive and affordable event that everyone who has a connection to electronic music feels they can’t miss out on attending. A date that is in everyone’s diary year on year. We want to ensure everyone from complete beginners to seasoned pros and everyone in between are in attendance.
The growth we have planned for the future of the conference is ambitious but achievable and we feel that it’s an event the Scottish scene deserves and will be proud of for many years to come.
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