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GRAMMYs

Pete Tong

Photo: Derrick Santini

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pete-tong-evolution-electronic-music

Pete Tong On The Evolution Of Electronic Music

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DJ and radio host shares his early influences and hope for the future of electronic music
THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
May 25, 2016 - 1:13 pm

British DJ Pete Tong visited The Recording Academy's headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif., to participate in an exclusive GRAMMY.com interview. Tong discussed his early interest in dance/electronic music, the excitement of watching America "wake up" to dance music and finding inspiration in new music trends, among other topics.

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"It's a time of evolution, it's a time of change [for dance/electronic music]," said Tong. "I find these moments the most inspiring because it's where I fit in. It's navigating and discovering and championing what's going to be next."

A native of Kent, England, Tong has worked as a DJ, producer, record label A&R, and radio host. As an A&R rep for London Records, Tong signed artists such as Run DMC and Salt-N-Pepa. He currently serves as a host for BBC Radio 1 and iHeartRadio's Evolution dance music radio show.

With more than 30 album credits, Tong's latest release came in 2013 with The Pete Tong Collection. The 60-song collection includes remixes of hits such as Latch's "Disclosure," Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" and Calvin Harris' "I'm Not Alone."

Tong is currently performing dates internationally through December.

ARTBAT at Cercle in Rio de Janeiro

ARTBAT at Cercle in Rio de Janeiro

Photo: Raul Aragao

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ARTBAT On CamelPhat Collab, Pete Tong & More artbat-new-camelphat-collab-djing-clouds-loving-la

ARTBAT On New CamelPhat Collab, DJing In The Clouds & Loving L.A.

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"For a Feeling" is the Ukrainian duo's latest dance release to top Beatport's charts and their seventh track in a year to be selected by Pete Tong as his weekly Essential New Tune
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
May 8, 2020 - 2:02 pm

Back in 2015, Artur Kryvenko and Vitalii "Batish" Limarenko, both successful DJs in their native Kyiv, met at a club and joined forces to create ARTBAT. It wasn't long before their deeply emotive brand of melodic techno made them one of the biggest names ever out of Ukraine and had them playing shows at major clubs like London's Printworks, Berlin's Watergate and Blue Marlin and other Ibiza hotspots, along with big events like Amsterdam's Awakenings and Brooklyn's City Fox.

In the global underground electronic scene, 2019 was undeniably the year of ARTBAT: they made their BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix debut, DJed for Cercle atop Rio de Janeiro's Sugarloaf Mountain and their fire releases earned several No. 1 spots on Beatport's charts, eventually closing the year as the top-selling artist on the platform.

Their latest release, "For a Feeling," is a collab with GRAMMY-nominated duo CamelPhat and vocalist Rhodes and has been No. 1 on Beatport's Top 100 for the past two weeks. Calling in from Kyiv, the dynamic duo caught up with the Recording Academy to talk about the new track, what it was like playing on that magic mountain top, and the support they've gotten from Pete Tong and other big DJs. We also dove deep into their lifelong love of electronic music, the rich techno scene in Ukraine and how much they love love Los Angeles.

You guys just released "For a Feeling" with CamelPhat, which is already No. 1 on Beatport. I'd love to learn more about how the collaboration and the track itself were born.

Well, we really like CamelPhat's production but it's a little bit of a different style from our work. We had a lot of good chats and a good connection with them. We played together and decided to try to combine our styles and do something new.

The CamelPhat guys gave us a vocal and some ideas and we really liked the vocal [sung by Rhodes], especially the meaning of lyrics. The meaning felt special for us because we like to feel the music and everything around us, we like to feel that it's deeper. We decided we needed to make something really beautiful with it, for both the dancer and the listener.

Read: Cassian Talks Debut LP 'Laps,' Attending His First GRAMMYs & Staying Calm In Quarantine

So the starting point of the track was built from the vocal?

Yes. The vocal and some of the rhythm. We worked on it two or three months together. Then we tried it out and people started to love it. Other DJs asked us about the track and we shared it and got some very good feedback from big producers—like Tale Of Us liked the track very much.

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So it already get some love on the dancefloor before quarantine?

Yes, of course. We made it last summer and we played it the whole autumn and winter and a little bit of March. It's actually one of our favorite finishing tracks. And as I said, Tale Of Us, Adriatique and other DJs played it for about half year. That's why people already knew this track and were waiting for its release.

Pete Tong recently named the track his Essential New Tune, which I think makes your seventh one. What does that recognition from Pete, as well as the other DJ support and everyone downloading it on Beatport, mean to you two?

We're very thankful to Pete for having his eye on us. He's said wonderful things about us and has liked some of our songs and presented them as essential tunes; for us it's a big honor. 20 years ago, when we were young, Pete Tong was one of our big inspirations. So, the support from him brings us a lot of happiness.

And with Beatport, when we see that people are downloading and buying our tracks, we understand that we are making something which helps people enjoy life, something for their feelings. And when we see this support of our tracks, we feel like we're on the right path. It also helps us find more inspiration in the studio to deliver the emotion, that energy on all that sides that music can bring in.

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As we are all feeling pretty isolated right now, it must be really powerful to know that your music is still touching people even when you're not able to share it in person.

We're receiving a lot of videos, Insta stories and posts with our music as people are listening and playing it at home. It's our little inspiration for our current work in studio. It's not an easy time now because we cannot share our music live and we cannot meet people. Everything is on pause now, but some time it will start again and continue as it was when everything was good.

ARTBAT · ARTBAT - Essential Mix (BBC Radio 1)

Speaking of Pete Tong, you released your debut BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix last year—what did it feel like for you being a part of the iconic series? Were you nervous going into it?

It's a big honor for us of course. We are music diggers and lovers and for two decades, maybe more, we've been listening to Essential Mixes from all the big DJs and electronic bands, like Daft Punk. To be part of it, and on the list of artists who've made Essential Mixes, is a big privilege for us. We are very thankful to Pete Tong for giving us that opportunity. From producing tracks, the other side of our lives is DJing, and the Essential Mix is a big step in DJ life.

I cannot say that we were nervous but we were very picky while picking out the tracks, to find the balance between old and new tracks, and we were very excited for it. Essential Mixes are one of the main, important mixes in the DJ catalog. It's a big recognition.

Also in 2019, you played an epic Cercle set atop Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro. What did that experience feel like for you two, and what was the energy was like playing in that beautiful setting?

It was one of the best experiences in our lives. We had wanted to be a part of Cercle, but we understood the guys pick the artists out themselves. And then they invited us to take part in a Cercle event. We wanted to do it in Kyiv because we live there and love our country very much and show people our country. But the email proposed the venue [Bondinho Pão de Açúcar, or Sugarloaf Mountain Cablecar] and when we saw the mountain we agreed.

When we arrived in Rio de Janeiro, there was a very big storm, so we were very lucky that we had one more day there. The Cercle guys moved the event to the next day, which was very good weather. You can imagine our feelings when we arrived to Rio de Janeiro, it's like a 15-hour flight, and when we landed, we learned that we couldn't have the event today because the weather is rainy and stormy. It could've been canceled because of that, but the guys had time and we could stay for one day more.

It was actually so hot the next day, we were afraid it would be hard to play because we were coming from winter to a very hot summer. But we were lucky because there was a very good breeze on the mountain. When we started to play, we were even under the clouds sometimes, playing for people who knew us and like our music. They were smiling and it was a very close atmosphere because there was just 250, 200 people. It's not a big venue and everyone was very friendly and happy.

And when we were playing, I looked back at the mountain and I thought "thank you my life, thank you energy, that you bring me, with music, to this mountain." It was the best DJing experience. With the beautiful nature, the quality sound system and happy people, I never had an experience quite like that. We will remember it for all our lives.

And actually, when we watched the video [watch for yourself above] after, we couldn't believe that it was us playing there. It's so beautiful. We knew how beautiful it was, but from the other angle of the drone, and the blue sky, blue water and green nature, it's like the best natural combination of colors, music and clouds. And the guys from Cercle also said that it was their favorite location. I think it's one of the best experiences of our DJ career and we know it's very hard to repeat this.

Related: Agoria On Making His First Album In Eight Years, Playing Coachella & The Architecture Of Dance Music

What do you think are the key elements of a great dance track?

You know, dancing comes from inside you. For some people, one thing gets them moving, and it's something different for others. But, I think for a great dance track, it should be balanced between groove and melody. Sometimes melodies get in the way of dancing because you're starting to really listen to it instead. It's hard to say because every time is different, but I think the key is to find the good balance between uplifting and building. And the melody can't be very long, so you can catch the flow. Of course, rhythm is the dance mover. So good rhythm is most important for the dance track. We dance with the rhythm.

When you guys are playing a club set, what are you looking for in the crowd? For example, what do you do if people aren't dancing?

We start to find the people who you can tell came to dance. Some people maybe just came to party or to listen to music but not to dance, so we're searching for the people we see have a lot of energy, who want to dance and seem happy. So we're trying to first make the flow that keeps them in good mood. We're looking for happy faces and trying to keep them happy and smiling.

But our music is not always happy, sometimes it's kind of deep. So then we're searching for people who are really engaging with it, getting deep in to the music. If they feel it and catch the flow, you can watch them, and if everything is good you see if them dancing and you understand you're doing good.

When did you first start listening to electronic music? What artists made you want to start DJing and producing yourself?

We both started to listen to electronic music very young. I started when I was eight or nine. First it was ['90s] European dance music, like Dr. Alban, maybe you remember him. So it was like '93, '94. For my whole life, I've lived in headphones. I'd spend all my money on new music, buying cassettes, then discs.

And in 2003, I started DJing and I gained a deeper interest in electronic music. Then, I found electronic German records like DJ Hell and then Tiefschwarz. I also listened to DJs like Paul van Dyk and Armin Van Buuren to Carl Cox, Adam Beyer, and also Stephan Bodzin was the one of my favorites. So all the famous DJ that you know, I listened to them. Some of them inspired me in some styles and others in different ways. I really liked how Stephan Bodzin made his own style with Oliver Huntemann, as well as Carl Cox's techno, for its power.

And of course, Batish and I listen to a lot of electronic bands like Orbital, Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Depeche Mode. Also, I like Pink Floyd a lot.

More: On 'Violator,' Depeche Mode Double-Crossed The 1980s And Won

How did you discover all this music? Was there a good record store where you grew up—how were you listening to all this cool music from such a young age?

No, it started from cassettes, like I told you, when I had some lunch money from my parents for school, I tried to save it and every week I'd buy two or three new cassettes. And then in 2002, we had internet and I searched different forums for music and where to download it. It wasn't good, but there were the peer-to-peer sites and you could search for the track and the artist. And later, when I went to work, it was a very small salary, but I had good internet there and I could download a lot of music for my DJ sets in clubs.

How old were you when you started DJing?

I started in 2007, so I was 24, 25.

The Electronic Pioneers: Kraftwerk’s Florian Schneider Made Music For Humans, Not For Robots

What was the house and techno scene like in Kyiv then and now? Were there a lot of other DJs then or was it a close-knit community?

Ukraine is a very musical country, people like music here very much. Of course, we have Soviet experiences here and it was not easy for the culture here because of economic hardships. The scene's growth depends on the economy, so when it started to be better from 2014, the scene started to grow also. We have a very good techno community here. In Ukraine, we have a lot of fans of house music and melodic techno, the music that we make. We have very quality clubs that we can compare with the best clubs in the world for sure.

We don't have a lot of festivals. There's a few, but they're not very big. Festival culture only started here, maybe five years ago, in Kyiv. But for music, people are very educated about it. And everyone is waiting for this quarantine to be finished, waiting to get out of our homes especially in summer. We should have had few good festivals here this summer but they're canceled.

Read: How Will Coronavirus Shift Electronic Music? Maceo Plex, Paul Van Dyk, Luttrell, Mikey Lion & DJ Manager Max Leader Weigh In

Have you guys been spending more time in the studio during quarantine? Have you been making or even just listening to more music?

Yes. Our last gig was March 8th or 9th. After that, we arrived to Kyiv and put ourselves in self-quarantine for two weeks at home. We actually had some symptoms of coronavirus, so we stayed at home, then got tested after to make sure we were not spreading the virus. It was negative then, so we started to go to the studio. Now we're in the studio three, four, maybe five days a week, trying to find some ideas to make tracks. We actually already made some tracks. But you can understand it's not easy time in terms of inspiration.

Somedays you have inspiration, some days you don't because you're tired from this situation and the restrictions. Sometimes it's hard for the mind, especially when our gigs are canceled. It's not an easy time now. But, like I told you, we're getting good feedback from people, people playing our music and sharing emotions with us. And we're releasing music! Now we've released "For a Feeling" and we also have for one cool track to release in summer, I think.

And we're preparing music for our new sets when the quarantine is finished. We will be ready to show people the new stuff and we always love to play music and enjoy life together with people.

Why did you decide to form ARTBAT together, and what does the project mean to you, as a duo, with the music you're putting out?

Before we met, I think we had like six or seven years of DJing. And it was the period when we played a lot, maybe in all of the clubs [in Kyiv]. I needed some new stuff. I started to search for a person with whom it would be fun to create music with. And faster, more quality, because when you're alone it takes a lot of time deciding if it's good or not and just searching for ideas.

We met in the club, our friends connected us, and we decided to spend one time in the studio together and try it out. In our first studio session, from the first hour, we learned that we can make good music that we both like, that we can make it fast and we like the process together. We can spend all day in the studio and joke, have fun and talk, which doesn't happen when you're working alone. Together, we're sharing a good time and playing music and finding good ideas.

So, we made one track, then two tracks and started to realize we could continue with this. We started to do DJ sets as a project and we searched for the names, for two months actually. Then the idea came from our names; ARTBAT is Artur and Batish.

Now it's like our life, for sure it's the best that can be in in our social, creative life. Our project is everything for us. We live like one family and we're very close. Our passion and our project is almost the same. And we're very picky about the tracks, about everything, because we're very connected to our creative name ARTBAT. It's kind of a dream that came through and now it's all of our life.

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Obviously, you guys had a huge 2019. Is there a dream, something you hope will happen, for ARTBAT next year?

Yes, yes, we have our next step, we can't really say now because it's still a baby, we're making it, filling it with ideas. I can't tell you now but, hopefully in few months. But one dream for us is, of course, to play big festivals to share music with big crowds because we like this energy and the feedback from people. Also, we like to represent Ukraine in the music world. We like that people know we are from Ukraine, and a lot of people know us here, but doing gigs around the world is a big pleasure for us, to be people who bring our country in to the music scene

GRAMMYs

ARTBAT in Los Angeles | Photo: Courtesy of artist

Where do you live now? [Artur asked interviewer.]

I live in Los Angeles.

It's our favorite city in the world. We have been almost all around the world, but L.A. is one city where we really want to try to live someday. One of the first feelings when we came to L.A., you feel this freedom, like freedom for your mind. The atmosphere of freedom is everywhere. I think it's the best city in the world.

Record Store Recs: Eelke Kleijn Takes Us Crate Digging Around The Globe

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Yotto plays Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, 2019

Yotto

Photo: Demian Beccerra

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Yotto On New Music & Building A BBC Essential Mix yotto-trance-launching-odd-one-out-building-bbc-essential-mix

Yotto On "Is This Trance?," Launching Odd One Out & Building A BBC Essential Mix

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We sat down with the Finnish DJ/producer before his final show of 2019 to hear about the vision behind his brand-new label, the electronic music he listened to as a kid and more
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 17, 2019 - 12:42 pm

For a globe-trotting DJ/producer who isn't convinced he's made any great dance tracks "yet," Yotto has a pretty impressive musical resume that has many others at odds with him on the matter. Hailing from Finland, Otto Yliperttula, a.k.a Yotto, has been signed to Above & Beyond's beloved deep house sublabel, Anjunadeep, since 2015 and has been packing dancefloors around the world with his emotive, pulsing beats rooted in deep and progressive house.

His tracks have been celebrated by longtime icons of the global house scene, including Pete Tong, Annie Mac, Sasha and Laurent Garnier. In addition to landing at least five of Tong's "Essential New Tune" selections over the years, the British DJ also invited him to do a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix in 2018, a major DJ rite of passage moment. 2018 also saw the release of Yotto's gorgeous debut LP, Hyperfall, on Anjunadeep. This past summer, the "Radiate" producer launched his own label, Odd One Out, and toured historic venues and theatres across North America to celebrate, bringing his energetic music and down-to-earth presence to new spaces.

The Recording Academy sat down with the Finnish artist before his final show of 2019 to talk about the vision behind the label, the electronic music he sought out as a teen (including Sasha) and what he thinks makes a great dance track—which he'll make "hopefully one day."

You launched your Odd One Out label this summer. What made you want to start your own label?

I always wanted to have my own label because when I grew up, I was listening to all these DJs that were playing great music and then I found out they have labels. And I was able to dig through the labels' catalog and be like, oh, yeah, this is really, really good. And that always gave me a glimpse inside the head of the DJ who I really admired and the music they wanted to play. I like the idea of the label being an extension of the DJ.

The person who runs the label, shares the music he likes or thinks people will like, or the music that works well in his live DJ sets through it. That was the core idea of it and I don't know where it's going to go, I don't really have a big plan for it. It's going to be a lot of my own music, but also I'm going to sign a bunch of artists.

I just get so much really good music sent to me, from kids that don't really know what to do with it, so I'm just going to take some of it and put it all together. I'm working on a small compilation for next year, a curated album kind of thing. That's going to be the first thing I'm going to hop into when I'm back [home in Finland] from the tour.

Who are some of these people you were listening to when you were younger?

It was like Desyn Masiello, Sasha, [John] Digweed, the old progressive house DJs pretty much. Hernán Cattáneo was a big one. Also, there was this label called Underwater, Darren Emerson was on it. Those were probably my favorites.

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How old were you when you first started getting into electronic music?

Around then, I was maybe 15. It was really hard to get that, because the internet was just slow. It was there, but just not the way it is now, of course.

Were there any good record stores where you grew up?

Yeah, there was one that I would always go to, and that's where I kind of found most of the records and the DJs because they would also sell music magazines. Ministry of Sound had a magazine back then—"Muzic" with a "z"—that was really good, really tasteful, kind of sarcastic, really good reviews on dance music. And Mixmag was around already, so then reading those and their reviews, and then going to the record store, trying to buy the records. Because I was underage I couldn't go to the clubs, so I would just have to listen to the records and think about how they worked.

Related: Jan Blomqvist Talks Playing Coachella, Berlin Techno & Covering The Rolling Stones

You got into it early, that's cool. It seems like in Europe, electronic music has been a lot more embedded into youth culture, and also just music in general, than in the U.S.

I think yeah, especially in the U.K. and Germany.

When I was a kid, I only knew about, like, Daft Punk. But so did everyone. Of course there were kids here that were really into electronic music, but it was a lot more sub-culture here in the '90s and '00s.

Oh yeah, sure. It was the same in Finland, it was very, very underground. There was a big scene around trance music, but the rest of it was small. It's a small country, so in relation to that, it was a healthy scene. So the best things, at least for me, I found out as a kid, were just reading about it and listening to the music.

Okay, back to 2019. To launch Odd One Out, you released "Shifter," then "Nova" and, most recently, "Is This Trance?"—the best track name ever. Can you talk a little bit about that one? And when you're working on a track—and on "Is This Trance?" specifically—where do you start?  

It depends on so much, each track is a bit different. That one was, I was in Italy for a couple of weeks on holiday. I was listening to old '90s trance that day for who knows what reason, and I was inspired by it after not having listened to it for a while. I just put my little spin on it, it's a lot slower than what the music was back then.

The name was a joke, but I just thought, you know, it works. Trance can be anything. It can be like ambient, slow music, it doesn't have to be club music. I think trance was always more about the emotional content of the music than a very particular style.

And you're about to wrap up the North American leg of the Odd One Out Tour here in L.A. tonight and you've done a lot of shows this year. What's been your favorite part about this tour?

This tour has been a bit different because I moved away from clubs a bit, doing venues like The Fonda and Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. I played a bunch of theaters and ballrooms and warehouses to just to do something a bit different and special. So it's been a challenging tour, but also one of the most rewarding ones. I'm excited to see what we're going to do next, I don't know yet.

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I can only imagine that with touring, part of it is exciting, but it can also be kind of draining to not have a home base. What do you do to stay upbeat and grounded when you're all over the place?

I fly back to Finland quite often. I recently stayed here [in L.A.] for a couple of months just to make the touring easier, which was nice. But in general, I don't party that much, I try to work out a lot, eat healthy, just sleep as much as I can. Today is a party night, so I can have a few drinks because it's the end of the tour, so I'm happy about it.

You don't meditate to trance music or anything?

I've tried meditation, I haven't really got into it yet. I'm not a very anxious person. When I'm alone at an airport, I think that's already a form of meditation. I'm just sitting there and my head just empties.

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That's a good skill.

It's kind of helpful, but also not ideal sometimes. I might drift away during a conversation and be totally somewhere else.

Well, when you're DJing, do you feel kind of immersed in it? What's the experience like for you when you're sharing music with people?

Yeah, there's part of me that's constantly thinking about or analyzing it, in a way where I kind of think about what record I want to play next. There's a few tracks that I know the people that actually bought tickets want to hear, so I have to figure out a way to make those tracks come through in the set, but also I just want to keep it fully free-flowing. I don't really plan the sets that much. I just play whatever feels right in the moment.

Last year, you released your debut album Hyperfall. You've put out a lot of music and mixes before then, but did it feel different working on a cohesive album versus a one-off track?

Yeah, it started just by having a few tracks that didn't make sense to me as singles at the moment, so then I started building something larger around them. It was something I always wanted to do. It's not a necessary thing for a club act today. Personally, I just wanted to have an album that has music that's not just what I play in the shows, it's just something different.

Also in 2018, you made your BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix debut, which is a big deal. Were you happy with how it turned out?

I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I used to listen to all of the Essential Mixes when they came out. I would the download sh*tty quality ones the next day, when they were available online after being broadcasted on BBC since 2003 or '04.

So yeah, when they invited me to do one, obviously my first reaction is, "Yay, that's amazing," but after that you get a bit nervous. You're like, "What if it's going to suck?" But then I just thought, I'm just going to record a mix of me playing music that I like, so then I just did that and then edited it a bit more, added a few extra in there, like an intro and outro. That was it.

I think it kind of functions as a really good, thought-out mix for me, and also a time capsule of where I was musically in that time of my career. If I were to make a new one right now, it would sound a lot different, but also similar. You never know.

Sounds like you didn't overthink it and it flowed pretty well.

I started overthinking it, but then it was like, yeah, this is not going to sound natural. So then I approached it as just another DJ set with just a few extra things.

What do you think makes a great dance track? 

I don't know if I've made any great tracks yet, hopefully one day.

You really don't think you've made a great dance track?!

I think I've made some decent ones, time will tell if they're great or not. But I think it's the combination of capturing a moment that people will remember from their lives and then, whether it's melody or just something that grabs their attention. And then with that, combined with the club functionality of a dance record. When those two things meet, then it's like a recipe.

Bye Bye Plastic: BLOND:ISH, Annie Mac, Eats Everything & More Advocate For Eco-Friendly Parties

BLOND:ISH

BLOND:ISH

Photo: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

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BLOND:ISH & More Advocate For Eco-Friendly Parties bye-bye-plastic-blondish-annie-mac-eats-everything-more-advocate-eco-friendly-parties

Bye Bye Plastic: BLOND:ISH, Annie Mac, Eats Everything & More Advocate For Eco-Friendly Parties

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"We're in an absolute pivotal moment in evolution, where change is in the air, and silence doesn't bring change… [the] superpower we have to add to this mix is MUSIC," BLOND:ISH said
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 11, 2019 - 5:40 pm

Today, Dec. 11, Vivie-Ann Bakos, a.k.a. beloved DJ/producer BLOND:ISH, revealed that more than 1,500 DJs, as well as a growing number of management agencies and clubs, have joined in on Bye Bye Plastic's first movement to eliminate single-use plastic at clubs, parties and festivals.

Artists including Richie Hawtin, ANNA, Pete Tong, Honey Dijon, Ben Klock, Patrick Topping, Sven Väth, Nicole Moudaber, Eats Everything, Annie Mac, Archie Hamilton and many more have committed to the campaign's #PlasticFreeParty pledge by singing onboard with the Eco-Rider, which asks for no plastic bottles, cups or straws in the DJ booths they play in.

https://twitter.com/blond_ish/status/1204672318896836609

The music industry is coming together to remove single-use plastic from our scene! 1500 djs have said they want a plastic free dj booth!!
It's the first step to plastic free parties.

LET’S GET THIS PLASTIC FREE PARTY STARTED #PlasticFreeParty #PlasticFreeDjBooth #ByeByePlastic pic.twitter.com/VyaUZAd6pW

— blond ish (@blond_ish) December 11, 2019

The much-needed initiative is helmed by Bakos, who is known for her mystical house sets at parties around the world. She is a regular at Burning Man, an event centered on the sustainability of self, the collective and the surrounding environment and where everyone has to bring their own reusable cups.

Bye Bye Plastic aims to remove single-use plastics from the music industry by 2025.

"We're in an absolute pivotal moment in evolution, where change is in the air, and silence doesn't bring change," Bakos said via a press release.

"Change is fueled by movements. Movements thrive on community, creativity, participation and idealism. The secret ingredient a.k.a. superpower we have to add to this mix is MUSIC. It's the absolute strongest glue, and the strongest human connector. We can't forget that, so let's use it endlessly for GOOD."

According to the press release, this first call-to-action is just "the first step in a series of industry-wide actionables the [organization] will be rolling out, including carbon offsetting. The Eco-Rider aims to kick start kicking out plastic, joining a number of other brilliant initiatives with the same core mission, working towards a greener future." These include event sustainability experts A Greener Festival and Oceanic Global's Blue Rider, which was used at Glastonbury earlier this year. 
 

One of the main goals of Bye Bye Plastic is to assist clubs and festivals in making the transition to going fully single-use plastic free. Eats Everything and Annie Mac have set the bar for taking the Eco-Rider one step further by encouraging clubs to reach out to the organization for helpful resources.
 
Please visit the org's website if you want to learn more or get involved.

Jayda G Is The Environmental Scientist & House Music DJ/Producer The Planet Needs Right Now

Splash House 2018

Splash House 2018

Photo: ĀRYĀ COLLECTIVE 

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Splash House: Justice Headlining June Fest splash-house-justice-armand-van-helden-jai-wolf-troyboi-headlining-june-poolside-fest

Splash House: Justice, Armand Van Helden, Jai Wolf & TroyBoi Headlining June Poolside Fest

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The French electronic duo are fresh off of their second GRAMMY win, for Best Dance/Electronic Album for 'Woman Worldwide,' at the 61st GRAMMY Awards
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
May 1, 2019 - 3:30 pm

Splash House has announced the stacked lineup for their June music fest; GRAMMY-winning French electro heavyweights Justice, GRAMMY-nominated U.S. house music stalwart Armand van Helden, New York-based house producer Jai Wolf and U.K. bass/trap champ TroyBoi will headline.

The event will take place during the day at three scenic hotel pools in Palm Springs, Calif. from Jun 7–9.

https://twitter.com/SplashHousePS/status/1123663582900604929

Hope you’re ready to D.A.N.C.E. 💃 General on-sale coming this Friday, May 3rd at 12pm PT. https://t.co/DJnElwKzcG pic.twitter.com/Up3IFwwRGQ

— Splash House (@SplashHousePS) May 1, 2019

Justice, who is fresh off of their second GRAMMY win, taking home Best Dance/Electronic Album for Woman Worldwide at the 61st GRAMMY Awards, will be playing a DJ set during the three-day event. The rest of the lineup offers an equally impressive and diverse group of electronic artists, including GRAMMY nominees Jax Jones and Dirty South, along with Pete Tong, A-Track, CRAY and more.

The daytime sets will all take place poolside at three beautiful desert aesthetic hotels: The Renaissance, The Riviera and The Saguaro. Shiba San, Dusky, Kidnap and a few others will keep the vibes going into the nighttime, with official after-hours shows at the kitschy Palm Springs Air Museum.

Related: Rejecting The Dance Label, Justice Follow Their Electronic Muse

Splash House has been bringing the beats to Palm Springs for several years now. As they have the last few summers, they will be returning to help close out the summer with a second weekend, whose lineup is forthcoming, from Aug. 9–11.

Tickets for the June edition of Splash House go on sale this Friday, May 3; more info on all ticket options and the full lineup can be found on their website.

Justin Jay On The Joy Of DJing, Expanding His Horizons, And How Fans Think He's Still A College Freshman

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.