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Much of the electronic music industry is currently in or en route to Amsterdam, with the city’s longstanding ADE conference launching tomorrow (October 18.)
Happening in the Dutch capital since 1996, the five-day Amsterdam Dance Event is the world’s largest dance music industry conference, and the one that many in the scene call not only the most fun, but the one where the most business gets done.
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2022 marks ADE’s first full-fledged iteration since 2019, with the pandemic forcing ADE fully online in 2020 and only partially live in 2021. This year, say ADE organizers Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem, the event is not just back, but also bigger than ever, with 10,000 industry professionals expected for the expansive conference and 600,000 fans in town to take in the hundreds of consumer facing shows and arts and culture programming happening through this Saturday, October 22.
In an effort to make the conference more useful for more people, for the first time this year it’s divided into Pro and Lab conferences, with Pro programming catered towards established industry members and Lab focused on those just getting their foot in the (club) door.
“Lab is a conference for people making the first steps in the industry, to help them educate themselves and to help them with the first steps to become a pro within a few years,” says Kennis. “Having this healthy ecosystem is one of the main ideas we wanted to implement before the pandemic that survived during our off years.”
Meanwhile, the dizzying number of music events happening in venues throughout the city are hosted by global brands including AMF, Secret Project, DGTL, Spinnin, We Still Believe, Defected and many (many) more, all working under the ADE umbrella. (Local officials do not permit any event to happen during the week unless it has ADE approval.) Altogether, the new music, business initiatives, party brands and other campaigns launching this week will help set the sound for the year to come in electronic music.
“There’s going to be something people talk about afterwards like, ‘I know the first moment I heard that and that broke through was at at ADE,’” says Kennis.
Here, Kennis and Willem discuss getting the massive event back in action this week.
Beyond the changes to how you’ve structured the conference, what are the biggest things happening at ADE this year?
Kennis: I think the biggest thing is that we’re back, and we’re back in full effect. The good thing is not just that we’re hearing everyone is coming back, but we see it in the ticket sales. That’s very exciting, especially after a few years of relative silence — that the industry is back and that they’re coming [to Amsterdam] in full effect. We’re thrilled about that.
Willem: All the small and big industry partners are coming back too. That’s a really comfortable feeling, knowing the momentum is still there.
As you’ve been organizing this thing, have you found that some issues are more crucial this year?
Willem: We decided to focus on three main themes, and all the topics we are discussing are under these themes. It’s the business side of electronic music, meaning the whole value chain of electronic music. That’s still the most important part of the Pro conference. The other one is the future, all innovations and AI and metaverse related topics. The third is the world surrounding music, meaning all topics around sustainability, mental health and social impact. So basically, every panel and program within our conference is related to one of these three themes.
There are so few electronic industry conferences right now, and yours is such a big event. Does anything compare to ADE in terms of size and influence?
Willem: We are a foundation to improve electronic music in the Netherlands. We started ADE as a part of BUMA/STEMRA, the copyright organization in Holland. The reason why I’m stating this is: You don’t make a lot of money organizing these kinds of events with so many stakeholders and so many things to take care of. We don’t have this huge gate around our festival — everybody can be part of it. Which also means there’s a lot of a lot of work to align with everybody, to make sure everything is being organized correctly. Revenue goes directly to the producers of every event. So we don’t make any money out of that. I think that’s a reason why there’s not a lot of competition.
Kennis: Also, it has grown to be this way over 26 years. And as a nonprofit, we allow everyone to let ADE be what they want it to be, within quite a broad bandwidth. I think that makes it really special.
Are you finding that, industry wise, people from parts of the world are coming that didn’t before? I’m thinking of places like the MENA region. Are you seeing different areas show up that didn’t as much in years prior?
Kennis: That’s a good question. I believe that, for instance, countries like China aren’t able to come this year. They are technically, but apparently it’s a hassle. So it’s more that we’re expecting different parts of the world to not be able to come this year, given COVID scares or just a lot of paperwork being required. But we have to look into that afterwards to see the differences, because it’s really interesting.
Are there any COVID protocols still in place in the city or country?
Willem: No… I’ve been asking for quite a few months at local and national government levels, and they’re all like, “We don’t have anything, so don’t worry.” I was like, “I am worried, because we’ve got about 600,000 people coming in, and I don’t want to cancel.” But we’re now just before [the event] and there’s still no measures in place, so I think we’re going to be okay.
I remember that last year, you had to make some changes when new protocols were put in place at the last minute. 350 club shows went from being at night to happening during the daytime.
Willem: Last year, a month before ADE started, all events were shut down. The only way to really make them work is that they had to close at midnight.
Kennis: It was actually amazing.
Willem: We came out of a lockdown, then we had ADE, and then there was another lockdown. So everybody was just going mental [during ADE.] All the artists and venues swapped the entire schedule so everything happened during the day. That gave a feeling of togetherness, where everybody just worked together to make it happen, and that gave it a really special energy.
These five days were literally the only moment in Holland where people could go out and be together, touch each other in a club and express themselves, and we had so many good moments. We started on Saturday morning, we drove to a party. We came in at 11:00 in the morning, and had a croissant and some juice. All these fans and all these kids were pumped up and dancing, hugging each other. We were like, “F–k yeah, this is cool for 11:00 in the morning.”
Amsterdam Dance Event
Courtesy of ADE
I know you work closely with the city of Amsterdam to make this thing happen. Besides the absence oof protocols, have any shifts occurred at the government level following the pandemic?
Kennis: It’s good to notice that before COVID happened, part of the struggle was that nightlife and night culture wasn’t seen as culture by government stakeholders.
But now, since COVID, they realize, “Okay, this is more than just partying at night. It’s part of your expression, it’s part of your individual development, and it’s a really important part of your life, especially when you’re young and finding your identity.” Hopefully that will help us get more funding in the future to invest more in the development and educational programs.
That’s not a small thing, to actually affect the mindset around this often misunderstood culture on a government level.
Kennis: Unfortunately it took it took a pandemic to to make people realize it, but we do see change for the better.
When Rüfüs Du Sol put their collective feet up for a well-earned celebratory drink, the electronic trio can imbibe their own supply.
The Grammy Award-winning trio unveil Mate Maker Co., which launches with two ready-to-drink flavors, Mango Peach Smash and Citrus Mule Hard Kombucha.
The boutique business is founded by Justin Medcraft, ex-global senior brand manager at Diageo and brand director at Pabst Brewing co, and co-founded by the electronic musicians and their artist manager Danny Robson, along with drinks trade expert Tom Appleton (formerly Diageo and Four Pillars Gin).
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According to the team behind the fruity new releases, Mate Maker is small-batch brewed, vegan, uses no artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors or hidden ingredients, and is presented with sustainable packaging.
“With a shift towards moderation and mindfulness,” reads a statement, “this group of friends asked themselves: if you choose to drink, why not ‘drink better’? So they set out to create a transparent drink made from better ingredients, that’s better for the world.”
For those who keep count, the two flavors contain 4% alcohol by volume, less than 110 calories and under 5 grams of sugar per can.
“When we discovered hard kombucha a couple years back in the U.S., we immediately thought people in Australia would get it,” comments Jon George, of Rüfüs Du Sol.
“This is something we’ve put a lot of care and effort into and we’re stoked to be able to unveil it now right before we come home to play shows in Australia for the first time in three years. We think people will love it as much as we do.”
Rüfüs Du Sol has been on a tear of late. Just last week, the trio of George, James Hunt and Tyrone Lindqvist scored a leading seven nominations for next month’s 2022 ARIAs in Sydeney, including nods for best group and best album for 2021’s Surrender (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music), the band’s third leader on the ARIA Chart.
The Sydneysiders cut Surrender during lockdown stints between Joshua Tree and Los Angeles. When restrictions lifted, the threesome performed works from across their four albums at a stretch of sold-out headline shows at Banc of California Stadium in L.A.
Then, at the 2022 Grammy Awards, Surrender track “Alive” won for best dance/electronic recording.
More flavors in the Mate Maker co. range are coming soon, and should make a splash at independent retailers and festivals across Australia later in the year.
Visit matemakerco.com for more.
This week in dance music: we were there for the pair of shows Zedd played to honor the ten-year anniversary of his debut Clarity, we caught up with Wreckno about the special meaning behind their Electric Forest set this past June, we went deep with Kerri Chandler on the occasion of his most recent album, and we saw the queen Björk hit Hot Dance/Electronic albums with her latest, Fossora.
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And new music? You know we’ve got it. Let’s dig in.
David Guetta & Artbat feat. Idris Elba, “It’s Ours”
Is it future rave? Melodic techno? A cryptic spoken-word ballad featuring one of the world’s best-known actor/DJs uttering heady musings about “the connection… the absolute purity…” in baritone? “It’s Ours” is in fact all of these things, with the fearsome foursome that produced it — David Guetta, Ukrainian duo ARTBAT and aforementioned multi-platform star and noted good-looking person Idris Elba — tossing their respective skillsets in the mix for the darkly hypnotic heater. The track is fairly experimental output (particularly for the typically melody-centric Guetta), and really excels in the extended eight-minute version, which plays like the soundtrack to an actual movie. — KATIE BAIN
SG Lewis & Tove Lo, “Call On Me”
Ladies and gentlemen, right this way through the holographic door into a dark-lit, dystopian disco where the champagne flows like spilled blood and the only soundtrack is the sinister thump of SG Lewis and Tove Lo’s insanely hard-hitting single, “Call on Me.” There’s just something desperate about this song’s insatiable funk. It seems to promise that if we turn its maximalist production up until it red lines, for three blissful but very-sweaty minutes, we might forget that there’s such a thing as human pain.
“Call on Me” is the latest single from Lewis’ forthcoming double album AudioLust & HigherLove, which he says “explores the differing ways in which we approach love and relationships, and the cyclical nature of those feelings.” It also appears on Lo’s spankin’-new LP Dirt Femme, which sees the Swedish singer peeling back the layers on her personal demons in a way she’s never quite exposed before. Of course, all this over beats that will breathe life into any dance floor. These two can call on us literally any time. – KAT BEIN
Sohmi, “Somebody”
After playing Coachella for the first time earlier in April, Sohmi has entered a new and more high-profile era in her career. The producer-singer-songwriter is back today with her first solo release since last year, “Somebody,” through which she revisits her past. “‘Sit on the floor little darling / know what you’re worth,’ Mama told me,” she begins. She builds upon the premise of working long and hard to become “somebody,” the refrain echoing like a lingering dream across a driving soundscape filled with pummeling drums and fluttering synths. It’s dark yet dreamy, heavy but hopeful and lyrically relatable while also being some of Sohmi’s most personal material yet.
“Somebody” is also the first taste of a new EP due out early next year. “A lot has happened and changed since my last release,” Sohmi says, “and I’ve spent a lot of time diving deeper into my own personal history in order to better understand who I am; why I hurt the way I hurt, why I love the way I love. All of it has been at once challenging and fulfilling at the same time, but most of all, it’s been beautiful to confront who I am as a person and how that’s shaped the artist I am and strive to be today. I think ‘Somebody’ is sort of the first piece of that story, as it takes a step backwards into some personal history of mine while looking ahead and forward, sonically.” — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Agents Of Time, Universo
After taking a giant step into the mainstream this past January via their killer remix of The Weeknd‘s “Take My Breath,” Italian duo Agents Of Time are closing out the year with their sophomore album, Universo. The 13-track LP melds melodic techno with an expanded pop sensibility (particularly in the vocal-driven tracks), altogether delivering dually sophisticated, hypnotic electronic music you can live with at home or on the dancefloor. Universo is out now via Kompakt. — K. Bain
G Jones & Eprom, “R.A.V.E.”
Have you been to a rave lately? It really does feel like stepping outside of society into a more perfect union of souls. When a rave is done right, it’s like going to church and a bacchanal all at once — which we suppose at certain moments in history is exactly what going to “church” was like. Raves make you feel like a better tomorrow is possible, so maybe that’s why inimitable texture gods G Jones and Eprom named their latest laser attack anthem “R.A.V.E.,’” aka “Realizing Alternative Visions for Earth.” A monster tune that will break your windows and smash your skull, the track is everything we love about these two producers: funky, groovy, an absolute assault of the aural senses — and also just mean, and therefore, so nice. The track comes from Jones’ Illusory Tracks EP, out next month. – K. Bein
Coco & Breezy feat. Baby Sol, “Magic”
Some tracks are made for banging out in the club, and some are meant to be set free in the outdoors. Coco & Breezy’s new single “Magic” falls into the latter group. In an exploration of their Afro-Latina heritage, the twin-duo deliver a track shrouded in mysticism, pairing driving drum rhythms and menacing bass with vocal chants and wolf howls as vocalist Baby Sol teases, “I got that magic.” There’s a communal spirit within “Magic” that evokes images of midnight forest raves, where among the silhouettes of looming trees and nocturnal birds, it might sound right at home.
“We all have that magic when we step into our power,” write Coco & Breezy. “It truly feels like we are tapping into our ancestors with the vocal chants in the background. “Music is healing, and words are powerful. Creating a song for people to dance to, and repeat the affirmation ‘I got that magic,’ is powerful.” — K.R.
Björk begins at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart (dated Oct. 15) with Fossora. The set starts with 10,000 equivalent album units earned, including 9,000 in album sales, in the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 tracking week, according to Luminate.
It’s the Icelandic songstress’ sixth top 10 dating to the chart’s 2001 inception, a run that began with Vespertine (three weeks at No. 1, 2001). Björk’s other top 10s are Greatest Hits (No. 2, 2002), Family Tree (No. 6, 2002), Volta (nine weeks at No. 1, 2007) and Biophilia (No. 1, 2011).
Björk landed five earlier titles on the Billboard 200, led by Homogenic (No. 28, 1997). Volta brought Björk her highest rank, and lone top 10 to date, on the chart (No. 9).
Concurrently, Fossora arrives on Top Album Sales (No. 7), Vinyl Albums (No. 7; 5,000 vinyl copies), Top Alternative Albums (No. 9), Independent Albums (No. 15) and the Billboard 200 (No. 100), among other tallies.
Additionally on Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Shygirl (aka Blane Muise) starts at No. 7 with Nymph (3,000 units). The U.K.-based DJ/singer has scored two hits on the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: “Sour Candy (Mura Masa Remix),” with Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK (No. 24, September 2021), and as featured on FKA Twigs’ “Papi Bones” (No. 32, this January).
Speaking of Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Farruko flies20-12 with “Nazareno,” earning top Streaming Gainer honors following the Sept. 29 drop of a remix and video with Ankhal. The track, which reached No. 7 in June, earned 1.2 million U.S. streams, up 102%, in addition to gathering 2.6 million in all-format radio airplay audience impressions.
Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, MK collects his fourth top 10 and BURNS earns its first with “Better,” featuring Teddy Swims, who adds his second (13-10). The song is drawing core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, iHeartRadio’s Evolution and KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco, among other outlets. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)
Kerri Chandler is an innovator. The legendary DJ and producer, who is looking at 30 years of house music in his rearview, is an out-of-the-box thinker who doesn’t see limitations, just new frontiers.
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Case in point, his latest album, the 24-song Spaces and Places — his first since 2008’s Computer Games. Space and Places was not created in Chandler’s elaborate home studio in New Jersey — which is on par with any commercial studio, and leaves quite a few of those marquee locations in its dust. Instead, over the course of two years, Chandler traveled around the globe, recording the songs for Space and Places at clubs in various cities.
Printworks and Ministry of Sound in London, The Warehouse Project in Manchester, Rex in Paris, Plano B in Porto, Sub Club in Glasgow, Halcyon in San Francisco, Output in Brooklyn — it’s all just a smattering of the clubs that Chandler took over for Spaces and Places. The producer, 53, set up a mobile studio in the middle of each of these clubs when they were empty, tuning each song to the actual venue. The result is a wholly unique collection of house music that gives an aural snapshot of the iconic clubs.
Zooming in with Billboard from a hotel room in Paris on one of his endless DJ dates, the always affable Chandler delves deep into his past to uncover his present.
1. Where are you at the moment?
Where I am mentally or where I am actually today? Both? I’m in Paris. I play Badaboum tomorrow, one of my favorite places. It’s sold out, so I’m happy. I just left Lisbon. Same thing, sold out. I guess people want to get out after the pandemic, and I’m happy they want to see me. That’s a blessing.
Where I am mentally is I have this album out and it’s all been zooming by so fast. The vinyl is coming October 14, but the digital releases is out. It came out on my birthday, September 28. I gave that to myself as a birthday present.
2. What’s the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself and what was the medium?
I have to really think about this. It was probably when my dad first took me to a record store. I don’t remember what it was, but there were a lot of 45s, a couple of dollars here, a couple of dollars there — run home and put the little spindle on.
I think one of my first ones — and this is probably why I love this record so much, is John Coltrane My Favorite Things. That’s my benchmark. And when I could get another record, my Bob James one. That has got to be my first record that I really fell in love with and I had to have it, and I still have it. I had Bob James’ Sign of the Times, so that was a blessing.
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid and what do they think of what you do for a living now? With your father being a DJ, your situation is a little different from most DJs.
My dad was a DJ. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. My mom wanted me to stay far away from DJing. She didn’t like the whole lifestyle, the party scene, any of that stuff. My dad was like the Ibiza DJ before there was an Ibiza DJ. If my mother could have it her way, she wanted me to be a conductor. She got the next best thing, I’m a producer. But she’s proud.
My father passed away. He got hit by a truck back in 2017. He went to the grocery store to grab a few things, some milk and some popsicles. He just wanted to have a little walk, and that’s what happened. He crossed the street, and a truck came running around the corner and hit him. It literally ran him over. He was alive for a couple of days, but he would have never been the same after that. His quality of life wouldn’t have been great.
4. Did you have a job before you started doing music in a professional capacity? When were you able to leave the job and focus on music full time?
I don’t tell too many people this, but I used to be a welder. I was way underage to get hired, but they hired me and taught me, and I had a wonderful time. I had friends and the boss just took me in like family. My friends who were doing the pressing machines had no fingers. I thought I had to look the part, so I had a lumberjack shirt on and my welding glasses. My friend runs up to me and starts slapping my shirt. I pulled my goggles up and my shirt was actually on fire. I didn’t realize my lumberjack shirt was mixed in with polyester. I love welding. I still weld every once in a while as a hobby.
After that, I was a travel agent and I did odd jobs on the weekend. I was an engineer really early and DJed on the weekends as well. 15, 16 is when everything started getting serious, and I stopped the other stuff and I started just doing music.
5. What’s the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
I’ve always been fascinated with Porsches. That’s the first thing I did when I got my hands on some money. I bought a Porsche. I just turned 18. I just got my license. I always thought that car was like Batman or something. The first week I got this thing. I was driving, wasn’t going fast or anything, I was turning this corner and I flipped the car over. I got out the car and everything was fine. I’m looking at this thing, black with red interior and thinking, “This is a sign I shouldn’t have this car.” I gave it to my uncle. It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever bought.
6. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance music, what would you give them?
The one for me is Larry Heard’s Fingers Inc., Another Side. That, to me, has just had so much incredible stuff on it. Classics, the whole album.
7. What was the last song you listened to?
Can I include my own? The last song I listened to was the one I did with my cousin Aaron Braxton Jr., “Back to Earth (Find Your Peace) [The Knockdown Center].” It’s on my album. I was watching the video, Dolby just put up a feature of it. It was just really heartfelt for me, because my uncle passed away not too long ago, and I told my cousin to write about it.
8. What’s the first electronic show that really blew your mind?
Kraftwerk in 2009 at Flow Festival Helsinki. When I saw that, that blew my mind. The robots and the way they did the things they did, I was just sitting there with my mouth open half the time. I was so happy to be a part of any of it.
9. What is the best setting to listen to and experience dance music?
Definitely in the club on the right system. That’s my favorite thing.
10. What was the scene like in New Jersey and New York when you first got started making music and DJing?
It was everywhere. You could hear it on the radio. You could hear it on the streets. You could hear it in cars going by. You woke up to it. You went to sleep to it. You could turn on a radio station, and you’d have a wonderful friend and mentor of mine, Merlin Bobb, and his cousin, Tony Humphries, was on the other station. D Train was on mainstream radio. Everything from [the record label] Prelude was being played. We had Chic. That’s what we were hearing all day on the radio, Black radio. You’d go to the record store and pick it up. There were DJs everywhere playing house music or house parties and roller-skating rinks. It was so commonplace that it was the soundtrack to everyone’s life.
11. How did the idea for Spaces and Places come about?
I’ve always been a proponent of: If you’re making house music, you should hear it on a dance system. It all started for me back when we were doing Shelter [in New York.] [Producer] Merlin Bobb asked me to do a theme song for the club. I wanted to make sure that this song was tailored to the system so it sounds better than anything you could play in here — especially if it’s going to be the theme song for the club.
I went in with some gear, and I EQed the room the way it would be if you were DJing. I listened really carefully and I tuned everything on that song to the sound system in the room. It just sounded incredible. Everything matched. Everything made sense. I had so much fun doing it, I made up my mind that anywhere I go, I need to make sure that the system is right, and I do soundchecks.
12. So it’s fair to say that you’re pretty obsessive with this stuff?
It got to the point where I’m so spoiled with sound, because my dad and my cousins and uncles do sound systems and lighting. It’s a family business, and I want it as best as I can get it. To this day, I’ll either repair the sound systems or I’ll re-EQ a room. I’ll bring more gear in and leave it at the clubs. I take sound very, very seriously. Even in my house and the studios I’ve had, have always had club systems. When I went to Ministry of Sound, I fell in love with the place so much that I built that system in my studio.
13. How did that turn into you making the entirety of Space and Places in clubs?
Since I was on the road so long and touring, by the time I got home, I was exhausted. I’m in these clubs all the time. I have relationships with these clubs. I had so much fun doing songs in the clubs. The first one I asked was Plano B in Porto, Portugal. I took a bench seat, right in the middle of a room, sat there, and I made this track called “Sun of Sound.” I called my friend up, said, “I need some lyrics with it, can you send me some stuff?” He did lyrics really quick. Now I’m putting them to the song in the club. I’m having fun, and it’s our own little party this place. I’m playing on the weekend, but there’s nobody there. It’s just us going for it. I was like, “This is so much fun, I wonder how many other clubs I could do this with?”
A couple of my other friends have clubs that I have relationships with. And they were all like, “Hell yeah! What do you want us to do?” I came a couple days early, and every single club bent over backwards to let me have the space to do the album. It took me a couple of years to have it all together. Every single club had their own personality. Even going back to Ministry of Sound, the first club I played abroad. I saw all these emotions come back to me for each place.
14. What are some specific characteristics from the clubs that ended up in the songs?
Some of these places had singers that come from the area that I’ve known for a long time. They all have their unique thing. I’ve taken tones from each of these places to build the music around.
One of my favorites was Sub Club. There are two things that are integral to that place. One is, there’s a bingo hall outside of the club. When you’re waiting in line, you can hear them calling the numbers. If you go downstairs, there’s a train terminal behind the building. So sometimes, in the middle of the night, you feel the train rumbling through and it just shakes the whole damn building. I took all of these elements and I put them into the song.
15. Were the songs completed in the club, or did you work on them more in your home studio?
Most of these things didn’t take me more than a day and a half to do. I had all this inspiration and the tones from the club. When I went into each of these clubs, I did a convolution, which is a recording of the sonic character of a room. I run a filter sweep, a white noise and a pink noise signal, and it gives me pretty much the data program of the room. I usually do that for every club. I do it at soundcheck, even the ones that aren’t on the album, just so I have a reference of what I just did. I can go home and my system at home will mimic each one of the clubs if I ask it to. I can put Ministry of Sound on my computer at home, and it’ll turn my sound system into it sounding just like Ministry of Sound. If I want DC10, it’ll go on DC10.
16. You are one of the first people to represent Dolby Atmos in a club setting, and Spaces and Places was mixed in Dolby Atmos. What are your thoughts about the broad adoption of immersive audio?
It’s kind of an easy game changer because you don’t have to get anything. You already have it. You have an iPhone. You have Tidal. You have Apple Music. You pull it up on your phone, you put your earbuds in, it’s done. That’s what sold me on it in the end. I don’t know anybody who even has a 5.1 system, the simple surround sound. Maybe they have one of these sound bars. When they told me you can now do it with headphones, I was like, “Okay, that’ll work.” It is so simple now. And this is where it’s all going.
But if you hear the album on an actual Atmos system, it’ll blow your mind. It really is incredible.
17. What is one thing about dance music now that is far better than it was at the start of your music career and what is one thing that is far worse?
They’re both the same answer. The convenience of bringing music to a club is way better. I can have my whole collection on a memory stick if I wanted to. But at the same time, it made everyone a DJ. It made it much better, and it made it much worse.
18. What’s the best business decision you ever made?
The best business decision I’ve ever made was to make sure to learn business. Learn how taxes work, learn how to set up your business properly, not to put anything under your own name, make sure that you know how to keep the money that you make. Taxes are very important, even international taxes. Get a good accountant, that’s the best thing I can tell you. Don’t count the money before it’s there. That’s another thing: Don’t live beyond your means. I’ve never done any of those things, but I’ve seen people thinking it’s never going to be a rainy day, and they end up crashing, burning and destitute.
19. Who was your greatest mentor and what was the best advice they gave you?
My grandfather, more so than my dad. But also my dad, even though he’s given terrible advice at times. One thing in particular, and we would always joke about it: “The squeaky wheel gets the oil.” If you’re not going to say anything, no one’s going to notice you. That’s one thing I live by. You have to speak up. Because if you don’t try something, if you don’t do something, you’ll get passed by. It’s not just going to come to you. You have to be a little aggressive in what you do with yourself. What I got from my grandfather was: “Become the best person you can be, and stay humble.”
20. What is the best piece of advice you’d give your younger self?
Be careful who you trust.