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A documentary chronicling the murderous terror attack on the Nova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 will debut on Paramount+. The streamer announced on Thursday (May 16) that the See It Now Studios Original Documentary We Will Dance Again will get a worldwide premiere in the fall, a year after the surprise assault […]
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Steve Aoki has seen the future and he’s unafraid. The world-beating DJ/producer and cake boss tells Billboard in this week’s cover story that while he’s still a bit of a “novice” at using artificial intelligence to create music, he thinks AI is here to stay and we should all just figure out a way to ride that bucking digital sandworm.
“I use it mainly for lyric generation. It has actually helped me quite a lot,” Aoki, 46, says of incorporating AI into his studio routine. “If I have an idea of what lyrics I want to put down on a record, I’ll work that out with AI, and if I have a songwriting team in my house and we get stumped, we can always use AI. As far as sampling, I’ve used AI to get a particular female sound using certain words, and that has been fantastic.”
Aoki, however, is clear-eyed and confident that AI is not the solution to all our musical conundrums. For instance, asked if his creativity is based more on experience or data, he says you can’t type “What’s Steve Aoki’s biggest song on the festival circuit?” into a database and get the right answer. “[Artificial intelligence] cannot generate that,” he says, noting that his 2011 Afrojack collab “No Beef” came out before streaming was a big thing, “but everyone knows the vocals to that at my shows.”
As for the possible worst-case-scenario that AI could replace producers and DJs in the future, Aoki says he’s sure the powers-that-be are building in “safeguards” to avoid such a situation now that the digital genie is fully out of the bottle. “You can’t stop AI. It’s not like, ‘Oh, f–k. AI is going to take away our jobs. F–k technology, it’s going to take away jobs,’” he says. “You can’t. You just have to ride the wave with it and just start building safeguards as we go. We’ve been doing this the whole time with the internet.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Japanese American Aoki also talked about the importance of AAPI representation in music and how it’s changed in the years he’s been behind the decks. “I remember when I first got into music in high school, the first thing I did was sing. You just didn’t see Asian singers,” he says. “You just didn’t see Asian people in music, period, and if you did, they were really quiet, like the singer of Hoobastank [Doug Robb], whom I looked up to.”
In fact, in a full-circle moment, Aoki reveals in the cover story that he’s currently working on a remake of the band’s 2004 hit “The Reason,” that he’s super excited about. “There’s a Steve Aoki-Hoobastank record coming soon,” he says. “But it was cool to actually work with that guy [Robb] because I remember looking up to him when I was in high school.”
Another artist he recalls admiring around 2003 when he was first getting into production was the Neptunes’ Chad Hugo. “I was in L.A., and I remember hiring someone on Craigslist to teach me how to use Pro Tools because I just started dabbling on the computer,” he says. “And I was like, ‘Chad Hugo, that’s my hero because he’s Asian, but he’s also quiet.’ I’m always like, “Where are the loud ones?” I wanted to see someone Asian that’s just loud and in charge and commanding audiences.”
Check out the full story and photos from the cover shoot here.
After headlining the Main Stage at Ultra Music Festival in Miami on the final night of the festival this past Sunday (March 24), Calvin Harris defended the performance to a gaggle of internet haters.
In the comments section of a post about the set on the Instagram account for dance music publication Dancing Astronaut, two commenters called the performance “underwhelming.”
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In response, Harris joined the conversation yesterday (March 27) to defend the massive success of his catalog, writing “You expect me to play none of my songs? … how deep is your love – billion streams, this is what u came for – billion streams, my way – billion streams, slide – billion streams, feels – billion streams, one kiss – billion streams, and the other 5 half a bil, and before 2014 another 20, and not cheesy s—, proper f—ing songs with real artists, and you’d rather I play “Fein” trap edits today,” referring to the 2023 Travis Scott and Playboi Carti song.
Harris’ set featured many of his aforementioned classics, including the 2016 Rihanna collab “This Is What You Came For,” his 2012 Ellie Goulding collab “I Need Your Love” and his era-defining 2011 anthem “Feel So Close.” Harris continued by noting that he “spent months making new versions of everything for this,” pointing to the new and unreleased edits of his music featured in the Ultra set.
“And you wonder why I never play edm festivals,” he wrote. “At least people I saw irl had a great time and I can be happy with that, but f— at this point whatever I do is gonna piss you off.”
Harris’ comment garnered a furry of support, with one commenter responding that “no need to cater to these trolls sir, you will always be one of the greatest producers of all time for many of us.”
This Ultra performance marked Harris’ first appearance at the Miami festival in 11 years. The Scottish producer’s summer tour schedule includes a handful of European festivals, dates at LIV Nightclub in Las Vegas and his residency at Ushuaïa in Ibiza.
This summer’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will feature headlining sets from Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fred Again.. and Pretty Lights. The annual blowout event camping fest on the ‘Roo Farm in Manchester, TN will take place on June 13-16 will also host Megan Thee Stallion, Cage the Elephant, Maggie Rogers, Melanie Martinez, Carly Rae Jepsen, Diplo, T-Pain, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Diplo and Jon Batiste, among many others.
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The acts will take to 10 stages for the four-day event featuring sets running into the early morning, as well as sunrise performances. Other artists on this year’s poster include: Mean Girls star Reneé Rapp, Cigarettes After Sex, Fisher, Dominic Fike, Parcels, Idles, Joey Bada$$, Lizzy McAlpine, Interpol, Taking Back Sunday, Gary Clark Jr., Sean Paul, Gwar, BigXthaPlug, Michigander, The Mars Volta, Key Glock, Grouplove, Teezo Touchdown, Thundercat and Brittany Howard.
In an announcement on Tuesday morning (Jan. 9), organizers revealed that for the first time in the event’s history the main What Stage will be fired up for a special headlining set on Thursday night by Pretty Lights, who will also return for a second sunrise set on The Other Stage on the final night; Sunday’s lineup will also mark the only 2024 U.S. festival appearance by Fred again..
This year’s SuperJam (June 15) in the That Tent, “One More With Feeling(s) — The Dashboard Confessional Emo Superjam,” will feature a performance from the Chris Carrabba-fronted band with to-be-announced (as well as unannounced) guests.
Pre-sale tickets will be available starting Thursday (Jan. 11) at 11 a.m ET, with fans encouraged to sign up now for a pre-sale code here; a public on-sale will follow if any tickets remain. Ticket package options include a 4-day general admission, 4-day GA+, 4-day VIP, 4-day platinum and a variety of other camping and parking options starting at $25 down with a payment plan.
Bonnaroo 2024 will feature more than 150 performances across the campground, 150 food vendors (including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options) and free water stations.
Check out the 2024 poster below.
What a difference a few days make. After rocking more than 170,000 during her headlining sets at the Reading and Leeds Festivals over the weekend, Billie Eilish took things way, way down on Tuesday night (Aug. 29) for an intimate club gig at the 1,500-capacity Electric Ballroom in London. The lucky fans who snagged tickets […]
The alleged gunman who fired into a crowd killing two people at a Washington state music festival Saturday was stationed at a U.S. Army base in Western Washington, law enforcement officials said Tuesday (June 20).
James M. Kelly, 26, of Joint Base Lewis-McChord was booked into the Grant County Jail Tuesday on investigation of two counts of murder, two counts of assault and one count of domestic violence assault, Grant County Sheriff Joe Kriete said in a Facebook post. Law enforcement officers shot him Saturday and he was being treated at a hospital until Tuesday, the sheriff said.
The shooting killed two people and wounded two others in an area where people were camping for the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre.
The two people killed were Seattle residents Brandy Escamilla, 29, and Josilyn Ruiz, 26, Grant County Coroner Craig Morrison said Tuesday. Escamilla died of a gunshot wound to the head, and Ruiz died from a gunshot wound to her torso, Morrison said. The two were engaged to be married, according to a fundraising campaign by family members.
Lily Luksich, 20, of Mill Creek, Washington, and 31-year-old Andrew Cuadra of Eugene, Oregon, were shot and wounded, according to the sheriff.
A private security officer responding to the report of shots fired was struck by a bullet that deflected off her eyeglasses, causing bruising and lacerations, the sheriff said.
The sheriff’s office said it received a report of a shooting around 8:20 p.m. Saturday at the camping area at the amphitheater near the small city of George, 149 miles (240 kilometers) east of Seattle. The shooting happened several hundred yards from the music festival.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Lt. Col. Mike Burns told KXLY-TV in a statement Tuesday that the command is aware of the allegations against Kelly. “We take all allegations seriously and are fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities,” his statement said.
Burns said Kelly is a joint fire support specialist assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment at the military base that is three hours away from the venue. It wasn’t immediately known if Kelly has a lawyer to comment on his behalf.
The North Central Washington Special Investigation Unit is investigating the shooting of Kelly by law enforcement officers. The names of the officer or officers who fired at Kelly haven’t been released.
Elon Musk dances to the beat of his own drummer. The Twitter/Tesla boss hardly ever does what you expect and almost always goes for the boldest, most outrageous move, whether in technology or when dipping his toe into the music biz. So far he’s kept his billions firmly focused on land (Tesla, Boring Co.), air […]
When you think of love songs, artists like Frank Sinatra, Etta James, The Beatles, Al Green and Dolly Parton are probably among the first that come to mind. Sure, it is country, pop and R&B that have seen most of the biggest hits under the everlasting theme — but “love songs” encompass much more than just sentimental ballads.
EDM may have a reputation for heavy bass drops and addictive synth beats, but a growing number of dance tracks feature thoughtful and emotional lyrics, too. Several top 10s have proven EDM’s reach goes beyond the club and rave scenes. DJs like Calvin Harris have made the genre more accessible to all music lovers — with Rihanna, Ellie Goulding, Frank Ocean and Migos being among the collaborators who’ve brought vocals to his skillful arrangements.
When words and EDM’s trademark pulsing beats join forces, it’s no surprise that love is among the most popular subjects. Whether the lyrics detail finding your soulmate or realizing you still having feelings for the one that got away, there are hundreds of electronic tracks pinpointing the fuzzy feeling you get when you’re around that special someone. Billboard has narrowed them down and put together a list of our favorite EDM love songs of all time.
Let’s be honest, saying “I love you” doesn’t always come easy. Or if it does, it can be hard to show it. Thankfully, music is there to do the work for you – or at least encourage you to show the one you love just how much you care. Listen to 55 dance-ready ways to say those three little words below.
Paul van Dyk may have made his name as a trance artist, but his interests and skills extend well beyond the genre. Now, he’s demonstrating how far.
With his new VENTURE X project, the German pioneer is eschewing genre purity and simply playing what he thinks sounds best, with an upcoming tour finding van Dyk fusing progressive, trance and techno.
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“I try to stay curious and open-minded about new sounds, artists, and labels – always have,” van Dyk tells Billboard. “Different aspects of music, its genres and colorations of sound have always been part of my sets. With VENTURE X I take this approach even further, the set will be defined by itself.”
These VENTURE X shows launch on February 17 in Toronto, with the tour then hitting New York City, Montreal, Pontiac, Denver, Portland, San Francisco, and Austin. On the road, van Dyk hopes to satisfy audiences “in a way they didn’t know was possible. I do believe electronic music enthusiasts deserve more than a top 10 dance chart set played from a USB stick.”
For the tour, van Dyk’s setup will feature instruments, computers, and sequencers, a set that “enables me to find the right level of energy at any given moment throughout the set, as everything is basically live sequenced and played. And while some fans can get prickly about crossing sounds, he’s got “no worry that genre purists will be alienated, quite the opposite. There’s so much great music out there and my job as a DJ is to introduce it to you. That’s how I see it, at least. Otherwise, I’d feel like a jukebox.”
Indeed, genres hardly matter as van Dyk, who’s been making music for three decades, points out that genre names, sounds, and meanings keep changing anyways. “When I started DJing, all electronic music was called techno…. What was called progressive house some 20 years ago, would probably be called melodic techno these days. There are amazing releases on Drumcode that could easily fit in the trance genre and sometimes what is called techno sounds like chill out to me.”
VENTURE X’s call to arms anthem, itself not falling into one tidy genre-box, is also out today (Jan. 27.) It finds van Dyk collaborating with progressive house duo Weekend Heroes and singer/songwriter Christian Schottstaedt, who together deliver a dark voyage of a track that serves as the project’s thesis statement
“I like the proggy, deeper stuff, but with a tougher approach as you can hear,” van Dyk says. “[Making this music] feels very natural and organic.”
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Kendrick Lamar, Odesza and the Foo Fighters will topline this summer’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The event set for June 15-18 on the Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, TN will also feature sets from Paramore, Lil Nas X, Baby Keem, Tyler Childers, Marcus Mumford, Korn, Alesso, Three 6 Mafia, GRiZ, My Morning Jacket, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and girl in red, among others.
The performance from the Dave Grohl-led Foos will mark only the second announced set from the group since the shocking death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last March while the group was on tour in Colombia; at press time the group had not yet announced who will take over for Hawkins.
The acts will perform on 10 stages over four days, with more than 150 performances; a selection of the sets will air exclusively on Hulu for the second year, including behind-the-scenes and special footage, with schedules to be announced in the weeks before the fest.
The weekend will kick off on Thursday (June 15) with a first night lineup featuring headliner Zeds Dead, along with performances from Liquid Stranger, 070 Shake, Abraham Alexander, Big Freedia, Briscoe, Celisse, Cimafunk, Diarrhea Planet and more.
Things will crank up on Friday (June 16) with Lamar, as well as Keem, Vulpeck, Portugal. The Man, Noah Kahan, Subrontics, Fleet Foxes, AFI, Sylvan Esso, Rina Sawayama, Charley Crockett, Morgan Wade, Alex G, MUNA, Diesel, Knocked Loose, Matt Maeson, black midi and others.
Saturday’s (June 17) Odesza-topped bill will also feature Louis the Child, JID, Sheryl Crow, STS9, Sofi Tukker, Big Wild, The Band Camino, Jenny Lewis, Yung Gravy, Remi Wolf, Bob Moses, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and others before the Foos shut things down on Sunday (June 18) along with The Revivalists, Pixies, Umphrey’s McGee, Rebelution, Jacob Collier, Hippo Campus, Peach Pit, Franz Ferdinand and others.
An Early Access on-sale will open on Thursday (Jan. 12) at 11 a.m. ET here, with early sign-ups available now; a public on-sale will take place if there are any tickets left. Ticket packages will be available as 4-day general admission, GA+, VIP and Platinum, along with a limited amount of one-day tickets, general admission camping and parking passes and premium and pre-pitched glamping options. Details about the annual Superjam, Outeroo and Late Night lineups will be announced soon.
Check out the full lineup below.