Extensive interview of Steve Angello by Huff Po

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The Huffington Post ​recently conducted an extensive interview of Steve Angello covering all sorts of subjects like the breakup of SHM, answering the critics of his DJ'ing skills (kinda), and big business invading EDM.

I have the weirdest calls every single day from big Fortune 500 companies who want to come and get involved. And I'm like "how?" They will tell me they just want to "get into the EDM space." But they'll be, like, selling trimmers. "But you have a beard!" Yeah but, what do you want me to do? Shave on camera so you can tell people all the dance acts use Phillips?
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Everyone just wants in. I've been given offers by every major label to come and buy [SIZE]. But I can't sell that -- it's my baby. If I give up creative control, then what do I do? This is what I worked for my whole life. We can be partners, but I'm not just going to give you the keys to my car and say, "Drive it."

Gotta admire Steve Angello for sticking to his guns and insisting on keeping his independence. I'm sure some of the offers were pretty substantial. ​

(Source: Huffington Post)

3 French DJ/Producers that are worth taking a closer look at.

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Gregori Klosman​

This guy just laid down an EPIC set at Cielo in New York​ on August 9th which sent a strong message to the North American EDM scene that Gregori Klosman has arrived and you should take notice. His DJ'ing skills seem to be a lot more creative than many of his peers in the Progressive House world and I find his podcast 'Klosmania' to be one of the best on itunes. If you want to check out a live recording he has put up an entire 3 hour set from Cielo online for free:

He ​absolutely kllled it. H​e played all of the big hits while keeping the beat fresh by mixing in a few house/dubstep tracks and a fair share of mashups. Gregori Klosman will be returning to New York as part of Dirty South's 'City of Dreams' tour on October 20th. Hopefully some Canadian promoters will take notice and start booking this huge talent.

​Gesaffelstein

Ever since I've read a Dancing Astronaut article on Gesaffelstein I've been hooked. ​I'm admittedly a huge tech trance fan and I find this Frenchman's brand of techno to be a good compliment to it as his sound is a dark, metallic, and fast paced - just the way I like it. Here's my favourite track, Control Movement:

​Here's a massive 15 minute video of Gesaffelstein owning a crowd from last year:

There aren't many DJs out there right now with the same sort of swagger behind the decks. You can catch Gesaffelstein in Toronto as part of the Sonar on Tour event on November ​1st alongside other notables such as Die Antwoord, Seth Troxler, and Nic Fanciulli.

Joachim Garraud​

​A real veteran of the EDM scene, Joachim Garraud can still lay it down with the best of them live with his unique audio/visual setup. To get a better sense of what it's like to be at one of his shows check this out:

'Sonar North American tour' includes 8 tour stops (including Toronto, Montreal)

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The international festival from Spain called 'Sonar' will be taking their musical concept on the road to North America starting on October 31st. What is Sonar exactly?

Sónar is the International Festival of Advanced Music and Mew Media Art created in 1994, which is held in Barcelona for three days every June.
...At all its events, Sónar sounds out the current landscape of electronic music and its interactions and hybridization with other artistic disciplines, bringing together established artists and the emerging talent that renews and innovates in all areas of musical and audiovisual creation....​

They have previously taken their festival on the road to Tokyo, Cape Town, and Sao Paulo but this upcoming tour is more ambitious as they will travel to 8 stops in North America including Toronto, and Montreal. The lineup phenomenal as it includes Die Antwoord,  Azari & III, Seth Troxler, Paul Kalkbrenner, Tiga, Gesaffelstein and Nic Fanciulli. Here's the promo video: 

I'm really impressed with the video, top notch. I've always wanted to see to see Die Antwoord play live so to get to see them as well as the opportunity to watch some major EDM talent such as Seth Troxler, Nic Fanciulli, and Gesaffelstein is almost too good to be true. I have a strong feeling that both of these Canadian dates will sell out - tickets go on sale September 14th. ​