The grind of up and coming NoWayOut

By Dominic Wren

Maxim David is a Gatineau born up and coming DJ/Producer that played his first festival ever this past weekend at Riverside Music Festival. His musical peers and fans know him as NoWayOut. I sat down with him right after his set and he was still shaking from the adrenalin that was surging though his body. He had some very positive notes to say about the festival: “The festival itself is really nice. The line-up is sick. It’s stacked for both days. The organizers managed to get all the genres that the whole crowd likes like Bass and house music for example.”

He is more of a club DJ so the young DJ expressed that this was a major step up in energy. He mentioned that he was really nervous before going up on stage but once the spotlight was on him, but he managed to do what he loves the most. NoWayOut briefly explained that his set didn’t start off as smoothly as he was expecting. Before getting on the big stage looking towards the Canadian parliament, he realized that he forgot his headphones but luckily one of the NoWayOut team members helped him out by driving to his place only to come and give Max the headphones mid way through his set. “It made the first half of my set just that much harder than it had to be” said the young artist.

As an artist that is trying to make it in this unforgiving industry, you got to practice a lot. I mean A LOT. Maxim practices 6 to 8 hours a day trying new tricks and transitions methods. “That is only the DJing, claims the new talent, then there’s all the marketing, branding, producing, etc.” Today he focuses more of his energy into producing and learning the software. “That’s the next step for me” announced NoWayOut

His mom plays a massive role in his team and is his #1 fan even saying “she’s not a big dubstep fan but she’s always there supporting me.” What a trooper. I further asked him what keeps him motivated to keep up this grind. He responded by warning me that this would be a cheesy answer, but when you see a kid on the hockey rink and claiming that he’ll be the next Sydney Crosby or the next Stanley cup winner, he was and still is today that kid. He’s the kid on the hockey rink that’s really pursuing his dream. He also added: “To be on stage with a crowd is the best feeling in the world.”

Expect to see more of his name in the upcoming years. This DJ is setting his path for a successful career.

Win tickets to see ARMIN VAN BUUREN in Montreal!

By Sinejan Ozaydemir 

EDM Canada has teamed up with Produkt to give our followers a chance to win a pair (2) of tickets to see Armin Van Buuren live at New City Gas on Sunday, October 7th 2018. 

To enter: 

1) Follow Produkt's official Instagram page. 

2) Follow EDM Canada's official Instagram page

3) Comment on EDM CANADA's contest Instagram post tagging your friend and using the hashtag #winwithedmcanada 

Winners must be 18+ years old (must be able to present two pieces of government issued ID upon entry)

The contest is live now and closes at midnight (12am EST) on September 28th 2018! The winner will be contacted via Instagram so make sure to check your messages on September 29th. 

High-fiving Riverside (Festival review)

By Dominic Wren

This might just be the best Riverside Festival Gatineau or Canada has ever witnessed. With an insane lineup, pumping artists such as Kayzo, Deorro, Snails, Slushii and Loud Luxury, this year’s festival went up a level. All 16 artists nailed their sets over the weekend but the EDM Canada team has picked out five of the top acts that most impressed the crowd and us the most.

Breathe Carolina

All photos by Dominic Wren

This year’s set from the American duo was like none other I’ve seen from them before. They started with some of their classic big room house vibe such as “Always Find You” by Raiden X YURI (Sunstars Remix). About mid through their set, they noticed that the crowd was somewhat into it so they did what any world-class DJ would do - they adjusted. Breathe Carolina changed their set to a more hip hop/dubstep, playing tracks such as “Plain Jane” by A$AP Ferg and “Let’s Get Crunk” by Gammer.

Slushii

If want to see a crowd roar endlessly, go see a Slushii concert. From perfect transitions to emotional moments, to hard trap, hip hop, and dubstep. For a crowd that’s hard to please, they went HARD. Slushii also put a lot of effort into his visuals for the crowd. Not only did he wear colourful clothing but also the LED screens took on a trippy adventure though various colours and shapes.

Snails

This set can only be described in one word: RAGE. If you like to go hard then Snails is the artist you want to see live. There is a very legitimate reason why he’s created his own genre called “Vomitstep”. He opened the last set of the night with his track “Shake The Ground” featuring Kill The Noise, Sullivan King and Jonah Kay. Unlike the other artists, Snails had no throwbacks in his set. He gave the crowd no rest and kept his game strictly to “Vomitstep”.

NoWayOut

Everyone should keep an eye out for this up and coming DJ/Producer. Even though his set was early in the evening, it felt like he was closing the whole festival. The energy coming off of his movements behind the decks and his music attracted the attention of the growing crowd. From smart transitions to the choices of songs, this young DJ nailed his set in one of the best festival venues in Canada. He is definitely the smallest DJ in this list but definitely showed some world-class talent.

Deorro

Probably the best set of the whole festival, Deorro definitely left a mark at the Riverside Music Festival. The basshead crowd received his electro house set very well, which was a bit of a surprise. Before the second half of his set where it became very technical, he dropped tracks like his hit single with Steve Aoki, Diplo, and Steve Bays “Freak”. Deorro vibed with the crowd while playing his track “Bailar”, then kicking the energy up again with “Knockout” featuring Deorro, Makj and Quintino. The second half his set was the most interesting. Do you all remember when the 2012 pop group LMFAO dropped “Party Rock Anthem”? Yep. Deorro snuck in that lost artifact into his set. He followed up that great moment with a drop-less couple of minutes while transitioning between hip-hop to old rock classics. Deorro produced a unique set that was enjoyed by many fans.