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matphilly defies expectations with his debut album, i may be through with the past, but the past is not through with me — out now on Nightenjin.

An extraordinary display of passion, personality and storytelling, this album offers an unfiltered glimpse into the person behind the music, Mathew Phillips. This massive talent has played in various bands and experimented with all kinds of styles, and his culmination of vast musical influences shines throughout.

Many artists strive to be someone else when they release music or step onto a stage. But, it takes a special type of bravery to be your authentic self, which matphilly demonstrates here. His highs, lows, hardships and prosperities have all contributed to this concept album in the most personal sense.

If your ears crave something different and wholehearted, throw any preconceived notions about EDM out the window and put this genre-defying album on blast.

Listen below and scroll down to hear from matphilly himself!

matphilly – i may be through with the past, but the past is not through with me

Stream/download: music.nightenjin.com/link/nmgatu

What does your new album — i may be through with the past, but the past is not through with me — represent?

This is my own version of a concept album. It takes you on a journey to right before i hit my absolute rock bottom fighting my personal demons such as my issues with addiction. anxiety, depression, bi polar, Tourette’s, suicidal thoughts and the death of my friend and my girlfriend, who was murdered back when i was on tour with one of my bands. Then it goes into a brighter light as i started to fix my addiction and problems and make things better. Sadly through doing all of that, i lost my brother in July and he ended up being apart of the album in the middle. It was a shitty bump but i was in such a better mindset to deal with it.

The album sounds incredibly personal, which you expand on in this breakdown… Has it been therapeutic translating past experiences into music?

It’s definitely something that has helped me feel like i am getting some of the weight off my shoulders. I am the king of holding everything and never opening up because growing up i was in a family that said if i did that i was showing weakness so I’ve been programmed like this. But music had always been the best way to express yourself and let people know more about you and what you’re going through and see if anyone can relate so it was nice that i was able to be real vulnerable and true to myself and just do it and not care if people didn’t like that i opened up so much. In the end, the weight off my shoulders is a lot less and now i can focus on fixing other things in my life i messed up and hopefully mend friendships or at the least just say my peace and say i at least tried to fix my mistakes. It’s been quite the process but I’m not on step 9 of my NA steps so i have time haha.

How does it feel releasing such personal moments into the world?

I really was worried about it because I’m really putting myself out there to a world that sometimes i feel can care less. I feel like they just wanna hear the bangers and rage and i don’t blame them for it but hopefully they can see what i did and relate and enjoy. At the end of the day, you do what fees true to yourself and hopefully people will see that and enjoy it. I still love to make the hard and heavy tracks but one thing about always putting out singles and ep’s is you barely get a chance to have songs that just change the tone and this was something very important i wanted on the album. This is why i wish we could stick to a more longer ep or full length and is as artists can release full lengths because i think they tell better stories than EPs or singles.

With a sound so diverse and unpredictable, what are some of your influences and inspirations?

Oh man, haha. I listen to everything. I made a playlist of what inspired the lp and its full of crazy stuff like deafhaven, Deftones, cursive, minus the bear, Russian circles, between the buried and me and then dance music stuff like prodigy, the postal service, skrillex, must die!, virtual riot and so on. I’m really into any type of music that inspires me to write and that comes from anything. The song dessbo was written by the inspiration of mega man music, the year summer ended in june was inspired by my friend who makes ambient rock stuff like isis, “…Spaceyacht” and it’s reprise song “…academy la” we’re all based on just weird instrumental bands like this will destroy you, Godspeed! You back emperor. A lot of my heavy drops are always inspired off breakdown from metal and hardcore stuff. Add some inspiration from my favorite dance music producers and that’s me in a nutshell.

What do you hope people take away when listening to this album?

One thing i wanted to make sure that i did was add elements of instruments and make some stuff sound like it was a band arrangement. I come from the hardcore/metalcore/pop punk/emo scene so i was really lucky to get Vadim Taver (This Day Forward/A Life Once Lost/Poison The Well) and Aaron Marsh (Copeland/Glasswing) to help me make some great music that mixed electronica and a band. It was great working with them. At the end of the day i hope when they hear it they can let go of their problems and vent it all out and feel better about it. And if they have dealt with the same problems, come up to me at a show and say hi! I love to chat about it and hope to help you with any problems or questions you have. I don’t wanna sit here and say I’m good with answering everything cause of my anxiety but I’ll try! Also if you have a friend that might need to hear this, send it over to them! It’s important that we all collectively work together to fix these problems we have or else we will never get better. It’s a whole tough world out there but we’re still here so let’s enjoy it while we can.

Connect with matphilly

SoundCloud | Spotify | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: matphilly Gets Personal with Debut Album Out Now on Nightenjin [LISTEN + INTERVIEW]

Movement Detroit is officially planning on a comeback in May 2022.

Following multiple postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic, Movement is back on schedule and looking forward to returning next year. An update provided by organizer Paxahu details their intention of bringing back the full Movement experience.

The email update reads:

We truly appreciate your continued patience and support as our team has been navigating the pandemic and trying to make plans for the future. After many discussions over the last few months, we have learned that producing a Movement festival in Hart Plaza this fall is not realistic. It’s extremely important to us that we provide our attendees and artists with the full Movement experience that continues to bring people together from across the globe, sharing their love of music and the Detroit community. With that being said, we don’t feel that this experience would be possible until our natural schedule in Spring. We are looking forward to a full festival comeback in May 2022.

Movement’s update also provides direction on refunds, which will be issued to all ticket holders within the next 30 days. In addition, the Movement Ultimate Fan Appreciation Sale will be taking place with a special advance for the festival’s most loyal attendees.

Despite HARD Summer and Lollapalooza collectively bringing in hundreds of thousands of people this past weekend, not every festival is in a place to resume their regular schedule in 2021, or promote a one-off fall event off-schedule.

More info here.

 

Photo courtesy of Movement Detroit

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Movement Detroit Officially Shares Plans for May 2022 Comeback

Right now when you sign up for Spotify, you can choose between a free tier, an individual paid subscription or a family plan. But the streaming platform is currently testing out a new, low-cost option that gives more freedom within the platform while still serving ads.

In what is called Spotify Plus, Verge writes, “the plan still features ads like Spotify’s free tier, but it doesn’t impose any limits on the number of tracks you can skip per hour. Users are also free to pick which specific songs they want to listen to, rather than mostly being limited to shuffling within albums and playlists.”

The plan is still technically in its beta form and is being rolled out to random users at a variety of price points to gauge interest. At least one user has seen it at $0.99, but there’s no guarantee that the plan, when it officially launches, will be in its current form.

“We’re always working to enhance the Spotify experience and we routinely conduct tests to inform our decisions,” a spokesperson for Spotify said. “We’re currently conducting a test of an ad-supported subscription plan with a limited number of our users.”

They continued, “Some tests end up paving the way for new offerings or enhancements while others may only provide learnings. We don’t have any additional information to share at this time.”

Spotify Plus could potentially entice many current free-tier users into purchasing a less financially demanding subscription, thus improving their listening experience commensurate to the price, as well as putting some extra money into Spotify’s pocket — which hopefully reflects positively on the artists that make their platform what it is.

 

via Verge |

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Spotify Testing New Low-Cost “Spotify Plus” Tier

Chicago house legend Paul Johnson died yesterday at the age of 50.

The pioneering DJ/producer was hospitalized in mid-July due to COVID-19, according to multiple posts on his Instagram feed. However, cause of death has not been released at this time.

“Initially hospitalized on July 17, Paul Johnson fought up until the very end,” an official statement reads. “His death comes as a shock to family and fans alike.”

“Paul’s charismatic spirit made him a friend to many and an inspiration to all. The Johnson family is devastated, the outpouring of support has been tremendous and for that they are grateful.”

Johnson began honing his DJ craft as a teenager in the 80s and expanded into production in the 90s. He released hundreds of records over the next three decades, dropping massive hits in the process including “Get Get Down,” “Hear The Music,” “Music’s In Me,” and many more.

Billboard shares a sentiment well worth echoing, “Johnson’s legacy as a house music great is perhaps most famously cemented within Daft Punk’s 1997 track ‘Teachers,’ which over its three-minute duration lists the French electronic duo’s many influences. Johnson is the first artist named.”

Rest in peace.

Paul Johnson – Get Get Down

 

Sources: Block Club Chicago, Billboard

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Chicago House Legend Paul Johnson Dead at 50 After Battling COVID-19

Alison Wonderland stole the show with this moment at Lollapalooza, when she dropped an unexpected version of “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo.

This hot take on the viral smash, remixed by AW and QUIX, feeds off the crowd’s energy with its singalong appeal, before dropping into an absolutely savage, thumping beat. It’s part pop, part trap, and 100% rave worthy!

“good 4 u remix by me & @quixofficial for @lollapalooza a crossover u never knew u needed,” the DJ/producer shares via Instagram.

Alison Wonderland and QUIX have already proven their dream team status, as heard with their flawless collaboration “TIME.”

Now, can we get an official remix on this one? Please and thank you!

Olivia Rodrigo – good 4 u (Alison Wonderland x QUIX Remix)

 

Photo via Rukes.com

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Alison Wonderland Drops Insane Remix w/ QUIX of Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” at Lolla [WATCH]

Though it was voted on in 2016, Brexit didn’t officially go into effect until January 2020. Among the variety of issues it would cause for English citizens, musicians from the UK were worried about the ability to travel between countries in the EU without a travel visa that had then essentially been stripped away. Of course, the COVID pandemic reared its ugly head just two months later and largely made the issue moot for a while and people forgot about it.

Good news now, however, as negotiations between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and music industry officials have eased travel between 17 of the 27 EU member states.

A spokesperson for DCMS said, “We want to ensure that when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, touring can resume and our world-leading creative and cultural artists can continue to travel widely, learning their craft, growing their audiences and showing the best of British creativity to the world.”

The countries included in the negotiations are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden. Spain – including the Balaerics and Ibiza – have not currently agreed to visa-free touring for artists.

Artists will be able to travel for up to 3 months without a work visa before they have to return home, which should be plenty of time to tour within the EU.

 

via Mixmag | Photo via Rukes.com

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: UK Musicians Won’t Have To Worry About Travel Visas In 19 EU Countries

words by Dani Deahl

 

As Lollapalooza’s gates opened on Thursday morning, the air was filled with fizzy excitement. Whoops rippled through the throngs of fans decked out in jewels, body glitter, and other adornments as the rush moved toward the main entrance. One attendee triumphantly thrust his vaccination card aloft as he yelled “Summertime Chi!”

Like hundreds of other live events, Lollapalooza was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns. And, like hundreds of other live events that rescheduled for 2021, uncertainty hung in the air beforehand, despite the city’s insistence that the show would go on. And go on it did.

Precautions were put in place — attendees had to show proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results upon entrance every day while artists had to provide attestation letters in advance — but many remain concerned about crowds with hundreds of thousands of unmasked people. One Chicago Tribune reporter tweeted that “Fake COVID-19 vaccination cards are 100% a thing at Lollapalooza in Chicago.”

(For its part, the city maintains that there are no plans to shut Chicago down again. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, “We’ve been able to open but do it with care because of the vaccinations.”)

this photo from lollapalooza is giving me so much anxiety omg pic.twitter.com/68POnvE9X3

— no context jeff (@thecultureofme) August 1, 2021

Almost all were more than happy to comply with the added regulations. Lollapalooza says it only turned away about 600 people who showed up without paperwork on Thursday, a fraction of the day’s attendance.

It’s not surprising as the anticipation building up to the return of Lollapalooza was palpable. The iconic Chicago festival has been a staple for over 30 years and is a rite of passage for music lovers and acts alike. It’s famous for any number of things, including its location in the middle of the city which provides breathtaking views of the skyline (and cute photo ops in front of Buckingham fountain).

Over time, Perry Farrell’s brainchild has blossomed into a pop-up city within a city, replete with (depending on the year) opulent gifting suites, tucked away forests dotted with hammocks, and even a Red Bull gaming stage, where Ninja streamed on Mixer with acts like Madeon.

That last example might show just how diverse Lollapalooza has become over the years. It’s rooted in rock, but fans of just about any genre can get their fix and wander off their musical path to discover something new.

Dance in particular has its own separate and seminal history with Lollapalooza. The festival launched Perry’s Stage back in 2008 in order to give the genre a dedicated space. That first year in a tiny white tent, it hosted names like Willy Joy, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, and DJ AM. Since then, the likes of CRAY, Alesso, Rezz, Shiba San, Seven Lions, and Duke Dumont have performed on Perry’s as the stage itself exploded in both size and production.

Now with the behemoth stage a mainstay, the dance audience gets the best of both worlds at Lolla: a top-notch experience with plenty of pyro, Co2, and fireworks, and the perfect location to stake as home base for the week. While dedicated hip-hop fans likely did the 15-20 minute trek across Grant Park many times to bounce between headliners, dance fans didn’t have the same worry as the genre is mostly contained to Perry’s. Camping out at Perry’s also affords the bonus of being relatively close to lockers, mobile charging, food, beer stations, and restrooms, a five-peat that can’t be said about many other locations across the festival’s expansive grounds.

This year, fans of dance were treated to heavy-hitters like Jauz, Alison Wonderland, and Grammy-nominated KAYTRANADA on Perry’s, alongside buzz-worthy up-and-comers like Moore Kismet, Wenzday, and Blossom. And, like some previous iterations of Lollapalooza (Daft Punk and Deadmau5 come to mind), dance was the mainstage event two nights, with headliner slots doled out to Marshmello and Illenium.

Among the dance artists, there was a wholesome sense of glee while on stage. For most acts, Lollapalooza was the largest event they had played since the pandemic took the music industry to its knees and snatched away live shows about a year and a half ago. For Alison Wonderland, in particular, the fest marked her first show on US soil in over a year. Within that context, Lollapalooza wasn’t just a festival, it was hope.

That sense of relief and gratitude was perhaps underlined best by Jauz’s set introduction, which began with an acapella of Eminem’s “Square Dance.” The singular line “It feels so good to be back” echoed out over the field at Perry’s to swells of cheers. Then, the Roland Clark acapella of “Glad You’re Home” kicked in over a house beat. “Hello my friends,” says Clark, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your faces. I miss you so much.”

Other notable moments included Marc Rebillet (affectionately known as “Loop Daddy” because of his Boss RC-505 Loop Station) running in large circles on stage in a silk robe leading the crowd in a “fuck Jeff Bezos” chant, Twista making a surprise appearance with YehMe2 to perform “Overnight Celebrity” during Brownies & Lemonade All Stars, and Dr. Fresch goading the Limp Bizkit crowd to smash Wes Borland’s guitar to pieces. Because, sure.

Aside from the music, there was an interesting but noticeable shift: Perry’s, for the first time, is no longer called Perry’s. This year, web-scale blockchain company Solana got in the mix, rebranding the stage as Perry’s x Solana. As part of the integration, Solana built a digital Lolla NFT Marketplace with limited edition NFTs (non-fungible tokens) for purchase. NFTs on sale include a 1-of-1 NFT of the original 1991 Lollapalooza poster priced at $9,999, and 25 NFTs of Steve Aoki throwing cake during his Friday night set priced at $999.99 each. If those prices make you dizzy, there are plenty at lower prices, and even some that can be claimed for free.

Celebrating the return of live music with a cake to the face. Own this moment now at the #Lolla NFT Marketplace. @steveaoki

NFT by Transition Ninja. pic.twitter.com/QmUVpJ1Gzu

— Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza) July 31, 2021

At the end of four days, when people would normally be exhausted, beaten down by Chicago’s summer humidity and the sheer amount of physical exertion spent darting from stage to stage for hours at a time, there was instead a lightness. 

Ultimately, the festival’s storied history combined with the excitement of fans and musicians dipping their toes back into live events made this year’s Lollapalooza feel like a collective emotional reunion. Albeit one that’s complicated, and understandably so. As one of the skyscrapers lining Grant Park’s border reminded fans through lit-up windows at the end of each night: “#VACC TO LOLLA.”

 

Photo via Shea Flynn

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Lollapalooza’s Big Return Helped Usher In A New Festival Season [REVIEW]

Detroit house and techno legend K-HAND has passed away at age 56.

Kelli Hand’s death has reportedly been confirmed by her agent, following multiple posts from close friends on social media. However, the cause of death has not been disclosed.

Recognized as “The First Lady Of Detroit Techno” by the City of Detroit, where she was born and raised — K-HAND paved the way for Black women in the industry. She first came onto the scene in the 1990s and was hailed for being the first woman to release an electronic music record before techno gained wide popularity.

Over the years, K-HAND stayed active, notably making her presence known in 2015 with her Boiler Room Detroit DJ set, which features much of her own music and can be streamed below. She established her own label UK House Records, rebranded as Acacia Records, and continued releasing music well into 2020.

K-HAND will undoubtedly live on through her music and legacy.

Rest in peace.

K-HAND Boiler Room Detroit DJ Set

 

Sources: Metro Times, DJ Mag, The Guardian | K-Hand Press Photo by Marie Staggat

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: K-HAND, ‘First Lady Of Detroit Techno’ Has Passed Away at Age 56

Less than 24 hours after Excision announced his destination festival in Cancun, Diplo has revealed a four-day Cabo experience for his house-leaning label, Higher Ground.

With headline performances taking place at The Me by Melia Resorts and Hotel from Feb 17-21, 2022, the event will unite lovers of deeper shades of dance music from all over the world for a four-day experience showcasing the Higher Ground label in an intimate and entirely new format.

Additional performances soundtracking the four-day event will include Australian-born house star Sonny Fodera, silky UK house icons Gorgon City, British house music DJ and producer Duke Dumont, Manchester production duo Solardo, legendary genre-crossing hitmaker Paul Woolford, beloved modern house phenom VNSSA, rising star John Summit, tech house producer GW Harrison, beloved party starter J.Phlip, Los Angeles house artist J. Worra, London based house and techno duo MANT, innovative genre-bending producer Melé, and more to be announced.

Travel experiences for Diplo’s Higher Ground Cabo will include a four day, four night stay at The Me and a variety of additional 4* and 5* hotel options, along with access to all parties, performances, and outdoor activities. Monthly payment plans are available in the lead up to the event with a $30 deposit and at no additional interest. Pollen Presents also offers a COVID-19 Money Back Guarantee making the event 100% refundable if it is cancelled or rescheduled due to COVID-19.

More information on rooms and prices can be found on the Pollen Presents website.

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Diplo Announces Four-Day Cabo Experience With Gorgon City, Duke Dumont + More

It’s almost a foregone conclusion at this point that when an artist comes from Berklee College of Music in Boston, their work is going to be excellent, if not flawless. Producer, percussionist and composer Aman Jagwani might be one of the youngest artists with the Berklee pedigree who’s still technically in the schools production and percussion programs and whose work is quickly gaining recognition in the EDM world.

Now working out of his hometown of Goa, India, Jagwani has continued his studies with Berklee remotely and has also managed to put together his second album, This Place in the same fashion. Composing the tracks, designing both the analog and digital drums and coordinating all the collaborating musicians can’t have been an easy feat but This Place seems nonethelss effortless with its heavily syncopated rhythms, jazzy, lofi ambient sound design and absolutely flawless trumpet, vocal and piano melodies.

Unlike Jagwani’s debut album Essentially Entangled, which is more classically jazz fusion and also mostly live, This Place brings the listener to a whole different…well, place. With its focus on fusing composition styles between jazz and electronica. Landing somewhere in the center of jazz fusion, lofi electronica and trip hop, this album is as close to an antithesis of the first one while still being technically jazz-based.

There’s also a lot more collaboration on This Space than on Essentially Entangled. Along with vocalist Anubha Kaul lending her smooth, smoky yet pitch-perfect sound to every track and contributing to the overall vibe of the album, Jagwani also conscripted the likes of trumpeter Jason Palmer, flugelhorn player Milena Casado and pianist Ron Cha, who also debuted his vocal skills on the album.

Along with the technical prowess clearly displayed on This Place, and the cool, soulful, electronically produced take on jazz, what really stands out is the album’s emotional weight. Jagwani built his reflections on, and potential benefits of, healthy disassociation into each song on the album.

The album name, ‘This Place‘ is a pun on the word, “displace,” conveying the idea of how everyone has the power to displace from the mental, physical, emotional or any place they are in to their ideal place or state of mind. Each of the songs also conveys this idea in its own way. 

So it turns out that This Place is also Jagwani’s musical happy place, and it’s likely to be a happy place for a lot of listeners as they discover this beautiful, contemplative and genre-bending album. It will be interesting to see if Jagwani continues on this electrified jazz path for his next projects, as this is only his second solo venture and everyone knows Berklee artists have the skill and diversity to go wherever they want. That said, if This Place is where he’s ostensibly starting his career, which is to say a place of technical mastery, emotional depth and an excellent command of beat composition, it’s almost unimaginable the heights he can hit. The EDM scene should count itself lucky if he decides to stay.

This Place is out now and can be purchased or streamed on a number of different platforms by clicking here.

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: New Artist Spotlight: Aman Jagwani Electrifies Jazz With New Album, ‘This Place’