SHARP.Art – Fine Art Prints Expo

On November 23 2018, I got the opportunity to be part of a unique collaboration project for SHARP.Art’s Fine Art Prints Expo at the enchanting House de Neuf in Edegem.

SHARP.Art‘s photographer and friend made a selection of his works and displayed these artistic creations in 4 different rooms. Every room had its specific theme: ‘Contessa’, ‘Milos’, ‘Torn Reality’ and ‘Living Sculptures’. Several other artists were invited to bring their own interpretation and talent to every individual room.

Let’s start with the photographer’s personal statement and invitation to explore his intimate exposition:

“Inspired by the classical Greek female form – in a contemporary interpretation – I seek to blend dreams and reality in an aesthetic way. My work is not intended for screens nor magazines, but to enliven empty walls and offer the viewer a glimpse of another world. Floating between the spheres of glamour, fashion and art I aim to embark you with my creations on a journey of visual delight. Although the works have an unmistakable aesthetic character, I invite you to discover the – sometimes subtle – messages.”

Kristel Balcaen, Belgium’s Wine Lady of the Year 2018 and Champagne Ambassador, did a wine and champagne pairing for every room by selecting 4 different tastes: an Austrian white, an Italian rosé, a French red and a champagne, combined with delicious chocolates from La Clé Du Sud by Thomas Losonczy.

Nicola Wills, demi-soloist at the Royal Ballet of Flanders, made an exclusive choreography and did 4 haunting performances based on a specific theme song per room, carefully selected by myself: Bicep’s ‘Glue’, Hallucinogen’s ‘L.S.D.’, Hans Zimmer’s ‘Time’ in the Tale Of Us Edit and Yael Naim’s Britney Spears cover ‘Toxic’.

To complete the experience, I was soundscaping the perfect atmosphere for the invitees, making a fine selection of transcending music that easily blended with the surroundings and the exposition.

Special thanks go to:

• SHARP.Art – Photographer & Creative Director
• Stefanie Rondelez – Model, Muse & Host
• Kristel Balcaen – Wine Lady of the Year 2018 & Champagne Ambassador
• Nicola Wills – Royal Ballet of Flanders Demi-Soloist
• Dave Canto – Sound & Beats Scaping
• Azari – Sound & Light Equipment

It was a stunning evening for everyone and together we created an unforgettable fusion of artistic talents. Join this unique experience and immerse yourself in a journey of ethnic oriental sounds. Show some love and share if you like!

I love Cubic Clash

Last year I got the chance to play at the 5th anniversary edition of Cubic Clash, a well-known indoor festival for electronic music lovers at the Kuub concert hall in my hometown Turnhout. Unfortunately the 5th edition of Cubic Clash was also the final one. The founders, Tune In Turn Out, decided to put an end to the Cubic story and explore new horizons.

Nevertheless Cubic Clash has always been a versatile and contemporary event with various musical dimensions. Not only local deejays got the opportunity to play, exciting electronic live acts were invited as well. Every year international and exclusive headliners came to Turnhout to perform on stage:

• 2007 : Rex The Dog (UK) | Meltdown (BE) | Lady Lite & MC Mary Jane (BE)
• 2008 : Vicarious Bliss (FR) | Digikid 84 (FR) | Sound of Stereo (BE)
• 2009 : T.Raumschmiere (DE) | Geht’s Noch vs Keatch (BE) | AKS feat. Selah Sue (BE)
• 2010 : Freestylers DJ’s (UK) | Tek-One (UK) | Vermin Twins (BE)
• 2011 : Simian Mobile Disco (UK) | Lucy Love (DK) | Teddiedrum (BE)

The organization of such a fast growing indoor festival required lots of energy. The comparison with large commercial dance events was often made, although its growth potential and profit margins had never been the intention. Therefore Tune In Turn Out wanted to avoid that their Cubic concept became too mainstream like several other festivals already did.

I’m proud that I could be part of the very last edition, which was a real highlight again and made me longing for the next new party concept in T-Town. Thank you for 5 years of quality electronic music!

Because I was unable to tape my live gig at Cubic Clash, I recorded it again at my homestudio. It starts rather minimal with tracks from Leesa (Atmosphere Records) and Shur-I-Kan, and evolves into jackin’ tech house with Oliver Koletzki (Stil Vor Talent) and Sonny Fodera. Just the way I like it!

Let’s share and enjoy my tribute I love Cubic Clash mixtape.

Overdose

This mixtape was recorded live at Bar Tapa (Turnhout) during the weekend before my actual gig at Overdose, the official afterparty of the Antwerp On Stage 2011 festival hosted this time by TK Projects (Stereo). The place to be that Wednesday night was Publik, a small club near De Stadswaag in Antwerp and formerly known as De Cinema. As a member of the new Stereo Sound System deejay collective, I played back 2 back with Myno and Dimystic. Prinz (Café d’Anvers, Push It Records) and Supreems (Blast Your Ghetto) were spinning the decks as well. Our first public performance as Stereo Sound System had to be some sort of an eyecatcher. We dressed up in black ties, black trousers and white shirts. Even without the black sunglasses, we were looking just like the main characters in Quentin Tarantino’s cult movie, Reservoir Dogs.

Recently I’ve started buying music online, because you just can’t find everything exclusively on cd anymore. Buying single digital tracks is also more efficient and less expensive than looking for a good album or collection in a regular record store. Nevertheless I’ll never quit buying cd’s, because I like the sound, the artwork, the physical touch and the apparent endless search for that ultimate cd on a Saturday afternoon in your favourite record store. It might sound stupid, but I’m pretty sure every vinyl junkie or any music addict out there will agree with me.

Most of this mixtape’s tracks come from Beatport, today’s biggest online store for various electronic music. It starts rather deep with some Soul Migrantz tracks and remixes. In the middle it sounds more tech and by the end it evolves into real progressive sounds from Trentemøller and a new upcoming Belgian talent, Leesa. Based in Gent, I saw her performing last year at Play & Produce 2010 (see also my previous blog post). She won various contests, signed at Atmosphere Records and recently released her first EP’s: Dinosaur and Au Revoir Mon Coeur. Full of talent, both as a deejay and producer, I’m pretty sure she’s going to hit the charts soon. She can count on my full support, wishing her all the best and a successful career in music business.

Yesterday I went to another edition of Sneaker Freaks, a popular party concept by Tom Smeyers (Solano, Guesthouse Music) at De Firma in Geel for the love of funky-deep-chicago-jazzy-westcoast house music. It was a special night, because Tom was celebrating his 29th birthday and had invited some special guests: Raoul Belmans (Swirl People, Aroma Records) and Soul Migrantz (Calling Chicago, N.E.W.S.). I had a great time and want others to enjoy the same positive vibes. Therefore I’ve called this mixtape I love Sneaker Freaks.

Play & Produce

On Saturday the 20th of November I went to Play & Produce 2010 at Vooruit in Gent. This one day event, organized by Poppunt, is the place to be for all electronic music scene lovers with workshops, masterclasses, mixtape feedback, photoshoots and lots of gear (software + hardware) to get your hands on. Every visitor gets the chance to meet with other deejays, producers and electronic musicians sharing the same passion.

A couple of weeks before, I participated in a mixtape contest and won my own professionally recorded DJ-clip at Play & Produce. I got the chance to play with some high-end Pioneer Pro DJ gear: 2 CDJ-2000 players and 1 DJM-2000 mixer. My set was recorded live from multicamera positions and behind me there was a led-screen showing various beat-synchronized images. I can say that it was a hell of an experience and thanks again to all people who made this possible!

While waiting for the actual DJ-clip video and photoshoot results, I can already post the audiotrack of my Play & Produce set. All tracks are signed to the Om Records label, which is one of my favourites ’cause they know how house music should sound like in all of its subgenres and styles.

Om is a San Francisco based music and lifestyle company. We are artists and producers of music, design, fashion and events for a global community of forward thinking people. From our humble beginnings in 1995, Om has grown to become a highly recognized and respected brand in the global music scene. Om is designed to create remarkable music and cultural experiences, which both entertain and build a sense of community.

The following tracks were carefully selected and mixed:

Om Winter Sessions – Mixed by Justin Martin

1. Mike Monday – I dream of ducks
2. Soul Avengers – Don’t let the morning come (Justin Martin & Claude Vonstroke Remix)
3. Jochen Trappe – Organic
4. Martin Brothers – Stoopit
5. The Bald & The Beautiful – Back Down

Om Winter Sessions – Mixed by Johnny Fiasco

1. Uneaq – Day Dreamer
2. Rosie Brown – Bliss (D’s Boom Bap Bleep Remix)
3. Mastiksoul – Just a feeling
4. DJ Disciple meets David Tort & DJ Ruff – Deep Underground
5. Mark Knight & Mtv feat. E-man – New Reality (Jesse Rose Mix)
6. Johnny Fiasco – 101 (Joey Youngman Remix)
7. Jacob London – Não Obrigado

Om Miami 2009 – Mixed & Compiled by DJ Fluid

1. Ramon Tapia – Can you dig it
2. Florian Kruse & Elmar Schubert – Despegue
3. Mike Monday – Salieri Complex (Club Mix)

This is the complete playlist of my Play & Produce set:

1. Mike Monday – I dream of ducks
2. Uneaq – Day Dreamer
3. Jochen Trappe – Organic
4. Rosie Brown – Bliss (D’s Boom Bap Bleep Remix)
5. Soul Avengers – Don’t let the morning come (Justin Martin & Claude Vonstroke Remix)
6. DJ Disciple meets David Tort & DJ Ruff – Deep Underground
7. Florian Kruse & Elmar Schubert – Despegue
8. Mark Knight & Mtv feat. E-man – New Reality (Jesse Rose Mix)
9. Ramon Tapia – Can you dig it
10. Mastiksoul – Just a feeling
11. Mike Monday – Salieri Complex (Club Mix)
12. Johnny Fiasco – 101 (Joey Youngman Remix)
13. Martin Brothers – Stoopit
14. Jacob London – Não Obrigado
15. The Bald & The Beautiful – Back Down

Enjoy this deep house mixtape and experience the funky and tech house flavoured tracks. Leave your comments and share it with your friends for the love of house.

See you at the next edition of Play & Produce in 2012!

Stereo The Contest

A couple of weeks ago I participated in Stereo The Contest organized by TK Projects at my home town Turnhout. I had been selected among 14 other deejays to perform on stage and play a 20 minutes DJ-set. Every participant had to stick to one out of 3 different styles:

• electro
• house
• minimal / dubstep

A professional jury consisting of music business members had to select one winner in every genre. Brian-V, a well-known house DJ and owner of the Prime Records Belgium label, had not only been invited to play at the afterparty, but he fulfilled a crucial role in the selections after the contest as well.

To prepare for this contest I took the opportunity to join DazZs Audio (Jordi) and Wezzelby (Wesley) during their promodays at fashion store Labels. I had a great time spinning records, distributing flyers and making lots of fun. I could already drop some tracks and watch the people’s response in the streets. This helped me when picking the right records for my electro set back home. I wanted to make it sound dirty without loosing its funky character. To highlight this even more, I chose Kraak & Smaak‘s brand new track called ‘Dynamite’ to kick off with. You’ll be sensing the same groovy beats throughout this set.

This is the complete playlist of my Stereo The Contest set:

1. Kraak & Smaak – Dynamite (Original Mix)
2. John Acquaviva & Lützenkirchen – Zombie (Original Mix)
3. Boys Noize – Oh! (A-Trak Remix)
4. John Acquaviva – Monster (Original Mix)
5. Jin Sonic & Dive – Play (Wolfgang Gartner Dub)
6. Acid Jacks – Awake Since ’78 (Original Mix)
7. Savant Garde – Trigger Happy (Olivier Giacomotto Remix)
8. Dada Life – This Machine Kills Breakfasts (Original Mix)
9. Kid Dub – Tetris (Tocadisco Edit)
10. Wolfgang Gartner – Front To Back (Original Mix)
11. Deadmau5 feat. MC Flipside – Hi Friend (Original Mix)
12. LFO – Freak (Original Mix)

During the afterparty at Club 1900, I shared the decks with DazZs Audio (Jordi) and Wezzelby (Wesley) again. These guys already have a strong reputation as DazZelby, thanks to their quick mixing skills, original track selections and self-made mashups.

Conclusion: the first edition of Stereo The Contest was a great success and I’m looking forward to the next one. Bonkers!