Dabruck & Klein Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re here with Dabruck & Klein the men who turn their sets into one crazy ass night of musical tag, playing back to back and continually pushing one another to deliver one hell of a show.

You guys have been in the music scene for now over a decade, what would you say the musical journey has been like for you and what have been the major milestones in your musical career together?

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): Can you say that again?

Dabruck & Klein & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Frank Klein (Dabruck & Klein): So many English words I don’t even know.

Dabruck & Klein & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: I’ll go slowly (Laughs)

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): Can you do it like this: What do you like? What’s your favorite foods?

Dayanna Guerrero: Those are boring interviews.

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): Now I got it. Yeah Like I said, we’ve been working together for over twelve years. Besides our DJ-ing and producing career we have a big label called WePLAY, before we worked for a label called Superstar so we already have people in the back for many, many years. So four or five years [ago] we decided that we would put more pressure or focus on our own stuff because sometimes it’s very hard to work with artists. We have always been DJ’s and we still love what we do. A lot has changed since we met the Armada family, and we got to management with Armada the last two years.

Dayanna Guerrero: Stefan, you previously said that you both have the same sort of musical taste but what is the overall dynamic between you two and what role does each of you play whether in your productions or in your sets?

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): Did I really say that? Okay. (Laughs) It’s very funny; when we met first (like twelve years ago) it was like this really kind of special music, it’s not like what it is today. Of course, we already have the big background in the 90’s with electronic music in Germany or Europe. It’s sometimes very funny because we play back to back and sometimes I’m looking for the next track and he’s already playing it so that’s something. It’s like the boy group effect, I’m the good looking guy…(Laughs)

We really have the same music taste you know? What the perfect mix in our team is that one is more like loud and the other one is more.. Frank is also taking very good care about the business side of things, like what I’m not very good at. If somebody calls me “Can you do a remix” – “yeah, yeah of course” “what is the fee?” “Oh its nothing because we just bought a few new dogs and have to feed…” “Oh wow really I love dogs” and that’s sometimes not very good. I’m sometimes more in the studio and stuff like that, we have a perfect team.

We’re still best friends so it makes it very easy to travel (for twelve years).

Dayanna Guerrero: You released an album entitled “2:48 AM” which is still generating buzz and it features a lot of productions with some heavy hitters in the industry. What’s the significance of “2:48“, what went into making this album and how do you feel about the way it turned out?

Frank Klein (Dabruck & Klein): The significance of 2:48 AM was told [in] different stories in the last year but now we tell you the truth.

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): We’ve said like 2:48 a.m. is the perfect moment in a club and stuff like that but the truth is we have a broken watch in the studio for ten years and it always says 2:48 a.m. First we said like okay, our debut album we wanted to call it “Dabruck & Klein: Greatest Hits Volume II” but our management was like “guys it won’t be funny”. So we decided to do something else.

It’s very hard sometimes to find track names and album names because a lot of people say like “What do you mean by this track and what do you want to feel?” We always say we’re doing music for the feet; you know, were in the club to make you happy, to put your shirt off and party and not to think about. It’s not like we do a track and say at home “Oh what do they want to say with heartbeats?”

Dabruck & Klein & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: Your love for all types of electronic dance music can be seen in your work. Would you say that it is the fuel that keeps you going or do energy drinks also play a role?

Frank Klein (Dabruck & Klein): We stopped drinking energy drinks because it’s not good for your health. We also take no drugs, we sometimes drink alcohol.

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): We drink alcohol every time, he’s a liar.

Frank Klein (Dabruck & Klein): Okay, okay, okay. I think the music is the fuel and what we get back from the people. That’s what we really appreciate.

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): If you see, Frank [has been] DJ-ing [for] 25 years, I’m DJ-ing [for] 15 or 18 years – no 20 years, shit!

Dabruck & Klein: We’re old. (Laughs)

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): Music changes a lot and it’s like every two years there’s a new thing and we like it so much. It’s sometimes funny because when we started with our Label as well we only signed Trance music and House music came with Swedish House Mafia with Boogie Pimps and all these guys, the French influence and everything. We love it so much! Now we’re with Armada again, on a trancy label, not a trance label. That’s what we tried to do with first album but the second album will be much more dance floor oriented because we did some chill-out tracks on the last album and some people don’t understand it. So there are more questions than people say they like it so we decided to make a really club album for the next time.

Dayanna Guerrero: Back in 2008 you started the WePLAY Record label, and at one point it was even named best label. What lead you to create this label and are there moments where you look back and think to yourselves “did we just do that”?

Frank Klein (Dabruck & Klein): We decided to do our own label because as we said, we worked for another label (ten years), then we wanted to do more of what we liked. On the other label the focus was more on earning money but we wanted to do music we like so we said we would do a label with just music we would play in a club. So we decided to do WePlAY and we have a really good partner and he’s doing all the business stuff and he’s really on fire for the label. That’s why in three years we’ve been best label in Germany two years in a row.

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): And we have been in the dance music charts and in every category we have been #1. The thing is like we have been the guys behind the label Superstar Recordings. We did everything, we have been the heads but there was a background a guy from more of the bank side, lawyers, or controllers. We had huge success we had nearly twenty top 20 hits in the last decade, you know twenty five Gold records, so many awards and stuff like that. But you know, what’s the point when our boss was more like “we need more hits, hits and hits” and that’s what we like at the moment. So at WePLAY we’re doing Axwell, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso, Dirty South, Laidback Luke, Erick Morillo, Roger Sanchez, Tocadisco and name a few more..

Frank Klein (Dabruck & Klein): Dabruck & Klein

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): And to be honest that’s what we like, not everything is a huge success in the charts, but we have a very good business set up. We sign tracks because we like them or we can play in our sets.

Dayanna Guerrero: And that can be seen in the WePLAY Club Essentials Vol. 1 is set to be released at the end of this month. Can you tell us more about that?

Frank Klein (Dabruck & Klein): Yeah. These days it’s really important to have good working compilations. We did compilations before (lots of compilations) but now we decided to start a series so the Essentials will be our premium series compilation. The first one will be released at the end of the month. We did a mix for the first one; the plan is that every volume another big name does a big mix for CD #3.

Dayanna Guerrero: Is there anything else that fans can expect to see from you?

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): Yeah like we said in the beginning, we’re just working on a new album. We just did a lot of remixes as well; we did so many remixes in the last five years. We just remixed Lenny Kravitz which was very cool and a big honor because we’re big fans from back [in the day]. Yeah we’ve got a lot of good cooperation’s on the album; we did just two tracks with Morgan Page just flew into Germany. We have two with Tocadisco, we have one with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, we will do something with Emma Hewitt (it looks like), just working on a remix for her as well.

Dayanna Guerrero: We were just with Morgan Page, he’s a really nice guy – very down to earth.

Stefan Dabruck (Dabruck & Klein): He’s very down to earth and he’s very, very talented. It was one of the first times that someone was in the studio and he was going on the controls saying “Oh let’s do it like this and that”. He’s a very cool guy and I think he will be a very big star in a few years.

Dayanna Guerrero: Well guys, thank you so much for taking your time to speak with us and we can’t wait to see what you have in the works for 2012.

Dabruck & Klein: Thanks a lot!

For more information on Dabruck & Klein, check out the Dabruck & Klein Website, visit the Dabruck & Klein Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following Dabruck & Klein on Twitter.

Be sure to also buy your copy of the WePLAY Club Essentials Vol. 1 album!

Sied van Riel Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: Sied van Riel is no stranger to the trance music scene, playing shows around the world and being backed by Armin van Buuren, Tiesto and so many more. His ultimate goal? Connecting trance music fans everywhere with his warm and melodic-filled trance.

So Sied, you’ve been a part of the A State of Trance celebrations for over 3 years now and you just announced that you will be playing two A State of Trance Shows. What is it like to be a part of this massive trance movement?

Sied van Riel: It’s really special. With the whole crew I’ve built up the relationship over the years so it’s like a family feeling and the events are just insane. We just did Beyond Wonderland in L.A. and that was the sickest party I’ve ever seen.

Dayanna Guerrero: You recently attended the Armada Music Night in St. Petersburg, Russia with fellow Armadians Max Graham, Arnej and Shogun. If you had one word to describe the night what would it be?

Sied van Riel: Vodka!

Sied van Riel & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: You’ve been working on your upcoming artist album, how far along is it from being complete and can we expect to see some familiar names on it?

Sied van Riel: I wanted to do collaborations on the album; I decided not to do it because it’s my album so I wanted to show people what I’m doing and not what other people are doing. It’s almost complete, I’ve produced a lot. At one point I have to say okay this is it, I’m not sure when that will be. As an artist you’re never satisfied.

Dayanna Guerrero: You always go back.

Sied van Riel: Yeah, exactly but a lot of new singles are done. They are being released one by one now and with the album, I just see what the record label wants, advises, take it from there basically.

Dayanna Guerrero: And add your own little elements to everything. The majority is you though, right?

Sied van Riel: Oh yeah, for sure. They just advise like when do you what to release them, which tracks. It’s like negations, I’m stubborn anyways so I always try and push my opinion to the maximum.

Dayanna Guerrero: What about this, and this..

Sied van Riel: Yeah, exactly. Why not this track, you know?

Dayanna Guerrero: You made a track with Betsie Larkin called “The Offering“. From your perspective, what has the reaction like for this track and what was it like to work with the famed Betsie Larkin.

Sied van Riel: It was really cool working with her; we’ve been friends for many years. She asked me to do a production for her album and it was really funny how it went down because she asked me to do a whole new production and I said no, listen, I have this track and you have to sing on this because I wanted to work with her. She gave me vocals, I said no, no I want something else. Then she said no, I want it like this so it was really interesting working with her. The reactions have been really great. It’s not a club track; it’s a fuel track you know? And I like to do tracks that people can listen to in the car or on the radio, not necessarily in the club. It was really cool working with her.

Dayanna Guerrero: You went back to back with Arnej at Dream Nightclub in Miami a few days ago. What goes into successfully pulling off an event like that?

Sied van Riel: I don’t know, it was my first back to back with him. He has his own ignorant style or ignorant way of playing and so do I so it was kind of interesting to see. Where I wanted to take it more up during the set, he was like no, no we have to take it down and I said no we have to go up. So it was kind of a power struggle in the DJ booth but it worked out, in the end I’m happy with it. It’s different standing in the DJ booth with a guy that’s standing twice your size I mean people see him and he’s huge this guy. This guy is big, impressive. He’s been a friend of mine but then in the DJ booth together it’s different.

Dayanna Guerrero: So you had different elements coming together?

Sied van Rier: Yeah, exactly.

Dayanna Guerrero: When asked about future collaborations in an interview with Armada, you said that working with W&W would be an interesting choice. Given your response, any chance we’ll be seeing something in the future from you guys?

Sied van Riel: We’ve been talking about it for a long while and we decided to come together in April and then push out a track, that’s basically it. Like I said, we’ve been talking for a long time, I wanted to do it in January but because of all the work for my album (and they were working as well) we decided to do it in April. We’re going to do a big room, I don’t know, something different.

Dayanna Guerrero: What’s the process like on that? Like, what is the time frame where you can pull out a track?

Sied van Riel: I work pretty fast, these guys are fast so I think we probably need like seven hours, eight hours max a day and we’ll probably be done. I know they’re fast as well and we already know what we want so..

Dayanna Guerrero: So you already have the track laid out and everything?

Sied van Riel: Yeah, we’ve talked about it through email. You know, should we do this, should we do that? I know the guys personally really well and they know me so we already know what we want. The vibe you get in the studio.

Dayanna Guerrero: The dynamic between you too?

Sied van Riel: Yeah, exactly.

Dayanna Guerrero: You’ve got gigs lined up left and right and a new album coming up, is there currently any room in your schedule to breathe?

Sied van Riel: In airplanes I breathe a lot! Miami has been a good week because we’ve been partying a lot but had two days of complete rest. Two days ago was the first and we planned the second for today. I’m not sure if it’s going to work out because of the time when its either 9 or 10 p.m. everybody starts calling like what are you going to do?

Dayanna Guerrero: Where are you?

Sied van Riel: Exactly. You know, we have guest lists almost everywhere. So if you have like the options it becomes more difficult to stay in your hotel.

Dayanna Guerrero: Well Sied, thank you so much for meeting with us and we can’t wait for the new album.

Sied van Riel: Thank you very much.

For more information on Sied van Riel, check out Sied van Riel’s Official Website , visit the Sied van Riel Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following Sied van Riel on Twitter.

Be sure to also keep an eye out for his upcoming album!

NERVO Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We are here with two of the nicest, gifted, hardest working artists to ever grace the EDM scene and we couldn’t be happier or more honored to be able to sit down with them today. We can’t stop saying great things about them! NERVO, you just finished an amazing set! Wow! How has Miami been treating you so far?

Mim Nervo (NERVO): Miami music conference is always one of the best music weeks of the year and if you don’t lose your voice then you haven’t done it properly and we’re definitely both losing our voices. It’s been incredible. Ultra – I mean that was one of the most amazing gigs ever.

Liv Nervo (NERVO): Yeah I want to say that if there’s anybody listening that came specifically for our gig, we really thank you because we felt the love. We saw the stage go from four people dancing to 404 people dancing. We’re so shocked, surprised..

Mim Nervo (NERVO): Flattered.

Liv Nervo (NERVO): Honestly, I just don’t know how to thank these guys for making our lives all the more richer.

Dayanna Guerrero: Back in December of last year we wrote an article titled “3 Reasons Why We Love NERVO” and in it we made an assumption that your parents must be very proud of all your success. Now that we can actually ask you, how proud are your parents and in general, how supportive have they and the rest of your family been through your career?

Liv Nervo (NERVO): Well mom & dad are both dentists so they kind of always thought that music was kind of a hobby. For many years they were like girls when are you going to give this up?

Mim Nervo (NERVO) NERVO: Like they thought we were crazy.

Liv Nervo (NERVO) NERVO: It’s like when is it time to have a real job but I think now they’re proud of us.

Mim Nervo (NERVO): I think that they think that it’s cool that we get to fly around the world now.

Dayanna Guerrero: Who doesn’t?

Mim Nervo (NERVO): (Laughs) Yeah of course. You have to earn your stripes, you need to work really hard and get better at your craft and we’ve done those years. I feel like we’re still learning, but our parents during those years were a bit more like come on girls, come back home.

Liv Nervo (NERVO): So true.

Dayanna Guerrero: We also wrote that you two are very multi-talented, doing everything from singing to writing, producing to remixing. Did you realize this at an early age and if we looked at your high school yearbook can we find you on the swim team, math club, track & field and cheer leading squad?

Mim Nervo (NERVO): It’s funny; if you look at the yearbook we were definitely more musically oriented. Music was just something that came easy and when something is easy you love it. It becomes an obsession, I feel, and we turned it into a job somehow so we feel like we’re the luckiest girls. We weren’t really on the swim tram but we were music faculty.

Dayanna Guerrero: From your fashion, to your music, you come off as being very different. Were you also this different growing up and did it ever lead to problems with the other kids or possibly even bullying? And do you have any advice for your younger fans who might be being bullied for being difference?

Liv Nervo (NERVO): Look I don’t want to say “bullied” because it sounds kind of extreme but yeah we definitely weren’t the most popular girls in school.

Mim Nervo (NERVO): We didn’t fit into the pretty group or ..

Liv Nervo (NERVO): We didn’t fit into the blonde group or we didn’t fit into like certain groups. I guess we were kind of floaters..

Dayanna Guerrero: You were everywhere.

NERVO & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Mim Nervo (NERVO): But were very lucky because we always had each other.

Liv Nervo (NERVO): We always had each other and I just think yeah we were part of the music group I guess and they were a little bit more free.

Mim Nervo (NERVO): And they’re not always the coolest people really but I think difference is beautiful and I think if everyone was the same it would be such a boring place. I mean it makes you tougher in the real world. We are our journey, it’s all collateral. If you get bullied you just learn how to handle it when you’re older in one other way.

Dayanna Guerrero: Your eagerly awaited next single “You’re Gonna Love Again” has been leaked on the internet for months… what are your feelings on this and when will it be officially released?

Mim Nervo (NERVO): Okay we’re shooting the video for it in two weeks. It’s officially I think going to be released 24th of April. The thing is we need to get the video ready for it so sometimes that takes a little bit more of editing and everything.

Dayanna Guerrero: You often like to drop hints about upcoming projects through Facebook & Twitter and have more recently mentioned stuff you’re working on with the likes of Hook N Sling, Nicky Romero & Armin van Buuren. Are you at liberty to divulge any details on any of those collaborations or would you have to kill us if you told us?

Mim Nervo (NERVO): No, no, no- we can always tell you a bit. We had an amazing session with Nicky Romero, he’s such a beautiful talent, a great talent; we’ve done two records there. Armin van Buuren – were working a lot with Armin just because we wrote a lot on his last album. We won an award actually for “Best Trance Record” – Nadia Ali. So yeah that’s ongoing with Armin. Hook N Sling we love, he’s an Aussie, and we’ve known him for years. He’s playing at our party tonight and we always, always want to work with Anthony. Still working a lot with David, just finished something for him a couple of weeks ago. Afrojack, loads you know?

Dayanna Guerrero: Wow you guys are everywhere, you’re working with everyone!

Mim Nervo (NERVO): Of course they’re our brothers you know, they’re our family.

Dayanna Guerrero: A fast rise to stardom often leaves artists with big heads and your popularity is sky-rocketing, yet, whoever we talk to in this industry, say only but nice things about you two. How do you keep yourself so grounded and humble with all the major success that keeps coming your way?

Mim Nervo (NERVO): Look we feel like we have a long way to go. I think we’re very fortunate to be doing music as a career, we really know that. I just think that the beauty of music is that you never know it all; you always need to keep working at it and getting better. I feel like all of the people that we’ve met, a lot of them that are the most successful in the world are always the coolest and the most humblest and I think we have great role models around us.

Dayanna Guerrero: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. You’re the future of the electronic dance music genre and we can sleep soundly knowing it’s in the hands of sweet and talented artist like yourselves. Thank you!!

NERVO: Aww, thank you!

For more information on NERVO, check out NERVO’s Official Website , visit the NERVO Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following NERVO on Twitter.

AscenDance Radio had a chance to meet up with Amba to talk about her life as a dance music artist and here is what she had to say:

Amba Shepherd Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re sitting here with one of the most talented songwriters, producers and one of my personal favorite vocalists, Amba Shepherd. So Amba, your most recent track with Ferry Corsten “Walk on Air” was recently released and it has had amazing feedback. How did this collaboration come about?

Amba Shepherd: that’s a good question. Actually I wrote the song with David Skains, who is “Pierre in the Air”. He’s another Australian; a producer from Brisbane and we wrote that track together. He had written like a bed and we were shopping it around to a few labels in Australia as well and he sent it over to Flash Over and few other people and Flash Over really loved it. There was quite a lot of interest in the song in its early stage. Anyway so Flash Over they just loved the song and we were like a “hey look will be involved with you” and basically Ferry then came on board and said “guys I really love this song I would love to sort of collaborate on the production with you”.

Dayanna Guerrero: That’s awesome!

Amba Shepherd: Which is amazing! He then took all the stems and re-created the production side of things and took it to the next level, made it into the jewel of the track that it is now and that’s really how that happened. It was kind of a really simple process we haven’t met or anything like that; we haven’t been in the studio together. He sent a really nice e-mail to both of us on how he loved the track and how inspiring it was. That was pretty cool to get that from him and just nice feedback. He did it really quickly; it was sort of a 24 hour kind of deal because he was touring like running around so the schedule was really intense. That’s basically how it came about.

Dayanna Guerrero: In a previous interview, you had said that you’ve always had a soft spot for dance music and to be honest, we think dance music has a really soft spot for you as well. What is it about Dance Music that draws you to it?

Amba Shepherd: That’s a really good question. So I’ve written pop, pop rock, and sort of other genre of music and I think what I really love about dance music is the fact that it’s not so confined by structure, it’s not formulaic. I mean it has obvious sections that have to happen, drops and then build ups, things like that – but it allows me to be really creative and I like the kind of collaborative nature and I love the fast pace. Tracks come out really quickly, and not all labels are very fast, but generally speaking you can be working on something with someone and feel like at the moment I’m sort of part of a movement, changing sound if that makes sense. So it’s really exciting I think that’s why I like it.

Dayanna Guerrero: AscenDance Radio has sort of a “soft spot” for your music and vocals. We currently play a lot of your songs and to us you have an ear pleasing voice. How would you describe your sound and is there any particular track you’ve worked on that is your favorite?

Amba Shepherd: My sound..I guess I don’t really know how I would describe it.

Dayanna Guerrero: Besides amazing

Amba Shepherd: Besides amazing (laughs), I guess I have a breathy kind of a tone, I really don’t know how to describe the other than that. It’s just the voice that I’ve always had. And what was the other question? Oh which is my favorite? That’s really hard too because I’m quite attached to all of them in some way or another. I just did one with QuantumDNB over in the UK on ThreeSixZero and it’s called “Superhuman” and it’s a dubstep track with Virtual Riot and I’ve really, really love that one. Titchimoto did this chill out remix, this remix kind of blew my mind and it’s sort of my favorite, at the moment. But you know tomorrow it could be the Porter track or you know..

Dayanna Guerrero: Speaking of that, your track with Porter Robinson, “Vandalism” has been at the top of many charts and it just recently hit #6 on the latest DMC Buzz Chart. How did this song come about and how is it that you make getting vandalized sound so good?

Amba Shepherd: Do I? Awesome! Okay cool. Yeah well that’s another interesting collaboration. I had just gotten back from a riding trip to Stockholm and literally got off the plane and got a Tweet from Porter. He was in Sydney and he was like “Hey I really love your track “Black & White” (that I had released in Spain). “Do you want to come down to my gig?”. I actually didn’t get the message until the day after because I had really bad jet lag and was fast asleep when he sent it to me, which is a shame because I missed out on meeting him. So I was home for about 2-2 ½ weeks before I went away again and a couple days later that week I got an e-mail from his management saying hey Porter would love for you to work on his EP it’s coming out in two or three weeks or something like that, what can you do? And it was quite stressful because I had just finished this other trip and I had like 20 songs to demo for that trip and everyone is like can we have it yesterday? So I was like okay and they sent me one of the tracks on the EP and then actually took it back and said do you have any a capellas? And I said look, I have this one a capella, and I had actually called it “Graffiti” because one of the lines in it is graffiti. So I sent that over to him, then 24 hours later I get this track back and it was just like everyone’s calling and everyone’s pretty pumped and vibed and it was like the track sounds amazing. Then I went away and the track came out, the EP came out and it did really. It’s basically how that kind of happened.

Dayanna Guerrero: So you’ve worked with Kevin Doherty on the song “Lifeline“, how was it that you two met?

Amba Shepherd: Well actually Kevin is based in Ireland so I haven’t him either and we were actually introduced by our label in Australia called Central Station. They just sent me the track, they actually sent me the track kind of May or March sort of early last year, I just loved it straight away and I wrote that straight away and it took them a while to get all them remixes done.

Dayanna Guerrero: It’s a process

Amba Shepherd: Yeah exactly

Dayanna Guerrero: Switching gears a bit, anyone following you on your social media outlets is sometimes surprised by the uplifting quotes and cute little things you find and share with your fans. With that said, what would be one quote that you try to live by on a daily basis?

Amba Shepherd: It’s kind of a lot but I think my favorite one is “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong” (Joseph Chilton) and that is something that when I read that the first time it really resonated with me. I think like as a writer or performer you’re in the moment and you have to feel like you can be able to express yourself and take a risk ,without making mistakes and feel if you mess up it’s just all part of the journey kind of thing. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but it’s really important to feel that kind of freedom is not always a given you not always born with that.

Dayanna Guerrero: You’ve worked with some heavy hitters of the dance music scene, is there anyone you haven’t worked with yet but would like to?

Amba Shepherd: That is such a hard question there’s so many people that I would love to work with.

Dayanna Guerrero: List them all..

Amba Shepherd: I kind of don’t know if I really necessarily want to say because I like the fact that my process is really organic it’s sort of like people come to me. I meet people through people, rather than it be sort of projecting that I desperately want to work. Not desperately, but you know what I mean? I kind of just like that it’s an organic evolution and I don’t necessarily knows what exciting producer is coming my way next. But there’s a lot of producers I love obviously.

Dayanna Guerrero: As the opportunity presents itself..

Amba Shepherd: Exactly.

Dayanna Guerrero: In that regard, are there any upcoming projects, collaborations or maybe a debut solo album that will be coming out soon?

Amba Shepherd: Yes, lots and lots of stuff coming out but no solo stuff just yet. I have actually been approached by quite a few labels to do solo releases but I haven’t felt really ready to do that for a while and I haven’t necessarily found the right producer to work with to do that. It’s probably going to happen at some point I think. Otherwise, collaboration wise, I have a track coming out on Be Yourself Music, which is based in Holland with an Australian producer Nick Galea and I’m not sure when that’s coming out. Also OWSLA, you never know quite how to say it, but they are looking into doing a remix package for “Vandalism”, so that’s cool. I have also been working on a collaboration with Lazy Rich and Hirshee.

Dayanna Guerrero: Something to look forward two well Amba thank you so much and we wish you all of the best.

Amba Shepherd: Thank you, thanks so much for your support. It’s just really appreciated and all of your messages and everything like that. Just the interaction and the feedback is amazing it’s really great to have so much support, I really appreciate it.

Dayanna Guerrero: No problem, thank you.

Amba Shepherd: Thanks.

For more information on Amba Shepherd, check out Amba Shepherd Official Website , visit the Amba Shepherd Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following Amba Shepherd on Twitter.

W&W Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re here with W&W, the trance duo that has completely re-shaped the trance music scene in just a bit over five years. So guys, thank you so much for interviewing with us. How has Miami treating you so far?

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): Great so far, it’s really warm actually, we just arrived last night so we slept the whole night but we just came and it’s a great atmosphere.

Dayanna Guerrero: Well one of us got sleep.

W&W: (Laughs)

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): We didn’t have it for like two days so yeah, were lucky (Laughs)

Ward van der Harst (W&W): Everybody was telling us that.

Dayanna Guerrero: Your epic tune, “Invasion”, was voted on and chosen as the anthem for A State of Trance 550. Where were you and what were you doing when you first received word that your track was going to be the theme song for this monumental world tour?

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): I think I can remember. We were in Argentina, like really rushing through the airport of Buenos Aires when it was played actually.

Ward van der Harst (W&W): We were checking out Twitter.

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): We were checking out twitter and we were like oh shit we have to post something but we were like rushing and we just made the flight.

Ward van der Harst (W&W): We caught the airplane by like two minutes.

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): We barely made the flight.

Ward van der Harst (W&W): We were so excited we were actually standing at the wrong gate.

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): Yeah.

Dayanna Guerrero: Your recently came out with the track called, “Shotgun“. What has the reaction been like so far and when will it be released?

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): The reaction is actually pretty great. We sent it to a lot of DJ’s and all of them replied positive I’ll play it. When we play out on the clubs it works really well and I think it’s going to be released I think on April 9th, on our own label within Armada Music called Mainstage Music.

Dayanna Guerrero: You have a radio show called Mainstage that, along with other things, showcases a lot of fresh and upcoming talent. Back in 2010, Armin van Buuren said, and I quote “W&W are truly the rising stars of trance. If I have to put my money on somebody, I put it on W&W.” Is there any up and coming talent that you would put your money on today?

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): Wow, that’s a hard one. We already said like Arty is huge now.

Ward van der Harst (W&W): He’s huge now. He’s not really up and coming.

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): Yeah he’s not up and coming anymore.

Ward van der Harst (W&W): It would be a good investment though.

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): He’s the one that we think 2012 is going to be his year.

Dayanna Guerrero: You played at A State of Trance 550 in Moscow. What sets these types of events apart from any other gigs you may do?

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): A State of Trance is like the biggest trance event so we always try to showcase the newest trance tunes from our friends/the producers we love. We’re always collecting, like months before we collect exclusive stuff. We start making exclusive stuff for the show like remixing classics as well for the show so it’s really special.

Dayanna Guerrero: So it takes like a few months to prepare?

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): Yeah.

Ward van der Harst (W&W): But the good thing is of course thousands of people standing in the actual venue but there’s also millions of listeners around the world so that’s really special.

Dayanna Guerrero: So what can fans expect to see from you for the rest of 2012?

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): A lot of new music. We have so many new tunes finished we actually don’t know what to do with it.

Ward van der Harst (W&W): Maybe even too much. We don’t know what to do.

Willem van Hanegem (W&W): Yeah a little bit too much so a lot of new music.

Dayanna Guerrero: How do you guys figure out what to release when?

Ward van der Harst (W&W): We first start playing it out and always test the reactions. When they don’t know the tunes the reactions is less than when they know the tunes. When the reaction is so good we’re like okay, we should release that one first. Yeah that one first or that one we don’t, it mostly goes like that.

Dayanna Guerrero: Well guys thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedules. It’s really been a pleasure and I look forward to seeing what else you have in store for us.

W&W: Thank you, thank you very much.

For more information on W&W, check out the W&W Website, visit the W&W Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following W&W on Twitter.

Dash Berlin Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re here at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami for A State of Trance 550 with none other than Dash Berlin, the man behind some of the biggest hits over the past 5 years:

Now arguably the trance Anthem for 2007 “Till the Sky Falls Down” is also the track that introduced the world to Dash Berlin. When you first listened to the finished version, did you have any sense of how big it was going to be?

Dash Berlin: Not at all. The funny story behind “Till the Sky Falls Down” was that it was just not a track we did. Actually, the real story behind is that it was lying around on the shelf, and while we were listening it to it again we were like okay. We were pointed out by a friend as well to send it out as a promo to a record company which eventually became Armada Music. They picked it up, they really liked the song, they put it on Captivating Sounds, one of the labels of Armada Music and Armin started supporting it almost every set. That’s kind of the start, how people became a little more interested on what Dash Berlin was doing.

Dayanna Guerrero: You debuted on DJ Mag Top 100 at number 15 then the following year you smashed your way through to the top 10. Your success is unprecedented. With all the fame though, you’re still one of the nicest & sweetest artists around. How do you keep from getting a big head?

Dash Berlin: (Laughs) that’s so sweet of you to say. Well I just see myself as the guy next door. I’m just a really fortunate, a lucky guy meeting friends at a record store and got this opportunity to do something you really love on a full time basis. I don’t want to call it a job, but to explain it you would say your hobby became your job and I like it so much and I’m so happy with everybody granting me the position on DJ Mag- coming to the parties, supporting my music, it’s just amazing. I’m just another guy who is really happy and really content with everything that’s going on and my friends keep me grounded as well.

Dayanna Guerrero: Oh that’s cool!

Dash Berlin & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: Your latest song with Jonathan Mendelsohn, “Worlds Fall Apart” is the follow up to your smash hit “Better Half of Me”. Artists have a hard enough time creating one song, nevertheless two. Were they both made around the same time and if so, how was this decided?

Dash Berlin: Yes, they were made a little bit in the same time period. First working with Jonathan was a great privilege because he is a really talented singer and I’m just another fortunate producer who is able to work with him. We have good chemistry, a good way of working on “Better Half of Me” that it was just a matter of time coming out with a follow up. We were quite lucky regarding tour dates and stuff like that, that I got some extra time in the studio as well to get creative with my team and to make sure that the track came out. Actually, there was a follow up which was a little bit quicker than my former singles but still, it’s growing on everybody, I’m really happy with the result. Also, the connected video to it, it’s like a movie kind of approach for two separate videos which are “Better Half of Me” and “Worlds Fall Apart” and that’s another cool creative thing which kind of closes the circle for me.

Dayanna Guerrero: In about an hour’s time you’ll be taking the decks for yet another State of Trance celebration, as this isn’t your first, even for this year. Do you still get goose bumps being part of such historic events?

Dash Berlin: Actually you should ask me that question after but I do think so. Just a couple of weeks ago I played in Moscow and after the stage, even being interviewed by Armin in the radio studio (and its hot at those parties) I had goose bumps and I still was a little bit shaky. I think yes, because you cannot predict what’s going to happen and everything, it’s still a live thing you know. You have a human factor involved which is still really exciting and getting feedback of this crowd here in Miami; it’s something I’m really looking forward to. I can’t wait, really.

Dayanna Guerrero: You’ve been playing some of your newer tunes during your sets such as “Ticking Clocks“, “The Funeral” & “Go It Alone“. What else can Dash fans expect to hear from you and where will you be going after Miami?

Dash Berlin: Well I just Tweeted a couple of days ago that my album is due. It’s going to be released at the end of April, April 27th to be exact. So I’m really happy that I can share that with everybody. There’s going to be quite some new music on there, really Dash Berlin. It’s really something that took me quite some time to get together but having that finished it’s just awesome. I can’t wait to share that with the world and maybe today I’m going to share a track (one or two) from that album as well. Who knows?

Dayanna Guerrero: Awesome!

Dayanna Guerrero: It’s a surreal experience getting to meet the man behind so many hits that you can frequently hear on both of our radio stations. We wish you nothing but the best in the future and we know you’ll deliver the same in your productions, performances and everything else you do. Thank you!!

Dash Berlin: Thank you so much for having me.

For more information on Dash Berlin, check out the Dash Berlin Website, visit the Dash Berlin Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following Dash Berlin on Twitter.

Be sure to also pre-order your copy of Dash Berlin’s latest album “#musicislife”.

DJ Eco Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re here with DJ Eco an up and coming DJ that’s been making waves in the trance music scene.

You’ve been said to have your own signature sound and this unique kind of spin can be seen throughout your tracks. For those who have yet to come across your work, how would you best describe your sound?

DJ Eco: It’s a mixture of a lot of things I love about classic trance, a lot of emphasis on melodies and the beauty of a perfect melody. So I’m always starting from that and it always turns into you know, the new type of trance, something more energetic. I pay a lot of respect to the old school progressive trance, the old school Tiesto sound and I also take a lot influence from old bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. I try and just fuse it into this sort of psychedelic take on a new sound. I guess that’s a bit of a mouthful.

Dayanna Guerrero: Well it perfectly described it, as long as it does that.

DJ Eco & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

DJ Eco: They get the point (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: On your Facebook you recently asked fans with help breaking 19,000 Likes and just a few hours before your set, you did just that. Those new fans can expect a different kind of fan page as you’re very candid in your posts, posting conversations with your manager as well as responding to a lot of the comments you receive. Why do you feel the need to be so involved with your followers?

DJ Eco: For me the point of viral, sort of social media, is to be social so I’m not too big of an artist. I don’t think I’ve turned into a business yet, which a lot of these Facebook and twitter accounts are, which is selling it and selling music – selling this link, buy this video. So I think as long as I have the means and the times to be able to talk to people that go out of their way to support my music, I like to keep in touch with them. I do that when I can.

Dayanna Guerrero: It’s nice, don’t change!

DJ Eco & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: You’re an up and comer to the electronic dance music scene and yet your work is already being supported by the likes of Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten and so many more. What does it feel to have the backing of such big artists and what was it like to play A State of Trance 550 here in Miami?

DJ Eco: It’s all been amazing, I put out my first tunes on an underground German label and they were all supported right off the bat from Armin. He made it tune of the week and he’s just been supportive since day one and it’s meant a lot, the whole support of Armin and Armada Music all together has pretty much made my career what it is and where it’s going. So they’ve definitely been, you know Ferry Corsten and all these DJ’s play your music, it’s definitely going to shape your career in some way and for me it’s been really exciting.

Dayanna Guerrero: You recently announced that you finished revamping “A Million Sounds, A Thousand Smiles“, which is the song you submitted for the anthem for A State of Trance 550. When can we expect it to be released?

DJ Eco: That’s a good question; a lot of people have been asking me. I think when things die down at Armada as far as the busyness of A State of Trance where going to get a better answer for everybody. If you hear the recorded version of the set you’ll be able to hear it. That’s a sneak peak for everybody until it’s released.

Dayanna Guerrero: How did the crowd respond to it?

DJ Eco: It was awesome! I mean, I kept the melodies intact and a lot of the sounds intact, just kind of revamped it a little bit, added some new bass. Kind of elevated energy from where it was and I think everyone responded really well, it was a lot of fun to play.

Dayanna Guerrero: What can the eyes and ears of the music world expect to see from you for the rest of 2012?

DJ Eco: I’ve been working on a lot of new tracks, trying to bring a little bit of a faster and edgier sound, something more energetic while still keeping that melodic basis for where my tracks are coming from. I’m working on a compilation album, so I’m putting a few of my tracks on there and also scouting out some young talents that I’ve been hearing their stuff, really exciting stuff. I’m trying to put them in that compilation and putting a nice package together for everybody, similar style.

Dayanna Guerrero: Sounds awesome!

DJ Eco: We’ll see, we’ll see. It’s a lot of work ahead.

Dayanna Guerrero: I’m sure it will be worth it.

DJ Eco: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: Well, thank you so much for meeting with us and we look forward to seeing where your career takes you.

DJ Eco: Thank you for having me.

For more information on DJ Eco, check out DJ Eco’s Official Website , visit the DJ Eco Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following DJ Eco on Twitter.

Tritonal Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re here with Chad and Dave, or more commonly known as Tritonal, the duo that went from newcomers to one of the top names in EDM in just a few short years, they’ve even hit #83 on DJ Mag’s top 100!

First of all guys, its only March and you’ve already had enough accomplishments to deem it a successful year. Now, many of the tracks on your album “Piercing the Quiet” have been featured on some of the top 20 charts. But in your perspective, how do you measure success whether it’s with the album, touring, or etc.?

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): I think you kind of said it, it’s all of them and it’s not just one of them. I think one of the misconceptions is that you think that you have a big track that you’re automatically big. You know Dave & I have been blessed to be able to have tracks that have not only gone up in the top 20, but we’re number #1 today in Beatport with “Can’t Keep It In” and that’s our fourth one from the album but that doesn’t make us as big as David Guetta. It takes time over the extent of a career to build your fan base. Like you’re saying, the touring, the charting of the tracks, the radio shows, the amount of time you put into building your fan base, the marketing, the p.r., it all goes into it. So we measure success I think by the reactions country to country when we show up to gigs and we see those fans show up to our gigs who are passionate about the tracks. That’s the real measure I think, its how many people are actually packing the club to pay to come see you play.

Dayanna Guerrero: Given the success of “Piercing the Quiet”, will we be seeing another album soon?

Dave Reed (Tritonal): Yeah down the line for sure but we have a lot of things going on in the studio. We’ve got new remixes, new originals and we’re finally going to start. I mean we just got through doing all the extended remixes and getting all of the club mixes. We’ve got Super8 & Tab, Stoneface & Terminal on a lot of the remixes for our album. We’re going to get that released and we’re going to really start working on some new original material.

Dayanna Guerrero: That’s awesome! When you’re not touring, playing gigs or working on new music, what is it that Tritonal does for fun?

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): Fun for me might not be fun for the normal. I love to work out, I love to run, I love to eat healthy and just hang out with my wife. You know, movies, chillin, cooking, stuff like that (normal activities). I think Dave & I’s down time is so previous because there’s so many airports & flights and countries and layovers and hotels that when we get time cook a good meal, get a good workout in, and wake up early and hit the studio, that is fun for me. It’s not like crazy partying stuff or anything like that but it’s more like just appreciating the downtime that we get. I think that for me that’s really for me what‘s fun.

Dave Reed (Tritonal): Yeah, I mean pretty much the same thing. I mean, our job is to host a party so when we have down time we’re not going to party.

Tritonal & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dave Reed (Tritonal): We’re either going to work on either some music or sit down in the studio, or for me I like to work on cars and have a little down time with my girlfriend. We go watch movies, we go relax, we do workout. I mean it’s all about just having a healthy balance so it’s really important.

Dayanna Guerrero: Your track with Jeza called “Can’t Keep it In” was just released and it only took a day for it to get to Beatport’s top 10 in trance and it just hit recently hit number 1. How did this collaboration come together and does the growing support and success of this track surprise you? or can you now assume that you have the Midas touch?

Chad Cisneros & Dave Reed (Tritonal): (Laughs)

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): We never assume that. I mean having a fourth #1 single from the album on Beatport is awesome. You know I attribute a lot of the success of it hitting that fast to the marketing campaign that we put behind it. We coupled a remix competition in conjunction with the track and everybody wanted to get their hands on “Lifted” you know? That’s a big part of it all the producers and bedroom DJ’s out there wanting to get their take on that track. It’s also just because now I think people have seen good songs in the past and maybe they want to get the ones that we’re doing in the future. So no, no we don’t ever think we have the Midas touch. In fact, it’s the opposite; we did a club mix of Sibicky and actually last night was the first time – we did this like three months ago Dave?

Dave Reed (Tritonal): Oh yeah.

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): And we weren’t happy with it but we re-listened to it again over the past couple of weeks ago and we were like you know this is pretty cool, let’s test it out at Space and it sounded awesome. If anything it’s the opposite, we’re insecure about our songs and we don’t think that they’re good enough a lot of the time and I think that’s why we work so hard on them, because we want them to be awesome and we’re never quite sure if they are.

Dayanna Guerrero: Through the remix contest, what do those who enter expect to get from it?

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): They get a full pack of fucking everything they could want right Dave?

Dave Reed (Tritonal): Yeah. They get Propellerhead Balance and Reason, a pair headphones – HDJ 2000, these are really nice so anyone who turns in a remix has a big chance.

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): And the second place winner actually gets flown to one of the big festivals that we’re going to play in the US, plus a one night’s hotel stay at like Electric Daisy Carnival or something like that. So a lot of people are actually saying second place is the better prize to get so I’m not quite sure but maybe we’ll let them choose or something like that.

Dayanna Guerrero: You will be playing alongside some other amazing artists like Above & Beyond, Alesso, W&W, to name a few at the Creamsfield 2012 Tour. How did this come about and do you still get star struck when you run into some of the bigger artists?

Dave Reed (Tritonal): Oh yeah we get star struck all the time.

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): We love those guys!

Dave Reed (Tritonal): The Creamsfield Tour, how did that come about? Zed contacted you.

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): Right, we’ve played Australia now three times, so this will be our fourth tour of Australia. Creamfields I think is just a culmination of us playing with some of those promoters and one of them getting a hold of the guys who does that tour over there and sort of putting us on the bill. So to play with Guetta and Above & Beyond & W&W and Alesso and all of these guys it’s going to be awesome. I think there’s five cities that we do and in between the one in Sydney (I think its Melbourne and Sydney), Dave and I jet off to Tasmania to do a little gig out there with all of the Tasmania devils.

Tritonal & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: I remember a few years back you were playing the smaller stages here at Ultra and everyone could tell that you poured your heart out, filling your sets with amazing energy. Fast forward to today, Tritonal is set to rock Ultra Music Festival this year at the A State of Trance 550 Stage alongside Armin van Buuren & many more artists with thousands in attendance. How do you think your energy level will be when you take to the main stage and how do you feel now that you’re just a little bit away from actually performing?

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): Oh man, so excited, A. B- When we started four years ago, the rooms weren’t packed. I mean sometimes when we were first getting our tracks out there were twenty people in the room, and we always said that we were going to play as energetic for a little club as we would for a big festival and I think playing today’s stage isn’t going to be any different than Friday night at Space. We’re going to rock it A, and B- we’re going to give them the energy that we always bring in every set regardless of how big it is. If there’s 300 people in the room, if there’s 50,000 people in the room. When we played EDC Vegas we probably brought the same energy level to Electric Daisy Carnival as we did in our India tour and there were only 150 people in the room. That’s what we try to do, give the fans the same experience regardless of where it is.

Dave Reed (Tritonal): It’s only fair because we want to give them the actual show no matter how small or how big.

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): Yeah, absolutely.

Dayanna Guerrero: So what does the future hold for Tritonal?

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): Hopefully some big fucking hits. Like we really want to do that right Dave?

Dave Reed (Tritonal): Mmhm.

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): More than anything. This year like Dave already talked about, after we finish the “Piercing the Quiet” album, we’re going to start focusing on some new originals, some collabs that we can’t talk about yet that are going to happen. But you know, just refining and honing in on the sound that we want to put out there and hopefully continuing to do well on tour.

Dayanna Guerrero: Well guys, thank you so much and we’ll keep a close eye on you. I wish you all of the best.

Chad Cisneros (Tritonal): Awesome.

Dave Reed (Tritonal): Thank you.

For more information on Tritonal, check out the Official Tritonal Website, visit the Tritonal Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following Tritonal on Twitter.

Be sure to also buy your copy of Tritonal’s latest album “Piercing the Quiet”.

tyDi Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re here with trance phenom, tyDi, whose about to perform for this Miami Music Week crowd in a few minutes. So tyDi, what can this packed crowd expect out of your set tonight?

tyDi: They can expect a few of my new tracks, new remixes actually. I’ve done a new remix for Emma Hewitt it’s called “Rewind” and there’s also a few remixes that people have done for my album “Shooting Stars”, which aren’t released and I’m going to be playing them tonight as well.

Dayanna Guerrero: You’ve had an amazing career so far, and you’ve set the expectations quite high for yourself year after year, what is it that keeps you going?

tyDi: Just music, I know that sounds pretty lame but I’ve always been obsessed with music from when I was fifteen. I just wanted to write better and better music, and playing music it’s a rush for me and that’s never changed, so it’s the same thing.

Dayanna Guerrero & tyDi: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: You were a part of A state of trance 550 in Kiev just recently, what was it like to perform in front of 12,000 thousand rabid fans?

tyDi: Amazing. Playing live shows to thousands of people is always a huge experience. I love playing club shows but when you’re up there with thousands and thousands it’s always out of this world. There’s energy, it’s crazy.

Dayanna Guerrero: You can’t describe it.

tyDi: You can’t describe it.

Dayanna Guerrero: You’re known for adding a unique twist to a song and an example of that can be seen on your recent song with Emma Hewitt who we will also be interviewing later on this week on this track entitled “Rewind”. Now you tweeted that you worked on it for 9 hours straight. Is this normal for you and if not, what was it about this song that kept you locked in the studio for so long?

tyDi: No its definitely normal for me actually. I probably actually shouldn’t have tweeted about it because it’s pretty standard of me to work nine hours straight. I actually flew over here from Washington, where I was working with BT in the studio for about 48 hours straight, maybe a few little gaps of sleep here and there. I actually have to give credit to the guy, I slept he didn’t. But yeah, I work hard.

Dayanna Guerrero: And it shows!

tyDi: Thank you.

Dayanna Guerrero: Now tyDi, you have launched your very own fashion line selling everything from t-shirts to tops. Have you ever considered selling underwear as well as possibly naming them “tyDi Whiteys”?

tyDi: Probably I’ll do female underwear with my name on it just so I can get a whole bunch of girls out there with my name in their pants. That’s what I want.

Dayanna Guerrero & tyDi: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: For those who don’t already know, you have a weekly mixshow called Global Soundsystem which we also syndicate. What can fans expect in the near future for the show and do you have anything special planned for Episode 150?

tyDi: Well the show every week is always different. Global Soundsystem is always my way of getting brand new music out to the fans around the world. The cool thing about the show is that I get to play music that I don’t get to play in the clubs because it’s not really about keeping people dancing or keeping the energy up, it’s more showcasing tracks that are brand new that I like. So that’s always going to be the case with Global Soundsystem and its naturally going to evolve because music evolves. Episode 150 I haven’t got planned yet but you just reminded me so maybe I should do something special huh?

Dayanna Guerrero: Maybe..

Dayanna Guerrero: So you’re set to hit the decks here at Club Rush momentarily, but before we send you off what can the world look forward to seeing from tyDi in 2012?

tyDi: Well this year I’m going to be releasing an album, a mix compilation “Global Soundsystem California” and it’s going to be very upfront tracks, a lot of them might be released, a lot of remixes people haven’t heard from me. That’s coming out in June I think on Armada and also I’m working on a new album so maybe you’ll hear some singles dropped from that later in the year.

Dayanna Guerrero: Oh interesting.

tyDi: Yeah.

Dayanna Guerrero: Thank you so much tyDi it was a pleasure to get to meet and talk with you!

tyDi: Thank you so much.

For more information on tyDi, check out the Official tyDi Website, visit the tyDi Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following tyDi on Twitter.

Betsie Larkin Interview:

Dayanna Guerrero: We’re here with Betsie Larkin who just finished a breath taking performance here at Club Rush in Miami. First of all Betsie, thank you for meeting with us.

Betsie Larkin: Thank you for doing the interview. This is great.

Dayanna Guerrero: No Problem! We’re here during Miami Music Week and surrounded by EDM fans from around the world. Do you feel that there is a difference from the Miami Music Week crowd as opposed to any other crowd you perform for around the world?

Betsie Larkin: I think I’m going to say that there is more of a similarity because every trance audience is always really different but I think the one that they’re most similar to is New York. They remind me of New York, the way that they interact with me when I’m performing and the way that we talk afterwards, it just reminds me of being at home a little bit. So I’m wondering if there aren’t a lot of people from New York down here in Miami for Music Conference.

Dayanna Guerrero: There probably is.

Betsie Larkin: I know that there at least a few because I know some of them.

Betsie Larkin & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Dayanna Guerrero: You recently collaborated with Ferry Corsten on the track “Not Coming Down” which is sure to become a future favorite and it was also voted #1 on Corsten’s Countdown. What has the response been like for it?

Betsie Larkin: It’s been really good. It’s kind of interesting because it’s not out as a single yet, it’s just out as the album. Ferry leaked a few songs before the album even came out and the response just started right away which is really exciting because “Not Coming Down” is not your standard trance track. It’s got like a big open break where it’s just me and, you know, the piano. It’s a really different tune so it’s nice to see that people are getting into it.

Dayanna Guerrero: Now you do more than just electronic dance music as we see in your new group “Silvermine”, can you tell us more about it?

Betsie Larkin: Silvermine – it’s really fun, it’s a really nice diversion. I do it together with a producer from South Africa, Chris Querido and he’s a multi-instrumentalist. The process is kind of similar to my trance collabs, he sends me sort of finished instrumentals and they just always get me right away. It’s an incredible, inspiring process, every time he sends me a song my jaw drops and I just get inspired and it’s so fun.

Dayanna Guerrero: Do you also write the lyrics for it?

Betsie Larkin: Oh yeah. So that’s Silvermine. It’s kind of like an indie pop sort of sound. We have a Facebook page – Silvermine music so if your readers want to go there and check it out, they can listen.

Dayanna Guerrero: Yeah we’ll link it

Dayanna Guerrero: You stated that with songwriting you sometimes spend an entire day on an idea then decide it’s mediocre, feel crappy, wake up at 2 am with another idea and you have to redo the whole thing. Does that ever happen when you’ve already recorded vocals on a track?

Betsie Larkin: (Laughs) No. If you count me recording demos, just like demo vocals, absolutely. I’ll record a demo, then I’ll listen back and I’ll be like, this is not up to par at all. In terms of going in and recording it, I always record in the studio, it’s just one of those funny things about me; I don’t do just home recordings. For all the things I release almost entirely I go into a studio. No, at that point I’m really happy with the tune and everyone is stoked about it.

Dayanna Guerrero: Does going into the studio as opposed to any other atmosphere really get you into the mood for whether its songwriting, or doing the vocals for a track?

Betsie Larkin: I really enjoy the studio but at that point the creative process is already done. At that point, I’m going into the vocal booth and I’m trying to remember what I wrote the song about and really get into that feeling and that can be tricky. It’s this thing called demoitis, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it.

Dayanna Guerrero: Demoitis?

Betsie Larkin & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Betsie Larkin: That is where you record the song and then fall in love with the demo. So I have to think about that but ultimately, I love the studio process. I have a great engineer and it’s really cool.

Dayanna Guerrero: We hear that you have been collaborating on vocals with another well-known artist. Can you reveal who it is yet and what has that experience been like?

Betsie Larkin: I’m trying to remember. I’ve always got a few irons on the fire so I’m guessing you got that from my twitter and because I have like the memory of a 90 year old, I don’t remember who I was referring to. Sorry.

Betsie Larkin & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Betsie Larkin: But even if, I probably couldn’t. I’m very respectful of other people’s release schedules and things like that because you don’t want your tracks to get leaked, it takes all the excitement out of it. You want to go “This is it!” and have everybody go crazy and if you leak too much early on I know trance fans hate that. Sorry guys.

Dayanna Guerrero: You have been invited to perform at A State of Trance 550 in Den Bosch, how does it feel to be part of such a monumental event?

Betsie Larkin: It’s really exciting; it’s definitely a huge honor. I have so much respect for all of the artists that perform at the A State of Trance events so getting to be there and be among them is really cool. I just have to add that I think it’s amazing that Armin is pointing out the importance of the vocalists even more so. I just think it’s a really awesome gesture and I appreciate that so much as well. So it’s a double fold, its being there on the female stage, with all the other female artists and then just being there and being a part of it. I’m super happy about it.

Dayanna Guerrero: Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that you can talk about?

Betsie Larkin: Let’s see, hmm… no, no.

Betsie Larkin & Dayanna Guerrero: (Laughs)

Betsie Larkin: Alright, I’ll tell you one thing because I don’t think he would mind. There’s a song on my album called “Toys” produced by Giuseppe Ottaviani and we’re going to be doing a special single release on Vandit for that. Giuseppe has done some really cool new things to the song so it’s not going to be exactly like the one on my album, it’s going to be all re-imagined, I’m excited about it, and we shot a music video, whole nine yards. So that’s actually early news, hopefully Giuseppe doesn’t get mad at me but it’s coming right up so it’s getting to be too late to hide it.

Dayanna Guerrero: Well thank you for taking the time to interview with us and we look forward to seeing your new projects!

Betsie Larkin: Thank you so much, thank you for being here.

For more information on Betsie Larkin, check out Betsie Larkin’s Official Website , visit the Betsie Larkin Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following Betsie Larkin on Twitter.

Be sure to also buy your copy of Betsie Larkin’s latest album “All We Have Is Now”.