posted September 15, 2008
TweetOn October 24th during New York City's CMJ Music Festival, UK DJ extraordinaire, forward thinker and BBC's very own Pete Tong will be teaming up with Live Nation and launching the premiere of a new music platform; the Insiders Music Series. "INSIDERS brings together an exciting combination of the hottest electronic artists and dj's for one extended night in the legendary Irving Plaza venue. A cutting edge 'micro' festival in the city," explains Tong, who aims to showcase some of the worlds biggest and burgeoning electronic acts from all over the world, all under one roof and for one night only this October at New York's historical Irving Plaza.
With only a handful of artists breaking through into the "big time" in America, it dawned on Tong that with a little help from his friends and associates in the music business, they could join forces with a mainstream heavy weight promoter such as Live Nation and bring together the worlds best electronic and indie acts of our time. "I am excited to collaborate with Pete who has had unprecedented success and remains one of the celebrated architects of modern electronic music. We each bring a unique yet complimentary perspective that will not only set this event apart from all others but lay the foundation for several years to come," states Live Nation New York Senior V.P. Jason Miller who jumped at the opportunity to work in conjunction with one of the world's most instrumental voices in exposing and developing electronic music globally.
"This event brings some of the worlds most cutting edge DJs together with outstanding live artistry," Miller continues.
The goal is to highlight and celebrate a cross pollination of genres, all somewhat considered left-of-center but each possessing the potential to gain mass appeal in the mainstream arena - Insiders is destined to provide a jam packed, quality festivalé of fun and music, redefining the future of electronic music. William Morris Electronic brokered the deal.
Soulwax + 2ManyDJs
There is something wonderfully odd about Soulwax, a schizophrenic ball of
ideas and sound, constantly evolving into new shapes, complications and
identities. Then there is 2Manydjs: The quiet, thoughtful and pensive
Dewaele brothers who morph into marauding puppet-masters that can
manipulate and court exultation amongst any dance floor, tent, field or
sound system anywhere in the world. Then to just confuse it all further
Nite Versions saw them remixing themselves in a nod to the Human Leagues
'Love + Dancing' set. Then to follow that by compiling an album of their
own (much loved and critically acclaimed) remixes for other people and
perform them all live as well, the production side of their outfit and
their kraut rock side-project pretty much lays them on the couch for deep
psychological analysis. And now there's the movie. "Part of the Weekend
Never Dies" is a documentary about Radio Soulwax, a concept that has
toured for the past three years to showcase the talents of four Belgians
(Soulwax), recorded over 120 shows with one camera in Europe, Japan, US,
Latin America and Australia with acclaimed young director Saam
Farahmand.
Pete Tong
As a DJ, Tong has graced the decks of the best clubs and festivals
worldwide. Tong has hosted the number one radio show in the world for
electronic dance music. Tong also hosts the essential mix responsible for
showcasing and breaking so many electronic artists. As a producer he has
assembled the music for movie soundtracks such as The Beach, Human
Traffic, 24 Hour Party People, Beyond the Rave and has produced his own
material under various guises including the forthcoming Gas Face a
collaboration with Dave Spoon. Remix-wise he has had a busy summer
remixing Underworld, The Verve, Madonna, and Seal. After six years hosting
is night at Pure Pacha in Ibiza he launched his new venture this summer
Wonderland at Eden. Tong has a also hosts a hugely successful weekly
online TV show Fast Tracks. And as
an icon, Tong was the inspiration behind the film "It's All Gone Pete
Tong." The ever-active Tong still sees his vocation as he did when he
started out, playing other people's records to get an audience dancing.
"We need to constantly remember why people want to come to clubs - which
is simply to have a great time and feel the music." With Tong behind the
decks, there's little worry of failure on that score.
James Lavelle
Described once as the Hunter S. Thompson of DJs, James Lavelle's career
has spanned the last 20 years and he remains as individual a figure in
contemporary music as he was as a teenager, when he first gate-crashed his
way in with the genre-shattering MoWax records. Lavelle now divides his
time between his internationally-renowned DJ career, his UNKLE act with
production partner Pablo Clement and a new independent set-up: Surrender-
All, which combines music, fashion and art.
Luciano
Touring the world as DJ and a live act, Luciano has released on labels
such as Perlon, Klang, Transmat, Mental Groove, Max Ernst, Bruchstuecke
and Peacefrog - not to forget Cadenza, his own label. His project name
Lucien-N-Luciano is used to portray the slower downbeat productions while
the productions under his own name Luciano are aimed towards pleasure on
the dance floor. Luciano's music is widely appreciated because of its
graceful melodies, love for detail and colorful patterns merging into an
amazing rhythm one can enjoy at home or in a club. Rhythms rise and fall
like a gentile tide of bubbly ocean, big string arrangements spread across
vast expanses of air, while a micro burst of sound pop out from under the
smooth, texturized grooves.
Rob da Bank
Rob da Bank has worked in music since the early '90s, making his name with
Sunday Best Recordings, his various BBC Radio 1 shows and more recently,
is the founder of UK's finest Bestival. Today you can find him juggling
all three things once. Born in the mid-1970s when love was free and the
sun never shone, Rob da Bank was always destined to escape the grimy
confines of Southampton and get lost in music somewhere and so he did. In
2004 he was famously asked by BBC Radio 1 to fill in for the sadly
departed John Peel, for three nights a week on Radio 1. When the BBC
station unveiled their new strategy for replacing John Peel's weekly
shows, Bank was asked to host the Thursday spot, under the banner of One
Music. In September 2006, Bank embarked on a new role with the Rob da Bank
Show on Sundays, officially tagged as Radio 1's Leftfield Show.
The Whip
"It's a celebration of freedom. Forgetting about shit, going out, having a
good time. A lot of the lyrics are about struggling towards that freedom."
And it is a struggle. Cathartic anthems, that induce chaos on the dance
floors, but there's nothing dumb or sappy about these guys. There's no
upbeat rhetoric. Instead, they brim with a very 21st century sense of
frustration and alienation. It's a Manchester thing, reckons band member
Bruce: "There's an intensity, an industrial vibe to the city, that
definitely rubs off on the music."
Late of the Pier
All just into their twenties and comprising Sam (vocals, guitar), Ross
(drums, percussion, believer), Faley (bass) and Potter (synths, sampler),
formed somewhere in the mists of 2005, inspired by underage trips to
Nottingham's Liars Club where all four band members would often be found
on the dance floor. It was here that they would often absorb the wide
spectrum of sounds provided by DJs such as Erol Alkan and DJ Hell. After
self-producing their EP "Space And The Woods" came out in March 2007. It
sold out of a limited run of 500 7" vinyl copies within days, receiving
plaudits of critics and fans alike. It also caught the ear of one Erol
Alkan, who quickly agreed to produce the band's next single, then most
recently their debut album "Fantasy Black Channel."