Insiders: Soulwax Pete Tong 2ManyDJs James Lavelle Luciano Rob Da Bank The Whip Late of the Pier
On 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 premier 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.
“This is an exciting and groundbreaking opportunity for the business of electronic music…” - Pete Tong
With only a handful of artists breaking through into the “big time” in America, it dawned on Pete 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 worlds most instrumental voices in exposing and developing electronic music globally “this event brings some of the worlds most cutting edge dj’s 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.
Tickets for Insiders go onsale noon Friday Sept 12 through all Ticketmaster locations, The Irving Plaza box office, and at www.livenation.com.
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 dancefloor, tent, field or soundsystem 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 & critically acclaimed) remixes for other people and perform them all live as well, the production side of their outfit and their krautrock side-project pretty much lays them on the couch for deep psychological analysis. And now theres the movie!!! “Part of the Weekend Never Dies” 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; It’s quite clear, Soulwax are officially very confused workaholics!
www.myspace.com/soulwax
Pete Tong
As a DJ, Pete has graced the decks of the best clubs and festivals worldwide. Pete has hosted the number one radio show in the world for electronic dance music. Pete also hosts the essential mix responsibel for showcaseing 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 forecoming Gas Face a colabroation with Dave Spoon. Remix-wise he has had a busy summer remixiing , Underworld, The Verve, Madonna, and Seal. After 6 years hosting is night at Pure Pacha in Ibiza he launched his new venture this summer Wonderland at Eden. Pete has a also hosts a hugely successful weekly online TV show Fast Tracks www.fasttracks.tv. And as an icon, Tong was the inspiration behind the film “It’s All Gone Pete Tong”. The ever-active Pete 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.
www.myspace.com/petetong
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. James 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.
www.myspace.com/djjameslavelle
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 dancefloor.
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.
www.myspace.com/luciennluciano
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 1970’s 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, Rob was asked to host the Thursday spot, under the banner of One Music. In September 2006, Rob embarked on a new role with the Rob da Bank Show on Sundays, officially tagged as Radio 1’s Leftfield Show.
www.myspace.com/robdabank
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 dancefloors, 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 bandmember Bruce: “There’s an intensity, an industrial vibe to the city, that definitely rubs off on the music.”
www.myspace.com/thewhipmanchester
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 dancefloor, 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”.
www.myspace.com/lateofthepier
