Tag Archives: Ministry of Sound

The Master of Bass – Bassnectar [SAMF Artist Spotlight]

by EDM, Heavy • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Who: Lorin Ashton

Born: February 19, 1977 (He is 36, duh.)

Origin: San Francisco, California

Resides: Santa Cruz, California

Genres: “Freestyle Amorphous Music” – including but not limited to: Breakbreat, Dubstep, Glitch, Trap, Drum and Bass

Influences: Most Notably: Nirvana & Metallica. Others: NWA, Simon and Garfunkel, The Cure, The Field of Dreams Soundtrack, Sibilant, Metal Spark, Cannibal Corpse, Frank Zappa, The Who, REM, Salt N Peppa, Run DMC, Led Zeppelin, Mozart and Beethoven. Basically, everything.

Lorin claims that “Bassnectar is an amalgamation of every sound I’ve every heard, mixed with wicked basslines…”

Labels: Amorphous Music, Om Records, Ultra Records, Ministry of Sound

Upcoming Shows: The Quebec City Summer Festival, Camp Bisco, Hard Summer, Bumbershoot, Electric Zoo, Voodoo Festival, Mountain Oasis, Breakaway Music Festival

SAMF Info: Saturday | 9:45-11:00 | Da Main Stage 1

The title of this post is no lie. I don’t even have to see Lorin’s set to know that it will be one of the best. If your looking to make a few memories this summer in the Chi, Bassnectar is your man. Mr. Ashton is notorious for putting on a one-of-a-kind live show, with the lasers to back it up.  This man has the uncanny ability to morph any genre of music, and we mean any, into his signature sound “Freestyle Amorphous Music.”

So what exactly is that you ask? Well, it’s a bit tricky to explain. Bassnectar is positively giant, we are sure many of you have heard some of his jams. And if you haven’t, tisk tisk. Just rock out on some of his sounds below. I’m sure you’ll get the big picture.

Lorin Ashton started his musical career playing session bass for an American death metal group by the name of Exhumed. Shortly after, his musical path diverged after becoming enthralled with the 90’s rave scene. He felt an overwhelming sense of comfort and welcome by this new establishment, which led to the coagulation of his latter style as well as his most current electronic vibe. We thank God everyday that this happened. What if there was no Bassnectar? All of us EDM hummingbirds would go wanting. We need that sweet juice that Lorin secretes in the form of mind altering, earth shattering bass music.

Since the switch, a plethora of fame and fortune have come Bassnectar’s way. In 2012, Lorin Ashton sold over 250,000 tickets! And that is not including festival ticket sales (where he is usually headlining at). He has recorded 9 full-length studio albums to date and released over 35 singles, EP’s and mixtapes. In our opinion, Bassnectar works harder than almost every producer in the game, with maybe a few exceptions. His repertoire does not lie and very soon you will have the chance to see what all this hype is really about.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s get ready. All praise to The Master of Bass: Lorin Ashton.

See you there…

Chicago’s Very Own EDM Festival: Porter Robinson [SAMF Artist Spotlight]

by EDM, Happy, Heavy • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Born: July 15, 1992 (Wow, we feel old)
From: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Genres: Electro and Progressive House, Dubstep, Complextro
Labels: Anjunabeats/Ministry of Sound, Big Beat Records, Big Fish Recordings
Upcoming Shows:  Bonnaroo, Creamfields, Mysteryland, Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, NYC, and London), Wireless Festival, Global Gathering, TomorrowWorld, and Fuji Rock Festival.
Spring Awakening Music Festival Info: Sunday (June 16), 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM on Da Main Stage 1.

Porter RobinsonPorter Robinson landed at #40 on DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs List for 2012. Robinson is currently working on his new album, with the release date yet to be determined.

He began producing at the age of 13, using Sony ACID Pro and creating songs based on different video game sounds inspired by games like Dance Dance Revolution. Nowadays, his DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) of choice is FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops) as well as plugins like Sylenth1, Massive, 3xOsc, and Sytrus. For those readers out there that have no idea what any of the previous sentence means, a DAW is an electronic system designed to record, edit, and play back digital audio through a software program running on a computer using an audio interface hardware.

Producers choose their systems for many different reasons based on past experience, artistic creativity, touring feasibility, and general preference based on what kind of music each artist is trying to produce.

It takes years for an artist to craft an identifiable sound of their own. It’s the breaking point for anyone trying to produce music, and it’s virtually the only way to make it in such a demanding and expanding career. So take it from Porter: if your music is good, people will listen, and only want more.

And if they don’t, maybe it’s time to head back to the drawing board. If you need proof, check out this 20 minute documentary profiling Porter, Mat Zo, and The M Machine on their latest North American tour. If this doesn’t inspire you, then maybe you’re not in the right field after all.

Or maybe you should’ve just stuck to becoming an astronaut.

Sounds like Pryda, Looks Like Fehrplay: ‘Phantom’ [HAPPY] [Pryda Friends]

by EDM, Happy • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jonas von der Fehr has had quite the start to his 2013 campaign. Since bursting onto the scene back in early 2009 on Ministry of Sound, the man we know as Fehrplay has been killing it in the studio and in venues across the world. His sound continues to progress into a unique genre that can best be described as melodically epic, funky, progressive house?

Is anyone else sick of trying to differentiate between genres?  It’s starting to get a bit ridiculous.

Everybody knows that the best artists aren’t construed to one specific type of EDM. Their sound generates its own genre. People like Skrillex, Deadmau5, Zedd, Eric Prydz, Armin Van Buuren, Madeon, Flux Pavilion.

Fehrplay could soon join that list.

In 2012, the 24-year-old  signed on to Eric Prydz’s legendary label, Pryda Friends. His decision to join such a prestigious and world-renowned team has elevated his career to unseen heights, and next to some of the biggest names in EDM. Hits like ‘Incognito‘, ‘Nightride‘, and his recent remix of Eric Prydz ‘Every Day‘ have allowed him to play at some of the biggest venues across the globe, including the upcoming Wavefront Music Festival in Chicago, IL.

His latest single, ‘Phantom‘, premiered live on Pete Tong’s legendary BBC Radio 1 show earlier this month. One thing is for certain: this will be a huge year for Fehrplay.

Don’t be surprised when Norway’s finest takes Pryda Friends back where they belong: at the top of the progressive house charts.