Olmeca Tequila and Steve Aoki Launch electronic music talent

Do you have aspirations of becoming a superstar DJ? Want to play alongside stars like Fresh, Guetta, Euphonik, Avicci and Steve Aoki? Well here’s your chance. Olmeca Tequila and Aoki have teamed up to find 10 talented up and coming stars. They’ve launched the BE THE DJ School, in which if you’re selected as one of the ten winners, you’ll get a masterclass lesson by the American DJ.

 

All you need to do is download an exclusive edit of Aoki’s new track, “Come with Me” and give it your unique touch. It has been available on the Facebook app for quite some time now, but you’ve still got until the 26^th to get involved. Once the ten are selected by Aoki, they will jet off to Rotterdam in February for the masterclass, which includes mentoring and one-on-one coaching.

 

It gets even better. The person who shows the most promise and potential will be invited to be a resident in one of Ibiza’s clubs for the summer of 2013. Olmeca Brand Manager is Renzo Puccini says, “We are proud to invest in the next generation of electronic music coming out of South Africa. There is so much talent here and an international, well-supported initiative like this will definitely result in big opportunities for the ten DJ hopefuls. Every DJ dreams of playing in Ibiza, and this is the ultimate prize for the winner.”
Aoki says: “The Olmeca BE THE DJ School is an incredible opportunity for new DJs – I’m excited to see what raw, new talent is out there and can’t wait to see one of these guys launch their DJ career in the dance capital of the world next summer. I started making music when I was in college, so I’m really excited to have the opportunity to help young DJs pursue their dance music dreams with Olmeca Tequila.”
Cool huh? So if you have what it takes search for the BE THE DJ Facebook app and get on that ish. You could be attending a press conference in Cape Town as part of Aoki’s tour to SA in December.

 

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Help get Goldfish onto the list of DJ Mag’s Hot 100

Goldfish is one of SA’s most loved outfits. More than that they’re one of our biggest exports too. Dom and Dave have held a residency gig at Pacha, Ibiza for the last couple of years. They’ve played alongside some of the biggest dance names in the world too like mr D Guetta and Fredde le Grand. So it’s fitting that they make the list of DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJ Poll.

You can help get our boys featured on that list by CLICKING HERE. Let’s go!

Leona Lewis drops new single ‘Collide’

Pic: Guy Aroch

Leona Lewis is back. The ‘Bleeding Love‘ singer returns with her new single called ‘Collide’. The single is the first track off her yet to be named album, which is due out at the end of the year. It sees her breaking away from her signature ballad type sound, favouring a dance-pop anthem instead. There’s already a remix by Afrojack doing the rounds at the moment, which he has apparently spinning in the party capital of the world Ibiza.

Speaking about the track, the star said “I’m excited for people to see a different side to my music.  I’m a fan of so many different genres and styles. For me this song has all the great ingredients of a summer anthem.  I can’t wait for my fans to hear it and to share the rest of the album.” While her last album ‘Echo‘ might’ve hit the top spot in many territories around the globe, it was hardly as successful as her debut. Sophomore slump much? Well now that the lessons have been learned and she’s more comfortable in the industry (she really has no reason not to; beautiful and that voice damn!) I’m expecting magic from her new album. If the new single is anything to go by, we’re definitely in for something new and interesting. More on Leona’s new album to follow.

Leona Lewis online:

www.leonalewismusic.com
Twitter: @leonalewismusic

Get Busy Living with Goldfish

One of South Africa’s most talented and successful musical outfits, Goldfish are back, bigger and better with their new album called Get Busy Living. It’s the follow up to hugely successful Perceptions of Pacha. Now Dominic Peters and Dave Poole are back in SA for the summer, playing at gigs in around SA. Below you can find out more about the new offering and where you can catch them this festive season:

JVB: Hey guys, welcome back to SA. You’re once again chasing summer. Tell me a bit more about your time in Ibiza this year?

Goldfish: Ibiza was amazing as usual… It’s our 4th year in a row that we’ve been heading over there now and this year was the best so far. It was great to be there for the World Cup Final, we were playing on the beach at the Blue Marlin which is a Dutch-owned club…on a Spanish Island with a SA band playing…you couldn’t get a more appropriate combination. The vibe was amazing.

JVB: Besides Ibiza, you were being booked in other European cities and countries as well as other locations in the world. Name two of your favourite gigs this year each or both together.

Goldfish: We have had such an amazing year of shows it is almost hard to choose. Brazil was incredible, It’s our 6th time back there and everytime we come back the crowds are even crazier. Playing Pacha Sao Paulo for around 5000 people on their birthday was pretty mental. I think there were a few Saffa’s in the crowd on Holiday who I think had their minds blown at a huge crowd of Brazilians singing along to all our tunes…Dave and I are still picking out bits of glitter from our gear after that one. ( http://twitpic.com/2yi5do ) Amsterdam Dance Event was also incredible. We sold out one of Hollands most famous venues (Melkweg) in one week, so the promotor added another show, which promptly sold out even quicker! We’re super stoked with how all the hard work and touring is starting to pay off. http://twitpic.com/2yi1rt

JVB: Get Busy Living is the new album and the follow up to the hugely successful Perceptions of Pacha album. Was there a lot of pressure to produce something of a similar nature?

Goldfish: I think the Follow-up to Perceptions of Pacha was always going to be scrutinised by everyone no matter what we did, so we really made a conscious effort to just make the music we wanted to make instead of trying to make everyone else happy. Luckily that seems to have worked out as we have already had a couple of number #1′s with our first single Get Busy Living. But we are super proud of it, it’s like your kid

JVB: It’s still relatively new, but what has the response to the album been like up to now?

Goldfish: Amazing, thankfully! The interesting thing we have had from quite a few people is that it’s more a return to our roots in that the latter half of the album has more a journey type feel, and the songs grow on you in a different way. We try to make music that lasts… and with so much fizzy pop around I think people get a bit fatigued from all the autotune and MacMusic that gets shoved down our throats all the time.

JVB: The festive season is bound to be a busy one for you guys. What are some of the big things happening that your fans should know about?

Goldfish: We are doing our CD Launch this Friday at the Alex in Johannesburg, as well as being part of the awesome Sonic Summer Tour around South Africa in December along with Locnville, Die antwoord and Jax Panik.

Smirnoff launches the world’s first nightlife exchange project

What is the nightlife like in your country? Let me tell you in mine it’s fun, wild but I’ve nights I’ll never forget in other countries too. Ibiza is wild (obviously), London has a lot on offer and because of the efficient public transport system you don’t need to worry about partying too hard and then how you’re going to get home. Botswana surprised me a lot and as for Las Vegas? Well what can I say. This American city has some of the best clubs I have ever been to. The decor is incredible and the ambiance is spot on. In South Africa we have cool clubs, but the one thing we have to offer that a lot of other countries lack is the Djing talent. We’re spoiled for choice and I think the big boys inspire the up and coming stars, who are constantly being pushed to try new things, techniques all while making good quality music.

Now you’re probably wondering what brought this up; why on earth I’m rattling off about nightlife in our respective countries, so early on a Monday morning. Well there’s a method to my madness. The world’s leading vodka bran, Smirnoff has a new campaign on the go. It’s ‘The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project’. 14 counties will be participating in this campaign, in which ideas, elements and highlighted features will be shared among each other. All of the acquired elements and highlights will come together on the 27th November, when the world will swap nights and nightlife experiences.

How will this work? Well you are being encouraged to make your suggestions on the official Facebook group on anything you think is important to raise about your nightlife experience. The local expert in each country will note these. There will also be parties in and around those countries, in which suggestions will be placed in ‘crates’. Those will then be added to the Facebook suggestions and in October the participating countries will exchange crates. In South Africa, the two experts are no strangers to the nightlife scene. They’re of the FeU brand ie DJ Fresh and Euphonik. “It’s an honour to be asked to represent something as huge as The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project. In the last year or so I’ve had the privilege of travelling to Miami, London, Ibiza and New York and from what I’ve seen, South Africa has more to offer than the rest of the world anticipates and being part of the team responsible in exposing that is an amazing feeling.”

So a few things to note:
- Make yourself available for the party on the 27th of November. It’s going to be massive no doubt.
- Apart from South Africa, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Lebanon, Poland, Thailand, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia and Venezuela. Looking at the countries listed above, I would love to exchange a night with the Brazilians or the Argentineans. From what I saw during the world cup, we would be in for a massive night!
- Make your suggestions. As I said, with the caliber of djs we have in this country, that would be one of my highlights. Plus I’m sure there will be loads of prizes, possibly even trips to the respective nations going, so you could win big!

David Guetta feat Akon "Sexy Bitch" go behind the scenes

This is the follow up single to David Guetta‘s smash hit with Kelly Rowland, “When Love Takes Over”. Brilliant sound, the video production looks pretty cool too. Can’t wait for the full video and of course the album, “One Love” due out next Monday.

Here’s the tracklisting:

01. When Love Takes Over feat. Kelly Rowland
02. Gettin’ Over feat. Chris Willis
03. Sexy Bitch feat. Akon
04. Memories feat. Kid Cudi
05. Missing You feat. Novel
06. It’s The Way You Love Me feat. Kelly Rowland
07. Choose feat. Ne-Yo and Kelly Rowland
08. On The Dancefloor feat. will.i.am and apl.de.ap
09. I Gotta Feeling (David Guetta FMIF remix edit)
10. One Love feat. Estelle
11. Sound Of Letting Go feat. Chris Willis
12. I Wanna Go Crazy feat. will.i.am

This is going to be a must have for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere… a banger for Summer, and for those of you up north, the album is bound to keep you warm. Can’t wait!

A must-have club classics CD

I would love to go back to Ibiza, Spain. What a wild, wonderful and absolutely wicked place. I was lucky enough to go to Pacha too, which is probably the best club I have ever been to. Seriously. Now in celebration of the club comes Pacha Classics CD mixed by Paul Taylor. It’s set to be released on the 6th of April, no word on when it will be available in South Africa, but I’ll do some research and let y’all know.