01.14.10 Episode 16
Glenn Morrison is a true global music citizen, who is as comfortable tweaking the controls in the studio, as pushing the emotional envelope with an audience of thousands. Because, or perhaps despite, being a teenage classical piano competition winner (CMC, Kiwanis Music Festival, & ORMTA if you’re asking), he manages to combine his skill as a DJ with the craft of writer and producer. Despite an almost overwhelming workload of extensive touring in all manner of locations, from the small and uber-exclusive world of private yachts, oceanic house parties and secret desert gatherings to mindblowingly huge events with over 70,000 hyped-up fans in stadiums and all the amazing club venues in-between, Glenn still finds the time to remix for an illustrious range of artists - Pet Shop Boys, Craig Armstrong, the B52’s, and Bernard Sumner (from New Order). Most importantly, he is as enthralled by dance music in all it’s emotional glory as he was when the needle dropped and the beats fired-up on his first slice of vinyl.
12.10.09 Episode 15
There are DJs who can rock a party, a club, a festival. And there are acts that can write songs that will bring out the goose bumps in you. But there’s only one group that can do both: Above & Beyond. This three piece have remixed Madonna, won Essential Mix of the Year, and played to one million people in Rio de Janeiro. More importantly they’ve written songs with the power and the melody to en-trance that one million-strong crowd, many of who were singing along, word for word.
Above & Beyond make music, pure and simple. That music happens to be electronic. And it connects. “We’re a group,” says Above & Beyond founder Tony McGuinness. “And what we’re trying to do is exactly do that, connect with people. You try and describe something in your own life, but in a way that will resonate with other people. When you see people singing along as passionately as they do, I guess you’re getting it right.” This makes Above & Beyond unique, not just in trance, but in popular music as well. “We like to think of ourselves as songwriters first,” says Paavo Siljamaki, who with Jono Grant makes up the trio. “That’s our approach to music. The most challenging thing is to write a song that really touches the listener.”
11.12.09 Episode 14
Many moons have passed since our silver soldier first exploded onto the scene. Traversing the globe with his trusty laptop in tow, the roving Ramirez has dispensed his razor sharp productions to unassuming dancefloors with the precision of first class marksman. Whether he’s hidden behind devilish disguises such as The Lisa Marie Experience, Cordial, Finger Fest and Rambo, or performed as the man you know best as D Ramirez, Dean Marriot has achieved more than an entire legion of lesser DJs.
D. Ramirez has achieved five top 20 hits, played on every continent and single handedly coined THAT electrohouse sound. He was awarded Best Remix and Best Producer in DJ Magazine’s 2007 awards and 2006 saw him knighted as a Player Of The Year in iDJ. His remix of Bodyrox ‘Yeah Yeah’ scored him an Ivor Novello nomination while past exploits such as ‘Columbian Soul’, ‘Time Fades Away’, ‘Pleasure Me’ and ‘La Discotek’ have all achieved coveted Coolcuts and Buzz chart hotspots, championed by some of the biggest DJs in game. Hell, our hero’s even performed on Top Of Pops.
10.08.09 Episode 13
The embodiment of the modern DJ, Mark Knight’s legacy already ranks him as a leading player in dance music culture’s evolution into the digital and globalised age. His high octane sets, which treble and bass their way right across the dance music spectrum, have caused dance floor carnage in every corner of the world, whilst his original productions and slick remixes make his studio skills the most in-demand and sought after in the business. Mark Knight’s rise to number 42 in the DJ Mag Top 100 Poll (2008) has been more than just gigs and remixes. Not content with the status quo and outdated DJ ideas and methods, he created his own workshop for 21st century dance musicians, Toolroom Records, and with it a new way of thinking. Established in 2004, the Toolroom imprint has developed into an uncontrollable beast, forging an insatiable, genre busting sound, celebrating success as the biggest selling label on Beatport and reaching the milestone of 100 releases in 2009 with none other than Faithless as new label artists. All this on the back of 2008’s record breaking, award winning anthem ‘Man with the Red Face’, a remake, with label buddy Funkagenda, of the Laurent Garnier classic.
9.10.09 Episode 12
Born in Buenos Aires, Hernan grew up listening to bands like Simply Red, Level 42, Depeche Mode and New Order whilst carefully studying Billboard magazine, the only source of information that was readily available at the time. In 1987, one of his frends visited Vinylmania in New York and returned with some vinyl- Hernan's first exposure to Chicago House. In that moment, Frankie Knuckles, who should have a huge influence on Hernan and his blossoming career, broke into the scene and quickly became an icon of the incipient house genre. The way Frankie Knuckles and artists like Inner City and Derrick May brought together the energy of european electronic music with the soul of North American music left an impact on Hernan and set the tracks for his career. His elemental understanding of dance music might be the reason why he could firmly position himself amongst the most respected DJ's of the world
