Shakti Collective is proud to present a long-awaited, one of a kind party. This is a special Tribal Vision Record’s label event. Couple of Tribal Vision’s hottest names and acts will present you their latest wonders. Coming from different backgrounds and directions in life, these acts will bring a blend of various genres and sound influences. This event will also be a celebration of Toronto’s promising producer’s, Aerodroemme, feature release on Tribal Vision Records.

The Menu:

BRISKER & MAGITMAN
/Tribal Vision Records, ISRAEL/ *Live Set+DJ Set*
http://www.myspace.com/briskerandmagitman

One of the global dance scene’s biggest surprises of the last 18 months comes in the form of the absolute dancefloor devastation brought about by the Israeli progressive duo, Brisker and Magitman.
In every corner of the globe, this versatile pair have impacted the very direction of dance music, with earthshaking productions influenced by breaks, house, trance and progressive, and support from a virtual “who’s who” of the DJ elite.
Since their first release in 2006, Magitman Igal and Brisker Roman have had countless releases and remixes, appearing on such influential and stalwart labels as Baroque, AVA, Audiotherapy, SOG, Babylon, Method, Twisted Frequency and Dissident.
Their music has been sought out by Sony for use in in Playstation games, and by Hernan Cattaneo for inclusion on his Renaissance Compilation, “Sequential”.
As their music has spread around the globe, so has the demand for their own dynamic and energetic DJ performances; the lads have already logged tens of thousands of miles in the air and played some of the world’s best events and clubs in locations from Hong Kong to Brazil and everywhere in between and released their first mix-comp,entitled “Inception”.
With their momentum building to a fever pitch, 2008 looks set to be the year that the rest of the world discovers Brisker and Magitman, cementing their place among the best the world has to offer.
Spring will see the release of their first full-length artist album, along with numerous EP, single releases and remixes.
Even more intense touring is sure to follow, with a first North American jaunt already in the works, as well as return visits to East Asia, Europe and South America.
If you hear a big sound booming from a pair of decks anywhere in the world, rest assured that the progressive duo from Israel was somewhere in the mix. And if you are fortunate enough, it will be Brisker and Magitman themselves behind those decks, giving new intensity to the term “Peak Hour”. Stay tuned- Brisker and Magitman are on the move.

SLATER
/Tribal Vision Records, CZECH REPUBLIC/ *DJ Set*
http://www.djslater.net

Michal Smetana aka DJ Slater is head manager and A&R of internationally well-known electronic music label Tribal Vision Records and at the same time one of the most renowned Czech DJs abroad. His carrier started in the late 90′s, during the big boom of dance music in Prague. During the last decade he has performed at countless parties and festivals across the globe, held in almost all the European countries from Portugal to Russia, Sweden to Greece and everywhere in between as well as oversea locations such as Japan, Brazil, Canada, Australia, China, Mexico, Israel, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia or Chile. You might have already heard his sets at huge international festivals such as Glade (UK), Fusion (DE), Ozora (HU), Voov Experience / VuuV (DE), Soulclipse (TR), Sonica (IT), Virada Cultural (BRA), Antaris Project (DE), Akasha (AUS), Antiworld (UK), Saucy (MEX), Spirit Base (AT), Atmosphere (CH), Sundance (MEX), Enigma (BRA), Moisture Trance Steamer (MEX) or Fullmoon (DE) as well as the prestigious clubs in Shanghai, Tokyo, London, Tel Aviv, Paris, Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Berlin, Moscow and many other places. These days, DJ Slater is playing a unique fusion of progressive and techno, always including a lot of fresh new stuff label related artists.

Slater has already compiled more than fifteen CDs for various labels around the world and as a creative director of the label he is to be found behind the album releases of artists such as Vibrasphere, Jaia, Brisker & Magitman, Peter Gun, Tegma, Duca, AstroNivo or Fitalic and countless singles and EPs. Besides that, Slater is constantly promoting electronic music in the Czech Republic and co-organizing parties, festivals and label nights. Recently he has been also releasing his own production while several new tracks and remixes are scheduled for the near future.

AERODROEMME
/Tribal Vision, Balkan Connection, Baroque, CANADA/ *Live Set*
http://www.myspace.com/aerodromme

Aerodrömme, a vibrant fresh Canadian act, was created by Boris “Shankar” Kurtzman and Steve Chan. The two members share strong passion for music. Steve Chan comes from a Hard-Trance/Full On Psy world, with his experimental project Nexus 7; while Boris Shankar arrives from a Progressive/Techno scene as a successful DJ for Tribal Vision Records. With releases on Tribal Vision Records, Spiral Trax, Plusquam Division, Blue Tunes, and Balkan Connection, Aerodrömme has emerged as one of the most promising names in the Progressive Techno circuit. Their style is an effective blend of progressive house and minimal techno with a hint of electro, all tuned and tweaked for maximum dance floor response. Within a year of its existence, Aerodrömme has received support from heavyweights such as Wehbba, Perfect Stranger, Re-Zone (Toolroom Records), Astronivo, Duca, John Deere, Mapusa Mapusa, just to name a few. Aerodrömme’s upcoming releases on Baroque, Tribal Vision and Desert Trax are promising to be solid hits of the spring and summer seasons. Please tighten your seatbelts, as the jet is about to take off!

Plan B
/Shakti Collective, CANADA/ *DJ Set*

Deco by:

Tomasz Ciesla
/Toronto/

VJ:

Scott Guy
/Toronto/

Waterfalls Indian Tapas
303 Augusta Ave, Toronto ON

Admission: $25 @ the door

11pm-6:30am
19+ ROAR

http://www.shakticollective.ca
http://www.tribalvision.cz

Facebook invite!

Recently I was interviewed by @muxxex for BeginnerDJ, a great resource for aspiring DJs and newcomers to electronic music. Most of the focus is on DJing but I also share a few words about Ektoplazm. Find the full interview at BeginnerDJ or continue reading:

What made you become a DJ?

It all started by accident. Back in my teenage years most of my friends were swept up in the burgeoning rave moment in Toronto. Buying turntables and learning how to DJ was a participatory aspect of this subculture. I had no real interest in it at first but my friends coaxed me into messing around with the decks at various house parties. Soon I was accompanying them on record buying missions downtown and, once I landed my first real job, I began to amass my own record collection.

I didn’t want to become a DJ and play parties or anything–it was only when the music turned minimal around Y2K that I decided to get halfway serious about it. Even then, it was only to play some of the more colourful and melodic music [old school Goa trance] that I found poorly represented at parties in those days. Before I knew it I was DJing fairly regularly and, with every passing year, I went deeper into it.

Where has DJing taken you?

It has been a wild ride at times but only in the last 3 years have I really begun to travel. I’ve made a lot of really great connections in different parts of North America, particularly in British Columbia. This year I expect I will be playing out even more with many festival bookings this coming summer. Last season most of my bookings were for smaller grassroots festivals, perhaps because I am generally aligned with free music and the Creative Commons. And this is fine by me; I really enjoy visiting new communities and seeing within them echoes of other pockets of this scene. Tribal dance culture is more connected than it knows!

What is your favourite memory from all this?

It’s really hard to say as there are so many different experiences that I have had. Certainly I am quite proud of the success of my web site but this is less a memory and more a diffuse sense of general satisfaction and contentedness. I suppose that playing Eclipse last year would qualify as a highlight. Even though it was very early on in the festival there is nothing like playing on such a big sound system and pulling off a really good set. And, further back, I have a very fond memory of playing a night set at an outdoor bush party [Lost Focus Retrieval Project] under a meteor shower on the Niagara Escarpment.

What kind of equipment do you use?

I’ve been playing on CD decks for five years now but hope to transition to laptop DJing soon [and have done so since this interview was done]. CDs are very reliable (when you know how to burn them right, anyway) but creatively limiting compared to what you can now do with software and a controller.

What is your favourite genre to spin?

These days I am really into cutting edge techno on the borderlands of psytrance, minimal, tech house, and progressive. I’ve been playing psytrance for so many years that techno feels extremely revitalizing to me. So much psytrance is overproduced to the point where invasive mixing really detracts from the musical experience. At that point the role of the DJ is to choose tracks and otherwise let the music speak. It is more fun for me to spin techno. This is music you can rip apart and reassemble–moreso with the new creative tools DJs can use, but even with a regular CD or vinyl setup there is a lot of room to mess around. I might get back into psytrance eventually, but for now… [progressive] techno is what I am really into spinning. This is reflected in my new project, Drumlore, the techno netlabel I founded alongside DJ Lexicon.

Where do you think DJing is going?

The future is looking wide open: expensive equipment is no longer a barrier to entry, music is abundant and easily obtained, and all the formerly obscure technical details are readily available on the Internet. Anyone can become a DJ but it still takes a lot of work to be any good at it. For the pros, new software and technologies promise to blur the boundaries between DJing and live performance. Still, even with all this new technology it is important to remember that the point of DJing is to orchestrate meaningful musical experiences.

What advice would you give to a DJ just starting out?

Skip the physical media and jump straight into digital. Don’t forget to learn the basics–I hear too many new DJs playing tracks out of phase or straight-up trainwrecking without even noticing it. You can’t always rely on software to match tracks perfectly–you need to train your ears to tell the difference between a solid mix and one that is slightly (or even completely) off. Beyond that, be original. Don’t stick to the Beatport charts; that’s boring. Dig deep into music and hear what there is to discover. Blaze your own trail.

How do you find new music?

It has never been easier to find great new music but it does require a significant time investment. Think of it as doing your homework! For techno I regularly scan Beatport and Juno to see what my favourite artists and labels are up to. This accounts for the majority of my purchases but I also like to incorporate fresh material into my sets–and that means making new connections to unfamiliar labels and artists. The best way to accomplish this is to check out tunes listed in top tens or featured on mixes from names you already follow.

What is Ektoplazm and why did you start it?

Ektoplazm is a free music portal and netlabel family incorporating psytrance, techno, and downtempo channels. I started it up to provide artists with a professional alternative to the commercial music industry. It isn’t meant to replace the existing distribution system–I just wanted to give artists a choice. Over the years I have known far too many exceptional artists who have struggled to release their music simply because it did not have a particular bass line or BPM. The psytrance marketplace operates with such tight profit margins that most commercial labels have to be fairly risk-averse to survive–they develop a specific formula and stick to it over the years. End result: many artists making non-standard or unconventional music are shut out, and that isn’t right. I developed Ektoplazm to give these artists a voice. Of course, the site has grown to encompass a wide variety of artists–some of whom have genuine commercial potential–who feel that giving their music away for free is the way of the future.

What sort of response have you received from Ektoplazm?

It has been nothing short of fantastic, growing more each and every year. People really respond to the concept and it shows: Ektoplazm has become one of the top 10 psytrance sites in the world. My mission is to continue improving the quality of the offerings on the site–to raise the standard of free music and really demonstrate what is possible with this different mode of thinking.

What is the future of Ektoplazm?

The release schedule is already looking very busy for 2010 with several albums, EPs, and even a new compilation on the go [here I was referring to Dreamshadow which is now released]. I also have some ambitious new features planned but this will have to wait. After all, I am a full-time university student and Ektoplazm is just what I do in my spare time!

That about wraps it up! I edited a few things for clarity and interjected a few comments where appropriate. Things move fast around here–already I have moved on from CDs to a laptop setup for DJing!

If you found this interesting check out this interview I did with @digitalgeist for Auxiliary Magazine last year.

Find out more about my DJing on my profile or check out my Facebook page.