Let's Mix

The Promotion academy is Let’s mix’s own little school of hard knocks. Here you’ll learn how to succesfully spread your music and to avoid bumps in the road while building your own brand as a dj. Here, up and coming dj Dave Qri reveals some secrets.

Dave Qri began dj:ing in Maribor, Slovenia as a 16 year old, playing mostly minimal and tech house, but also incorporating afro beat into his sets. Since the Dave Qri mixes on Let’s mix have quickly received a lot of plays, we linked up with Dave to ask what his secret was.

Hey Dave. First of all, what’s the club scene like in Maribor where you’re from?

– Aaah, very diverse. Other regions favors one style and are mostly into the godfather of Slovenian techno music, Umek. But in Maribor the most famous dj is Valentino Kanzyani. I won’t go into details, only that this means that Maribor loves techno music. The national centre for nightlife is Ljubljana, though.

What music websites and forums do you visit and use regularly?

– Let’s mix is a good website and a nice community. I also use Residentadvisor.net, Ibiza-voice.com, Soundcloud.com and Play.fm. My webshops are Beatport and DJTunes, and then of course there’s Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

How do you use Let’s mix to interact with your followers?

– For promotion. I post my mixes here and then embed them on my profiles on social networks like Facebook and MySpace. I think the Let’s mix player is good for followers and listeners because you can check the time and name of songs which are playing in the mix. If a listener doesn’t like a song they can skip to the next, obviously.

As an up and coming dj with no production catalogue to speak of, which is the best way to build a following?

– A dj with no productions generally must record some mixes which in turn need to be technically perfect. This mix should be posted on some sites with many visitors that can give you feedback.

– Social networks are alsp very good for promotion. I post all my mixes on MySpace and Facebook, which means that every month I get feedback and comments on the tracks, transititions or general quality.

Dave Qri’s self promotion summary:

● If you have no production catalogue, make sure your mixes are the epitome of technical perfection.

● Post mixes on Let’s mix, Play.fm and Soundcloud.

● Use social networks like Facebook and Twitter to share mixes with friends and followers.

Dave Qri’s mixes:

The Promotion academy is Let’s mix’s own little school of hard knocks. Here you’ll learn how to succesfully spread your music and to avoid bumps in the road while building your own brand as a dj.

Andrew Northover is a friendly student and dorm room dj from Melbourne, Australia. Earlier this year, he was voted the winner of a mix contest set up by our friends at Pacemaker, The Summer Mix Contest. Andy entered the competition with a slick mix of progressive house and managed to receive more votes than anyone else in the competition, also winning the ears of the jury over at the Pacemaker office. Andy has some good ideas on how to make your mixes heard, so we sent an e-mail down under to hear more.

You received more votes than anyone else in the contest. What was your trick to get your mix heard by so many?
– I’m very grateful for the large amounts of votes I received in this comp, and I basically have my Facebook account to thank for that! Initially I just posted it as a status update every couple of hours, that got me near the 200 mark and then it slowed down. So I started e-mailing and private messaging every single person in my contact list to encourage them to listen and vote as well. I basically worked every day of the competition getting all of my 600 contacts on Facebook and MySpace to vote for me one by one.

– Also a big thanks to Jonas Stenberg who told half of Sweden’s tech trance crowd to do him a personal favor and vote for me. There were also posts in various music forums across the internet that brought in many miscellaneous votes while I slept. I figured posting on international forums gave me higher chances than just staying local. I also told my Facebook friends to tell their friends to maximize my chances. It’s amazing what politeness can achieve.

So what’s your best tip for aspiring dj:s who want to get their mixes out to a wider audience?
– Popular music forums such as Inthemix and Club-trance, and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have such frequent use it’s virtually impossible to go undiscovered if you promote yourself correctly. But what most people forget though is that that you have to give in order to receive. People might look past your post if it’s titled “LISTEN TO MY MIX”, but people love hearing about themselves. If you are a regular poster in the forums and social places you want to be discovered, people begin to know of you, browse your profiles and see what you are up to. You can’t expect to be discovered if you don’t plan on discovering other people.

– The Let’s mix website is the perfect place to get discovered though. In the short time I have been a member, I have been witness to the most amazingly supportive community on the internet I have seen in a long time. The quality of people on here is great, there are no posers, just a great selection of different kinds of music lovers. I found that during the competition I did a lot of browsing all through the various mixes and groups on this site and found myself giving votes to many other DJ:s who just had exceptional mixing ability and track selections. This website is exactly what aspiring DJ:s need to be discovered, and with the ability to still be able to browse mixes and forums without being a member allows for easy promotion of your mixes on various other social networking websites.

Andyroo’s best promotion tactics:

● Post mixes on forums like Inthemix and Club-trance and social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

● Encourage your network of friends and followers to listen to your music.

● Give and you shall receive. In other words, interact with other dj:s. And don’t force your music down other people’s throats (or into their ears).

Andyroo’s mixes:

Brooklyn born Sammy Bananas makes hit records. Wether you’ve heard them or not depends on how closely you’ve been paying attention to A-Trak’s label Fool’s Gold. An often-told story has it that will.i.am, a hit record producer in every sense of the word, ran up to Sammy Bananas’ dj booth in LA yelling “You made this?!?”. Following up on our Fool’s Gold Records Super Special and Sammy’s exclusive Pacemaker mix, we caught up with Sammy to hear more of how he treads the thin line between music for grumpy old record heads and pop techno yearning kids.

Between your releases, remixes, dj sets and then the mix you’ve done for us, you seem to have a pretty broad palette of musical directions. Do you ever feel you get a little split between doing different styles?
– Sometimes I do feel split, like if I kept a more narrow or consistent focus people would be able to associate me with something specific. But honestly I’m really turned off by the idea of getting into some sort of rut where I’m pigeonholed and only known for a particular style. In my production, I always start with the same bag of tricks, but the resulting song is reliant on a bunch of other factors.

– For instance when I’m doing a remix, my approach is often to try to transform the song into how it would sound if I had been the original producer. This is less about folding the song into my sound, and about wrapping myself around the song, more of a pop approach to bring out the best in whatever artist I’m working with. By the strict genres and categorizations of dance music my productions often sound disparate, but to me they are all variations on a theme. I’m hoping that people look forward to each next song with a “what is he going to do next” anticipation.

A lot of dj:s have attributed the late DJ AM as an influence on their own eclectic/feel-good dj:ing style. I understand he was also supportive of your own productions. What kind of influence was AM to you and how would you describe his legacy?
– Since AM’s passing I’ve been telling the story of the first time I played at his and Mike B’s party Banana Split out in LA. I was djing in LA for the first time, scheduled to be playing right after AM and feeling WAY out of my league. Somehow I made it through my set with AM standing over my shoulder the whole time, but he actually liked it! He sent me an email the next day reiterating how much he enjoyed it and asking for some of my own songs that I had played as well. This moment made me feel amazing and like I deserved a place in this game.

– I think this story encompasses the first part of AM’s legacy because he was always so supportive of people who looked up to him and making them feel like they were important in his world, giving them confidence and fueling their drive. I think the other major way he influenced me and the world was through his commitment to open-mindedness and the eclectic style you mentioned. He made a lot of dj:s consider playing music they never would have before. I also give him lots of credit for his part in breaking underground dance music to bigger audiences in the US, and helping this type of music gain a larger presence here in recent years. He will be sorely missed.

You seem to be wary of changes in the musical climate, pointing out some things in particular putting some words to what your “Disco Etcetera” mix is about. What do you see next, and how do you think that will reflect on the style of music being released on Fool’s Gold?
– I’m not sure if wary is the right word, I think that I’m conscious of changes. In the past few years it feels like the major trend in dance music contracted onto the single point of banger electro tracks. This type of music has undeniable energy, captivated tons of people and certainly brought many new fans to dance music, but I think this universe has started to expand again. This is exciting to me since you already know I’m a big fan of variation! You’re seeing producers branch off into more techy stuff, or groove oriented tracks or disco influenced stuff like I highlight in my mix.

– I’m not in charge of what gets released on Fool’s Gold, but in my opinion the label has made a name for itself by representing a variety of artists and styles while maintaing top quality, so hopefully the next years continue to be fruitful in this same way!

Fool’s Gold Records, run by the stellar DJ A-Trak, is a generally eclectic and nice club record label releasing all kinds of booty shaking music. It’s home to artists and producers Kid Sister, Sammy Bananas, Alexander Robotnick and DJ Gant-man. This week, courtesy of Fool’s Gold, we’re proud to world premier two mixes!

World premier #1: A-Trak dj set recorded live at the Do Over with an exclusive track by track breakdown.

World premier #2: Sammy Bananas lets loose his disco record passion in a site exclusive mix!

Also, don’t miss Alexander Robotnicks exclusive mix for Radio Rodeo.

Italian duo The Bloody Beetroots – secretive dj:s Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo and Tommy Tea – broke through last year with electronic banger Cornelius. Since then, they have been tearing up dancefloors both in Europe and Stateside with sweat-soaked sets of techno, electro and rock’n'roll. Bobby Rifo provided us with some more info.

What relation does your punk infused dance music have to the Italian ”cosmic” music scene? – I feel like a lone wolf. I do my own thing and have my own very personal set of references. Having said that, there are lots of overlaps with many different scenes of course. I don’t work in a vaccum.

You’re signed to US dj and general party anarchist Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak label. What is your exchange like?
– Our roots: hardcore punk. Anarchy and chaos as a liberating force.

You wear different kinds of superhero masks when dj:ing. Which of your favourite comic book heroes has yet to make it into a great movie?
– My taste in comic art is more European. After all, that’s what I am. I can’t answer the question about the movies as I’m not sure who has and who hasn’t been turned into a movie by now!

So, what can you tell us about the mix you were kind enough to provide for the Pacemaker site?
– A sincere reflection of my mood. Liberating.