In the fiscal year since the grand opening of the Las Vegas Sphere, the next-generation venue’s proprietors have reported on remarkable revenue growth to the tune of over $1 billion.
Fueled by a string of high-profile music residencies both current and forthcoming, Sphere Entertainment’s flagship property in Vegas has proven to be a financial juggernaut since its September 2023 debut. The mesmerizing venue has quickly established itself as a premier destination for live entertainment, hosting iconic acts like U2, Dead & Company and Phish, each of whom have drawn massive crowds during their residencies. The Eagles are also slated to begin a highly anticipated 20-show residency in September, further solidifying the Sphere’s status as a magnet for top-tier talent.
Adding to the momentum, Anyma is set to make history as the first electronic dance music artist to perform at the Sphere. His limited six-show engagement, starting in late December, sold out in short order. With those momentous concerts on the horizon, it’s clear that demand for EDM talent at the cutting-edge venue is only positioned to accelerate as 2025 looms.
As Sphere Entertainment wraps up its fiscal year on a high note, its record-breaking venue in Vegas continues to set the stage for even greater achievements ahead.
“Fiscal 2024 marked the opening of Sphere in Las Vegas and a new chapter for our Company,” said Executive Chairman and CEO James L. Dolan. “Sphere has already welcomed millions of guests, world-renowned artists and numerous global brands. We are confident that we are on the right path to execute on our vision for this next-generation medium.”
The proprietors of Subvert, an upcoming music service, say they’re delivering something Bandcamp ultimately couldn’t: a “community-owned” platform unencumbered by corporate interests.
Bandcamp was sold to Fortnite creators Epic Games back in 2022. Amid layoffs at the gaming giant, music licensing firm Songtradr then acquired Bandcamp 18 months later in a move that resulted in layoffs of their own, amounting to roughly half of the platform’s staff.
Enter Subvert, whose founder, Austin Robey, saw those developments as a sign of the downfall of the platform and, on a larger scale, the music industry considering its emphasis on monetary value rather than music’s intrinsic personal value to artists and fans.
In an open letter posted on Subvert’s site, Robey highlights the need to address the “inevitable consequence of platform capitalism,” the upshot of placing more value in stakeholders rather than independent users. He says he envisions a music marketplace “where the community owns the code, controls the decisions, and shares in its success.”
“Subvert is a Bandcamp successor that is collectively owned, stewarded, and controlled by its community, with 100% of its founding ownership reserved for its artists, community, and workers,” Robey wrote in his impassioned letter. “We’re building a platform that has artists’ interests, collective ownership, and democratic governance hardwired in its very DNA.
“Subvert’s primary goal is to create a collectively owned alternative to Bandcamp—a marketplace that makes it easy for artists to directly sell physical and digital work, while also giving them greater control over their own destiny,” Robey adds.
Elsewhere in the letter, Robey promises platform updates and information in the weeks ahead pertaining to the launch. At the time of this article’s publication, the site also features a countdown with 36 days remaining.
For someone whose music so often makes people dance, it’s ironic that What So Not is more fascinated by the hidden choreography of our daily lives.
That’s the inspiration behind his new EP, Motions, which he says is his attempt to breathe audible life into the feelings, textures and other somatic phenomena that dictate our shared reality. As you listen, you might feel the weight of a stranger’s gaze or the electric charge of an unspoken connection.
For What So Not, whose real name is Chris Emerson, the EP is essentially a dive into the quantum soup of existence, where he crafts sonic blueprints of reality’s raw data. It reminds us that we’re all transmitters in this vast cosmic network we call life.
“The ideology behind this whole EP is the motions that are at play around us at all times,” Emerson tells EDM.com. “The cover art is actually a bee crashing into some water and watching the ripple effect of its wings pan out across the whole pond. And it represents how so many things are at play that we can’t see unless they enter another medium that we don’t even realize is impacting us. We don’t even realize how we are radiating to others, and it’s really a sonic exploration of those ideas—of the impacts we have and we receive at all times in our existence.”
By producing electronic music through the perspective that we’re constantly radiating, Emerson invites us into a world where every action and thought ripples outward and comes with their own degree of impact. Motions is the spellbinding soundtrack to this silent ballet.
“I think this is all just an evolution of my understanding of life, where I am with myself and where I am with my craft. I almost feel like this is 2.0,” he muses. “This is everything I’ve understood from times before and I think almost getting back to that core of creating with no judgment, creating what is just truly authentic, and then just letting it be.”
“So often in our careers as producers, we start to overwork things, we judge it too much and don’t just let it be what it wants to be,” Emerson continues. “And I think these are really records at the purest. I’m thinking, ‘What does this song want to be? What is this trying to pull out from inside of me?’ Letting it be that, and just leaving it be.”
Look no further than “Tower In The Woods,” a stunning track where What So Not’s languid production entwines with haunting vocals by MNDR that seep into your bones like winter frost. With thick kickdrums that crunch through the mix like boots in untrodden snow, the duo explores the depths of isolation and paints a portrait of solitude so vivid you can almost see your breath hanging in the frigid air.
Another highlight comes with “Realise,” a collaboration with French electronic music virtuoso Habstrakt. Their frenetic drum & bass rhythm provides a stark backdrop for noir-pop songstress Maiah Manser, whose elegant vocals evoke a sense of both intimacy and vastness. “I can see the sun right in your eyes / Glitter like a million fireflies” is a striking image, beautifully contrasting warmth and distance.
That contrast is by design, according to Emerson, who says his goal was to essentially produce beats that hit hard but also nest into a more emotive and dynamic place. It’s a body of work that demands attention—not as a passive listener, but as an active participant.
“I’m trying to find this sweet spot where my music has that knock and that power, but also that beautiful, lush bed underneath,” he explains. “Maybe it’s just very strong, elastic-type transients hitting on all the drums, but then it nests into this beautiful, characterized world.”
Next up for Emerson is a rare performance on on August 22nd at Cologne’s Gamescom, the world’s largest gaming convention, where he’ll be DJing at a “secret dungeon rave” in conjunction with his favorite game, Diablo.
He’s then heading to Australia to perform at the viral Bunnings Warehouse Party, which stems from a wild social media campaign that called for a DIY rave after legions of music producers created hilarious remixes of the household hardware and garden company’s jingle. The event will take place on Saturday, August 31st in the carpark of Bunnings Warehouse Preston.
Aiming to provide support in the midst of the Australian live music crisis, all proceeds from ticket sales of the Bunnings Warehouse Party and the community sausage sizzle will benefit Support Act, a nonprofit providing relief and mental health services to people in the music industry. Passes are available now.
You can find What So Not’s Motions EP on streaming platforms here.
Armed with turntables and a baby bump, Lily McKenzie is redefining the sounds of resilience.
The South London-based DJ, producer and singer-songwriter recently released Pressure, her debut EP, via Warner’s Major Recordings label. Influenced by impending motherhood, the project palpitates with the raw energy of creation—both musical and maternal.
In Pressure, McKenzie crafts haunting yet energetic dance music that echoes the complexities of her dual roles. With a growing life internally and a burgeoning career externally, she’s turning pressure into power and vulnerability into art.
The surging triple-threat, who recently performed twice at Glastonbury while pregnant, spins tales of self-worth and perseverance in her new record. Through the sensual slink of “Satellite” and the aching twinge of the UK garage-inspired “Middle,” among other tracks, the EP serves as a reminder that we are much more than the sum of our struggles.
McKenzie is currently riding the wave of a breakout after nabbing support from Capital Dance as well as BBC Radio 1’s “Future Sounds” and “Future Dance with Sarah Story.” She’s also landed on major playlists such as Spotify’s “New Dance Revolution” and “The Loft.”
We caught up with McKenzie to discuss her new EP and the adversity that comes with navigating the music industry as a pregnant woman.
EDM.com: Before we get into the new EP, let’s talk Glasto. What was your experience like performing not once, but twice this year?
Lily McKenzie: Glastonbury was amazing. It’s always such a privilege to perform there and I always find that anyone I speak to—at whatever level they are in their career—there’s a sense honor but also pressure to put on a great show.
I played at the Stonebridge bar, which was packed and such good energy—I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get to the stage as it was so crowded! I also played The Temple, which is one of my favorite venues, so that was definitely one to remember.
EDM.com: With this EP, it’s all in the name. How does the concept of pressure relate to your personal and professional life, especially in the context of your current journey as a pregnant woman?
Lily McKenzie: Pressure is about navigating your way through the strains of life, in particular within the music industry. I definitely feel those pressures, and being pregnant your emotions and hormones are heightened so that adds another layer!
The EP discusses these concepts, but it’s about knowing you are enough, seeing through what doesn’t serve, and coming out stronger. When you are true to yourself, everything levels out and you are able to thrive under pressure.
EDM.com: The track “Satellite” explores detachment and our pleas—even desperate at times—for human connection. From where did you pull inspiration to write those profound lyrics?
Lily McKenzie: I think we all feel a little lost at times—the world can be so noisy and it can be hard to feel connected. I wrote this song with two amazing producers, Andy Sheldrake and Ross Quinn, and after chatting we found we had all experienced these feelings at some point in our lives. We thought back to times we’d felt that way and from there the lyrics just flowed.
EDM.com: There’s been a growing conversation around the stigmas that pregnant artists face in the music industry. What have been some of the biggest obstacles you’ve encountered, and how have you navigated them to stay true to your vision?
Lily McKenzie: I did feel at first that I had to hide being pregnant for as long as possible as I was worried people would think I couldn’t be booked for shows, or wouldn’t be able to release music. But to be honest, the response has been really positive and I think there has been a shift.
As soon as you show you can do it (literally perform pregnant) then it’s normalized and the opportunities will hopefully keep coming. Women are proving we can do it all and I think it’s such a powerful and inspiring thing—I for one feel so lifted when I see other women doing the same.
EDM.com: How have you been managing the physical and emotional challenges of pregnancy alongside the demands of your burgeoning career?
Lily McKenzie: Pregnancy for me has definitely been physically and emotionally challenging and I’ve just had to go at my own pace. I’ve made sure to be kind to myself and rest when I’ve needed to. Staying busy with my career has helped though as it’s been a distraction when I haven’t been feeling great. It’s important to stay positive and music has always been my happy place too.
EDM.com: What advice would you give to other expecting musicians navigating this territory?
Lily McKenzie: I would say that there’s no rules. People have different experiences and the priority is making sure you and your baby stay healthy—9 months is a really short time if you look at the bigger picture. You can only do as much as you feel strong enough to do.
I’ve been really lucky to have had great people around me at my shows, or in my studio sessions, so if I’ve been tired or unwell they’ve totally understood. I would say that’s so important, make sure the people you work with on this journey have that same understating and compassion.
EDM.com: Looking ahead, what kind of impact do you think motherhood may have on your artistry? Do you see yourself approaching lyricism, production or other processes through a different lens?
Lily McKenzie: I write from a very honest and sensitive place and I think if anything motherhood will enhance that. I don’t expect my sound or process to change too much as that’s already a strong part of me, but this is my first time having this experience so I’m sure I will notice any changes as I go along!
EDM.com: What’s next for you? Without getting into too much trouble, are there any exciting things in the Lily McKenzie pipeline you can reveal to our readers?
Lily McKenzie: It’s definitely been go, go, go leading up to the EP which has been great, but I’ll be taking the next few months to enjoy being a first time mum for sure. It’ll also be nice to spend that time listening to music and crate-digging at a slower pace.
I have been writing lots of new music that I’m excited about and I’m planning to drop some new records towards the end of the year. I’ve also started booking in some shows for then too—so it’ll be nice after a little break to come back with a fresh perspective!
It may be the middle of August, but Charli XCX‘s “brat summer” has kept the season red-hot—under the guise of a lurid green shade.
Its likely you’ve heard the phrase by now, what with the phrase and its signature green palette taking over social media platforms and signage worldwide. But what exactly is “brat summer”?
Deriving from her sixth studio album BRAT, the term was characterized by Charli as someone who rocks “a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra” on the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast. Along with the album’s brazen messages and intersection of hyperpop and house music, “brat summer” essentially encourages all to live a colorful and wildly unapologetic life, partying as much as they so please.
But fans are not the only ones taking to BRAT. Electronic music producers are taking “brat summer” to another level by producing their own remixes of the album’s tracks en masse. Read on to discover five of the best.
Charli XCX – Von dutch (Skream and Benga Remix)
Dubstep icons Skream and Benga reimagined “Von dutch” with a vintage banger, heavy in its bass and vocal distortion.
Not long after releasing BRAT, Charli XCX came out with the album’s deluxe edition, brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not,which includes “Spring Breakers.” Hallow then revamped the track with a frenetic UK garage edit.
Dialing up the tempo, Brighton-based producer Dreeks put an ethereal spin on “Talk talk” in his remix. After starting with gentle, airy production in the first verse, he unloads a rousing and euphoric four-on-the-floor drop with a hyperpop twist.
HEYZ recently decided to produce his own rendition of “360,” making bass the main ingredient in his recipe for a “brat summer.” He then made a hilarious TikTok video to promote the dubstep edit, which has proved itself popular in his live performances.
Charli XCX – The Von dutch Remix with Addison Rae and A.C. Cook
Named after the fashion brand with a cult following in the early aughts, “Von dutch” experienced a revitalization for the TikTok age with the addition of influencer Addison Rae. Suffice to say the remix (and Rae’s perfectly-pitched scream) has taken TikTok by storm.
Don Diablo: a name that echoes through the world’s most epic arenas and music festivals, yet belongs to a man who finds the most comfort in the hushed spaces between.
Silence breeds thunder in the hyper-creative world of Diablo, a buccaneering DJ with the soul of a poet. Fans know him as the headlining, pioneering progenitor of the future house genre, but underneath the veil lies a fascinating dichotomy between the larger-than-life persona and introverted recluse.
We caught up with the Dutch electronic music superstar ahead of a can’t-miss performance on August 9th at the Brooklyn Mirage, where he’s debuting an ambitious and deeply personal live show concept. Like a hermit in a hurricane, he’s laying bare his humanity more than ever at the monumental concert.
“I’m a guy who’s always hiding behind three layers of clothing, always wearing sunglasses, and there’s barely a photo out there of me wearing a t-shirt,” Diablo tells EDM.com. “I generally don’t like to show any skin or anything of the real Don. I’m always living in the future, sort of hiding behind a wall of technology. So I think for [the Brooklyn Mirage show] it was important to show a little bit more Don.”
“There’s a custom DJ booth that’s see-through so you can actually see me,” he continues. “Usually when you see a DJ, you just see half a body… It’s really more about making it a little bit more personal as well as finding a way to push the technology and come up with clever things.”
The ghost in the machine will take form at the Mirage with help from Ethan Tobman, the renowned Creative Director of Taylor Swift’s historic “Eras Tour,” which in late-2023 became the highest-grossing tour of all-time after surpassing $1 billion in revenue.
The two were introduced by Diablo’s agency, WME, and he was surprised to learn that Tobman was a fan. Tobman, he said, read his sci-fi adventure comic series, HEXAGON, three times back-to-back.
“I actually never ever met anyone who did that,” Diablo recalls. “He was that well-versed into my world and into my psyche and into my brain. There really wasn’t another option then but to work with him. He has a very different approach and style than I have, which is what I need because I need somebody that goes against me—someone who has a different vision.”
The acclaimed production designer’s influence has been paramount not only to Diablo’s creative breakthroughs, but also his own self-esteem. He points to the Tobman-directed video for “SexyBack,” his remake of Justin Timberlake’s generational hit of the same name, wherein he appeared shirtless for the first time after years of grappling with body confidence issues.
“I’ve always felt very not confident about my body,” Diablo says. “I used to weigh roughly about 50 pounds more than I do now, when I was a teen. I never go to the beach. I never go to the swimming pool. I generally just don’t feel confident when I’m not wearing a shitload of clothes.”
Now, however, Diablo says he feels younger and healthier than he ever has, which also helps him mentally and creatively.
“I lost around 17 pounds to do the ‘SexyBack’ video, which was a really scary thing for me to do,” he continues. “You have to be comfortable with yourself, so I really worked my ass off.”
To that end, it’s clear that someone like Diablo, 44, can’t truly succeed and find inner peace unless he’s constantly pushing the limits of his own barriers. A laissez-faire attitude has never been an option. But that pursuit of growth comes with the risk of alienating diehard fans, with whom he wishes to evolve in lockstep.
“Sometimes it feels like you can’t make everyone happy… It feels like there’s so much pressure,” he laments. “It’s hard sometimes. I like to focus as hard and as best possible to create as many beautiful things for the world out there before I pass away. And that’s all I got.”
Diablo’s genius lies in his uncanny ability to bottle the euphoria of youth, as well as the longing of adolescence and the complexity of adulthood. At the intersection of nostalgia and futurism, his music has long-functioned more as a time capsule, imprinting on fans during specific life chapters and growing with them along the way.
Opening up about his approach to songwriting, Diablo paints a picture of his goal to soundtrack the highlight reels of his fans’ lives, from first kisses to devastating losses. He’s not interested in fleeting chart-toppers—he wants to create a sound with tendrils that tether to your most profound moments.
Diablo points to a song coming out soon called “Young Again,” which he says is an ode to lost youth, a precious gift easily overshadowed by life’s demands. After all, our most vibrant years won’t ever return, and regret is a bitter companion.
“I think right now we have to live our best life. Because we will never be young again,” he explains. “We are stuck in so many things that pull us down that we forget to enjoy. That’s really something I want to learn and something I want to try to do in New York as well: enjoy all the music I’ve made, look at the faces of these people and remember that I will never be doing this again. I always think this might be my last show—that’s the way I go into it. Every Don Diablo might be the last show I’ll ever do.”
Tickets to Don Diablo’s show at the Brooklyn Mirage on August 9th are available here.
Spotify‘s efforts to grow their premium subscriptions are paying off, quite literally.
The streaming giant recently revealed record profits on its Q2 earnings call, and now, their stock is surging. Shares ballooned at a 14% clip on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, per Music Business Worldwide.
Spotify reportedly revealed a 20% revenue increase to a staggering $4.14 billion from April to June, with gross margins of 29.2%. But how is Spotify driving so much revenue?
Premium subscriptions are bringing in the big bucks. The company saw a 12% increase in its subscriber base despite a pair of price hikes, bringing the number of total users to an astounding 246 million. These premium subscriptions swelled the company’s revenue by 21%. Spotify’s ad business has also proven successful, driving a 13% increase in sales to over $456 million.
Another major contributing factor to the company’s boosted Q2 revenue is their late-2023 layoffs and budget cuts. Back in December, Spotify reportedly reduced their workforce by 17% by letting go of roughly 1,500 employees. Their operating costs were cut by 16% year-on-year, which not only affected their workforce, but also their massive marketing budget.
“It’s an exciting time at Spotify,” said CEO Daniel Ek, per a Spotify blog post. “We keep on innovating and showing that we aren’t just a great product, but increasingly also a great business. We are doing so on a timeline that has exceeded even our own expectations. This all bodes very well for the future.”
Spotify expects an additional 13 million new users in Q3 and five million more premium subscribers as they debut their Basic plan in Britain and Australia, and expand their video catalog. Moreover, the company predicts they’ll see over $4 billion in revenue from July to September.
When twin brothers Blake and Joel Atchison were growing up in Nashville, an electronic music scene didn’t exist.
The city is known as an iconic bastion of country music, but at that time, the words “Nashville” and “EDM” were rarely used in the same sentence.
The Atchison twins spent their childhoods playing in the river and visiting record shops, until they snuck into the first-ever Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Little did they know, they would go on to play a pivotal role in the development of Nashville’s EDM culture as the innovative founders of Deep Tropics.
With backgrounds in sustainability, they always harbored a vision for fusing the worlds of environmentalism and music. In college, they studied agriculture, green energy and city planning and even received an EPA grant to run a biodiesel project that powered the Appalachian State buses.
Blake first began producing electronic music events in Nashville in 2008 and went on to create the production company Full Circle Presents, which organizes shows featuring music in house, drum & bass and other sub-genres of electronic dance music.
The “Decompress” party series, which has hosted the likes of John Summit, Justin Martin, J. Worra and more, began in this time. At first, the parties happened every month to six weeks. Now, they run three times a month.
“Consistency really helps the growth of the scene,” Blake Atchison tells EDM.com in an exclusive interview. “Now, we have multiple options for shows to go to, like a normal city. But, it hasn’t always been that way. Even 10 years ago, that was unheard of.”
“I think what makes Nashville really unique and special with the culture here, is there’s a scarcity of shows and parties in this scene,” he continues. “So, I feel like everyone here really appreciates it. I think artists feel it. They’re surprised when there’s a scene and when there’s people that know their music. It’s a really cool time in the city.”
Full Circle Presents now throws between 200 and 300 shows each year. Throughout the process of cultivating an EDM culture in Nashville, one of the biggest hurdles they faced, Blake recalls, was a lack of proper venues for the electronic shows.
“We were going into rock ‘n’ roll rooms, bringing in extra supplemental sound, video walls and lighting, then having to sell the agent that this is an acceptable place for their artists to come play,” Blake explained. “Now, we have venues like The Office and Cannery Hall, with a Void sound system in the small room, a PK Trinity in the main room and The Hennessy sound system in the middle room. It’s unbelievable to see the growth in production value with the venue ecosystem.”
The thing that makes it all worth it? Community, the brothers agreed.
“That is what makes our organization special, that we are all like-minded and we’re doing this for the love of the music, and for the love of the community,” Blake says with a smile. “To see the diversity in Nashville and the richness of the culture, how it’s growing, that’s what fires us up and what makes it all worth it.”
The first ideas of designing a music festival came to life in 2016, a time when the city “didn’t have a proper electronic festival,” Blake said. “It rose out of necessity for Nashville culturally.”
Blake and Joel spent a week in the Northern Californian woods, discussing everything from talent to sustainability. After the creative brainstorming session and a “serendipitous meeting” with John Hanna, a Nashville-based DJ and investor, Deep Tropics was born.
“Nashville is Music City, it’s more than a country city,” Hanna tells us of why Nashville was the perfect location for Deep Tropics. “Country has taken the limelight, but even back in the day, Jimi Hendrix was writing his album here. People outside of the country lane have historically existed here. Just over the last 10 years, with the influx of different cultures, we’re starting to see a rise in much more than just country music. We’re happy to help that come about.”
Besides bringing a large-scale electronic music festival to Nashville, where a thriving scene was now craving a bigger event, the team’s goal was to deeply infuse environmentalism into its bedrock. Sustainability has always been at the core of the vision for Deep Tropics; now, it is considered “the greenest festival in North America.”
Last year, Deep Tropics replaced most of their diesel generators with electric generators and batteries. Their goal for the 2024 festival is to ditch them completely and power the event fully on renewable energy in addition to a modicum of ancillary grid power.
According to Deep Tropics, the festival’s team diverts a staggering 96% of festival waste from landfills. They also annually offset their carbon footprint via a massive tree-planting initiative.
The key to this eco-friendly success is by meticulously stewarding the festival’s sourcing, the team explained. They only use materials that are compostable—without any single-use plastics—and they also reuse as much material as possible, even when it comes to art and decor.
Through a partnership with a recycling business called Terracycle, “impossible items” like microplastics and cigarette butts are able to be reclaimed. Other sustainability efforts at Deep Tropics include an “infinity cup” program in which attendees employ a stainless steel clip to reuse their cup for the entire festival.
They also implemented an eco-band program, which offers prizes while benefiting nonprofits and helping plant 10 trees through a partnership with an organization called Trees for the Future. Throughout the year, Deep Tropics also offers opportunities for people to plant trees themselves.
c/o Deep Tropics
“This year, we’ve taken a couple trips to the R.A.N.C.H. Project so people have an opportunity to actually get their hands dirty and plant trees and work on a farm,” Joel Atchison tells us. “That’s what gets us the most excited, is providing opportunities in our own community. We provide outlets for people to connect with other nonprofits and organizations that are doing cool things. So in addition to promoting artists, we’re also promoting organizations that are doing amazing things in the community.”
The festival’s sustainability initiatives are all made possible through Blake and Joel’s organization, Deep Culture.
“Deep Culture supports harm reduction and safety and champions consent and boundaries,” Joel said. “People really act differently when there’s zero trash cans on-site, there’s not trash all over the ground. Our intention, to promote personal growth and holistic wellbeing within the event, is definitely a distinguishing aspect from other festivals.”
Deep Tropics hosts a variety of dynamic workshops and wellness experiences, like ice bath activations, runway shows and clothing swaps as well as discussions about regenerative agriculture and sustainable fashion.
“We really go all out to make sure there’s plenty of places for people to rest and get educated. We see Deep Tropics as a bridge between party and purpose,” Joel gushes. “We push for sustainability, wellness, anything that is going to inspire people to connect, build community or champion values like consent, equity, human health and resilience. Those are the ideas that we’re certainly trying to get across.”
When asked why it’s important for event organizers to promote sustainability, Joel says that music festivals represent special chances to connect with people and foster change.
“There’s this mainstream narrative that we are separate from nature,” he explained. “When we realize that caring for the Earth is connected to caring for ourselves and our communities, there’s a huge paradigm shift that happens. If there’s no planet, there’s no people. The science is out—we have a major social and ecological crisis going on and so it’s just our responsibility. And I think it’s a really unique opportunity for the festival promoters and event organizers to incorporate that. You’re catching people and at a moment where their minds and their hearts are maybe more open than they will be for the rest of the year. So, what a great opportunity to educate.”
Deep Tropics Music, Art, and Style Festival.
c/o Press
The team shares a long-term vision for the future of Deep Tropics, which they see expanding into a week-long conference in Nashville, similar to Miami Music Week, SXSW or the iconic Amsterdam Dance Event.
“We want to go beyond this festival model, which is a great example of making this weekend event as sustainable and regenerative as possible, and go in beyond that, to make Nashville the most sustainable city that it can be,” Blake said.
The team is taking a step towards that goal by virtue of Deep Culture’s Sustainability Summit, which is scheduled to take place on the Thursday before Deep Tropics 2024. The event will moonlight as a convergence of industry professionals and government officials across different sectors, from food and farming to infrastructure.
“We really want to showcase regenerative solutions and innovation,” Hanna says. “There’s a lot of great stories to tell. So, we’re going to take a crack at our first annual Sustainability Summit this year and see if we can inspire Nashville.”
The Deep Tropics team leaves us with some advice for any event organizers who hope to adopt sustainability at their own shows and festivals.
“Move beyond the mental block of the cost-prohibitive nature, and understand the responsibility that we have, and the power and inspiration that the music industry has,” Blake urged. “From a sponsorship level, people probably wouldn’t be involved or give the kind of money that they do, if we weren’t doing some cutting-edge stuff. I think people gravitate to that on a sponsor level. With a reusable cup program, there’s great organizations that have been doing that for a while now, where you’re creating a revenue stream for the festival. In turn, they can offset the cost of composting and recycling. It’s a journey and we are figuring it out as we go along, but we’re always down to share ideas and what we do with other organizations.”
For Joel, the biggest advice is to embrace the power of collaboration.
“Definitely hit us up,” he said. “We bill ourselves as the greenest festival in North America, not because we want to be the best, but because we want to inspire people.”
“The message that I’d like to give to festival producers is, people care more than you think they do,” he adds. “By taking these steps, it will inspire a different type of behavior. There’s not another place that generates as much inspiration as the music industry. So by making a difference at an event, you’re going to be inspiring a lot of business owners and inspiring the world at large. If we could make the music industry across-the-board more sustainable, I think the whole planet will follow suit.”
Deep Tropics 2024 will take place August 16-17 with performances by RL Grime, Kaskade, Elderbrook, PEEKABOO and many more. Tickets are available here.
A seed is planted, it anchors roots and a flower blooms. The pedals fall as the flower wilts and returns to the soil. The cycle of life sources the old to empower the new, a concept that’s very much present in Whethan’s new album, Life of a Wallflower Vol. 2.
You can trace the project’s DNA to its predecessor back in 2018, but Whethan’s latest effort is entirely distinct from his debut. And it’s apropos that he constructed a sequel to Life of a Wallflower when he did.
Whethan “hit the reset” button on his creative approach, he tells EDM.com, while enduring Mother Nature’s volatility during and after the pandemic. The outcome is a swathe of fresh creativity while adopting the soul of the original project.
“I felt like the world kind of slowed down for a little bit for many reasons,” Whethan recalls. “It gave me more time to reflect on myself and work on this new sound and a bunch of different sounds.”
“Trying to collaborate with many different artists in many different fields. This is very reminiscent of six years ago when I did the first project. If you will, this feels like the return or the next part in the series.”
World-building is a fundamental component of Whethan’s music. He keenly pays attention to it in all mediums, whether the immersive vices of the Cyberpunk video game’s futuristic metropolis or the cruel, captivating beauty of the Dune films. The latter specifically seems to sometimes inspire Life of the Wallflower Vol. 2 with its rich desert theme and sounds. It’s appropriate that the lonely Wallflower sprouts in such difficult terrain.
Whethan is a world traveler who is always pursuing something new. Take for example Middle Eastern instrumentation and rock music, each of which he’s enthusiastic about exploring further. His youthful curiousness for discovery tethers the two volumes of Life of a Wallflower.
“It’s a blessing and a curse. I can’t ever seem to want to make the same thing twice,” Whethan says. “I love pushing boundaries and seeing what kind of new sounds I can come up with. This one is different, but the energy and feeling are similar. The sounds aren’t the same, but they might evoke the same emotion or the same feelings that the first one gave me. But in a modern current landscape twist.”
It’s been nearly a decade since Whethan’s debut original release, “Can’t Hide,” a song predating Life of a Wallflower by two years. His relative longevity makes it easy to forget that he’s very much in bloom.
The 25-year-old producer and DJ has been touring as an artist since he was in high school. It’s an unusual circumstance that’s rotted the careers of many young artists plagued by the entertainment industry’s seedy side. That’s not Whethan’s story. He has fortunately been nurtured by a caring team and there isn’t much he’d change about his work-life trajectory, perhaps only the composure that comes with time.
“Just chill out,” Whethan says. “Looking now at where I’m at, I could just think back to certain times when I was just so stressed out and just destroying myself mentally to the brink to try to finish something or do something that maybe deep down I know wasn’t really, but I don’t know.”
He’s even hesitant to call that a mistake, highlighting an important truth about tough learning lessons.
“That’s that part of me that’s like, well, you never know,” Whethan says. “It’s like the picture of the guy cutting in the rocks and the diamonds are right there, but you don’t know until you break that next rock.”
“So I always believed that it was all for a reason. That’s why I don’t look back with any regret but, definitely, just chill out. It’s going to be okay. Trust the process.”
Whethan was well into his senior year of high school when he got a life-changing offer to tour with The Chainsmokers in 2017.
“I was still in high school while I was setting up my team,” Whethan recalls. “I had enough credits to graduate. The Chainsmokers had offered me a slot on their tour, which even looking back is still one of the most massive, insane tours I’ve ever seen. It was super eye-opening at the time, especially in high school, to just go and see what a tour of that scale looks like. It felt like a Taylor Swift-sized tour. There were multiple semi-trucks and stadium arenas every night. Getting a taste of that was truly amazing.”
The logistics of a high school senior skipping class to tour the U.S. for a mainstream act’s world tour sounds like a wonderfully absurd movie plot. But in reality, it was surprisingly seamless in its execution.
“My school was down with it! They were super supportive,” he continues. “I had been talking to my guidance counselor during my senior year because people started to pay attention because things were starting to make their way on the internet. They were supportive and they wanted to look out for me. They said, ‘You have enough credits to graduate early if you want to get out a semester early and go do the tour.’ I just said, ‘Yes! Let’s do it.'”
“The parents were super supportive too. My dad is a math teacher in high school—not the school that I went to—but a different school. Even watching him, someone who’s in the education system, say, ‘I think this is a good move. I think you should do it,’ was amazing.”
Whethan has often trusted the process. It’s led to a remarkable career from a young age and a phenomenal new project earning rave reviews. It’s hard to gauge what’s next for an artist who’s constantly adapting, but in whatever way dance music’s Wallflower branches out, he does so full of life.
You can listen to Life of a Wallflower Vol. 2 below and find the new album on streaming platforms here.
In the twenty-tens, if you found yourself listening to artists like Rae Sremmurd, Wiz Khalifa and Lil Wayne, you were in good company. So did Tape B, the barnstorming dubstep and bass music producer who is channeling the nostalgia of their timeless hip-hop to cultivate his beloved “Old School x New School” style.
Tape B’s real name is Kemal Berk Alkanat, though he’ll introduce himself as Berk since his first and middle names got switched in the midst of his move from Turkey at just three years old. Now 26, the DJ has found himself on a snowballing trajectory to superstardom.
Though his steps into electronic music’s limelight are fairly recent, Alkanat has been producing music for 10 years. That means his Tape B project was well underway at the young age of 16. But it wasn’t until recently—through a pandemic-spurred move home to Boca Raton, Florida—that Alkanat had a lightbulb moment leading to his now-signature sound.
“I was in this rut where I can make good music but I just don’t know who I am or what kind of music Tape B is,” he recalls in an interview backstage at the dazzling Breakaway Festival in Minnesota.
Through listening to dubstep from the iconic UKF channel along with loads of SoundCloud rap, Alkanat says he experienced an epiphany of sorts, deciding to remix the music he used to listen to in high school since he was home and “everything felt nostalgic” at the time. As it turned out, adding newfangled sounds to long-since popularized tracks seemed to fit what he wanted: a vibe of his own.
“It clicked immediately after I made the first three,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘Yo, I’m actually pretty good at making these remixes.'”
Though the songs he reworks are fairly recognizable among fans, Alkanat adds, he chooses their subject matter based off of his own perception of nostalgia.
“I always try to keep it something niche to me where no one else is remixing it,” he says.
As his music grows increasingly popular music, Alkanat highlights another element that has become a signature: vowel bass, the deep and growling sound he endearingly refers to as “the yoys.” This slithering sound is in the underbelly of his fan-favorite remix of PEEKABOO and LYNY’s trap hit “Like That.”
Alkanat recognizes that fans are starting to associate his name with vowel bass, but he wants fans to know that he adopted the sound out of respect to its progenitors.
“I feel like I did play a part in bringing that sound back, but it’s just been such an iconic sound for decades,” he explains, crediting dubstep icons Zeds Dead and Doctor P with its popularization.
Though the seismic sound is in much of his wobbly hybrid music, Alkanat strives to keep “the yoys” on a tight leash, emphasizing that he spaces them out in music releases and DJ sets alike.
He identifies inspirations behind other Tape B sounds as Claybrook, SVDDEN DEATH, Space Laces, Getter and REZZ, among others. Though he mentions that his sound doesn’t much mirror that of his inspirations, it’s the curation of an atmosphere surrounding their music that inspires him. “I just think they’re extremely unique; they do them very well,” he says.
Another major inspiration lies behind his adored tagline, “Yo Tape B, show ’em how it’s done.” He credits influential trap producer TroyBoi with the idea to split up the line and strategically place its fragments throughout his tracks.
Now, after filtering through inspiration to find his own clarity in his direction, it’s undeniable that he’s achieved the perfect concoction of sentimentality, novelty and in-your-face bass. And his career has progressed exponentially, recently dropping high-flying sets at Coachella and Ultra Music Festival, just two of a plethora of major appearances. He’s now gearing up for his own headlining tour in the fall—the largest of his career to-date.
Pulling the yarn of his “Old School x New School” direction switch, Alkanat recalls a surreal moment at last year’s Electric Forest that served as a crucial validator.
“When I looked out, I couldn’t believe how big the crowd was,” he reminisces with a smile. “I had prepared so well for it. I played my first song and I was immediately so happy—I was like, ‘I know exactly what I’m doing, I’m so well prepared.’ And I was so in the moment for that, and that was the day it turned around for me.”
For many fans of EDM and hip-hop alike, Tape B’s recent track “Trippy Land,” a collaboration with Mersiv and Juicy J, was an instant playlist staple upon release. Working with the iconic rapper, Alkanat says, helped to legitimize his work in hip-hop.
The track’s release also catalyzed the outreach of more artists he hadn’t even dreamt of working with yet. Despite his excitement and gratitude, he emphasizes that when it comes to collaborations, he doesn’t want to rush it.
“I want to make sure I have stuff that I’m really proud of before I send a lot of my favorite rappers and influences something to work on,” he says.
Other rappers he dreams of working alongside include Meechy from Flatbush Zombies, Schoolboy Q, Waka Flocka Flame and A$AP Rocky, the lattermost of whom tops the list.
For Alkanat, the key to navigating his rapid ascent was getting over the fear of freestyling rather than having his sets planned out. “When I freestyle it’s just so much easier,” he says. “I know exactly what I want to play… it was really just getting over that fear of freestyling in front of thousands of people.”
Knowing that freestyling led to his best work but fearing the potential mistakes that come with an unplanned set, it took some rationalizing to overcome his doubts. “Back then all I did was show up with a laptop and my controller and just read the room for four hours, and I thought I was way better back then at DJing,” he explains. “So now I’m like, ‘I was good then, why don’t I just do this in a bigger setting?'”
“It was kind of a mental battle, but now I’m very comfortable freestyling up there,” he continues, highlighting the connection it cultivates with his fans. “I think it’s more fun for the fans to just be in the moment and play what feels right.”
His approach extends even further, like in his fan-favorite “Cartunes” and “Driptapes” volumes released via SoundCloud. According to Alkanat, these mixes pay homage to his top live tracks of the year.
You may be surprised to discover that he sits down and assembles these mixes all in one go. Alkanat says he finds himself consumed by a “random manic state” as he sits down to work on longer mixes and EPs, and the spontaneity with which he changes elements.
“The ‘Dopamine’ VIP, with the Rae Sremmurd vocals over it—I made that the day before the mix came out and I’m like, ‘I think this would actually fit!’ And now it’s a lot of people’s favorite part from the mix,” he reveals with a laugh.
In the same vein of feeling and fun within his own studio, Alkanat wants to encourage a sense of community with his nostalgia-fueled music. So take it from the producer himself that his music and sets are there for your entertainment and escape—along with the occasional headbang”.
“At the end of the day, as long as everyone’s respectful, and they’re kind to each other and having fun, that’s what it’s all about,” he says. “We’re all here to get away from real-life shit and just have fun and listen to music.”
