Love Emitting Diode |
Here at Up All Day, I’ve done my damndest to tell you about the local history of dance sounds — RED FOXXX and the Hearthrob crew, EMJAE, DJ DIE YOUNG, 7L, DJ KON, GFA DJ MICHAEL SAVANT, DJ ETAN and his Allston cohort PLUS MOVE, Spank Rock’s CHRIS DEVLIN, RNDM, TANNER ROSS plus the mature tracks of UNLOCKEDGROOVE and the BEAT RESEARCH posse, and on and on. But now an even newer style is emerging. I e-mailed three of the most highly regarded producers, and this is the result.
“I think there is no more enjoyable and fun music than dance music,” writes PROFECYR (a/k/a Greg Cyr), whose remixes have him atop the hippest music blogs. “Even the hardest dance tracks are very fun. You don’t find yourself listening to some hardcore metal and thinking: ‘Wow, I’m having so much fun.’ ” Adam Rourke, a/k/a LOVE EMITTING DIODE, whose recent Blonde Redhead remix has him on top of the invite-only tastemaker Fairtilizer list and elsewhere, writes, “My mom was a dance instructor in the ’80s when I was a little kid. I think watching teenage girls from backstage dance to ‘You Dropped a Bomb on Me’ in leotards had some sort of lasting effect.” Writes MATTHEW SAVANT, “Just the fact that my tracks are making people dance in other cities and other countries is an amazing feeling, even if it’s not me playing it to them.”
The three young heads (all south of 30) have had buzz humming on the Web, either through Web 2.0 sites or music blogs. “I love the four-on-the-floor bass drum, the dirty synth basses, the breakdowns and build-ups,” says Cyr. “I love when those sounds flow through me, and I love seeing other people enjoy that sound in a club, or at home just as much.”
All three new names have spread their message through quasi-illegal remixes of big names like Rihanna and Daft Punk. “I’d be making music either way,” says Savant. “It’s something I’m very passionate about, but it’s difficult to balance working 40 hours a week to survive and still have the time to write music. Ideally I could make music and DJ enough to not have to have a day job. That’s my goal. I just have to keep hustling until something happens.” For his part, L.E.D. Rourke got to electronic dance music through a simple on-line remix contest, something that’s become a tool for labels to hype new tracks. “I said, ‘Hey, I think could make a hotter one than all the others in this contest.’ It was fun and people liked it. Now I’m trying to do them to get good at it.”
The three producers are part of a new breed of remixer/producer types: those who work for free — remixing hip tracks on an illegal tip, planning to get gigs in the future. “I hope someday I get a message from (Ed Banger mixmaster) DJ Mehdi or M.I.A. or the DFA guys saying, ‘Your remix is great,’ or, ‘This could’ve been better,’ ” Rourke writes. “I remix these artists because I love what they do, and I enjoy putting my own twist into their songs.”
The underappreciated creative scene in Basstown has producers like our trinity scrambling to get recognized. “I’ll search for my name to see who’s playing it,” says Rourke. Savant: “I just found out that my remix for the Faint has been cycling on Swedish national radio.” Perhaps the most confounding thing is the lack of commercial enterprise in our three new talents. “It’s a great feeling hearing from DJs saying that they would like to drop or have dropped a track of mine,” says Cyr. “I put time into making this simply because I love it. And if someone put my track in their mix, that means they chose my song out of however many they could choose from. It’s a great feeling hearing from DJs saying that they would like to drop or have dropped a track of mine.”
Rourke started off playing drums, and that led to a natural inclination towards beats. “I’ve been a drummer for 20 years, and into recording and production since high school. I’ve done a whole lot of rock, too. Big guitars, slamming drums. Not especially dance-y, but I really like doing it and would love to be remixing hot songs for loot regularly.”
It’s that regular loot that has a lot of local heads scratching for a place to perform. The multi-talented Savant plays when he can with the Hot Pink crew, but Rourke and Cyr are left with blogs and Internet on-ramps to get them proper gigs. “I’m not making any money doing remixes,” says Rourke. “I’m working on a bunch of remix ideas right now. Trying out different variations and stuff.” Savant too maintains his grind: “I’m working on some original tracks; right now I’m refining my DJ skills and I’m looking for gigs.” And Cyr: “I don’t have any gigs, but I’m mad busy. And I do plan on 100 percent continuing this well into my future, whether that means making money or just continuing to do it for fun. It’s such a great feeling seeing a dance floor full of people dancing to what you’re putting out to them.” In the new world of Basstown, that dance floor spans the entire globe — yet it finds a hub in Boston.
