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The Gift Artist Profile: deadmau5 (unhooked)

Pioneering producer and The Gift headliner deadmau5 (unhooked) has etched his name among dance music’s elite by going beyond the “standard” definitions of production and what to do behind the decks. Always playing his well-crafted edits and originals often with the help of cutting edge computer technology, deadmau5 continues to fill dance floors around the globe after all these years.

Born Joel Thomas Zimmerman in Niagara Falls, Canada, The Gift talent became drawn to music at the age of 15 picking up an affinity for the piano while simultaneously welcoming technology, making chip tunes from old computers. After a few years of being influenced with electronics and hardware, he started working in animation and web design. “I was playing MS Golf and Minesweeper. And getting blown away by the amazing effects that Corel Draw could provide. At the same time, my parents were sending me to piano classes. I went to a school for eight years in Niagara Falls, where I got a lot of classical music pounded into my head.”

In 1999, Zimmerman’s chiptunes finally grabbed the attention to Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee, which led to a contributing spot on Lee’s rap metal album Methods Of Mayhem. After years of friendship and collaboration they released two electro-house singles, under the name W.T.F.? called “Chicken” and “Redic.” Though Zimmerman made his debut with Tommy Lee, his breakout year was when he entered the music world as a co-producer for the Niagara Falls radio show and released his first album in 2005 with Get Scraped.

Collaborating with Steve Duda under the alias B.S.O.D., deadmau5 earned his first #1 on Beatport with “This is the Hook.” By 2008, deadmau5 had three self-released albums and the breakout success of Random Album Title under his belt. And the hits just kept on coming. deadmau5’s collaboration with Kaskade for tracks “Move for Me” and “I Remember” reached #1 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay making mau5 the 1st Canadian to have three #1 tracks on that chart after also releasing the classic “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” (later with Rob Swire) on For Lack of a Better Name.

deadmau5 closing out 2013 with a bang with recent single “Suckfest9001” and talks of a mega tour for the future. Treating us to a special Unhooked set at this years The Gift, get ready for the ultimate present as deadmau5 makes his way to Raymond James Stadium on Thursday, December 26th.

Catch deadmau5 (unhooked) and buy your tickets today!

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Download the Official App for The Gift by Event Live

This year for Tampa’s inaugural spectacle event, we are teaming up with Event Live to bring you an exclusive app for The Gift. Before you head out to the Raymond James Stadium this Thursday, December 26th, be sure to download our app to get updates and stay connected with the holiday event.

The app is loaded with Gift content including ticket info, songs from our lineup, artist profiles and other helpful information so you can go paperless to the event. It will also give you easy access to the schedules as the event draws nearer. Use the access code “mau” to enter and win prizes like show tickets.

Available on both Android and Apple devices, download your The Gift App by Event Live today! We’ll see you soon.

Hey DJ! Win a Slot and DJ Live at The Day After Festival in Panama from Mixify!

Just picture it: You’re playing on a festival stage and thousands of people are dancing to your set all while you’re in Panama City, Panama. This dream is a lot more realistic than you may think.

Disco Donnie Presents and Show Pro are inviting DJs from all across the globe to enter to win an opening slot at The Day After Festival on Saturday, January 11. To enter, submit a 20 min or shorter mini­-mix to Mixify before December 19 for a panel of celebrity judges to vote on. Ten finalists will be chosen and announced on December 26th. After that, the public will vote on the finalists to select one lucky winner to hit the decks in Panamà. The winner will be announced January 3rd.

Time is ticking! Submit your Day After themed mini-mix today.

Rules and Guidelines

  • Upload your mini­-mixes to Mixify by Thursday, December 19th (late submissions will not be considered).
  • Judges will select ten finalists to advance to the final round.
  • Top ten finalists will be announced on Thursday, December 26th, and fan voting will begin.
  • Mixes need to be NO LONGER THAN 20 MINUTES!
  • Mini-­mixes must include original work (remixes, and mashups count!).
  • Mini­-mixes must be themed around The Day After Festival.
  • Entrants must be 18 years of age or older.
  • The mini-­mix finalist with the most votes by Thursday, January 2nd will win a slot at The Day After festival, Saturday, January 11th in Panama City, Panama!

Prizes

  • An opening slot at The Day After Festival in Panama City, Panama on Saturday, January 11th, 2014.
  • Hotel accommodations for two nights.
  • Four (4) Three­ Day VIP tickets to The Day After Festival.

Note: Prizes are nontransferable. Prizes may not be sold, bartered or transferred. Prizes do not include any additional expenses, including, but not limited to travel, which is the responsibility of the winner.

Day After Drop: Calvin Harris #1 on UK Top 40 with 'Under Control;' Martin Garrix reaches #1 on Beatport with 'Wizard'

The Day After Festival is bringing some serious talent to Panamá City, Panamá on January 10-12th. We’ve still got weeks left on our countdown so that means we have plenty of time to stay up-to-date with our amazing lineup. Buy your tickets today and be a part of the celebration!

For today’s Day After Drop, we’ve got two of our talents sitting at the #1 position. It’s great to see our artists taking over the top spots!

Calvin Harris gets #1 with latest release “Under Control”

artist calvin harrisWe see a lot of collaborations on a daily basis, but recently, the mother of all collabs made its worldwide debut. Calvin Harris and Alesso put their stellar minds together to create the unforgettable track “Under Control.” Though the two have quite a long list of merits individually, as a duo, these two are unstoppable.

Featuring vocals from Hurts, Harris and Alesso create some damage with resonating bass kicks and everlasting warped synths, making it impossible to not love this tune. Just two days after its release, “Under Control” debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Harris’s fifth #1 single and the first for Alesso and Hurts.

Congratulations to this winning threesome. We know that Calvin Harris will have the audience under control for The Day After Festival.

Martin Garrix reaches #1 on Beatport with “Wizard”

Martin-Garrix-1024x682Though it was only a year ago that Martijn Garritsen, better known as Martin Garrix, was just another budding Dutch hopeful, he has since become the leader of the pack. Initially taking the world by storm with his debut offering “Animals,” which was met with both both Beatport and UK chart domination, the 17-year-old is back again with his latest big-room banger, “Wizard.”

Teaming up with Jay Hardway, this track brings the vibes of your festival right to your speakers. Out on Spinnin’ Records, this collaboration is a hardcore big room gem packed with a lot of punches. The melody is haunting, but in the most melodic way. And not to mention the piercing synths accompanied by a serious bass line after the drop. This stellar follow-up is just what the house doctor ordered – it’s no wonder it’s currently topping Beatport’s overall chart. We hope to get some “Wizard” action when Martin Garrix makes his way to The Day After Festival.

Winter Fantasy Artist Profile: Nom De Strip

artist nom de stripRepresenting Los Angeles by way of Scotland, Winter Fantasy talent Nom De Strip has been has been infecting the world with his personal flair for the last four years. Armed with a ridiculous amount of sarcasm and the support of some of the industry’s biggest names, Nom De Strip is in a class all his own.

Born Chris Elliot, after buying a set of turntables in 1999, Elliot was officially hooked, “They were ropey enough to almost put me off for good, but then after one sweet mix with ‘Beachball’ and ‘Meet Her at the Love Parade’ I realized I was a turntabling rudeboy.”

Though the world first met Nom De Strip in 2009, Elliott had been a part of the dance music scene long before then. After meeting Tod Hodge in 2005, the two formed the outfit Stupid Fresh and released a handful of tracks. After gaining a decent amount of success with tracks like “Ho,” Elliot started his solo project Nom De Strip. And if you’re wondering where the name came from, “[It’s] an Urban Dictionary entry. I always find it difficult to name songs and especially come up with a phony alias for myself. We were struggling, I went on there and had a look around. That was one of the things that I saw which I thought would suit me quite well because all it means is your porn name or your stripper name. I figured the music fit that name and it kind of stuck. But my mom really does call me Nom.”

Nom’s solo project had great success early on. Releasing his underground hits on the revered mau5trap imprint, acclaimed EP’s Clouds Vol. 1 and Clouds Vol. 2 were met with much buzz online. Not to mention his official remix of Tommy Trash’s “Monkey See Monkey Do” which helped solidify his name on the house circuit.

Dance music fans weren’t the only ones who were mesmerized by Nom’s style. Jumping at the opportunity, house music veteran Chris Lake grabbed Nom up for his Rising Music label in 2013. The combination has seen Nom’s career skyrocket. Tracks like “Devil’s BBQ” with Nezzo and “Nippleodeon” with Hatiras had a huge impact in the music blogosphere dubbing Nom a one-to-watch by many industry heavyweights.

With a sound that is still evolving, inspiration comes from many places, “I like kind of emotional music, music that I find emotional. For me, Massive Attack’s “Mezzanine.” I grew up really loving Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, things like that. I really love 80’s, 60’s and 70’s too… the 80’s. I don’t really know what happened to music after that. When you’re growing up it affects you more. But there’s a lot of old music that I still listen to. A lot of songs are really sad songs but I don’t sit there and get really depressed. I enjoy the songs.”

As we march into 2014, the producer has been greeted with massive support from his latest release “Minerals” with Congrorock. This track makes it easy to fall into a groove and cuts deep into the melody as it builds intensity. We’re sure you’ll hear this banger when Nom De Strip makes his way to Winter Fantasy on Monday, December 30th. Tickets are still available online, but selling quick! Grab yours today!

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