Marc Houle
Kill The Noise
The music of Jake Stanczak, better known as American producer and DJ, Kill the Noise, was born out of an era where Ridley Scott imagined utopian futures on the silver screen, and artists like NIN and Aphex Twin rocked MTV.
After channeling the influences of his youth through over a decades’ worth of forwarddriven electronic releases (Roots, Kill Kill Kill, Black Magic), and charismatic live shows (Coachella, EDC, Lollapalooza), the name “Kill the Noise” has become synonymous with some of the leading acts in dance music — getting creative in the studio with the likes of Tommy Trash, Deadmau5 and Skrillex.
In 2014 alone, Kill The Noise has already won his second MTV Video Music Award, co-written the first single (and title-track) from Skrillex’s album “Recess”, collaborated with Mat Zo (Kill The Zo) and produced the feature track for Paramount’s 2014 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (“Shell Shocked feat Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J and Ty Dolla$”). More driven than ever to push forward on all platforms of audio and visual collaboration, Kill the Noise now has sights set on a massive stretch of international tour dates, as well as an upcoming EP of original work.
Flux Pavilion
Flux Pavilion’s polymath-like ability to involve himself in all aspects of music cannot be understated. Known as Joshua Steele to friends and family, Flux is a singer-songwriter, record producer and label owner who plays the drums, guitar, saxophone and piano. His achievements range from releasing his first vinyl at 19 years old to selling out the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado twice, notching up a UK top 10 hit with Sway and having Kanye West & Jay Z sample his dance floor anthem ‘I Can’t Stop’ in addition to featuring in DJ Magazine’s Top 100 DJ’s 2015. Not bad for a guy who started out replaying jingles he’d heard on TV on his Casio keyboard.
Influenced by the likes of David Bowie, The Beatles and Frank Zappa in the early years, it was when he heard The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers that Flux Pavilion knew he had found a musical direction he truly wanted to explore for himself. A deluge of musical projects followed, writing instrumental hip hop and dirty drum & bass, joining local bands and producing for other acts all while studying at university. But the major turning point for this unquestionably talented musician was a visit to London superclub Fabric:
“I never went to clubs because I didn’t feel accepted into that scene; it felt too showy, too well-groomed. Then I saw Rusko play at Fabric and it changed my perception of everything. He was jumping around wearing a big cardboard hat shaped like a bird playing the most outrageous music I had ever heard. I loved it.”
From that day forth Flux Pavilion was destined to rise, first to the top of the dubstep scene, and then to the peak of electronic music the world over. His own label, Circus Records, started alongside childhood friend Doctor P with the backing of D&B pioneer DJ Swan-e and Earl Falconer of UB40, has been responsible for unleashing some of the most successful electronic music that the underground has to offer, launching the careers of scores of new talent in the process.
Meanwhile Flux’s own output has gone from strength to strength, having worked on a diverse selection of original tracks and collaborations with Childish Gambino, Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki and Turin Brakes plus remixing for the likes of Skrillex, Jamiroquai, MIA and DJ Fresh. While most students are thinking about where to go on their gap year, Flux Pavilion was celebrating ‘I Can’t Stop’ being picked as Zane Lowe’s ‘Hottest Record in the World’ when at the time he was still living in student halls. Ever since, Flux’s music can now be found regularly cropping up in the playlists of MistaJam, Fearne Cotton and Eddy Temple Morris as well as drawing attention from Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Prodigy, Fat boy Slim and Christina Aguilera to name a few. Reaching new heights, Flux has recently been the first producer ever to be officially asked to remix the Star Wars theme song in what will surely be a highlight of his career to date.
The intervening years have seen Flux notch up three headline US tours, two headline UK tours, DJ sets at every festival worth mentioning — from Glastonbury to Reading, Coachella to EDC Vegas and beyond — plus live performances with Example, Foreign Beggars and Chiddy Bang. In that time Flux has continued to develop his signature sound, retaining the all-important energy that The Prodigy and Rusko inspired him with in the early days and undoubtedly inspiring a generation of electronic music producers of his own in the process.
Eric Prydz
As Mouseville Records and Pryda Recordings continue to deliver the dancefloor goods, Eric Prydz is now one of the world’s most in demand underground spinners and producers.
Eric Prydz is on a roll at the moment, without doubt leading the way. His labels Mouseville, Pryda, & Pryda Friends are positively brimming with underground club hits. Eric is now in charge of three highly respected labels whose releases are in feverish demand, consistently selling huge quantities of vinyl which is truly incredible in the markets current climate. The labels are arguably proving to be the most successful and forward thinking imprints currently existing. Each label was strictly developed to give Eric a platform to release his own productions without outside interference, simply his music on his terms. It was important for Eric to step back after his previous successes and release music without schedules and pressure. Ultimately he wanted to control his own image & destiny, something extremely important to him and his career. The ethos behind the labels was truly underground, scarcely any promotion, no press intrusion and true label/design identity… a formula which has proven massively successful!
Releases on his more hard-edged Mouseville Records under the pseudonym Cirez D have been tough and powerful a throw back to the underground techno roots his native Sweden has become so famous for. The huge demand for this label has been nothing short of amazing with his massive ‘Knockout EP’ selling over 18,000 copies on vinyl alone. The more melodic based Pryda imprint showcases his early house influences with harmonies, melodies and hooks fused with his trademark powerful basslines. Pryda & Mouseville are solely for Eric’s own productions, vehicles to develop his sound a sound that has become so influential, constantly imitated and copied but yet to be bettered.
Therefore Pryda Friends was created to release friend’s productions as currently there was no other outlet for the growing list of tracks submitted to Eric by his close colleagues. Collaborations such as the hugely successful Paolo Mojo “1983” & Axer “123”/ “321” written with fellow Swede Axwell proved the worth of this new imprint.
Then just recently he became the first ever artist to be given the green light to sample Pink Floyd as his massive ‘Proper Education’ fused “Another Brick In The Wall’s” school choir chorus into a UK & European chart smash for Ministry of Sound. Eric has proven to be an artist that can actually fuse commercial success with underground success, something previously impossible to achieve and sustain.
It was always the enjoyment of working with music that kept Eric coming back for more. From making music on the piano aged 8 to convincing his parents to buy him a keyboard so he could make his own Depeche Mode tracks it was always “just a bit of fun.” However, with his debut artist album set to hit the world this summer, Eric’s key loves of house, techno and electro will see him bring all of his styles under one roof for the first time as his underground club roots come to the fore. A bonefide global chart smash in the making, it’s surprising just how far a bit of ‘fun’ can go.
Going back to 1994 Eric became the drummer in a synth band called ‘Enemy Alliance’, touring Sweden and dreaming of becoming the next Kraftwerk. He jacked his job in, hooked up with two friends who had a small studio set up making more pop based material and lived the next two years virtually penniless – working on his own hard-hitting, techno-funk tracks and DJing locally when gigs came up.
Eric’s first release came about almost by accident. Having made a bunch of new material solely on a Roland MC-505 Groovebox he gave a cassette to a friend who ran a clothing store in Stockholm. Eventually finding its way to the London offices of EMI’s New Religion, in 2000 they released ‘By Your Side’/Mr. Jingles’ and Eric was at last on the hallowed grooves of black vinyl.
After the success of that initial release, EMI moved Eric to their flagship dance label Credence. A remix of the boogie bassline driven ‘Mr Jingles’ together with two new tracks followed and ‘EP1’ formed the first of three hugely successful releases. By the time ‘EP3’ came around, Eric had developed into one of the hottest names in house music and the original version of ‘Slammin’ from EP3 became the biggest instrumental tune on Ibiza in the summer of 2003. As an in demand producer the remix offers were flying in. Defining moments like his work on fellow Swede Steve Angello’s ‘Voices’ & Woz Not Woz firmly established Eric’s trademark electronic sound and he went on to remix the likes of The Shapeshifter’s, Alter Ego, Pet Shop Boys and Switch to name but a few.
Then things went a bit crazy. A record that he made to play out for friends in Stockholm that sampled a vocal hook from Stevie Winwood’s ‘Valerie’ became a local club anthem off the back of just six dub plates. A year later in 2004 ‘Call On Me’ was out on Ministry of Sound’s Data imprint, topping half the national charts of Europe and remaining at number 1 for six weeks in the UK, generating sales of over 2.5 million units worldwide.
As Mouseville Records and Pryda Recordings continue to deliver the dancefloor goods, Eric Prydz is now one of the world’s most in demand underground spinners and producers. With is debut album and new single set to drop, the worlds of techno and house are in safe hands.
