How was 2019 for you?
Tasha LaRae: 2019 was a “pause” year for me. Up to this point, my life was going pretty fast and lots of major things were happening. But they were happening so fast that I couldn’t keep up with them and I didn’t enjoy them as much. Once 2019 started, it felt like my life to a moment to pause so I could truly see where I was, where I had been, and re-evaluate where I’d like my life to go next. In hindsight, I’m thankful for this moment because it allowed me to complete and release my first LP, and it let me see a few areas in my life that I want to change. So, thank you 2019 for the chance to pause and soak in my reality check.
Highlights?
Releasing my first full length album project, Tasha with Quantize this past November, receiving the 2019 Hip Hop Icon award from Black Music Honors with my bandmates, Arrested Development and watching my two adorable nieces turn two years and ten years old.
Lowlights?
Not traveling to perform as much as I hoped too.
Song of the year?
“I’m Giving All My Love” by DJ Spen & Reelsoul (Str8 Rockin Remix)
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
To share more of my music with the world and have more fun experiences with my family, friends and fans.
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How was 2019 for you?
Glenn Scott: 2019 was the best year so far since [I launched] my production career. I managed to make a track almost every week. This is also the first year that I really managed to develop my own sound. I also really went looking for serious record labels. Previously, I was happy when a small label wanted to release my tracks but none of the labels did anything about promo after the release. I am very happy that at the end of 2019 IAH Records was interested in my tracks. Since I signed up for this label my tracks are doing much better in a short time. It motivates me enormously and I hope to be able to work with this label for a long time to come. So 2019 was a very good year!
Highlights?
The release of my debut EP Reflections Of A Soul and gain a foothold on American soil. The American market is very important for European producers since electronic music has been revived there, and I’m very glad I managed to do that. I got a lot of tracks ready for release so I hope America is ready for the underground house sound of Glenn Scott!
Lowlights?
Hmmm… I really can’t think of one. I said earlier that 2019 was a good year and it really was. Besides my music I also changed jobs this year, and I managed to find a new employer where I like it very much so no lowlights for me this year.
Song of the year?
I don’t have one. I like a lot in the house genre and find it too hard to pick one of them. By the way, not only in house music. I’m a music man and find a lot of music very good. I listen to how the productions is done and to its depth. If a song gives me goose bumps, it’s good for me. And that can be the case in different genres.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
It would be nice if one of my tracks would be picked up by one of my favorite DJ/producers. So I’m gonna work hard on even more quality and perfecting my sound by investing more in hardware. So…save money!
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How was 2019 for you?
Max Durante: It has been a very constructive year. I created many records and I have many productions ready and delivered to the labels, all finished and ready to be released in the 2020!
I performed in many events that left me with great emotions and great confidence for the near future! I created several remixes and reached more fans.
2019 was the year were I performed more frequently at the legendary Berlin Tresor Club – it’s my favorite club with a strong DJ booth!
I signed to another important label, the aufnahme + wiedergabe, where my EP entitled Order and Chaos came out four months ago. In the spring of 2020 my next EP entitled Fear and Desire will come out!
My next LP will be released on the legendary Hands. 2019 was a year where I locked myself up in the studio and where I still am! I need to say a creative and visionary year. For me it was a limbo for the upcoming Future!
Highlights?
I have achieved many goals but these are the ones that left me the most enthusiasm without a doubt:
My Order and Chaos EP on aufnahme + wiedergabe: The long stay in the studio gave me the right beat, a great satisfaction! I received tons of emails and messages on social media from fans and DJs from all over the world about it.
The legendary Hands label will release my new LP. That was another great achievement! I still didn’t tell to anyone I have not yet publicly announced the news! But I did it now; it happened around the end of November and it’s a fresh news.
My closing set at The Krake Festival…
Huge moment during Krake Label Market: The presentation of Order and Chaos with my streaming set on BE-AT.TV February 22, 2019 Sonic Groove meet Tresor an unforgettable event. My performance at the Geneva Zoo … where I met UVB.
The event with the Mitchell brothers: Adam X and his bother Frankie Bones! I made the closing set as usually happens to Tresor people they didn’t want to go away after a six-hour long DJ set!
The event with the Renton Crew at the Affekt club in the province of Rome – a nice experience. People who take care of the details means that they love!
When I performed during the 28 years of Tresor Records another evening that didn’t want to end. Tresor is emotional!
The experience on the HÖR radio with my streaming: was one of their first live mix session streaming and it was a success, I am happy to have contributed to their growth, they are an efficient and determined team, I decided that from 2020 I will make a periodic radio show!
The last Sonic Groove we made in Milan a few months ago!
When I met Parrish Smith after we had been writing for months. I went to visit him here in Berlin during his performance at a new club near my house, but I didn’t knew it at the beginning that the club was close to me. But something at beginning went wrong. It was late at nite, I was tired and I was just come out of my studio. I was totally distracted. I went to their organization page I saw the address I traced with my phone without evaluating if it was correct or not, and … I ended up outside Berlin. I wanted to die (ha ha ha), to go there and comeback it took me three hours. I wanted to beat myself.
In the end it seemed like a spell that didn’t want us to meet! The surprise (for what reason I write this) was to have known a brilliant person, a person very similar to me, with a relaxed mood but with a great personality, a tempered character but at the same time a rebel, who listens and is open to reflection, knows no judgment but can bite if necessary. We probably have something in common we can talk but we can also be silent! 2019 = many emotions
Lowlights?
Fortunately none.
Song of the year?
Hard to name just one, but I have a particular track that I’ve played almost always in 2019…
“Eternal Return” by Tymon on Perc Trax
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Mny surprises, many ideas, including a radio video program in streaming that will be called Dead on Monday. I’ll do it every last Monday of the month starting from January on HÖR in Berlin.
I would love to discovering new nations, new cultures and be able to bring my sound everywhere. I spent almost of the 2019 in the studio creating mines, now it’s time to launch them! I predict that the years 2020 would be a magic year with a magical number. It is the gate of the future. But I’m scared of the climate change, honestly. We need to take care about the health of the Planet Earth, now that we are in the future we must evolve, because we are in bad shape!
Stay true, stay underground
Image by Andreina Sergi
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How was 2019 for you? Alex Kennon: This year has been a great one. I didn’t realize 2018 could be beaten till I got to the end of this year and reflected on what had made these past 12 months so good! Not only because of the music, which I feel has been some of my best yet and also supported by labels and DJs I’ve always admired, but also because of the incredible opportunity I have been given to tour the world. It has led me to meet amazing people who have become new friends whilst also consolidating the old friendships that nurtured me to grow in both a professional and personal way.
Highlights?
Definitely it was the Dance of Die closing party at Ushuaïa Ibiza and also the Awakenings Party at ADE. Playing those parties with such a focus on playing good music whilst being surrounded by the some of dance music’s OGs was an incredible experience no doubt! The crowd in Ibiza is always special. However, this summer for me personally it was more so as my grandparents, who are both in their 80s, came to visit and see me play, taking their first-ever flight. They’d never even been on a plane before!
Lowlights?
After a long crazy summer with an incredibly hectic touring schedule, I took a couple of weeks at the beginning of winter to work in the studio. It was kind of weird for me to not be on the move and definitely took some adjusting but it meant that I got to finalize my 2020 projects and really focus with the team. It took a while to settle into the balance but meant I now have some absolute tunes in the bank ready to be released with Desert Hearts and Relief early next year with a few more still cooking…
Song of the year?
Laurent Garnier feat. Chambray- Feelin’ Good
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Keep spreading love, music and good vibes.
No paywalls, free to all. Help us remain 100% independent and unbiased. Please give to Big Shot by making a secure one-time donation to help us continue covering DJ culture and electronic music like we’ve done since 2003.
