DJ Sneak

Inspiration: Demuir

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment
demuir

The past informs the future in Demuir’s musical world. On his jackin’ house tracks for DJ Sneak’s I’m A House Gangster, Luke Solomon and Derrick Carter’s Classic Music Company, and Mark Farina’s Great Lakes Audio, the Toronto-based DJ/producer/cratedigger/samplemeister has established a reputation for crafting funky tracks peppered with snippets mined from yesteryear which he imaginatively embeds into his fresh jams.

On his TruSkool full-length, Demuir presents his most colorful palette of sounds to date. While house-music albums often consist of a handful of killer tracks and lots of filler, TruSkool is a thoroughly enjoyable and consistent listen. From the hard-hitting floor rocker “Call Of Da Sound” to the string-laden disco-house bomb “Mi Nah Chase Pum Pum,” Demuir best sums up his musical ethos on “Aesthetics” when he opines: “Do not give a fuck about what other people think. You do your own shit. Play the music as you see it.” Before the release of TruSkool on October 7 via Magnetic Recordings, we caught up with Demuir and asked him about tracks that have inspired him during his musical journey.

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4/20 Playlist: 10 Dope Dance Joints About Marijuana

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment

420 music

For decades musicians from all genres have written songs about marijuana. Reggae legends Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, metal pioneers Black Sabbath, hip-hop acts Cypress Hill, Method Man, Snoop Dogg and Luniz and funk icon Rick James have all sung the praises of weed. Perhaps they all took a cue from folk troubadour Bob Dylan who proclaimed in 1966’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” that “everybody must get stoned.” Songs about ganja aren’t as prevalent in dance music, but there are a few notable ones.  In honor of April 20 (a.k.a. 4/20), we present a playlist of dance songs celebrating the green stuff.
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Respect: Producers Pay Homage to Roland’s TR-909

Darren Ressler 1 Comment

Roland TR-909

Roland’s iconic TR-909 has often imitated but never duplicated. Partially analog, partially sample-based, the 909, which made history as the first MIDI-equipped drum machine, was introduced in 1984. While only 10,000 units were manufactured, this lil’ beige box gave forward-thinking producers in Chicago, New York, Detroit and London the ability to collectively forge the blueprint of hip-hop, house and techno.

All these years later the 909’s influence continues to be heard. We asked producers intimate with the Roland TR-909 to wax poetic about this magical machine that’s been the heartbeat of several generations.

Animated GIF created for Big Shot by Christian Petersen Continue Reading →

Harry Romero x Joeski: The Big Shot Interview

Darren Ressler 1 Comment

Joeski-Harry_Romero

A chance post-DJ set meeting between house masters Harry Romero and Joeski at Winter Music Conference 2014 planted the seed of what has blossomed into a beautiful musical collaboration. Fueled by a mutual desire to shake up dance music’s status quo, their HR & SKI alliance has presented them with plenty of room to innovate on their own terms. With releases out now on esteemed imprints Nervous, Suara, Stereo, Defected and Maya, they’ve only scratched the tip of the artistic iceberg.

This month the twosome drop an extra special release, “Ghetto Jazz,” on DJ Sneak’s trusted I’m A House Gangster. Reminiscent of the jazz-soaked style Pal Joey explored in the early ’90s (remember “Hot Music”?), the duo, who play on two mixers and four decks simultaneously, put their own spin on blending jazz with house music for intoxicating results.

With so many years of experience and their collective fingers on the global pulse of house music, we asked the gents to interview each other about whatever was on their minds. Here’s their unfiltered discussion.

HR & SKI’s Ghetto Jazz EP is out July 20, 2015 on DJ Sneak’s I’m A House Gangster. Catch them at Verboten in Brooklyn on July 17, 2017. Continue Reading →