91
DJ BL3ND is the US sensation soon to break out
onto European shores. The last year has seen him
go from bedroom DJ to smash hit sensation, all
because the series of DJ videos he uploaded to
YouTube went viral.
“2013 has been a great year so far,” says the young,
unnamed star who has a terrifying mask glued to
his face the whole time. “I played a lot of shows for
my fans around the US and I also have been locked
up in the studio working on a bunch of fresh new
stuff.“
He’s amassed some dizzying stats this year,
including over 200 million YouTube views, 3 million
Facebook fans and 20 million music downloads.
Said music is a high gloss, high impact, maximalist
sound that takes the most spikey elements of
EDM, biggest drops of dubstep and most sawtooth
synths, and welds them together into a hellish
soundtrack that gets his fans “raging”.
“Now I’m ready for my international tour
coming up in 2014,” he says, so you’d
better watch out… KRISTAN J CARYL
NEW
ENTRY
DJ BL3ND
From: USA. Style: “Raging!” Best known for: “BL3ND
energy.” Tune of 2013: “Too many to just choose
one.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2013: “All the
underground DJs who are making a name for themselves.”
92
DJ Mag remembers thinking when Oakey went to Vegas that there was no chance
that dance music was going to catch on over there...
“It’s ridiculous, there’s more billboards for DJs than there is for anyone else now,”
Paul replies, likening it to Ibiza in the old days. “It hasn’t been about crooners and
slot machines for years.”
He started his residency in Vegas four years ago, when there was no electronic
music there. “I thought with the right team working in the same direction, the
potential was huge,” he says. “Then a lot of other clubs started thinking that, cos
we were doing so well.”
Oakey’s new comp, ‘Ibiza To Vegas’, attempts to showcase the two different sounds
of those destinations.“Arguably, the two most important ports of call when it
comes to electronic music. America has the big room sound which dominates, and I
think it’s quite melodic and has its big trance moments, and then Ibiza is a lot more
underground — and the tempo’s faster,” he says.
Chelsea fan Paul tells us that he’s been touring a lot as a DJ again recently, “and
?nishing my record up”. Like his previous two artist albums, he says, it’s full of
melodic songs with beats, “but what’s changed is house music is pop music, so I
think the songs will be very well-received. Now we’re mainstream”.
He’s just done some music for Leonardo Di Caprio and Martin Scorsese’s new ?lm,
and thinks it’s a good moment for everyone at present. “Electronic music is in a
great place, and the pie seems to be big enough for everyone,” Paul says. “Just
embrace it and be in the moment and enjoy it. That’s where I am with it. I’m not
focusing on what anyone else is doing, I’m just in the moment having fun and
enjoying what I’m doing. And making music — love it.” CARL LOBEN
?23
PAUL OAKENFOLD
From: UK. Style: “Melodic.” Best known for: “Trance.” Tune
of 2013: “Beatman & Ludmilla ‘Bazantar’.” Breakthrough
DJ/producer of 2013: “Danny Howard, he’s
pioneering electronic music at BBC Radio 1.”
132 djmag.com
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