The Road to SnowGlobe 2014: Phantogram

Phantogram, an electronic/rock artist comprised of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter, have a gift that keeps on giving. Sarah’s dreamy voice combined with creative rhythms and heavy beats have resulted in success for the duo, who released their second album, Voices, this year.

Phantogram is currently on tour, making stops across the U.S. and Canada. For New Year’s, they will be performing at SnowGlobe Music Festival held in South Lake Tahoe. Their electronic energy mixed with pulsing beats are the reason for their mind-blowing live performances.

Make sure to check out their playlist on Vidiam and keep an eye out for this artist on the rise by following them and every other #SG14 artist on their Road To SnowGlobe with the #SG official app! Track their tour dates leading up to the festival and receive exclusive content, prizes, and updates — direct from #SGHQ!

The Road To SnowGlobe: Branchez

Branchez, a growing DJ and producer, has proven his skills in remixing as well as producing his own style of percussive creations of trap and bass music.

The New York native has racked up fans by remixing songs by Rihanna, Wet, Mat Zo, and more. His music is characterized by soulful beats blending electronic and hip-hop genres. Branchez has toured with DJs such as Giraffage, RL Grime, and most recently, Skrillex.

Enjoy the Listening and Free Downloads Here!

Follow Branchez and every other #SG14 artist on their Road To SnowGlobe with the #SG official app! Track their tour dates leading up to the festival and receive exclusive content, prizes, and updates — direct from #SGHQ!

Branchez has been blazing his way through the festival scene, playing at Electric Daisy Carnival this past June, HARD Day of the Dead Music Festival in October, and now SnowGlobe Music Festival coming up this December to bring in the New Year!

Clearly, this producer is making all the right moves to get his name out there and we can’t wait to hear what he comes out with next! He released a track just this past summer called “Truth,” featuring a 90s R&B track by Brownstone and incorporates trap music influence.

Enjoy the Listening and Free Downloads Here!

Branchez

BreakSh!t Spotlight: Astronauts By Night

Vidiam’s BreakSh!t leaderboard has been updated! The time has passed for submissions, but our remaining DJs have until August 15th to promote their tracks and take the lead. Entries have come from far and wide, as near as San Francisco and all the way from Costa Rica. One entry in particular sticks out, and that’s Hawaiian production trio Astronauts by Night.

How exactly do Astronauts by Night #BreakShit? With a sound described as an “aural adventure through time and space,” this trance trio breaks through the stratosphere with their tracks, both bass-filled and dream inspiring all at once.

After meeting in high school, Jon used his hip-hop/turntable origins to teach Jason the basics, and AbN grew exponentially from there. Only after meeting idols Tritonal and Myon and Shane54 did they decide to seriously pursue trance and progressive house. Since then, Hawaii’s nightlife scene has become their playground, working with top promotional groups, and even sharing the stage with MainStage acts Adventure Club, Seven Lions, 12th Planet, and yes, Tritonal.

The talented trio has dominated the homeland for some time, and plans on breaking into the rest of the world as their next conquest, proved by their BreakSh!t mix (which does NOT disappoint).

What did they have to say about it? Read on!

V: Tell us about your BreakShit entry. What does Astronauts by Night have that sets it apart from the rest of the competition?

ABN: Our first entry was “Epitaph”, an original piece that we pretty much came up with in less than 24 hours, which we debuted the night we opened for Emma Hewitt in Honolulu.

Our Second Entry “SateSpheres” is the mash up of Oceanlab’s “Satellite” and Bluestone’s “Spheres” that our fellow astronaut, Jude Jove, came up with one day in the studio.  We loved the way the two songs meshed together so we started adding it to our set lists, and the crowds we played for shared our sentiments!

Our final entry was a mix of our top tracks of 2013.  This mix was a compilation of music that we felt best displayed our taste in electronic dance music for that year.

Astronauts By Night is all about synergy.  Individually we consider ourselves skilled DJ’s and producers with potential to become great, and as a group we feel that our potential becomes infinite.  We each challenge each other to better ourselves when it comes to music and in our personal lives as well, and we believe that this sort of relationship translates positively behind the turntables and on to the dance floor.

V: Where did the name Astronauts by Night come from?

ABN: The name “Astronauts By Night” came from some wild fantasy that Jon had about owning a strip club on the moon, and he had us all brainstorm potential names for his imaginary establishment. The title we are known by today came up during this brainstorm, and we all agreed that we should use it as the name for our group, as having a strip club on the moon seemed a little too far fetched.

V: What’s the EDM scene like in Hawaii?

ABN:The scene in Hawaii used to be so small! We remember when all of us used to go out and we would know every single person by name. The scene has gotten a lot bigger and all we can do is ride this waves of change to better ourselves and our music in order to stand out in our growing EDM community.

 

V: According to your bio, Jon came from hip-hop/turntableist origins. What made you move from that to trance/progressive house?

ABN (John): I’ve never moved away from hip-hop and turntablism. Progressive house and Trance are just more words I can add to my vocabulary.  The more words you know, the more creative you can get.  That’s how books are made.  Trance vibrates at a certain frequency that I connect with, and it happens to be the same frequency that connects me to hip hop, and every other kind of music that im attracted to.  The earth is just a planet in a galaxy, in a universe filled with infinite galaxies, and possibly infinite universes.  Sure I live on earth but why not wonder about everything else?

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Is Astronauts By Night’s #BreakSh!t entry out of this world? Only one way to find out: listen here, happy travels!

http://vidi.am/u288e

BreakSh!t Spotlight: Bass Science

Time’s up! As of last Tuesday, our BreakSh!t finalists were given two weeks to promote their mixes for the chance to headline a Vidiam sponsored event. Only the best of the best remain, and undoubtedly, Spotlight artist Bass Science is bringing it with his BreakSh!t entry.

With performances described as “diverse productions that are lit with innovation and laden with the low end,” you can expect Bass Science to put on the show of your life. He’s called London, Japan, and now, Los Angeles home, all of which have contributed to his unique sound, which fires the dance floor into action. We caught up with him to discuss that sound that makes him stand out.

V: Tell us about your BreakSh!t entry. What sets it apart from the others?

BS: I recorded this live, and I am happy with all its imperfections (even if minimal): that is the way it should be. It features a bunches of unreleased and originals. I want this to be a mix people can actually listen to at home, driving or while doing other stuff.

V: Your sound is already so interesting (combination of glitch-hop, IDM, and dub), are you looking to try anything new?

BS: I started producing and playing live Bass Music (name under which I group most of todays EDM sub genres) back in 2009 and since then I never really cared to fit in a specific genre. I never sit down and say “Cool, gonna do a dubstep track now.” Everytime I start producing a new track it can potentially be something new. I dont really think of it.

V: Do you think living in areas with different music scenes like Japan, London, and now the US have influenced the music you make?

BS: I started producing Bass Music while I was in Japan, Tokyo. There was NOTHING like that at that time happening in Japan. I just moved there from London where dubstep was pretty strong. In 2008, I got the chance to play a few big venue in US, including the Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Morrison, CO. I remember playing among pretty much all of the most relevant Bass Music producers (Pretty Lights, Flying Lotus, NOSAJ THING, Daedelus and more). It was epic. So when I moved to Tokyo, I thought, “Damn we need to make it happen here, too.” I started a label (Made in Glitch) and a production company and we pretty much initiated the whole Bass Music thing in Japan.

Haven’t checked out Bass Science yet? What are you waiting for? Get down to his BreakSh!t mix and give him some love! Listen here!