Drunken Kong: What’s the dance music scene like in Japan?

Ending season 5 of the podcast is a guest that I have wanted to get on the show for such a long time, and we finally made it happen! Olivier started his career in marketing, working in senior roles at global consumer brands including, O2, Vueling and Lucky Strike. However, his passion for music, and a firm belief that it is a powerful way to connect brands with their audience, saw him place music at the core of the marketing strategy for those brands. From that point his career would connect more and more with the music industry, then creating his own agency, Ibiza Essentials, and later on providing senior consultancy to notable music brands, including Beatport and Brunch Electronik, advising on brand partnerships, sponsorship and international business development.  Olivier is now the director of music partnerships at leading ticketing and event discovery platform, DICE. In this conversation we take a deep dive into his exciting career so far as well as how DICE is changing the game in ticketing whilst helping build artist’s fanbases and allowing music enthusiasts to discover more of the gigs that they’ll love. To learns more about DICE, head here: https://dice.fm/

Haitian-born, New York based DJ and produce, Francis Mercier is next up on the podcast! With over nearly 150 sold out shows last year, including shows that he’s always dreamt of such as Burning Man, Coachella, Tomorrowland and Space Miami as well as 11 releases, Francis is on fire right now and has no sign of slowing down. We chat all about his rapid growth to fame, growing up in Haiti, organising soccer games when he's on tour, how his sound has evolved, challenges he has come across and what’s next for the mastermind behind his record label, Deep Root Records.

This week I am joined by not one, but two incredibly talented artists, Jess Bays and MC DT. Known worldwide for his famous hook, 'We're loving it, loving it, loving it®' award-winning MC DT is one of the UK Garage scenes pioneers. Coinciding on past line ups with Jess Bays, who over the last few years has become one of the standout artists of recent times, we talk about how they have each cut through the noise in such a quick-paced industry. We also got a freestyle from DT!

It's always strange interviewing one of your best friends! But also the perfect excuse for a good catch up and a giggle on the sofa :) Esther Chan is up next. Esther was PA to Jamie Jones for 7 years until recently transitioning into Artist and Production Coordinator for Paradise Ibiza. We talk all about working so closely with one of the biggest DJs in the world and all of the responsibilities that the job entailed, Paradise, Ibiza and lots of stories she's made along the way! Please remember to subscribe and review if you enjoy this podcast it's a huge help, and I hope you enjoy this episode!!

We're kicking off the year with a chat with one of the nicest guys in the game, Rossi. And what a pleasure it was to sit down with him and look back on his incredibly successful 2023, whilst getting to know more about his journey so far. From being an actor, starring in London's Westend shows such as Mary Poppins (playing Michael Banks btw!) at the age of 8 to now playing some of the biggest festivals and clubs in the world, Ross' story is one of hard work, dedication and a lot of passion for what he does. Glastonbury, Fabric all night long, becoming a Rinse FM resident, playing Joseph Capriati's legendary party at Bret during ADE and growing his brand, HOMEGROWN by Rossi., are just some of last year's highlights that we talk about in this episode, but with 2024 just getting started, I can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds for him because I think we all know it will be BIG. Follow Rossi. here. Follow HOMEGROWN by Rossi. here.

On today's episode we explore the relationship between neurodiversity and and its wider relevance within the dance music scene with Alexandra Annable who is the head of brand partnerships at Jukebox and Tristan Hunt who is a Music Industry ADHD Coach. We talk all about their own experiences and how the dance music industry has allowed them to be their authentic selves as well as the challenges that undiagnosed neurodivergence brought them over the years and how being diagnosed allowed them to overcome those challenges.  For more information on this topic I recommend reading Harold Heath's article in DJ Mag: https://djmag.com/features/exploring-relationship-between-neurodiversity-and-dance-music

‘I didn’t expect this to happen in my lifetime’, Chief Creative Officer of MDLBEAST, Baloo is next on the podcast, and what an insightful conversation it was. Before private events went public in 2019 in Saudi Arabia, with the establishment of the General Entertainment Authority, Saudi’s music scene had been thriving for the past two decades behind closed doors.    So what was growing up, partying, and for artists, developing your sound and DJing skills without being able to perform publicly at that time? Baloo explains this time and the transition to what is now the fastest-growing music scene in the world, through his eyes and as part of one of the biggest and strongest platforms in music, MDLABEAST.  MDLABEAST is home to XP Music Futures which accelerates the growth of MENA’s music industry with an annual 3-day music conference in Riyadh, Soundstorm music festival which was formed by 200+ artists, 750k+ visitors and 4 days of non-stop music and dancing in 2021, MDLBEAST radio and multiple record labels. “NEXT IS MORE. We are here to amplify the unseen. We are investing in talent, music innovation, world-class production and fresh content. We're bringing together communities to create, make noise and inspire generations.” Find out more about XP Conference and Soundstorm Festival 2023 here: https://mdlbeast.com/

Discovering what the dance music scene is like in other parts of the world is something that fascinates me. And when it’s somewhere as exciting as Japan, it fascinates me even more. And honestly, I don’t think there is a better duo to tell the story than Tokyo based techno duo, Drunken Kong. Recently releasing on Drumcode and playing Ultra Tokyo a couple of months ago, Kyoko and D have been making waves, representing Japan in the techno scene throughout the globe. Digging deep into the story behind the Womb residents, I find out more about what the scene is currently like in Japan, how it has grown and where it is heading.

After playing in over 4 continents, 92 cities and 29 countries in 2023, headlining over 40 festivals globally including Kappa, EXIT, Monegros, Sonus, Extrema, DGTL and Time Warp as well as all major clubs and venues around the world, curating her own nights at Amnesia Ibiza, playing Tomorrowland Main Stage and so much more, two questions come to mind for Indira Paganotto: One, how do you feel after the biggest year of your career so far and two, what's next? Becoming one of the most in-demand artists in the world in such a short period of time, I sat down with the queen of Psytechno to talk about how she has dealt with her rapid growth to fame, how non-stop hard work, passion and being true to yourself will take you to wherever you want to go, appreciating the small things in life and the love she has for the community that she has created. A story told from the heart. Video filmed by Joao Rodriguez.

ADE (my favourite event of the year) has grown into the world’s largest and most influential club-based festival and conference for electronic music, featuring over 2,900 artists taking part in over 1000 events across 200+ venues throughout the city, welcoming around half a million visitors to the city.  With only a few days left until the 28th edition, I had a quick chat with ADE directors Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem Van de Ven about this year's hot topics, how the conference has grown since it began in 1996, their personal favourite parts of the conference, tips if it's your first time at ADE and of course... the weather over the next few days in the Dutch capital! Check out the full ADE 2023 program here: https://www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl/en/