the realities of rebranding yourself AKA vote for dave on the dj mag top 100 dj’s poll
i have been pondering this dj poll thing recently. in years past, i have always taken the stance that while the dj mag poll doesn't matter, it still does matter because it helps dj's get more and better shows the higher up on it they go. gabriel & dresden were on the dj poll since 2003 where we entered the chart at 42. over the years we steadily climbed the poll and in 2006 ranked at 20 best dj in the world. that means we touched a lot of lives in order to get that high on the poll. it was higher than danny tenaglia. it was higher than roger sanchez. let's just say: it was pretty high.
this year is going to be a different story. josh and i have been persuing the solo thing since may. which means that we are both competing against ourselves and our brand for votes. a perfect example to look at is deep dish. they are a duo who have been persuing solo careers since 2006 and their deep dish brand is still top 10 whilst neither of them are represented as solo artists in the poll.
are fans preserving the memory of deep dish by voting for them as a duo or are they just not in the know that deep dish went solo? while i want to preserve the memory of gabriel & dresden i think it is imperative that if you went and saw josh or i solo this year and we rocked your world, vote for us. if you saw g&d this year and we rocked your world. vote for gabriel & dresden. just go out and vote. represent what you love to the world. it does come back to you. there are many places in the world i would never have played if gabriel & dresden were not on the dj mag poll. and the same holds true for my solo career. you want me in your city? help me by votiing for me.
sweet harmony remix available + davedresdenmusic.com
two things of note today...,
1) The Trent Cantrelle + Dave Dresden remixes of Serge Devant's "Sweet Harmony" are now avaible for sale from Beatport.com and ITunes. Please support my first post G&D release by purchasing this track if you love it :)
second, i have launched a website at www.davedresdenmusic.com - so far it only re-directs you to my myspace but in the coming months look for lots of fun and excitement coming from this URL :)
also, don't miss the show this saturday at the lizard lounge in dallas. a whole slew of new stuff to play for y'all's ;)
1. faithless - it's a kind of peace (acappella) 2. motorcycle - as the rush comes (synth part) 3. dave dresden - anthem bass 4. daniele papini - church of nonsense 5. siliversun pickups - lazy eye (dave dresden & dj lynnwood bootleg) 6. depeche mode - personal jesus (dirty south remix) 7. style of eye - girls 8. radiohead - nude (dave dresden remix) 9. jewel - serve the ego (gabriel & dresden remix) 10. deadmau5 - not exactly (dave dresden remix) 11. coldplay - talk (acappella) 12. john dahlback - pyramid (dirty south rework) 13. energy 52 - cafe del mar (deadmau5 remix) 14. shiny toy guns - you are the one (acappella) 15. planet funk - chase the sun - (house moguls 2008 remix) 16. paolo mojo - intersteller 17. delerium feat sarah mclachlan - silence - (thomas gold & niels van gough remix) 18. john dahlback - blink -(d.o.n.s. & dbn chainsaw remix) 19. gabriel & dresden feat jan burton - enemy 20. josh gabriel - tone program (original mix) 21. rennie foster - devil's water 22. josh gabriel - tone program (style of eye remix) 23. john claude ades - i begin to wonder 2008 (jerome isma-ae remix) 24. spoon - don't you evah? (dave dresden remix) 25. dj blaqstarr - shake it to the ground (claude vonstroke remix) 26. interpol - the heinrich maneuver (dave dresden re-edit of paul epworth remix) 27. gabriel & dresden - portobello 28. the editors - at the end of it all (marcus schossow remix) 29. BILL HICKS
what’s up with dave? (link to new 2 1/2 hour set enclosed)
it seems cliche but my how time flies. it's already august and with the bat of an eye it's gonna start getting cold again. well another month has passed and i can report that i have a lot going on. my collaboration with morgan page is turning out really cool and the track has already gotten great dance floor feedback and its not even done yet :) i plan on taking a few weeks out in the fall to make a few singles with him. we both like the same music, and that helps.
my collaboration with dave aude has also borne fruit. i really admire dave's work ethic and the demeanr he brings to the studio. i've also been playing the song we're working on out and it's getting there quickly too.
in addition, i have been working on music with mikael johnston of mephisto odeyssey and david penner the andain guitarist. the song we have going on is called "standing there" and it's a cute electro indie pop meets middle of a packed saturday night dancefloor. think postal service that you can dance to.
i've done a shit ton of bootys too. i have done remixes of the rock band spoon, ("dont you evaqh"), does it offend you, yeah "dawn of the dead" and i have finally finished the silversun pickups "lazy eye" booty that i made with my good friend dj lynnwood.
oh, and i'm remixing the song "devil's water" by rennie foster. it's a totally hypnotic minimal groover that samples the singer cat power. my version will be what you would expect from me. hands in the air, yo.
so, i made a 2 1/2 hour mix today. the weather was nice and i was in the mood to spin. here's a link. if you're a radio station, feel free to air any part of this mix.
i regret to write this but i have sustained a mild concussion from accidentally walking into a window wall this morning in calgary as i was getting my coffee.
i'm generally pretty groggy in the morning before i have my coffee, and i was texting on my phone as well and i saw a group of glass "doors" which i thought all they all were. as it turns out, only one of them was a door and before i could stop i ended up head first into the glass.
the welt above my left eye was the size of a tennis ball, and to be safe, i went to the hospital for treatment, and missing all available flights out of calgary to seattle, thus making it impossible to do the show. the diagnosis was a mild concussion with a little bit of internal bleeding but not enough to cause alarm.
i intend to do a makeup show as soon as possible and i really feel awful that i have to miss this show. not to mention i'm in a lot of pain.
i will still be doing my shows in kelowna, british columbia, canada and edmonton, alberta, canada this weekend.
thanks for understanding and apologies to the fans who were going to come out tonight to support :)
Alas the ides of summer are upon us. and where am i going tomorrow? VEGAS. Yep, uh huh. and i'm playing The Bank at the Bellagio. G&D didn't really do vegas too much, so i'm pretty excited to play on a big party night (eve of the 4tth) in america's play ground. hopefully all those who came to see josh and i back in january at body english on a wednesday. if you all come out, it will be a good night :)
I have been working on music with the Chicago band Grayarea. Yes, the same dudes whom we remixed back in '02 with "One For The Road" - I am presently working on a remix for their song "mine to lose" and before year out i will make some original club jams with them in chicago. This song is Dave Dresden 101, lyrically and musically and expect something that will be a huge emotiojnal stormer.
I have plans to work in July with Dave Aude and Morgan Page. I have admired Dave for many years for all that he has achieved with all the work he did at moonshine records back in the 90's to his present day remixer du jour status. In the G&D pipeline are quite a few remixes of "New Path" featuring the voice of Jan Burton and Dave by far took this track to the limits and both Josh and I think his version is better than ours.
Morgan has just been on fire lately delivering solid tracks that are very song oriented and flexing in the production realm too. I plan on really turning this up with him. Since we're both into songs and lyrical content, i think something that is quite memorable will ensue from this collaboration.
I've been working on a "for fun" remix of Does It Offend You, Yeah's "Dawn of the Dead" you will hear different versions of this in my live sets and hopefully i'll leak it soon in this blog.
so for now, you'll have to get it from the san diego set from last weekend.
one of my favorite tracks last year was "not exactly" by deadmau5. it's just one of those songs that gets under your skin no matter where or when you hear it. through sheer boredom, i tackled this track over the winter and after some tinkering with different vocals and sounds, i came up with this remix which i am posting here in my blog today. it sounds like what would happen if a drummer were to remix the track, i used some choice toms and snares from a very juicy indie rock tune and changed the arrangement to tease the fuck out of you. has been going over really well in my sets.
this time, i have posted a wav file for those who don't own macs.
Sunday, June 22, 2008 Dave Dresden Interview :: Post Gabriel & Dresden Split Dave Dresden played at Eden After Hours to a sold out crowd last week. I'm not sure what the club capacity is but it was grinding room only. Dresden and the successful weekly events are held at Club Le Blanc in San Antonio, Texas. On the weekends Le Blanc transforms into Eden After Hours and the events are brought to you in part by Party Grooves Events and Platinum Rise Entertainment. The night opened up with Joey Munson, DJ DK, and Dave Molina. Dresden came on about 1:30a and played through the early morning. His set was a little over 4 hours and quite exceptional and since I prefer vocal tunes I extremely enjoyed the final 2 hours of the morning.
As most of you may know, Dave Dresden was one part of the duo Gabriel&Dresden. They have recently parted ways to concentrate on their solo careers. The news came on the heels of their most recent award for Best American DJ at the 2008 IDMA ceremony at WMC in Miami.
Dave Dresden Interview
[Ronnie Escobedo] Your list of accomplishments are quite extensive and for 7 years you have simply been known as Gabriel and Dresden. What challenges are you facing since the split and how has the transition been?
[Dave Dresden] Well let's see the most challenging thing is accepting that you're one person on the stage instead of two. Your perceived value when you're a duo is that you're just that, a duo. You're two people and there's a lot more involved than when you're just a single person on stage. It just feels like less that you're giving the fans even though you're really giving them the same thing, it's just from one person's view. Also working alone and or with other people means that you have to find a different creative way. The one you got used to while working in a duo doesn't necessarily apply to your own productions or while working with other people. So it's like the comfort zone that I had working with Josh is out the door.
[RE] Some of your most recent collaborations have included Chris Cox and Trent Cantrelle. Who are you currently working with or plan to in the near future?
[Dave Dresden] One of the things that I really pride myself in is my ability to recognize talent. I really have the profile that I still work with a host of named producers and creative super collaborators. I really kind of want to layoff that idea right now cause I want to maybe nurture some new talent and also people whom I believe are excellent artists that haven't really broken through, or just people who I think I vibe with well. That's not a guarantee when working with a super star cause then there are two huge egos in the room. When you work with somebody who's lesser known you can get more accomplished. I have chosen to work with people that I really know well since the split. Trent Cantrelle is one of them and Chris Cox is the other and I have also worked with John Debo as well. These are people that I have known for a number of years.
[RE] When you're discovering artists what is it that you look for?
[Dave Dresden] Attention to detail is the most important thing. What do they do that is different or better than the average thing you get, especially since most music comes via email now. Also how well their sound will apply to what I'm doing or what I want to accomplish as an artist.
I will be setting up my own label. I may bring back Organized Nature because that was sort of my baby. I am a pretty big A&R source and recognize a lot of talent. I did a lot of the work as remixes on Gabriel and Dresden songs and also finding original songs from artists to put out. I feel like I could of exercised that a lot more, it's just I was overwhelmed with the work Josh and I had to do. We were constantly, constantly working. When you're working on music you can't do anything else.
[RE] You mentioned starting your own label. Is this happening soon?
[Dave Dresden] I'm waiting for all the legal things to pass regarding G&D's split. It's like a divorce you're separating what's mine, what's yours, whats ours, and who's gonna get what. I'm waiting for this to clear and see if I want to bring Organized Nature back or start a label from scratch. One of the key points to keeping Organized Nature is that it already has an identity.
[RE] Could you please describe your solo production style?
[Dave Dresden] Songs with meaning and or tracks that take you there.
[RE] At the moment what is your favorite piece of gear?
[Dave Dresden] The Moog Voyager. It was put out in 2005 and I think it was the last piece that Bob Moog made before he past away. It's a sexy, sexy, sexy keyboard. A lot of producers I respect use it. I think it has single handedly become Deadmau5's weapon of choice. The circuit's in it produce such amazing sounds, all the oscillators and things you can change about the sound - it's second to none. Then there's the Dave Prophet 08! I'm salivating and saving my money for that. I've seen Morgan Page use it and I'm really impressed with it.
[RE] This summer seems to be pretty busy for you and you seem to be in a different city every week. Is production on hold while you tour?
[Dave Dresden] No, I actually find my biggest source of inspiration is right after the gig. I like going back to the hotel room and getting a few ideas down. It's like capturing the moment. I've always looked at music production as an audio diary of my life and I always like to save those moments. I find something very sacred about the gig and after the gig as a means for creativity.
[RE] Since you travel and play often is there any particular venue or place you prefer when playing?
[Dave Dresden] It all really depends on the promoter. The promoter brings in the crowd and if the promoter has a good reputation then he'll bring in a good crowd. I really don't want to name names. There are certain cities that do well. One of my favorite places to play is New York. Even though the crowd maybe construed to be jaded because it's New York there are so many people that get it there. The percentage of people that are feeling the music is just so much higher. The other place that I really like to play is Rise in Boston. Josh and I actually used to pack the place. We were a big name with 300 super fans in a room playing till 7 in the morning, [it] was really a great vibe.
[RE] How does it feel to be Dave Dresden?
[Dave Dresden] I still feel like the guy that I always was. I sometimes forget who I am. When I go to a club DJ's will recognize who I am and ask for an autograph or pictures taken and I'm like, oh yeah I'm that guy. People get nervous or apprehensive about me because of what I have accomplished. It's a weird feeling. On the flip side of that it gives me a lot of confidence to accomplish things because of what I have already accomplished. It's kind of a neat feeling being me. The only bad thing about being me is that it's really hard to maintain a relationship because of my schedule and dedication to my work. Also when you do have a girlfriend it's difficult for them to handle the amount of girls that are around you at the end of a gig. It can be detrimental.
[RE] When you're not rocking the discotheque or jamming in the studio what type of music or artists are you enjoying? What's on your ipod?
[Dave Dresden] Wow! Lot's of things. Lately I've been listening to the Kings of Leon, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, um and uhh..I can't even think of..oh yeah the Fleet Foxes.
[RE] Outside of music what do you enjoy doing for fun?
[Dave Dresden] (Laughing) Driving around and listening to music. I get so many ideas from driving around. When I drive around and listen to music I get tons of song ideas, like I can take this from that and make this. Everything that I do pretty much some how goes back to my music career. I like to listen to stand up comedy and then I make songs that sample stand up comedy routines.
[RE] Who's your favorite comedian?
[Dave Dresden] Doug Stanhope and well Bill Hicks. He was a Texan. (He mentions Bill Hicks being a Texan because his recent show and interview were in Texas)
[RE] Anything you would like to say or want your fans to know?
[Dave Dresden] No I think I've pretty much told everything.
Sources and people mentioned in the article or during the interview below MySpace promo.
I'm probably one of the last individuals on the planet to get onto MySpace. So in an effort to beef up my profile (shameless ;) ), please add me. My Myspace link here or click on photo above.
Special Thanks to the following recent friends: Artek @ http://www.myspace.com/8rtek Morgan Page @ http://www.myspace.com/morganpage DJ WhoOCAres @ http://www.myspace.com/djwhoocares DJ Ricardo Giron @ http://www.myspace.com/djricardogiron Enjoying your Mix download @ Latin Souls House Mix DJ DK @ http://www.myspace.com/officialdjdk
Sources and people mentioned in the article or during the interview. Dave Dresden @ www.myspace.com/davedresden beatportal @ www.beatportal.com/ Cilly C @ www.myspace.com/cillyc Party Grooves Events @ myspace.com/partygroovesevents Platinum Rise Entertainment @ www.myspace.com/platinumrise Eden After Hours @ www.myspace.com/edenafterhourssa Joey Munson @ pending DJ DK @ www.myspace.com/officialdjdk Dave Molina @ pending Gabriel and Dresden @ www.gabrielanddresden.com/ Josh Gabriel @ www.myspace.com/joshgabrielmusic Chris Cox @ www.myspace.com/djchriscox Trent Cantrelle @ www.myspace.com/trentcantrelle John Debo @ www.myspace.com/johndebo617 DeadMau5 @ www.myspace.com/deadmau5 Morgan Page @ www.morgan-page.com/ and www.myspace.com/morganpage Kings of Leon @ www.kingsofleon.com/ and www.myspace.com/kingsofleon MGMT @ www.whoismgmt.com/ and www.myspace.com/mgmt Vampire Weekend @ www.vampireweekend.com/ and www.myspace.com/vampireweekend Fleet Foxes @ www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes Posted by discowhore Labels: Chris Cox, Dave Dresden, Gabriel and Dresden, Interviews, John Debo, Organized Nature, Trent Cantrelle
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