Second Sun

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www.arturobonetti.com // www.giuseppeottaviani.com

quote:

Originally posted by arturob Second Sun

Second Sun OWNZ me!

Second Sun..

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I stand here paralyzed
I've realized
There's nothing
without you

just added The Verdugo Brothers Live to the rooftop deck!

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BIGGER!BETTER!WETTER!
www.myspace.com/firesanfran

The Q & A with Second Sun

Voraciously energetic performers, the members of Second Sun are up-and-comers to watch. Not since The Prodigy have electronica artists been such engaging crowd pleasers. With their artist album in stores now, Antoine and Adam are touring North America this summer. About Dance Music's Ron Slomowicz caught up with the winner's of the 'Wet Grooves Pool Party Top Performer' Award for an expression session Second Sun style! enjoy.

DJ Ron Slomowicz: How's your day going?
Antoine of Second Sun: My day is going fantastic. We're here in New York and we set up our studio in this room.

RS: Are you working on a remix or a new production?
Second Sun: Actually, right now we're working on our show for next Thursday at the Canal Room.

RS: So you do a new program for every show ?
Second Sun: Yes, we try to make every show special because we don't want every show to sound the same.
It's basically like the work a DJ would do on the fly in terms of like choosing the right songs, but we try to feel it out before we get to the gig, that way our sounds are ready for our synthesizers.

It's a whole big production, to have everything work and it takes tone of preparation. We thought we'd be ready before we came to New York, so we're taking this day today to just work some more on this show and we're doing this cover of Depeche Mode's "Dream On" - it's going to be for the encore. I'm going to sing the David Gahan part, so we're just having a blast over here in our little traveling studio.

RS: I managed to catch you at the Macarena in Miami and your show was insane.
Second Sun: Thank you so much. We put a lot of work in to it, so we're ecstatic with the response it's getting.

RS: Did you always envision your live performances as a major part of your message?
Second Sun: Oh absolutely. For us this is a huge part of our message, we try to make it a point that we're not DJs and we're not making tracks that support our DJing career. We're real artists like in a rock band and make our songs and want to perform them live on stage and give people a real good show. We want something like a rock show feel and really get the crowd going. This is what we're all about.

RS: Awesome. How important do you think touring is going to be for you?
Second Sun: Right now we're setting up a tour for the summer. When we're traveling by plane our gear gets knocked around so much that it damages it, which was the case last time we opened for Paul Van Dyk in Berlin. We had a show over there and with the flights, by the time we got in Berlin, we had a piece of equipment that was completely busted. So we're trying to avoid flying too much with our equipment and for the summer we're going to have travel all over North America in this RV. It's just like a thirty-five foot luxury RV and we're going to drive all over North America, stop in every city and really do it old school. Big venues in the cities, smaller venues in the smaller cites and we're going to hit up every market and live like a traveling circus.

RS: I've listened to your CD several times and it rocks. It almost feels like a mixed CD. Did you produce the songs with that kind of goal?
Second Sun: We wanted to have that feel where you can be listening to it in you car or put it on at a party, so most of the songs are mixed together and don't lose the energy. What I love about mixing is that it's really kind of like a journey, where a song is mixed into another and you don't lose the momentum. We wanted to recreate that in our studio album.

We're really adamant about writing real songs but at the same time making tracks that have really banging club appeal. It was really just trying to find that right balance, because we didn't want to have a watered-down version of Second Sun because it was on the CD. Sometimes I see DJs playing in clubs and I love their sets that are full of energy and really amaze me but then I listen to their mixed CD and sometimes I get so bored with them because it's not the same feel. We wanted people to have the real Second Sun experience on the CD.

RS: That's the advantage of being an artist. You make your own music so you have rights to it. When you're a DJ, you can't get half the stuff you play out.
Second Sun: Oh yes, exactly. That's the thing and we're lucky enough not to have to deal with that and we pick and choose exactly what we want on the CD.

RS: There's a real variety on the CD- a little bit of breaks, a little bit of trance, a little energy, and a little pop. When you're writing your songs do you start with the beat or do you start with the lyric; what's your songwriting like?
Second Sun: Making the album, we were really adamant about making the album that we wanted to make and not trying to like cash-in on the success that we've had making trance with Paul Van Dyk in the past. Our productions are mostly known through Paul Van Dyk, that's who we started with. We signed to his label, Vandit Records, and we did Crush with Paul as well. For the album, we wanted to really show everybody all our different, you know, colors. Basically when we start writing a song, there's really no set genre - we don't say "oh, we'll make a breakbeat track or we'll make a house track." For us, we're making the music we want to make and either people get it and appreciate the fact that we're varied or some people might be pissed-off because it's not only a trance album or only a progressive album or only breakbeat. For us, it's really important to stick to what we want to make.

RS: So how did the two of you meet up with Paul Van Dyk?
Second Sun: It all happened actually here in New York City at Twilo probably back in 2000.
I got together with Adam, back then we were living in Montreal, and we worked on this track. It took six months to make our first track "Empire" which was ridiculous. I used to go down to Twilo which was almost like school for me because it was such a legendary club. They had residents like Paul Van Dyk and Sasha and Digweed who did eight-hour sets. One time I came to see Paul and handed him a CD of "Empire" and then a week later we got an eMail from Berlin saying he wanted to sign us to his label. So I guess we got lucky.

RS: When you worked with Paul Van Dyk on Crush, were you in the studio with him or did you do it remotely?
Second Sun: Adam and I did some stuff in the studio in Los Angeles, Paul did some stuff in Berlin, and then we went and finished-up the work in Berlin with him, which was a blast. So we were multi-continental.

RS: I always put Pop Music in the 80s, its funny that it was actually done in the 70s. Speaking of the 80s, how did you hook-up with Tiffany?
Second Sun: We were looking for a female singer, and I was very specific with the singers I auditioned and didn't find what I wanted. The rumor was out that I was looking for a singer and oddly enough Tiffany knew of us and really liked what we had done in the past. Her husband is a British guy who is really into the scene and really into the music, and she contacted us. Actually her personal assistant contacted us saying, Tiffany would like to work with you guys. We wanted to hear her voice before we said yes to it because we were aware of her earlier work and we thought it was a really fun idea. We had a chance to listen to her most recent songs which are really great and her voice is amazing. So right away we said OK, we started working on "He Said She Said" together. The track was an idea that I had of having a duet over a banging trance beat. Luckily enough, Tiffany really gave us the time to come in the studio and she participated in the writing process. We are very happy with the song. It's actually going to be on Paul Van Dyk's "Politics of Dancing Two" compilation, so we're really happy about that.

RS: Cool.
It's so nice to hear male vocals on dance records. Has there been any resistance to you singing on a record versus a female vocalist?
Second Sun: Absolutely not. We gave the Spell to Paul a while ago, and at first we were kind of scared of his reaction because he's obviously known for higher bpm stuff and this was lower bpm all the way down at 130 and it had a kind of chunkier feel to it. I thought we were getting fired from his label Vandit, when we first gave him the track, but instead he really loved the track.

But as far as the male vocals go it was a natural progression because both Adam and I come from a background where we've been playing music since we were kids. Throughout our teenage years, we were in bands, one after the other and, I was singing and playing guitar. So for me being in the dance music arena now, I just thought why not. Why stop myself from singing and doing something we love to do with the right song. So we've done it and we found absolutely no backlash towards that and people have really enjoyed it.

RS: Now for some geek questions, Do you use Logic or ProTools?
Second Sun: Logic.

RS: For live performances, what do you use?
Second Sun: Ableton Live.

RS: What's your favorite keyboard?
Second Sun: The Virus.

RS: I probably could have guessed that. What's in your CD player or iPod right now?
Second Sun: Right now? Duran Duran's Greatest Hits.

RS: Is there anything you want to say to all the people out there?
Second Sun: For all the producers and DJs trying to get into dance music, hand out your music to everyone and don't be afraid about who you're handing it to. It doesn't matter because the bottom line is good music is good music and if you hand it to the right people and your music is quality, then you'll get to where you want to be. For all the people who love dance music, watch out for us on tour this summer.
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05/12 - FIRE@ LL w/ ABOVE & BEYOND

06/09 - FIRE Live!@ LL w/SECOND SUN-D:FUSE-Verdugo Bros-Lance Cashion-Titan-FIRE residents

06/30 - FIRE@ LL w/COSMIC GATE-ADAM F-Lance Cashion-Titan-Greenwave-FIRE residents

WET GROOVES TOUR-Splashing down soon!!!

www.myspace.com/wetgroovin
www.theworldparty.net
www.wetgrooves.com

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BIGGER!BETTER!WETTER!
www.myspace.com/firesanfran

***NEWSFLASH****NEWSLFLASH***NEWSFLASH***

Along with being the first ever 'Live' FIRE event at the Lizard Lounge on Friday June 9, the event is also...

THE OFFICIAL DALLAS MOTION PICTURE RELEASE PARTY FOR:

'THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS:TODKYO DRIFT' in theatres June 16!

We will have all sorts of FREE movie stuff to give away this night.

Don’t wait in line. Get your DISCOUNTED tickets on-line
Advance/Express entry tickets on sale now @ http://www.wantickets.com/?req=event&e_id=18447

Visit us on Myspace.com at www.myspace.com/wetgroovin

___________________
BIGGER!BETTER!WETTER!
www.myspace.com/firesanfran

The roof top... durty little naughty beats.

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"Do Right and Fear NO Man"

Estilo Recordings is proud to announce the "Down For You EP" has hit number one on the dancerecords.com charts AGAIN!!! (05/09/06)

If you havne't picked up this record yet, pick it up soon & be the first in your area to rock dance floors w/ this hot release!

the "Down For You EP" features 2 Verdugo Brothers tracks & a hot remix by Charles Feelgood & Get In Line! DON'T SLEEP!!! Pick it up today at www.dancerecords.com!!! The BEST on-line source for all your hottest cuts!!! SUPPORT VINYL!!!

THE VERDUGO BROTHERS & ESTILO RECORDINGS present "THE DOWN FOR YOU EP"

ESTILO RECORDINGS 002 featuring "DOWN FOR YOU" which hit Charles Feelgood's "top 10 chart" & will be featured on

Charles Upcoming CD on Nigel Richard's 611 Records!

& the much anticipated "FOR THE LOVE!!" Which also hit Charles Feelgood's Top 10! (www.djfeelgood.com)

Pick this EP up EXCLUSIVELY at Dancerecords.com!!!
This track WILL sell out!!! There's been an enormous amount of anticipation for this release!!! So pick up your copy TODAY!!!

Thank you to ALL DJ's for supporting Estilo Recordings & vinyl 12" in general! We do this for YOU!!!

***KEEP VINYL ALIVE***
CLICK HERE (http://www.dancerecords.com/artists/Verdugo+Brothers) TO BUY VERDUGO BROTHERS TRACKS!!!
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BIGGER!BETTER!WETTER!
www.myspace.com/firesanfran

Written by Jason Cook

Second Sun have been around for quite a while now and have been working hard at getting their music to the people. Years of hard work is finally paying off as they are now really making waves in the dance world. Their inventive new take on live shows and their ability to keep upping themselves each time with crazy fun dance material you can't help but rock out to, is helping them gain those fans they have always wanted. With their first full length album "Inside Out" already under their belt on System Recordings, several singles released through Paul Van Dyk's, Vandit Records, and some of the biggest DJ's in the world playing their tracks, things are starting to really take shape for these two guys from way up North. I caught up with them after their rockin' show at Avalon in Los Angeles recently..

Jason: Who are you? Where do you even come from? What do you do/background/favorite color gummy bear... you know the drill...

Antoine: My name is Antoine, he's Adam and we're originally from Montreal. We've been playing and studying music since we were kids. Favorite color of gummy bear is red, but I've always dreamed that one day there would be purple ones. I've never seen any. Why?! I love the flavor "purple".

Adam: Me too.

How did growing up in Montreal Influence you and your music? How did you guys come together and form Second Sun?

Antoine: Well, when I was 13 I started going to underground raves in Montreal and it was amazing. The rave scene was still at its baby steps, so it was new and exciting. I didn't seem to fit in with the others in school but when I went to raves, I felt right at home. I got so into the music that I quit all the rock bands I was in to start learning how to make electronic music.

Adam: That's when we met. Antoine was buying some studio gear and I was the guy selling it to him. Things really clicked so we started working together.

Jason: That's really sweet.

You guys are doing something very different in the dance music world. Explain where you think things are headed and where you would like to see them go.

Antoine: Well, I can't say where I'd like the others to be going, but I can explain what we're all about. We're really into song-driven dance music. In other words, we think that a dance song can have lyrics that go beyond "move your body". I think in a set or an album you can still have those banging club tracks, but when you balance it out with a real song that people can identify with, it makes the experience even better.

Adam: And for people that don't already know, we'd like to specify that we're not Djs; we're a live act. Lots of people are saying these days that live dance music is the future in clubbing but as for us, we just do what we've been doing all our lives; We make tracks and then perform them on stage. When we got into the dance scene, we didn't want to compromise and become Djs, we stuck to our guns and told promoters we would only do live acts.

Talk about your first LIVE show.. I remember seeing you the first time at some super small Venue in Downtown L.A. 4 years ago or something. Now you are playing some of the biggest Venues in the country. That must be a fantastic feeling.

Antoine: Yeah, it was definitely a long process before we could actually make the whole live thing happen. At that time, we were making tracks but we just weren't ready to play live. I'm so glad we waited until we were ready. We cherish every gig we have no matter where we're playing and we always try to make it special. I think that's one of the main reasons why the response to our shows has been so big.

Any cool collaborations in the works now or in the future?

Antoine: Yeah, we just finished a really cool remix of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" with Miami Space resident Cedric Gervais. Get ready to hear it during conference! Djs like Sander Kleinenberg and Deep Dish have been buzzing about it.

Adam: We also have some other collaborations in the works, but we'll keep those secret for now.

You recently did a cover of "Staring at the Sun" by T.V. on the Radio. That's a great track! You also did a cover of Thunderstruck by AC/DC. These are a pretty wide range of songs. Explain your choices, or what inspires you to cover songs like these.

Antoine: Well, for "Staring at the Sun", I really loved the original but I felt we could bring it to the next level. The original has this tension throughout the song, but we never really get the release. I feel we brought it there. We had this Itunes EP to finish, so this was the perfect platform for us to experiment.

Adam: As for "Thunderstruck", that's just us having fun in the studio. In the end we think when you have that much fun doing something, the listeners will have just as much fun rocking out to it.

Antoine: We try not to think too much before working on a track. We don't want to spend our time worrying about what style it is, and if we might lose fans because we're taking risks. Good music is good music and that's it. You can have shitty house music and amazing trance and vice-versa. In our opinion, there's good stuff in all electronic music styles.

How did you hook up with Paul van Dyk and Vandit? What's the story there?

Antoine: Well, back when Twilo in New York was in its golden years, I used to go down there to check out Paul's legendary 8-hour sets. After finishing our first track "Empire", I handed him the track at Twilo and a week later we got an email from Germany saying Paul wanted to sign us to his label Vandit.

How did you get into Twilo back then? Weren't you like 12 or something?

Antoine: No, I started raving really young but in the Twilo days I was about 18 and the club had 18 & over nights.

Second Sun: your name. Why/how? Any cool stories there?

Antoine: Hmmm... I'd like to explain, but I know people are gonna call me a hippie for this! (laughs) Oh well, here it goes: If the sun is the first source of energy, than to me human beings are the second source of energy: the Second Sun. So who is the Second Sun? You, me... we all are! This sounds cheesy, but I've always believed in the power of the individual and that people have more power over their destinies than they would like to think.

Adam: Go eat a tofu burger you damn hippie! (laughs)

Let's talk about touring. How long have you been out now? any fav spots or memorable stories? Talk about the tour bus maybe...

Adam: Well, we've been traveling around for about a year now. We thought we could wing it by only staying in our tour bus and hotels, but we soon realized that we need a place to call home-so here we are in Miami.

Antoine: Yeah, a bus tour seemed cool at first but when you're not Aerosmith, things aren't so easy. For example, we got stranded for days in the outskirts of El Paso for days! Our tour bus was dead, so we had no power and no air conditioning while we were in the desert; only my good old acoustic guitar. Oh yeah, and the guy in charge of the repair was an escaped convict that would shoot coke in his arm every day. Nice!

How's Miami treating you? How/why did you end up there?

Adam: We're completely in love with Miami right now. We got our new studio up and running and we've been in there everyday!

Antoine: The studio is only minutes away from Space so last weekend we were lucky enough to finish the Queen remix at 6 am and make it to the Space terrace by 8 to hear it being dropped during the Sunday morning sessions! So we're pretty much always in the studio except we're out playing somewhere during the weekend. We haven't had as much beach time as we would like, but it's all good. There's nowhere I'd rather spend my time than in the studio.

What WMC parties are you playing? Ultra is HUGE for you! Thoughts on playing in front of 1000's of peeps?? Any surprises for that show?

Adam: This year's conference is definitely gonna be a big one for us. We're playing 4 parties: The Wet Grooves pool party on the 23rd, the main stage at Ultra, another pool party and then we'll be the first live act ever to play on the Space Terrace for the WMC closing party. That'll be on the 29th.

Antoine: As for our thoughts about Ultra, we're more excited than nervous. When we were still learning how to do these live shows, I used to be nervous before shows because we've had our fair share of technical problems. But now after all the shows we've done, we're like a well-oiled machine... so bring it!!

Explain any influences you have. Are there any new tracks or DJ's or artists that are on your iPod or at least your radar?

Antoine: Hmmm, there's so much, but here's an example. Right now, I just can't stop listening to Nine Inch Nails. I'm really into sound design, so I know when something is worked on or when someone just uses a preset on a synth. To hear how Trent Reznor works with sounds and melodies truly amazes me. Their show is also amazing so when you can carry your vision from the studio to the stage, move so many people and keep it going for so many years, I have nothing but respect for that. I'm a complete music Junkie and I could go on and on about by musical tastes so... next question!

Thanks Guys!

If you are Lucky enough to be In Miami next week DON'T MISS one of their live shows! Super Fun Rockin Out to be had! I'll see you there!

Second Sun's debut album "Inside Out" is in stores now, their latest single "Playground" is out on Vandit Records and their "Uncovered EP" is available on the iTunes music store.

For more info, visit www.secondsun.info or www.myspace.com/secondsun

___________________
BIGGER!BETTER!WETTER!
www.myspace.com/firesanfran

how'd these get up here, interesting....

quote:

Originally posted by daydreamer how'd these get up here, interesting....

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Here is my final point. About drugs, about alcohol, about pornography and smoking and everything else. What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, say, think, who I fuck, what I take into my body - as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet? - Bill Hicks

Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself. - Timothy Leary