Coachella - Take 2.

Felt very blessed to be back at Coachella again this. year. The hot, dry, dusty breeze surrounded me on the outskirts of the desert oasis and I was reminded me of a memorable trip two years to the very place.  It would be hard to beat 8 good mates setting up shop at a Palm Springs villa for a long weekend of excessive margaritas and guacamole, discovering new bands and friendships, all on the back of a wide-eyed bushy tale around the States. See link below.

Coachella - Take 1.

This time I was to be a bit more civilized, refined if not slightly more subdued.  Possibly a reflection of my festival experience, my crew and maybe my age! After a short road trip from our base in LA, 5 of us were checking in to the Hyatt Regency where we were sharing a room all of but 15 minutes by bus from the venue. All this added up to lazy afternoons at the pool, room service and a hopefully good nights sleep each night.

After an agressive entry process not unlike entering through US Customs, we found ourselves heading towards the infamous Ferris Wheel overlooking the sprawling polo field. Hipsters and  frolicked around.

The music lineup again was on point, a reflection of current trends and no doubt setting the theme for the summer to follow.  UK alternative poster-boys Alt-J us greeted as we arrived.  A quick chin stroke to one of the buzz bands of 2012 was a great way to warm up proceedings. A new bar set up between the two main stages was a welcome addition and meant once inside the enclosed area you could easily skip from Passion Pit to Band of Horses, all while grabbing an ice cold beer on the way.

The Sahara dance tent this year was a not a tent but a cathedral, taking up the challenge set by Ultra's Megastructure and highlighting just how popular EDM is today.  The crowds leaked from the airplane hanger-like monstrosity. We popped our heads in only to get them ripped off by new trap super group Dog Blood aka Skrillex and Boys Noise.  LED cubes hung from the roof only to be outshone by the altar-like DJ booth which glowed a neon temple, the DJs high up preaching their message to the disciples below.

It was cool catch legendary acts Blur and Stones Roses who headlined Day 1.  Although they fell on deaf ears to the scattered audience, the musicianship was world class. John Squire's guitaring was nothing short of exquisite  while Damon Albarn of Blur danced around like he'd come off 5 pints of Kronenburg at a Notting Hill boozer. No wonder they seem to front music magazine covers when ever the trends run dry. We really enjoyed Tegan and Sara too - Canadian lesbian twin sisters who were top of my list of new found acts.

The next day after a generous sleep in and quick swim, I headed to nearby town La Quinta to catch up with some kiwi friends, who had flown in from London and abroad to get a taste of the Coachella magic.  They had turned a million-dollar mansion into a maori whare, with mattress flung across floors of the TV room and Italian leather couches turned into cots to house the 20 or so guests. Was great to catch up over some time honored traditions like sculling watered-down US lager and shots of Jager before I met up with my LA friends to attend the Nylon party.

Like a scene out of Entrourage hipsters frolicked around a tudor style mansions, bordering a man-made lake. Table tennis, snow cones, DIY tacos and strong margaritas kept the rent-a-crowd happy while we waited for the afternoon sun to die and make our trek back to the polo grounds.

Day 2 was alway going to be up a notch in intensity. Major Lazer had the crowd of the day, with their blow up animals and confetti poppers.  It felt everyone had stumbled straight out of a pool party and rolled into their 5pm set in the Mohave tent.

Was cool to catch up with kiwi friends Toby and Linz who proceed to join me on a good old fashion goose chase - trying to catch everyone but seeing no-one.  After checking out Hot Chip and Moby we stopped by Mohave tent to say hi to Tom Worley who was overseeing production for Franz Ferdinand.

The Yuma tent was a popular addition to the festival with lines out of the door of the yurt-like club showing the growing underground house scene.  DJ Cassie warmed things up before Richie Hawtin's failed laptop caused a late start.  Jurassic 5 gathered a big crowd for their much-hyped reunion set. The rhymes were just as tight but the energy lacked from what looked like 4 old men hobbling around on stage. DJ Nu Mark and Cut Chemist provided some great entertainment in the breaks dropping everything from Bauer to Dead Prez from a giant fake turntable.

It felt like the entire festival had gathered main stage to watch Versailles jingly-jangly guitar band Phoenix in anticipation for who they may bring out as special guests.  What about the new album?! After what seemed a rather shy and nervous start the anxious crowd got their surprise.

R Kelly dropped Ignition the unsuspecting, provoking a huge singalong and reminding me how seminal hip hop culture is in American. But it was the freaken weekend and baby I was going to have me some fun.

The musicianship was top notch and Thomas Maars crowd-diving antics showed a coming of age and an escape from the clasps of the Pitchfork indie underground who have been holding them back. Expect them to be headlining every Coachella wanna-be festival for years to come (including R&V hopefully!).

Lazy margaritas in the adult pool of the Hyatt was enough to get the juices flowing for third and final bite of the cherry.

I wasn't long til I was whisked away to the Lacoste party, one of the most in demand events of the weekend. Katy Perry and the Victoria Secret Angels had been there the day before so we rubbed out hand in anticipation of which stars names we would be able to name drop on facebook later that day. Thanks to name on the door list we entered to be greeted by a sprawling mansion over looking a pond.

The party was getting started as Elijah Wood was playing tunes. Who isn't a Dj these days?

Patron had generously catered the event, with blonde blue eyed waitresses looking after everyone's needs. Open bar dude!

A few shots of Patron later and party was beginning to hum. Food taco's flowed from the as sponsored activations kept the crowd happy and engaged with their social media. Not to be leave without a full brand experience I bought up large at the pop-up Lacoste retail outlet!

Day three was whipped into shape by a desert storm that descended on the festival. Vampire Weekend were perhaps the unifying sound of the and crowd surged into catch the final day.

A quick lap of honour led us to tick off Loco Dice and before nestling back in for the Red Hot finale. The band strummed a riff of Beast of Burden, a nod to the fact that Rolling Stones were rumoured to be headlining until the dependable Chillies stepped up to bring the show home. It wasn't a game changing but it did remind me what a tight and solid unit they are. New guitarist Josh Klinghoffer duelled with Flea and deserved his place, while Keidis and co pumped out hit after hit reminding us what a legendary band they were/are/continue to be. I was super happy and content walking out to the sound of Chad Smith's bass drum thumping in my head.

As we headed home through the wind turbines I reflected on what could be the perfect festival. That thought didn't last long - I was soon fast asleep the weekend's antics catching up on me.

Check out the video we made here:

Coachella - Take 2

Looking forward to Take 3!

Hamish

IMSengage - Hollywood

The W in Hollywood was the scene for the inaugural IMSenage - an offshoot of the more established IMS gathering in Ibiza at the end of May every year. Scheduled in between Coachella weekends, a number of industry leaders in town were coupled with peers to discuss and debate the state of EDM (electronic dance music) today.

After founder Pete Tong and Ben Turner welcomed the 250 attendees, the CEO of Billboard kicked off the day encouraging the industry audience to think big about the future of our genre.  We had arrived at at the feet of the mainstream but we still needed to grow up. Two negatives he spoke of was not clearing rights in advance, as shown by Bauer's ' viral hit Harlem Shake', leading for it not to be commercially viable. Also that mainstream media will never understand dance culture, often tarring us with drug connatations which must be worked around to create our own hype and credibility.

The positives he spoke of included the current distribution of our music and culture. What used to be only available via Pete Tong's BBC1 radio show and is now available online through platforms like You Tube, Spotify and Beatport. There is no need for A&R from major labels to develop artists. Now smash viral hits such as Psy and Baauer are breaking through via these channels. Songs are now not broken from state to state territory to territory but can be broken to the mass market seemingly over night!

After Skrillex slept in, the first panel of the day was legendary radio DJ Pete Tong and SFX CEO Shelly Finkel. Arguably the most powerful man in the room, Finkel is an ex-boxing manager who is now overseeing the aquistions by SFX who is looking to spend $1Billion acquiring dance brands. Referring to their industry as EDC -  electronic dance culture, he is in the process of aquiring major bands such as HARD LA and ADT&T from Europe who run the popular Tomorrowland.  SFX want to working with passionate founders to grow lucratives business in their respective territories. Simple!

Finkel spoke about in Las Vegas how the DJ's are the new superstars, getting offered huge amounts for resident sets. The casino moguls such as Steve Wynn can afford the significant artist fee due to the spend coming over the gambling tables.  No longer is Frank Sinatra or Celine Dion the drawcard show business acts in the world's entertainment capital. Now is all Calvin Harris and Steve Aoki - with huge billboards of these DJ's greeting visitors to the desert oasis.  His overall goals, although commercial of course, is how can they improve and develop the culture and industry? They did so with the live music industry back in the early 2000's with the creation of Live Nation so watch this space!

Diplo and Instagram founder Kevin Systrom gave a more colourful speech about social media and how relevant it is for artists to engage their fans.  This was when Diplo made the now famous comment about DJ Bl3nd having unrealistic number of facebook followers. This led to the manager and Wes havinga debate about his status and popularity and whether it was.  A brawl soon enthralled and security called to break it up. Was an off hand comment but it was great to see passion and people standing up for themselves.

I was especially excited to see uber managers Amy Thompson (Swedish House Mafia) and Troy Carter (Lady Gaga) chat. They have similar traits in that their artists have a huge social media community and also make a huge part of their revenue from touring. Lady Gaga is on the road and tries to spend a week in each country she plays, meeting locals, making that connection with her fans. As a result she has planted seeds around the world that continue to germinate. The Swedes on the other hand have just come off a world tour before retiring at the top of their game. They are the first EDM act to sell out Madison Square Garden, after selling it out in minutes.

Carter spoke about great artists who never had social media (Bob Dylan, The Beatles etc) still developed loyal followings.  Do it right and the fans will follow.  He spoke about the path of an artist is 'to say yes to everything then once you become successful, saying no to everything'. With 35 trucks on the road and investments in 40 odd tech start ups like Littlemonsters.com and Uber, Carter is one busy man.  His philosophy on tech investing is based on finding out what drives you and where your curiosities lie. Then put your money where your mouth is!

Amy Thompson spoke passionately (if not slightly potty-mouthed) about the potential threats to the current EDM boom. Having finally gained acceptance in credible music scenes throughout the world we need to be careful not to over expose or exploit it.  The absurd valuations may lead to disappointments and financial disasters bringing down artists, sponsors and promoters alike. Saturation may lead to kids getting sick of the culture. She was however more than happy for her artists to work with corporate sponsors such as Absolute Vodka and Carlsberg, saying that this money helps pays for the things that are cool as fuck (I assume she is meaning LED, virtual viral videos and lear jets)

Questions were asked about the future of Swedish House Mafia who are taking a well earned break.  Axwell and Engrosso are continuing the Wednesday night residency at Ushuaia in Ibiza while Steve Angello is heading down a more niche and possibly more credible techier house path. For them it is paramount to build a great fan experience. They try not to get caught up with what every other EDM act is doing. Alesso is being groomed as the new protege with a big headline tour underway. Studio time is booked for the fall. Thompson surely plays the role of compromise balancing everyones interests and often bears the brunt of having to make a decision that goes against one or two members interests.

Patrick Moxley the undisputed king of EDM distribution in the US via his label Ultra Music and Sony, spoke with hip hop founding father Russell Simmons of Def Jam fame. He was instrumental in taking the scene off the streets via Run DMC and Beastie Boys to new commercial and mainstream heights.  His influcence is still being felt today with urban acts like Jay-Z and Beyonce at the top of the game.

Simmons spoke about busting down the doors of the corporate gatekeepers who were trying to pass up his scene as a passing fad. They hustled their way to the top, fans couldn't hold them back.  They gave their music away until the market (that they created) couldn't live with out it.

Def Jam didn't change their ethos or philosophy either, they just got bigger distribution via a major label. Moxley compared it to Sony and Ultra working together now to release the best dance hits from Calvin Harris to Erik Morrillo. Get one foot in the building but protect your neck, keep things real. Love the culture - you should be happy just doing it. Be honest but be quirky. As Moxley said the club will always be the judge of the music.

Russell Simmons had some great quotes and philosophy. When you work the hardest the world will open up. Good givers are great getters. Put your head down and keep engaged. You can't make a good record unless you are fully engaged. Front up.  Keep fronting, even when times are tough. He compared this to yoga where you still need to smile and breath even though it hurts.  And through this pain come results. Keep giving. Keep fronting. Hip Hop, like the punk movement before it, found popularity with their honesty. Can't last unless it's your heart. Anything is possible. It can't fail until you quit. Operate from a good place. Good ideas come from presence. Once anxiety and stress is out the door ideas and creativity come.

Skrillex finally turned up (apparently he had been out with Diplo til late the night before) to have a discussion with Jeff Rosenthal one of the founders of entreprenuers conference Summit Series.

Sonny spoke about the renaissance on how artists are using technology. From 2004 - 2007 it was all indie or major labels. Now it is about community, having fun, being self made.  Every space is ready to be blown up. His crew have been together for 10 years and now reside under his OWLSA label. After finding him self $30k in debt, 3 years later he is in the process of buying a building in Chinatown in downtown LA. He is transforming 11k square feet of facilities for up and coming artists to reside and create. He finds that things happen 50 times faster when all in the same room. Hear hear!

Take time bet on yourself. Any movement is power in numbers. Vibe location, music be inspired.  He took a giant leap and is now opening a new chapter. He spent his first million dollars on production. He encouraged the listeners to be yourself and be clever with social media. He sold his Bangarang straight off facebook, no advertising at all! Lucky for some...

Jeff and friends from University philosophy on Summit Series is to gather cool people doing cool shit. They maxed out their credit cards and took 19 people on a ski trip to Park City to be inspired. Guest riders included the founder of Tom's shoes, Dustin Moskoviz from Facebook and the founders of College Humour.  Now they want to inspire a generation and have purchased a mountain retreat where they are building an innovation center!  They want it to become a  modern day Aspen.  They want to continue to have conversations with people that change YOU. Leaders create other leaders.  Don't keep it real keep it surreal. Beyond imagination.

Key out takes were to invest in what you believe in. Not be in a crowd of people who influence you in negative ways.  It is a pioneering world take a risk. Like Pay Pal founders Peter Thiel and Elon Musk who bent the rules of online. Exponential creativity is the by product of the technical world we now live in.

From here we met on the roof of the W for drinks and the networking continued. Was good to catch up with Wade Cawood from Pulse and meet some other agents from The Agency Group and WME. We headed over to Sound arguably the hottest spot in town to catch Boys Noize perform.

Los Angeles has become the undisputed industry home of EDM in the US, if not the world.  With its rich musical history and its accessibility to Silicon Valley VC and tech solutions. It's proximity to new club super power Las Vegas and influential music festivals like Coachella and EDC. All coupled with amazing weather and a creative positive outlook. There is no better place to be right now!

In 'da Carribean Mon!

'Mama take your badge off-a me…..cause I can’t use it…any more..'

The smokey tones of Bankie Banx bounced off the vintage teak deck and across into the vast Carribean sea.  The three-chord progression was getting tiring but I didn’t mind. I stuck to the basics and tried not to lose my timing. It is not every day you get to jam with a Carribean music legend!

Only moments before Banxie had put down his cigarette and walked over to his harmonica bag, rummaged around to find one in the key of E. Soon he was jamming along to my original song ‘Wainui’, his bringing the simple instrumental to life. 

The Prana regatta crew – made up of world class designers, sailors were heading off the yacht as I my song ’Wainui’ came to an end and we began on Bob Dylan classic - Knocking on Heaven's Door.  The famous Gisborne beach that had inspired my song certainly seemed a long way from St Barts, Gustavia Harbour right now!

A few hours earlier we had navigated our way through the driving rain towards Prana.  The Russian superyacht moved stealthy in the mist, searching for a safe spot to anchor. ‘That...over there is Rupert Murdoch’s boat…and that one….is the third wealthiest one in the world'.  I stood dumfounded as these nautical bohemoths appeared before me in eerie fog.  'Thats the Maltese Falcon!’ my friend John yelled above the roar of the outboard motor, referring to the controversial three-masted beauty that was famous the world over.

I hadn’t see John McGrath in years, since I lived in Wellington post University. And here I was heading towards a super yacht with him in the middle of the Carribean sea! Sure I was mates with him on facebook and had been following his travels in the French Alps, Aspen and in the Mediterranean chefing for wealthy clients.  He had fallen into financial strife in NZ and left the country to begin a new life in the super yacht industry.  I had caught up with him earlier that day as we prepared the feast for 40 odd sailors and guests that now stood beneath me at the floor of the tender. The warmth of the villa we had drunk rose and ate the boss's caviar while catching up on years gone by was now was far from my mind.

'Hold on!' the boson yelled as a surging wave lifted the tender high in the ocean.  We stood and sculled some cognac from the vessel. Lobster, tenderloins soaking in garlic and worcester sauce, caviar - all lay getting splashed at my feet, along with my guitar! I stood soaking wet. This better be worth it I thought!

It wasn’t long til I was on board the Prana and enjoying a fine French Champagne. Towelled off and now dressed like the rest of the crew, I began helping John in the kitchen assemble the feast. I was introduced to the crew and guests as 'a famous musician from New Zealand', and as a result it wasn’t long til I was encouraged to jump up and entertain the  party of around 40.  The Russian billionaire owner Andre, was an avid music fan and helped me plug in my guitar. We fumbled around the leads and mic cords and were away, pumping out some classics like Dire Straits and Neil Young, along with my own compositions.  It was long until Bankie Banx took to the stage for his headline set and we continued to jam together until it was time to pack down and head back to shore.

I had come to the Carribean on a whim, to relax after 10 years of creating and running my business Rhythm and Vines Limited, and to begin writing a book.  After all I was enamoured by the quote by author Sebastian Faulks who had strived to create his writing routine to the great James Bond author Ian Flemming, who would write in the Carribean at his Goldeneye retreat. 

Flemming would write 1500 words in the morning, have lunch, go snorkeling and then write another 1500 before cocktails and entertaining in the evening. Sounded like bliss. The West Indies is an intriguing part of the world for me, one us kiwis are not bought up with having access to. Whenever I heard of the Carribean I have romantic visions of the clear, blue water, of cocktails and of palm trees. It was always somewhere where I longed to go.

The West Indies are a complex set of islands. I had heard all sort of stories - from carnivals to muggings to cocktails and dreams. A friend I knew was in St Martin working on a boat so I booked a ticket and headed south from Miami, indesperate need of some R&R post Winter Music Conference. I spent a couple of days catching up with friends Stef Smyth and Mike Isbey and checking out the famous Sunset Bar where the planes fly perilously close to the sunbathers. I fitted in some surfing, standup paddle boarding, reading while lounging by the pool in Simpson's Bay.

It was then I saw John’s post and dropped him a line.  ‘You have to be in St Barts this weekend. The Bucket is on' he replied. 'I’ll sort you a room at the villa just book your ticket.’

The weekend was nothing short of ridiculous. My guitar antics had earnt me a spot at the Bucket race dinner the following night at Bagatelle. We enjoyed foie gras and truffle pizza entrees, prime rib and duck fat fries, splashed down with magnums of Dom Perignon and shots of Patron. Then the dancing began as the restaurant turned into a night club with the latest euro beats.

Was great to catch up with some kiwi friends Scott Ryan and Kat Miller who were working on the superyacht and preparing for the Atlantic crossing to begin the Mediterranean season. We stumbled out of Yacht Club in the wee smalls and I made my way back to the villa I was housed at with the race crew.

St Barts is a charming oasis of luxury and I felt very fortunate to get the opportunity to visit.  In the last 10 years the place has frequented by movie stars and European royalty, along with the super wealthy.  I bought some famous La Pinta Vanilla Rum from the local bottle store to take with me as a reminder of a memorable weekend. As the ferry pulled out on Easter Monday, I surveyed where I hope to park my boat one day.

So this is where I started writing my book. I hope you enjoy it when I get around to finishing!