New Year

     Since this is dawn of a new year, I figured I'd let you guys in on what went on in my head for most of this year. Although 2011 had a rocky start, an incredible build up to a crescendo this summer, a rocky breakdown and is building to a wonderfully sweet finish, I had to document my year with my top ten track from this incredible year.

     Not only did this year mark the start of my DJ career, this year was a legendary year for Electronic Dance Music as a whole. Starting with a record attendance at Ultra this year and ending with the Swedish House Mafia selling out Madison Square Garden in under ten minutes, we made major moves as a group this year. In my opinion, and hoping with all my might, 2012 is the year we all finally step into the spotlight.

    My top ten tracks are tracks I have played at most of my shows this year. With most of them having a whole boatload of energy, I searched far and wide to find tracks that had the power to completely electrify a dance floor. With an effect heavy, hard hitting style, I know my fans expect nothing less of me to build up the energy in a room and drop them on their heads with an unexpected dance floor bomb. Not only do I strive to do this every time, I keep working on different things to make my fans lose their minds.

Dotty's Top Ten tracks of 2011

10. Feel So Close - Calvin Harris

     One of the songs I usually play later in my sets as the energy winds down, Calvin Harris really nailed the energy in this song. A completely happy track that makes people feel good about coming out to the show. Watching people jump around with me to this track makes it an easy pick for my number ten song. 

9. Ressurection - Michael Calfan (Axwell's Recut Club version)

     A simple synth that lets the beat build is really all I ask for from my favorite producers. Axwell definitely nailed this super high energy track. If I add this into a set, I know I'll be able to inject lost energy after some tracks with bigger breakdowns. Since the track is so open ended, it's pretty easy to lay some vocals in and throw off the crowd a little. The drop in this song hits so hard when done right too.

8. Around the World - Arty

      The youngster from Sweden first got my attention when I heard this gem on ElectricArea. Another track that is incredibly simple but extremely effective.

7. Maximal Crazy - Tiesto

     It goes without saying that Tiesto is a living legend in the world of Electronic music. The world's #3 DJ has always had a knack for making crazy trance songs that completely own a crowd. Without a release since Kaleidoscope, I was worried he had fallen off a little. Nope. Maximal Crazy assured me Tiesto is still here to stay after all these year.

6. Drink to Get Drunk - Sander Van Doorn

     If someone engages with me in a conversation about EDM, they will quickly find out that Sander Van Doorn is a absolute legend in my mind. I've been listening to him for several years now and Eleve11 was one of my favorite DJ albums this year. Drink to Get Drunk is a track to kinda let the crowd know that I'm dead serious about the set I'm playing. With a super groovy opening, I can set up the crowd pretty easily. After the big drop hits, they know their in for it. You can almost see the electricity hit the dance floor when Sander loads up that first big synth hit.

5. Encoded - Hardwell

     Not many DJs impressed me this year as much as Hardwell did. Coming out of the shadow of one of the world's biggest DJs, being from the same town as Tiesto, Hardwell has done a great job of making a name for himself. Yes, I did steal most of my DJ moves in the booth from Hardwell but putting both hands in the air as the beat drops is like being the puppet master in a puppet show, except you have complete control over 200 kids..

4. One Last Ride - John Dahlback (Tommy Trash Remix)

     One word, astounding. Tommy Trash came out of no where this year and produced some of today's biggest tracks that the world's best DJs are dropping left and right. This gem is my own person favorite. I can't help but freak out when I drop the beat at the perfect time. Whether I'm in my bedroom or in from of two hundred kids, this drop is utterly perfect and Tommy has never failed to disappoint me or my audience.

3. Eyes - Kaskade

     One of the happiest songs to ever grace my mixer is this wonderful tune by my all time favorite, Kaskade. Those of you who are regulars here at Electric Dreams Inc., know the special relationship I share with Kaskade and this has quickly become my favorite track. I have formed connections with so many crowds to this song and I only hope it gets better in the future.

2. Antidote - Swedish House Mafia

     A late entry into the scene, but definitely necessary. The energy played through this song destroys any crowd around the world. The drop is one of the more interesting drops I've heard this year and watching the Three Musketeers of house music drop this at the legendary Madison Square Garden was incredible. A staple in my future sets. Look out kids, I'm probably going to ruin your face with this one.

1. Fade Into Darkness - Avicii

     Was it really that hard to see what my favorite track of 2011 was going to be? I have some incredible memories made to this song. Playing it in my first live set ever and hearing the crowd scream the lyrics over my speakers was probably one of the most magical experiences ever. Screaming along with my hand up in the air was instantly hooked me into this movement and let me know that I was in the right place at the right time. It's those moments I strive for in my life. With a big thank you, the top honors go to one of my favorite DJs ever, Avicii.

Dethroned

     To a big surprise of many of us here at Electric Dreams Inc., a quick look at Beatport.com's Top 10 charts this morning showed that the absolute dancefloor atomic bomb of Levels had be dethroned as the best selling song on Beatport.

     A surprisingly short run at the top, of which most of us thought would be a record breaking run at number 1. Also quickly slipping from number 37 on the iTunes charts down to a mediocre 57, we can only wonder what is really going on with the music world today? With songs like Flo Rida's Good Feeling taking the same epic Etta James sample and using a similar 128 beat, we can only ask what is happening to Avicii's 9th symphony?

      As you can easily see in the video above, Avicii, the stage name for 21 year-old Tim Bergling has quickly become the king of the piano based synth sound. Starting at the tender age of 18, producing with industry legends such as Roger Sanchez and Bob Sinclair, the sound of the young sensation out of Stockholm, Sweden has infected dance floors across the world. With hits like Seek Bromance and Fade Into Darkness, the high energy sound has quickly propelled Avicii to big sets on the main stage of both Ultra and Electric Daisy Carnival.

     Reaching and incredible number 6 spot on the Top 100 DJs from Djmag this year, only to be beaten by DJ with twice his experience, 2011 has been extremely good to Bergling. A Pete Tong Essential Mix, a private set at Studio 54 set, and working with David Guetta on their amazing track Sunshine, there is no stopping the Swedish youngster from becoming a legend in the future.

     Attending an Avicii show is always as exciting as it sounds. As his set builds and everyone waits for his next track, when the crowd hears the arpeggiated synth come in from Levels, the screams are almost deafening. Once he drops the first bars of the main beat, it is impossible to keep your feet on the ground as everyone around you jumps as high as possible while imitating the sound of the song. Once the breakdown occurs, the soulful styling of Etta James are drowned out by thousands of screaming kids belting out the lyrics "Oh, sometimes I get a good feeling." 

     Not only did Tiesto, Afrojack and David Guetta drop Levels at Electric Zoo, the most exciting time we all heard the song was when the kid himself dropped it. Which also makes you think, what makes it so different? Kids cannot seem to get enough Levels and although he is busy touring, there have been video uploads on YouTube of a Level2, which is already astounding but reminds me a lot of when Levels was still just a bland sample of the song in his Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1. 

     Whatever the future may hold for Tim Bergling, there is no doubt that he will fall under the greats such as Tiesto, Carl Cox and David Guetta when he hangs up his headphones for the final time. Although Levels has dropped one spot, there is no doubt that Avicii is on a path to immortal fame with the work he is doing in clubs around the world.

Big Brothers, Big Inspirations

     Since I have have done an amazing job at neglecting this wonderful blog that many of you have come to enjoy, I thought I would hopefully try and start back up again. Since I've been your typical college student, slammed with homework, a non stop social life, having an incredible time networking with my peers and professors, I sure haven't had much time to myself. When I do find time to myself, I usually am surrounded by the wonderful sounds of my favorite house music songs. It's become a little bit more of a passion ever since I have decided to take the plunge into the life of a DJ.

     Ever since I first touched my cousin's Pioneer CDJ system and watching him mix different beats and songs in his basement, I have always dreamed of learning how to completely electrify a dance floor. Whether in a lit up club or at the front of a huge music festival, I've always wanted to have 10,000 kids losing their mind to my mix. Since the United States is currently having an electronic music revolution, it has been the perfect time to actually learn how to spin like my favorite DJs do at the shows I've been too. Watching these masters of their craft, make myself and several thousand other kids like me completely lose their mind is a work of art.

     If you happened to watch the video above, which is highly recommended, you can easily see what I mean when Kaskade simply takes control of the crowd. Not only does he make these kids lose their minds, he is also having the time of his life in the booth. Dancing like crazy and doing what he truly loves for the people that truly love it. Not only is Kaskade my favorite DJ, he is the biggest inspiration to me as a budding DJ. The fact that when I listen and play his songs on stage, I feel completely free. Free of insecurities, free of pressure and free of all of life's troubles. I can't really come up with any other musician that has made music that makes me dance as hard as I do in the booth or can bring me to tears like Kaskade has done through his storied career.

     Not only have I learned a lot about music in becoming a DJ, I've learned that it simply isn't for everyone. Being on the road, touring the world and playing every night and sleeping 4 hours only to do it again the next day. It may sound like a grueling task to meet but feeling the feelings you feel on stage are simply indescribable. When I try to describe it to people, I usually end up saying "imagine being on a roller coaster for two hours". Although, I have somewhat defined a personality for myself on stage, I still look up to my heroes on the tables for inspiration and for assurance that one day, I'll be that guy. For this, all I can say is Thank you. 

Socialism

      Now, this title may have scared a few of you away due to our ever populous die-hard capitalism fans out there but I promise I'm not talking about the ideology of Socialism. I am speaking about the social aspect of our lives. Genuine interactions with real people in a real setting using real words. Not some computer babble over a mobile network with all kinds of acronyms blotted across the message. I'll even be generous and throw in phone conversations because without those I would not be able to stay in touch with my friends and relatives that live so far away.

     Our generation depresses me. With the luxury of email, texting, BBM, Skype, Gchat, Facebook and the many other things we use to keep "in touch" with our "friends" we really have done the opposite of what we have intended to do all of these years. We've lost touch. I'm not saying you aren't aware of what your friends are doing at any give moment. I'm well aware that you check your Facebook over 5 times a day and read what people are doing. I'm mainly saying we have lost touch with reality. Since we are doing things differently now, human interaction has changed and I fear it is for the worst.

     One of my all time favorite things to do in life is make others laugh. I love the raw sound of someone simply losing their minds with uncontrollable laughter. One of the reasons my friend and Alex are such good friends is because every time we get together, we are bound to touch on subjects that many people don't ever talk about and we are bound to both laugh our asses off. It's one of my favorite activities and I'm sure many people share the same opinion. In today's "modern" world, I still attempt to be "that funny kid from this class" and constantly joke with friends. Since Nextel's push to talk system never really caught on, there is no short simple way to send a voice message to a good friend. Now the punchlines of my jokes are simply answered with a "lol" or a even crappier "haha". Another reason Alex and I are such great friends is because even when I send her a short text message, I can just tell when she's laughing her ass off. Although it is easy and eliminates the problem of just trying to run into people on campus, I really do hate text messaging and all the other crap I mentioned earlier in this post.

     Ever since I really found out who I was, I've become quite a social creature. I've made a whole bunch of friends and met plenty of great people through the awesome friends I've made in my time being single. Now I don't preach that everyone should be single to find themselves, although it would make college life pretty interesting if everyone was single, but it definitely changed my life. Being free of inhibition and doing crazy shit I would never get away with in a relationship definitely helped me become who I really am. Flying across the country to visit friends I haven't seen in forever, getting way more drunk than I ever should be on a week night, laying in my front lawn after doing the former really helped change my life and open me up to this beautiful world that I really do harp on and on about. 

     My challenge to all of you this weekend is to actually meet up with a real person, have some coffee or some cocktails and just talk to each other like real humans. No lol's and definitely no haha's, laugh at real jokes and connect on a level that you definitely won't able to connect on over a stupid text message. It really shouldn't be that hard, I'm just challenging you to do more of it.

P.S. - Sorry for the absence yesterday guys. School is getting more and more hectic as the weeks fly by but I'm in it as long as you guys are. I'll keep the posts coming if you guys keep eating them up. It's been great hearing the kind words you all have to share about my writing style and philosophy and I can't thank you enough for help keeping my dreams alive. 

Talent

      I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say that they aren't good at anything. Contrary to popular belief, I firmly believe that all of us have a hidden talent. Something that we absolutely shine at. Something that makes us utterly happy while we are doing it. This is simply what I like to call a talent. Sure not all of us can be six foot six and soar to heights that would make Issac Newton rethink his theories about physics but we're all good at something, no matter how much you want to deny it.

      I think the real problem that we all face in finding our talent is not being fearless enough to take the risks we need to discover our talent. People today are obsessed with going to college to find a great job after they graduate. Little do they know that any job is considered a good one in this economy and they also don't consider how much they don't like what they're studying. Most people think, well it doesn't matter because I'll be making a ton of money and I'll buy really nice things. I agree, the sound of a V-12 engine surrounded by the classic Rosso Red paint sure makes me smile but money does not buy happiness. Waking up every morning knowing that your about to make a commute to a job that your absolutely hate doing is really no way to live. 

      A ton of people have offered statements about how many shots you miss if you don't take any but i can't stress enough how true they ring. People always offer me the same advice, like "how am I going to make money doing this?" or "what if it doesn't work?" Another lesson I learned from "His Airness" other then what shoes I like best is that no matter that he got cut from his high school basketball team, there is no doubt that he was the best player to play the game. Not only was he good at the game, he would step on the court with missions to dismantle players that he was up against. Dunking from previously unreachable heights, playing above the rim and doing what he needed when his team needed him the most. You can never realize your full potential until you actually get after it and make the best effort you possibly can.

      Take it from me. I originally went to college to study engineering which I was good at but utterly miserable while at practice. Although it offers a lot of room for creativity, I could not let my full potential shine due to all of these rigid rules people called physics. Now that I'm studying Photojournalism, there is literally no limit to my creativity other than the law and common things we call ethics. Even those are bendable. 

      Lastly, learn to take your time through life. There is no rush to figure out anything. When I hear people talk about youth and when people tell me you have your whole life ahead of you, I simply reply with so do you. If you really think about it no matter how old you get, you'll always have your whole life ahead of you. So what are you waiting for, Live.