Interview

PLP 097: Shakes on Event Promotion and the Twisted Lines Experience

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Today’s guest is Yera, better known in the Atlanta techno scene as Shakes. Yera is a die-hard techno fan, fashionista and the founder of Twisted Lines. Twisted Lines began in 2018 in the alleyways of L.A., but has grown into an Atlanta-based community of techno and house music lovers who build art events inspired by the underground warehouse raves of the 90’s. Her events are much more than just themed music nights: past events have incorporated sports car collectives, art installations, and they recently closed out Atlanta’s Digital Art Week.

PLP 095: Sean Giovanni on Storytelling in Songwriting

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Today we welcome back Sean Giovanni. Gio is an audio engineer, producer and the multitalented owner of The Record Shop in Nashville, Tennessee. During his career Gio has worked with big acts and labels to include: Alabama, John Legend, Lil Jon, Meatloaf, Sister Hazel, The Wallflowers, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal, and many more.

PLP 094: Bruce Zalcer on Life, Branding, and Techno in Panama

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Today we’re talking with Bruce Zalcer from Panama. Bruce is a multi-instrumentalist who began with music in his teens playing in rock bands and DJing. After school, he largely left the scene and moved on to a more conventional life selling insurance and raising a family for many years until 2018 when he decided to return to music. Since then, Bruce’s unique approach to techno incorporating synthesizers, drum machines, and sounds sampled from daily life has been making waves in the techno world. He’s released a dozen tracks including his Lifeblood EP and already has tracks signed on some of the biggest techno labels in the industry including Terminal M, 1605, and Codex Recordings. Additionally, his first live performance in 20 years was in Amsterdam for ADE! Finally, because there isn’t a huge techno following in Panama he created Dialectic Live: an organization that is dedicated to growing the techno movement in that country.

PLP 093: Mauro Somm on Producing Techno by Avoiding Rules

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Today’s guest is Mauro Somm, an up-and-coming techno producer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He’s been signed on Christian Smith’s Tronic label and has had support from some of the most creative artists in the industry, including UMEK,  Gallya, Joyce Mercedes, and Space 92. 

PLP 092: Heather Johnson CEO of Ninty9Lives on Labels, Better CTAs, and Spotify

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Today’s guest is Heather Johnson, the CEO of the Nintey9Lives. Heather also serves on the advisory board of the American Association of Independent Music which advocates for independent music rights holders. This episode was actually recorded LAST April, but due to a super secret announcement at the end of the podcast, I couldn’t release it until now.

PLP 089: Raskal on Record Labels, Push Producing, and Starting from Scratch

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on to being a DJ and producer, he hosts the popular Melodics podcast and owns the Southern Exposure Music record label.  As a producer, one of his recent releases “No Place To Hide” spent many weeks on the Beatport Top 100 list and has also released multiple tracks that broke into the top 10.

PLP 088: ZeXter on Music Production, Label Releases, and European Influences

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Beatport on the collaborative Devil’s Breath release by Black Square Recordings, and has also released on a variety of labels including Pure Dope Digital, Format Recordings, Intact Dark Balance, Southern Exposure, and is a regular with White Line Music.  ZeXter’s unique sound stems from his love of European dance music, his classical instrument training, and his degree in sound design. 

PLP 086: David López on Audio Engineering, Gain Staging, and Mixing

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Today I’m joined by David López, an audio engineer, consultant, educator, producer, DJ, and Ableton Certified trainer. As Didactic, he performs in various genres from electronic pop to reggae to downtempo to house music. He has over 20 years of experience and holds a degree in audio technology from SAE where he also spent seven years teaching recording arts and sciences.

PLP 085: aboywithabag on House Music, Label Releases, and Branding

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Today I’m joined by Sai Aditya, better known as aboywithabag.  Sai is a multi-talented producer who was born in India and spent time growing up in both south India and in Chicago.  He’s an up-and-coming house music producer with his first release on Dim Mak Records two months ago.  Sai has been generating a lot of interest online with his high-energy, danceable tracks which resulted in a recent interview with EDMIdentity.  

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