Calvin Harris

Electronic Dance Music: Up and Coming Talent

The new “rock ‘n’ roll” EDM has moved from smoke-filed clubs and warehouse raves into mainstream media. Avicii, Krewella, Calvin Harris are just some of the names who have released top 40 singles. Young producers who you need to watch in 2014-15 include some very young people.

Porter Robinson

Porter Weston Robinson born on July 15, 1992 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is one of the newest electronic music producers and DJs on the EDM front. He began producing music the age of 13 and hit the world by storm by the time he was 18. Porter was a japanophile, was influenced by video gaming music and is at the forefront of electronic producers. Before Porter was 21 his records reached number one on Beatport’s charts.
Like many electronic dance music producers, Porter is a self-taught genus. Originally he released his own singles on Glamara Records and Big Fish Recordings, but in 2011 he signed a one time deal with OWSLA. OWSLA released his eleven-track Spitfire which reached number one on the iTunes Dance chart, and crashed Beatport’s servers upon its release.
Porter’s next single, Language in 2011 was released through Ministry of Sound and Big Beat Records. The song shot to number one and was premiered via a live BC Radio 1 Essential Mix on January 27.
Porter Robinson has toured internationally at the world’s largest electronic festivals. Tiesto, Shrillex, and Deadmau5 are headliners, but Porter comes on first. Now, Porter Robinson is headlining a tour for his debut album of 2014. He will utilize live elements and be premiered in festivals and events. Watch for this electro house, progressive house, trance, alternative dance, and indietronica genius in his next album Worlds and the tour that brings him to the knitting Factory in Reno, Nevada on September 4th.
Porter’s album is hailed by Rolling Stone as an album full of delightful risks. Billboard claims the album is genius and gorgeous. Fader reports the album is a “prodigy’s attempt at a personal corrective to the genre.” Fans love Porter Robinson and Worlds was the number one electronic dance album in August 2015.
World is different. It is emotionally energetic and contains many loud sounds. Loud drums, twists and turns will leave his concert fans with a new awareness of what EDM is all about. Porter’s claim to fame? His remixes of Lady Gaga and Avicci that were released along with Language in 2012 and Easy in 2013. In 2013 Porter performed live at Electric Daisy Carnival, South by Southwest, Coachella and Bonnaroo. Porter states he loved doing straight forward EDM, but he really did not want to play other people’s music. He wrote an album that was electronic music but, had a more expressive and emotional twist.
EDM is characterized by beats that dig into the soul. EDM is escaping into different world. Porter’s music is not about advocating anything; it is about escapism and moving to a new world. His new show and live performances will bring Robinson for the first time in the spotlight manipulating multi-tracks, triggering samples, using controllers, playing keyboards, and there might even be singing. The press team claims the show will feature a 32-foot video screen displaying custom visuals, 96 lighting fixtures, 480 streamer tubes, and 1,500 pounds of confetti. Don’t forget there will be 15 50-pound tanks of CO2. This is destined to be a show of loud but spectacular beauty.

Marijn Garritsen aka Martin Garrix

At only 17 years of age, Dutch DJ Garrix was awesome in 2013 and is considered electronic dance music’s most promising young act. He reached international fame with his release of Animal which hit over 150 million total views on YouTube. Garrix credits a performance by headliner Tiesto during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games as his inspiration. Garrix signed with Scooter Braun for marketing and promotional purposes. Let’s hope Scooter Braun controls Martin Garrix better than he does Justin Bieber! Garrix will release singles in June 2014 and his worldwide tour is selling out everywhere in Europe. EDM experts and watchers feel Martin Garrix will be the next Tiesto by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015.
Garrix became enamored with music at the age of 4. He learned to play guitar at this young age and four years later, as previously mentioned, Garrix was inspired to be a DJ by Tiesto. His EDM beginning started with the song BFAM which he released with Julian Jordan. He won the SLAM! FMDJ Talent of the Year Award in 2012 and his remix of Your Body was released on Christina Aguilera’s album Lotus. His EDM mix Just Some Loops as well as the EDM craze TV Noise is included in the collection album Loop Masters Essential, Volume 2.
Martin Garrix released Torrent in 2013 in collaboration with Sidney Samson. Next he gained recognition with Animals his solo record released on Dutch record label Spinnin Records. Animals became a hit in a number of charts in Europe and Garrix reigns as the youngest performer to reach number 1 on Beatport.
Scan and find Garrix’s name on DJ mag’s top 100 DJs list in 2013. He is a new entry at number 40. December 2013 was the release date of Wizard with Jay Hardy and this song peeked to number 6 in Belgium. Not to be known as just a producer, Garrix has performed with Miami’s unparalleled electronic dance music spectacular Ultra Music Festival 2014. This venue is where Garrix debuted his new and released tracks. He collaborated with Dillon France, Hardwell and Afrojack on these releases. Proxy is his free download on Sound Cloud. This production is a gift to his new and old fans.
Garrix’s genius extends to keyboards, fruity reverb, soundgoodizer, fl studio 10, native instruments massive and lennardigital sylenth 1. If you don’t understand what any of these instruments can do, don’t worry; just browse to Martin Garrix’s website, download his music, sit back, and beat your feet to the original productions that are all Garrix’s.