Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an international PR at Armada Music? Who are the guys behind all your favorite artists? And what do they do exactly?
Well we had the pleasure to have a nice chat with two of the best PRs in the business, just to quench your thirst of curiosity and we’re ready to share the juicy details!
TBA: When did you start working at Armada music?
Lisanne: I started working at Armada Music on January 2, 2017. I finished law school, but felt I needed to have more creativity in my life. I love Law and will never regret choosing it as a study, but my creative / musical heart needed attention. I worked in the entertainment business on the TV side first, but soon discovered that there is only one place that will make me happy every day: the music business. So here we are!! And to be honest, I don’t think I will ever leave the music field.. 🙂
Justine: For me, it was early 2016. I was working in fashion, but needed a change of scenery. One day, I was at this Pablo Nouvelle concert in Paradiso in Amsterdam as a fan and got overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of a certain group of people dancing in front of me. They had a great influence on the overall vibe of the crowd that night and somehow really caught my attention. At a certain point, Pablo Nouvelle announced he recently signed with Armada Music and while saying that, he pointed towards this specific group of people standing up front. It turned out they were working at Armada Music and were there to support him. You could tell they were very proud of him and enjoyed working for him, which was why I told my friend ‘I want to work there as well!!’. The day after, I sent this exact story in an open application letter to Armada and the rest is history.
TBA: Can you describe us your job?
Both:
As you know, we both work for Armada Music – currently the biggest independent electronic dance music record label, founded by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis. At the label, we represent a wide range of acts (e.g. Armin van Buuren, ARTY, Andrew Rayel, Fedde Le Grand, GoldFish, Lost Frequencies, Loud Luxury, Morgan Page, Ørjan Nilsen and Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano), as well as the label itself on a PR & Promotion level.
Together with the Product Managers, we try to create a hype around the tracks that get released via the label. It’s our responsibility to put the word out there, get the tracks known and streamed as soon as possible after release. Therefore, it’s our job to arrange promo tours, (online) interviews, radio/tv visits, social media take-overs, meet & greets, contest/giveaways etc. At the end of the day, we want our releases and artist roster to grow and become well known/more popular on a global scale.
TBA: What is the most challenging part of it?
Both: The most challenging part of music PR is to create the right PR angle/story to go with a release. For us, it’s important to build on a good story to make you stand out from the huge amount of music that is being released each day.
TBA: What is the funniest part of it?
Both: Creating that story/unique angle around a release can be quite fun sometimes.. We try to collect as much information as possible beforehand about a specific release and/or artist and sometimes you’ll find out about some funny, juicy details. Apart from that, promo days and festivals are definitely the most fun as we get to go out there and build on the relationship with the artists we represent.
TBA: How is it like to rub elbows with so many big DJs ? (And did you ever get use to have Armin around?)
Lisanne: I love to spend time with the artist, because I love music. To be around people who love the same thing as much as you is always great. That is in general the thing I love most about my job. Hahaha, yes I am used to having Armin around, but always love it when he is at the office because he is such a nice and funny guy.
Justine: It’s always a challenge of course with so many DJs and tracks being released every week. But I think the most important thing here is to actually believe in the music you represent and like Lisanne already mentioned; have a passion for music in general. Being passionate about what you do definitely makes your job a whole lot easier. I think Armin is one of the best examples of someone being really passionate about his career and having him around definitely has a positive, inspiring effect on the entire team here.
TBA: A day in the life of Lisanne and Justine …. let’s go wild and tell me everything:)
Lisanne: Well, most of the days aren’t as exciting as most people think, I guess.. I get up, walk to work (with Justine) and grab a cup of coffee. Then I try to get all my e-mails sorted before lunch and make sure I have a to-do list ready for the rest of the day. The music business is a fast-moving business and things don’t always go as expected, so we need to be able to respond to this fast. Having the inbox in order makes this easier. In the summer, we have a lot of festivals in the weekend and in October, we’re obviously really busy with ADE. But most of the days are spent at the office in Amsterdam. For me, that means liters of coffee and typing my ass off.
Photo by: Floris Heuer – www.florisheuer.com
Justine: I think Lisanne’s description is quite accurate.. spending 24/7 on our phones and computer talking to media partners, artist management, event organizers, promoters etc. and setting up meetings to discuss strategies and promo plans. Definitely no 9-to-5 job as we work with a lot of different time zones. Besides that, Lisanne and I are having a lot of one-on-one sessions where we brainstorm and try to think of new ideas/ways of promoting releases and the label in general.
TBA: ADE has just been over, how was this edition for you?
Lisanne: This was my second ADE. I was better prepared for all things that were going to happen and knew better where I got myself into. ADE is hectic, but one of the best weeks of the year for us. During the day, we have loads of meetings and we schedule a lot of press moments with our artists. During the night, we try to attend the parties or events where our artists are playing or the ones that our partners are hosting. We don’t get much sleep done during this week, but because of all the things going on and the positive vibes all around, it makes it quite easy to keep going.
Justine: I couldn’t agree more. ADE is definitely the best week of the year for me! For us it’s the perfect opportunity to meet up with everyone that we’ve been working with all year (that aren’t exactly based ‘around the corner’) and to meet new people as well. Apart from the meetings/panel talks/events/parties we attend during that week, we also organize and host the ‘Armada Invites ADE marathon’ in our very own in-office club, which is very exciting to work on as well!
TBA: You have to deal with a lot of people, artists, managers, press and so on, it requires a lot of patience, positive attitude and energy I think…. how do you keep yourself going all the time ?
Both: It really helps that we are both extremely passionate about what we do; this definitely makes things easier. It’s important to keep in mind that we’re all trying to reach the same goals here and that it’s important for us to work together to be able to achieve these goals.
Teamwork is key, and this way, we try to keep inspiring and motiving each other on a daily basis.
TBA: ASOT900 is approaching, how much are you involved in that ? And what are you gonna do?
Lisanne: ASOT900 is the biggest indoor trance festival in the world and a proud project of Armin. Because I am responsible for the promotional side of not only Armin, but all the trance acts at Armada, I will be organizing and coordinating press opportunities for all of them during this night. With it being such a big event, loads of media partners from all around the world will attend, which gives me the opportunity to build on the relationship and create promo opportunities for our artists and the A State Of Trance label. I will probably ask Justine to help me out during this night, as this is always very hectic and it never ever goes according to plan.
Justine: Like she already explained, Lisanne is in charge of all the PR & Promo around this event but like every year, I will definitely be there as well to help her coordinate and assist where needed.
TBA:Lisanne, would you tell me a secret about Justine ?
Lisanne: Hahaha! Not going to spill the beans here, but Justine has a very easy way to go undercover and sometimes uses this when it’s Sunday and she doesn’t wants to be recognized.. 😉
Justine: Hahaha, so true!
TBA: Justine, would you tell me a secret about Lisanne?
Justine:Besides her passion for electronic music, Lisanne’s guilty pleasure is listening to Dutch Folk music.
She’s attending every show, standing front row, singing along to literally every song they play, haha!
Oh and 1 more things: if you ever meet Lisanne on the dance floor, make sure to ask her about ‘The Vacuum Cleaner’. Trust me; it will be a mind-blowing experience!
Photo courtesy of Floris Heuer and Bailey Frank Hyatt
Off the back of success single ‘Hipcats’ (with David Penn), follow-up ‘Huh Huh Huh’ and signing with Armada Subjekt on an exclusive basis, ATFC has lined up his next highlight of the year. In tandem with Parisian electronic music DJ/producer and Pardon MY French member Mercer – who’s been blazing the trail with recent singles such as ‘Let’s Get Ill’ (with DJ Snake), ‘Neo Disco EP’ and ‘Boss’ (released on DJ Snake’s Premiere Class Records)) – the Anglo-Turkish House herald pushed his grooviness to the next level to come up with the vibrant ‘Twisted’, a no-holds-barred House cut sure to spice up the scene.
Helmed by a vivacious bassline with crazy vocals and layers of percussion woven through, Mercer and ATFC’s collaborative effort on Armada Subjekt is why so many people call House music their home. Topped off with slight Nu-disco influences and a little bit of sonic madness, ‘Twisted’ is the record that makes your head spin time and time again.
ATFC:“I contacted Mercer after hearing he’d done a great edit of ATFC & David Penn ‘Down Wid Da’ and 2 weeks later, we had finished this collaboration. Sometimes people and ideas just click and ’Twisted’ is one of those times. Hopefully more to come!”
Mercer:“It was a pleasure to work with ATFC. First of all, I love his music; I’ve been playing a lot of his tracks in my live show for years. I edited one of his songs for my sets and he reached out to me on Instagram. We started talking and sharing music. I sent him a bassline I recorded in 2009 for a tune I never finished, and he immediately felt it and sent me his version the next day. I finished the track the day after. It was so quick! I’ve been playing this tune for months now and the crowd always goes nuts, so I’m really glad it’s out in the open now!”
Hot on the heels of a particularly popular contest with Norwegian dance music icon Ørjan Nilsen, none other than Statement! regular and Progressive Trance trailblazer Rodg takes over the reins to launch a similar contest on Armada University, the new producer platform operating under the wing of Amsterdam-based record label Armada Music.
Exclusively available to the almost 4000 producers who signed up to Armada University for free since the launch of the platform less than two months ago, Rodg’s new course-driven contest offers a unique look into the Dutch DJ/producer’s production process whilst also nudging budding producers to put their skill to the test and finish up what Rodg started in his course. The winning submission gets a collaboration with Rodg as a full-fledged release on Armada Music. For more information, please visit the course page:‘Rodg – Finish My Record’.
In conjunction with the release of his course and contest on Armada University, Rodg also launched his own Armada University sample pack on music creation platform Splice. In total, his sample pack contains 201 custom-made, Progressive Trance-flavored samples, all of which will prove invaluable for anyone wanting to learn from his course and/or compete in his ‘Finish My Record’ contest on Armada University.
Advertised as THE platform for music producers who want to learn, improve and become the best, Armada University was founded in collaboration with FaderPro and specializes in unique music production courses from an increasing number of established artists, including Sultan + Shepard, Harry Romero, Thomas Gold, ATFC & David Penn, Ørjan Nilsen, GoldFish and more. Upon subscribing to Armada University for free, students not only get an exclusive 20% discount on all artist courses, but also get access to GUARANTEED feedback on their demo after purchasing a course, remix contests, free producer tips, music production blogs and other forms of exclusive content.
There are few, if any artists from the electronic music domain that studied at a conservatory, much less can write, orchestrate and conduct a full orchestra. BT is completely unique in the electronic music realm as he does this, well… all the time.
This month sees BT return to a musical realm in which he is uniquely versed. Since cutting his teeth scoring cult crime caperGoin 1999, the US composer has provided OSTs for an incredible diversity of films. He’s written groundbreaking scores for everything from TheFast & The Furiousto Oscar winningMonsterand even Pixar shorts.
In association with Black Hole Recordings, this December sees him release a beautiful intricate, emotionally soaring, orchestral and modular hybrid score. It is one though that presented the composer with a myriad of new and distinct challenges
‘Ittefaq’ (English title: ‘Coincidence’) is the US composers first non-English language film. Written and shot in the twisting, turning, Akira Kurosawa-forgedRashomon-style (where mutually contradictory interpretations of events are presented), BT found himself in uncharted composition territory.
To overcome this multi-faceted scoring challenge, while synchronously echoing the fast moving events of the whodunit, BT drew on his most eclectic palette of musical forms to date. Amongst its 29-track span, BT sits classical instrumentals and cooler, more downtempo electronic pieces (written primarily with a large modular synthesizer), alongside orchestral and symphonically led numbers, in turn featuring any number of sub-styles, techniques and methods. It’s a truly remarkable and unique tour de force –wildride; elucidating the bleeding edge of what is possible in modern score.
Currently holding a rare ‘100% Fresh’ rating on review aggregatorRottenTomatoes.com, ‘Ittefaq’ has been one of Bollywood’s biggest word-of-mouth sleeper hits this year. While initially proving a hurdle, the intricacy of the Mumbai-shot thriller’s plot ultimately proved to the strongest spur for Brian Transeau’s score. Centered on the story of a man falsely – or otherwise – accused or murdering his wife, BT crafts one atmospheric, suspenseful and evocative set piece after another. Swift-yet-fluid musical pivots mirror the film’s unfolding events/conflicting dialogues (‘Ittefaq’s strapline “2 Murders, 2 suspects, 2 versions”saying much). Throughout though Brian maintains an overarching air of intrigue, expectation and anticipation to the music. His latest OST triumph, BT’s accompaniment to ‘Ittefaq’ is out today and available to buy or stream here:https://bt.choons.at/ittefaq
01. ITTEFAQ Theme Suite
02. Vikram, Katherine, Maya Theme
03. Modularis 04. Prologue Chase
05. Night Market Arrest
06. The Crime Scene
07. A Murderer Loose
08. Discovering Katherine’s Body
09. Vikram’s Great Escape
10. Into the Apartment
11. Maya’s Story
12. End of a Life
13. Investigation Theme Suite
14. The Faulty Light
15. Hostage
16. Two Sides of the Story
17. Flight
18. The Aftermath
19. Was it Maya?
20. Is it Vikram?
21. The Video Argument
22. The Accused
23. Maya’s Theme Suite
24. Truth in Photos
25. Dev’s Suspicion
26. Vikram Finishes the Story
27. The Two Brothers Theme
28. Blackout
29. The Peak btmusic.com facebook.com/bt twitter.com/bt soundcloud.com/bt
A woman who is very much on her own level,Maya Jane Coleshas continued to demonstrate her distinctive ability to create beautifully crafted, forward thinking dance music. Remaining very much in charge of her own destiny, Maya presents her latest EP‘Waves & Whirlwinds’, via her very own label,I/AM/ME.
Inaugural title track‘Waves & Whirlwinds’provides a melodic and celestial intro to an otherworldly EP project. Moving forward, former single‘Don’t Leave’introduces guitar-like synth lines and droning bass, building in pace and tempo to create an inescapable sense of anticipation. The listener is invited to stay tuned for the ensuing transmission.
With an eerie and sinister feel, third track and single‘Other Side’forms the peak of the EP; brimming with emotion and euphoria. Elevating a bass driven house rhythm, with peculiar, angelic vocals. The listener is guided through a universe of twinkling synth lines and grungy dub elements. Onwards and upwards into‘Visionary’, we are transported into a world of optimism. Coles lays out uplifting, driving synth chords peppered with signature droning dubby bass and subtle elements of funk.
Leading into‘Isolate’, Coles plunges into the depths of her darker side. Signing off the EP with deep and dark, broken percussion and distorted vocal sounds, manifesting in a wholly sinister, downtempo experience.
Rounding off 2018, ‘Waves & Whirlwinds’ EP provides an interplanetary journey through the many moons ofMaya Jane Coles’ boundary defying sound. The EP comes in the wake of an iconic moment for Maya, dropping EP single‘Don’t Leave’unannounced, alongside brand-new material from her darker alias,Nocturnal Sunshine. Accruing support everywhere fromRinse FMtoReprezent Radioas well as continuedBBC Radio 1plays from Annie Mac, Diploand Mistajam,along with a US Billboard premiere,Maya Jane Colescontinues to keep her bar firmly raised.
Ever sinceJohn Dahlbäckshowcased his refurbished signature sound through title track ‘Find A Home’ at the start of the year, fans have been highly anticipating the release of his brand-new album. Today, that moment has arrived, as ‘Find A Home’ sees its full-fledged album release on Amsterdam-based record label Armada Music.
Three years after the monumental ‘Saga’ album,John Dahlbäckadds another chapter to his story in the form of ‘Find A Home’. A breath of fresh air for dance music lovers from all over the world, ‘Find A Home’ is a beautiful, 15-track crossover album (including the previously unreleased ‘Stick’) that juggles warm, homely records with tougher songs made for the dance floor, offering a safe haven for all sorts of electronic music enthusiasts.
John Dahlbäck:“This album is sort of a breath of fresh air for me. I felt like I could step out of the box and do exactly what I wanted to do. So it was like finding home. I combined warmth with some tougher elements and I think it really worked out! There is something for everyone in this selection of songs.”
Omnia is back with the brand new song ‘Guide You Home’ recorded with the rising star singer Robin Vane who definitely has super skills as the vocalist, but also is a great author. Lyrics of the track is a true revelation of the feelings that most of us have when we’re far away from home or our loved ones. And musically, there is no doubt that ‘Guide You Home’ shows the new side of Omnia as sound-producer and composer. High quality production and a mix of electronic synths in combination with acoustic guitars and live pianos give that emotional splash and makes this track unforgettable. ‘Guide You Home’ is not only the final song from Omnia in 2018 but rather a first step into the new Era of 2019 introducing this brand new sound!
Robin Vane: ‘Guide You Home’ is one of my biggest releases yet. It’s a song that we wrote many years ago. When I heard that Omnia loved the track and wanted to release it, I was so happy and thankful he had the same love for this song. In life we tend to listen to our feelings and be guided by our feelings, but I think sometimes our feelings betray us. Just follow your heart, cause love will guide you home. Where do you really want to be in life? What do you want to achieve? Let love guide you home!’
Omnia: ‘Guide You Home’ was that case when I had so much ‘space’ for creativity as a sound-producer. I’ve been lucky to hear some songs from Robin Vane and there were no doubt that I want to do something with him, so I contacted Robin on Facebook and purposed to work on something together. He sent me an original demo of ‘Guide You Home’ and I was like ‘WOW’! Musically this song gave me an opportunity to use some real instruments and basically to mix it with energetic drops which makes this tune great in both dance & pop ways at the same time. And I also think that the lyrics behind the ‘Guide You Home’ has its personal touch for all of us. No matter how far you are from your loved ones, love will guide you home…
Berlin-based solo artist and bandleader Jan Blomqvist, known for creating concert techno, recently released his album ‘Disconnected’, which was initially broken down and released across three mini albums over the summer. In the age of social media, ‘Disconnected’ explores the meaning of being disconnected, drawing on themes of broken connections, incoherent narratives and escape from reality. A series of remixes are now presented hot on the heels of the full album release.
In the wake of Rodriguez Jr.’s take on ‘Maybe Not’, album track ‘Elephant Shunned’ receives a dark and atmospheric remix from German DJ/producer Solee, the second in a string of remixes. Percussion builds momentum from the outset, slowly layering bright synth melodies and emotionally charged vocals from the original.
It’s without doubt a team-up long awaited by fans across the dance music spectrum since their stunning 2010 collaboration ‘I Will Be The Same’, and it’s happening today. Off the back of their recent, brilliant live acoustic cover of Avicii’s ‘Without You’, frequent live collaborators and fellow Trance icons Gareth Emery and Emma Hewitt have joined forces on a drop-dead gorgeous single certain to empower, enchant and inspire every step along the way: ‘Take Everything’.
Already tried and tested live at Gareth Emery’s Laserface Dreamstate show, ‘Take Everything’ sees the two industry icons set an emotionally charged backdrop and serve up a resolute message of emotional survival as poignant as it is defiant. Combining Emery’s inimitable, signature sound with Emma Hewitt’s sublime vocals, the song captures the emboldened spirit of rising from the ashes of a past gone wrong and starting again. From bitter endings to the possibility of new beginnings, ‘Take Everything’ is the resounding declaration of an unbreakable spirit.
Gareth Emery: “People have been asking for years when Emma and I would release another song together and when we finally sat down together in LA to write, ‘Take Everything’ just arrived so quickly and naturally…it was one of those songs that was just ready to be written. We have been performing this live on the recent Laserface shows together and it is unbelievably satisfying to see it resonating with people emotionally on such a scale even before the record has come out. I am really proud of this record.”
Emma Hewitt: “Working with Gareth was an absolute blast too; he is not only one of my absolute favorite producers in the universe, but also one of my very favorite people. He was on the exact same wavelength with this song and the session just clicked. ‘Take Everything’ is really a declaration of independence for me; it is saying that after the storm, there will always be a new start and a universe of new possibilities in front you. It is a really powerful thing to sing that idea to life and to believe in new beginnings; I hope people take heart in the idea of new possibilities and the pages yet to be written…”
It’s almost impossible to put into words just how amazing the year of 2018 has been for A State Of Trance and Trance music as a whole. After drawing over 70 million listeners to the live broadcast of the previous year mix, Armin van Buuren built on the momentum by introducing the video broadcast of A State Of Trance to the radio studio set-up, hosting several phenomenal ASOT events in places such as Utrecht in the Netherlands, Melbourne in Australia, Gliwice in Poland and more, and spoiling his listeners with loads of new, exciting Trance & Progressive tunes every single week. And now, it’s time to capture all of those moments in an album so carefully crafted it took 60 hours to complete: ‘A State Of Trance Year Mix 2018 (Mixed by Armin van Buuren)’.
For ‘A State Of Trance Year Mix 2018’, the fifteenth consecutive year mix album, Armin van Buuren left no stone unturned to find the tracks of 2018 that mean the most to the loyal ASOT fans. Based on the standings of the Tune Of The Year voting halfway in (15.000 votes), the results of the most important Trance & Progressive charts throughout the year and the personal picks of Armin van Buuren himself, the mix album features over a hundred mind-blowing records from some of the world’s most esteemed Trance artists, including Giuseppe Ottaviani’s ‘Till The Sunrise’, Richard Durand’s ‘The Air I Breathe’, NWYR’s ‘Wormhole’ and ‘Dragon’, Above & Beyond’s ‘Red Rocks’ and Armin van Buuren’s ‘United’, ‘Blah Blah Blah’, ‘Just As You Are’ and ‘Last Dancer’.
‘A State Of Trance Year Mix 2018’ is a way of giving back to the fans who made this whole journey possible, and a way of making sure this amazing year will be remembered until the end of time itself. And as the year mix and its end-of-the-year broadcast close the year in style, fans will know what to expect from 2019: tons of gorgeous records and another phenomenal ‘A State Of Trance Year Mix’ to round up a year destined to reach a new high.
Full tracklist:
01 Armin van Buuren – A State Of Trance Year Mix 2018 Intro: License To DJ
02 Omnia – Cyberpunk
03 Andrew Bayer feat. Alison May – Immortal Lover (In My Next Life Mix)
04 Audien feat. Cecilia – Higher
05 Armin van Buuren vs Shapov – The Last Dancer
06 Super8 & Tab – Blockchain
07 Simon Lee & Alvin with Susie Ledge – Why I Came Here
08 Mark Sixma – Sinfonia
09 Signum feat. Scott Mac – Coming On Strong (Gareth Emery & Ashley Wallbridge Remix)
10 Jeremy Vancaulart feat. Danyka Nadeau – Hurt
11 Super8 & Tab feat. Envy Monroe – True Love
12 Omnia feat. Danyka Nadeau – For You
13 Cosmic Gate & Jason Ross – Awaken
14 HALIENE – Dream In Color (Ruben de Ronde Remix)
15 Above & Beyond feat Richard Bedford – Happiness Amplified (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
16 Loud Luxury feat. brando – Body (Ørjan Nilsen Remix)
17 Purple Haze – Bergen
18 Armin van Buuren feat. Sam Martin – Wild Wild Son (Club Mix)
19 Estiva – Bloom
20 Virtual Self – Ghost Voices (Raito Remix)
21 ilan Bluestone with Maor Levi feat. EL Waves – Will We Remain
22 Ferry Corsten & DIM3NSION – Safe With Me
23 ARTY – Tim
24 Fatum – Violet
25 Ørjan Nilsen – Savour This Moment
26 KhoMha – Tierra
27 MaRLo feat. Emma Chatt – Here We Are
28 MaRLo feat. Roxanne Emery – A Thousand Seas
29 Denis Kenzo & Sveta B. – Sweet Lie
30 Markus Schulz feat. Nikki Flores – We Are The Light
