ALL-ACCESS-PASS

Ultra Music Festival is a ground breaking event which allows EDM enthusiasts around the world to come together in one immense outdoor arena. The festival has featured many of the biggest names in Electronic Music performing their hits that kept iPods playing and dance floors moving since 1999. David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia, deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Calvin Harris, and Major Lazer are just a few among the impressive list of high profiled performers in the festival's legendary set list over the years. As the winner of the “Best Music Event” by the International Dance Awards for six consecutive years, Ultra Music Festival has begun promoting the 2014 edition to their iconic concert series in the form of an Early Bird Special for their fans.

Forget your Memorial Day Weekend plans and head to Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa in Atlantic City for a weekend of wild parties at the hottest night spots around. With two night clubs and 10 different bars, never shall there be a dull moment; especially on one of the biggest party weekends of the year.

Taking over mur.mur on Friday, May 24th is the one and only Jermaine Dupri with a special performance by Leah LaBelle! Mr. Dupri is known world-wide for his endeavor with Columbia Records which birthed his independent music label baby, So So Def, becoming one of the most successful labels in the scene. Jermaine Dupri is the youngest artist to ever be in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and between Jagged Edge, Bow Wow, and many other famous artists, he is raining platinum. Along with him will be R&B singer, Leah LaBelle; you may know her from Season 3 of American Idol as Paula Abdul’s wildcard selection that turned into a finalist, something you don’t want to miss!

Sebastian Ingrosso doesn’t need an introduction. The 30-year old Swedish DJ and producer has seen a great amount of success in his past few years behind the turntables and in the studio. He is the head of his own record company, Refune, and was a third of the wildly famous super-group Swedish House Mafia that performed their last show together on March 24, 2013. He recently dropped his new club anthem “Reload,” on May 14th and can be purchased on iTunes, here.

As we’re all aware EDC NY hits this Friday, May 17th; but the party doesn’t stop there. Webster Hall, one of New York’s most historic and largest venues around will be welcoming Brillz, Sigma, Monsta, and special guest Alex English! This shall be wild and perfect while returning from heavy electro into moombahton, drum and bass, and the slight indie-feel they’ve imprinted on EDM.

Brillz is a trap and moombahton producer signed with Skrillex’ Owsla label with popular hits like "Acid Trippin" ft. Whiskey Pete. This hit was made a club favorite with Whiskey Pete’s trap stabs and addictive hook’s that meshed with Brillz trademark melodies. Brilliance.

Williamburg's newly opened club, Output, gives area warehouse parties something to compete with. Set in the heart of the globally-known hipster mecca, nestled next to the Wythe Hotel, this rooftop accessed, electronic dance music driven club continues their unrivaled success with a non-stop heavy hitter line up. Boasting with a Funktion One sound system, open space, and access to a roof terrace, the options for club goers to dance the night away are endless. Fitted with a door guy instructed to let in people who give off dance and party vibes, rather than how much their outfit costs, it is a non-stop, bass-thumping all nighters' paradise. It isn't just the patrons who have been raving about this laid back, super charged venue, DJs across the world have been fighting to get booked for gigs and show off their skills to its packed Thursday-Sunday nights.

Electro-lovers around the country sat anxiously at their computers last Saturday morning, refreshing the TomorrowWorld website in the hopes of scoring a golden ticket to the festival’s American debut which will take place September 25-27 in the Chattahoochee Hills of Georgia. Domestic pre-sale tickets sold out in an astonishing two hours, leaving only half of the festival’s tickets up for grabs in the worldwide ticket sale release which will open this Saturday at 11am EST.

And music fans are clamoring for good reason; TomorrowWorld is the American spinoff of infamous mega-festival TomorrowLand which is known worldwide for its extraordinary production and impeccable lineups.

The dust has settled, bright eyed hipsters have fled their campsites, packed up their cars and headed back home. All is quiet on the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California for just for one day before the folk, country, bluegrass festival Stage Coach moves in. In a sand stormy, whimsical, and sun soaked memory another Coachella Fest has come and gone. It all began as fans hit the interstates with their multi-car caravans early Thursday before Weekend I. Decked out in window paint and packed to the rim with festival goers. Girls hung out of windows and flashed peace signs as they paraded their way into the Indio city limits. As the day moved on, temperatures reached the 90s as local supermarkets and convenience store shelves started to deplete and parking lots became meeting places for energized patrons waiting for camping gates to open. Over night, the Empire Polo Club turned into its own city with a population of 80k+. Security taking away glass containers and illicit drugs held up the line for 2-3 hours. With camping passes first to sell out, area hotels were also found with no vacancy. For a fee, patrons could hop shuttle buses from their hotel, and while patron traffic died down into Friday, artist tour buses, and shuttles soon began taking over the streets. Sound checks were heard echoing over the valley as patrons passed down the yellow brick road to where gates opened at 11am. Coachella 2013 sported 2 main stage areas, the Main Stage and the Outdoor Theater. 3 tent stages: Gobi, Mojave, and Ultra's "mega stage" replica for the Sahara Tent this year, where EDM fans got full servings of music all weekend long. The YUMA Tent—a small capacity fully enclosed dance floor and pumping music dome featured DJs from around the globe including Richie Hawtin, Luciano, and Jamie Jones both weekends. The grounds were an area of exploration from the camping area art instillation to the palm tree-lined festival perimeter. Inside the grounds there was much to be seen, including the 150 foot Ferris wheel, multiple beer gardens, and the Coachella Power Station home to human/hippos dancing the night away. Unlike past years, patrons were kept happy with mulitple info booths, general stores, stands to purchase water, phone charging booths, fairly well maintained port-a-potties, make shift shaded areas surrounding the Do LaB stage, an oasis home-like structure, speakeasy, and misting tents. All wasn't this wasn't quite enough however to prepare the crowds for the wind/sand storm that came sweeping through the valley Saturday and stuck around well into Monday evening. Turning the vibe into a hectic scene from an old western, festival goers sported handkerchiefs, sunglasses, and scarfs as they braved out strong sand filled gusts up to 45 mph running from one stage to the next as the weekend moved along. Stealing the attention the first night were Tegan & Sara on the outdoor stage and Bassnectar at the Sahara Tent. If you found yourself aimlessly wandering you might have come upon remote controlled sharks that seemed to float around as long streams of balloons lit up the sky. Also to be seen were a large snail, mechanical praying mantis, and T-Rex. Although Coachella 2013's bill housed a large selection of genres from Brit old school punk rock to psychedelic gypsy jazz, there was no doubt, as the sea of crowds shifted from one stage to the next, what acts carried the biggest buzz. Both Saturday line ups were under much criticism for time slotting, leaving patrons little choice to catch a jammed packed 7pm to midnight time block filled with The XX, Two Door Cinema Club, Janelle Monae, Moby, Phoenix, Sigur Ross, and Knife Party. While EMD played its first major role in the line up in Coachella's history, with over 24 EDM acts, including Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, and ModeStep nothing could outdo the festival traditional's Tegan & Sara, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jurassic 5, Wu-Tang Clan, and Red Hot Chili Pepper sets. Visually, Coachella attendees know how to be festie-fresh better than any others. With the 2013 festival kicking off, major fashion brands such as H&M, Lacoste, Guess, American Eagle Outfitters, and Forever21 have released festival-friendly seasonal lines, which had a major role in the overall looks and vibe of patrons this year. Long dresses, cut-off shirts, bright prints of flowers and plaid took over the sights. Weekend I was quite the date weekend, looking around the field was filled with couples, some reminiscing longtime lovers, and some new love-a-first-sighters frolicking around.
Celebraties also couldn't help but make their way to the Polo Club for a weekend of fun. In attendance was Paris Hilton spotted at the VIP Beer Garden, Lindsay Lohan with her brother, Clint Eastwood with his daughter, Carmen Electra, and even Elijah Wood was caught spinning tunes at the Lacoste LIVE Coachella Desert Pool Party. Also out on the grounds was Danny Devito and Katy Perry amongst many others.
While Weekend I ended literally in a wind storm, causing chaos and long lines; Weekend II came in with clear blue skies, calm winds and chill vibes.
Weekend II with an almost identical bill as Weekend I, showcased a breakout performance by 2 Chainz, the now blonde Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the serenades of The XX, a pop fusion dream of Two Door Cinema Club, a retro flash back from Frandz Ferdinand, and a heart thumping dance session from Pretty Lights. Also cool to check out was the tranquil acid trip from Dead Can Dance, sunset performance from Portugal. The Man, chill surfer vibes from Tame Impala, and the all-American boys of The Gaslight Anthem.
With one major US festival complete for the 2013 Season, it has been confirmed that EDM has solidified its place in the American Festival Circuit. Coachella is just the tip of the Festie Season iceberg with dozens of other mega festivals on the way. EDC NY, Electric Zoo, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Tomorrow World, Hard, The Big Up, and plenty more will be sure to put Summer 2013 in the record books!

Once known solely as the master of drum & bass, Sub Focus has stepped boldly into a new chapter in his career by expanding his musical palette both on-stage and in the studio. With his sophomore album set to release this summer and an assiduous upcoming touring schedule, Sub Focus is staying focused throughout 2013. The English producer dished to Joonbug on his newest releases, performance methods, and thoughts about drum & bass’ future in America.

KhoMha has been at it for less than two years and he is already taking the EDM world by storm. From his current tour with Markus Schulz to his jawdropping performance at ASOT 600 in Den Bosch, he has received an overwhelmingly welcoming response. Born in Colombia, KhoMha first discovered his passion for electronic music when he was 14 years old. Now 21, he has gone from falling in love with these sounds to making his own. KhoMha was kind enough to take some time to answer some questions for us. Check out what he has to say below.

After recently wrapping up his second North American headlining tour, it’s back to the production grind for Oliver Twizt. Electro-house’s rising star is all about business and his hard work is certainly paying off as 2013 shapes up as the Dutch producer’s busiest year yet. Joonbug had a chance to chat with Oliver Twizt at The W Hotel on South Beach before his slew of Miami Music Week performances, so read on as the production ace dishes on his road to stardom, remixing methodology, and newest production projects.