Over his career so far, UK bass fiend Rusko has embraced the ‘work hard, play hard’ philosophy. Following his Songs album in 2012 and the collaborative EP with Cypress Hill, the producer is now prepping a new suite of songs for release on 2 July. The Lift Me Up EP is coming on Skrillex’s OWSLA label, and the first offering is Takeoff, an all-out drum & bass effort complete with Jay-Z snippets.

“I grew up listening to drum-and-bass and jungle music,” Rusko told Rolling Stone. “I felt it was time to reflect this by making some of my very own. This really is the definition of music from the heart.” Other OWSLA stars include Alvin Risk, KOAN Sound, Kill The Noise and Seven Lions.

Meanwhile, Rusko’s Facebook page continues to mostly document his love of marijuana. The last few days in particular have offered a succession of weed-related posts, with fans either cheering him on or chastising his undying love. One of the most common comments this past week: “Deadmau5 dislikes this”. As many ITMers will recall, the ‘mau5 once objected to Rusko smoking a spliff backstage at a festival in 2010. Some grammatically-suspect Twitter rants were exchanged, and the two stars haven’t been that friendly since.

“People have tried to reconcile us,” Rusko told DJ Mag in 2012. “I’m like, ‘Don’t bring that c**t near me.’ It’s still very much on. We haven’t really been in the same room since it happened, until we are put in the same room by accident or whatever, who knows? He might be chilled out; it’s still on for me. Once I hate someone, I hate ‘em forever.”

Rusko also went in-depth with DJ Mag on the epic drug binge that accompanied the making of Songs. “I made Opium entirely on Promethazine codeine syrup, which basically looks like opium in a bottle,” he cheerily detailed to the interviewer. “I managed to score a bottle of the real lean 100-percent codeine syrup. The album was very inspired by the drugs I was taking while I was making it.

“One day I took Rohypnol, the date-rape drug. I date-raped myself, and made a track, Dirty Sexy Money. I’m at this stage now, I’m drinking a bottle of vodka a night, enjoying drugs for what they are, and not being shy about it. This album wouldn’t sound as good as it does if I wasn’t taking a fuck-load of drugs.”

Posted by Jack Tregoning (via In The Mix)

To kick off our new “15 Questions with” series there was no other option better than going straight to the legend.

01 – How did you come up with the name “Vice”?
I was 12 years old and picked up a dictionary, flipped thru pages and there it was! Vice – a bad habit

02 – If you had to give up your shoe collection or DJing what would it be?
shoe collection…if the Flinstones got all that shit done barefoot so can I!

03 – When & how did you first break in to the Las Vegas club scene?
In 2004 when DJ AM told the promoters at Body English that I had to be the resident DJ on Friday night’s at Body English, while he was the Saturday night resident.

04 – Where do you think music programming in Vegas will be in 2 years?
At this point I really can’t call it. Music is evolving with technology…good or bad its really up to the listeners taste.

05 – Who was your DJ role model or favorite DJ growing up?
There are many that have influenced me. Jazzy Jeff,Jam Master Jay, KDAY OG Mixmasters, DJ AM

06 – Your all time favorite record?
RUN DMC – Peter Piper

07 – Your go to prime time set record right now?
Anything at 128 Bpm 🙂

08 – What is your favorite city to DJ in?
Las Vegas & Miami (USA) Tokyo & Hong Kong (International)

09 – What is your favorite city to vacation in?
Ibiza, Spain

10 – Most memorable, craziest, wild party you ever spun at?
My senior prom

11 – Most annoying thing to you as a DJ?
Requests

12 – What was the turning point for your career?
Getting hired on Power 106fm in Los Angeles at 18 years old

13 – What are your favorite tools for music production?
Ableton

14 – Who is a young DJ that has caught your eye & we should look out for?
DJ 1mor (https://soundcloud.com/dj1mor)

15 – What advice would would you give a younger Vice?
Follow your passion and know your brand!

Check out Vice’s new single “Take That” now available on Beatport (click here)
Stay connected with Vice on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/djvice

We will soon feature questions from Diplo, Dillon Francis, Pauly D, & more.

Posted by Yung Jon Que

Rumor has it that Nick Cannon has decided to release an edm album. This album isn’t for everyone though. It’s just for WHITE PEOPLE! His “White People Music” album, that’s really the title, will even include a collab with Afrojack (Who just works with anyone now?).

Apparently Nick Cannon has been blessed with incredible talents on the decks for quite some time. He explained it on the Today Show, “I thought I’d finally make some music. I DJ a lot. I’ve been Djing all over the world for ten years. I have a lot of playlists in my DJ crate. I label them different things. One of them is called white people party music. When it’s time to turn the party up, you put on the white people party music. Ya know the fist pumpin and all that.” Cool story bro.

The first single from the album titled “Me Sexy” has been released and it sounds like a bad rip off of Benny Benassi circa 2003. Can’t wait till Afrojack drops hit in his set next EDC. Turn your speakers up and put on your rage face for this track below.

Posted by David Miller

Back in 2012, the Celebrity Net Worth website (tagline: ‘Compare Yourself To Your Favourite Celebrity’) published a list of ‘The Richest DJs In The World’. In the site’s own words, the article was viewed “over a million times” in 48 hours with new servers brought in to cope with the traffic, such is the apparent interest in what top-tier dance acts earn. As we wrote at the time, “With plenty of zeros thrown around and not a great deal of hard evidence, it’s an article that calls for a dump-truck of salt.”

Not long after, U.S. business magazine Forbes followed suit, publishing its own ‘Electronic Cash Kings’ list. Its top five differed from the Celebrity Net Worth list, with Forbes pinning Tiesto, Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta and Steve Aoki as the leading money-spinners. Deadmau5 loudly rubbished that round-up, too: “You’re putting the whole industry on one article written by one dude, who does not have access to any of our accounts.”

Well now it’s time for Celebrity Net Worth to get back in the game with its 2013 round-up of ‘The Richest Electronic DJs In The World’. The data, they write, has been calculated taking into account all music sales, merchandise, touring revenue, licensing, endorsements, real estate and royalties. “We obtained that information from all publicly available sources, promoters, managers, club owners and, in some cases, the artists themselves,” the preamble continues.

Once again, question marks are dotted throughout this list. According to Celebrity Net Worth’s sources, Judge Jules, Sasha and John Digweed have made more than pop go-to-guy David Guetta and the individual members of the Swedish House Mafia (who set out on the highly-lucrative ‘One Last Tour’ of arenas) in the past year. We’d also be surprised if Calvin Harris – the hit-maker who recently set a new UK chart record with eight home-runs from the one album – is sitting down in the 22nd spot. Here it is…what do you make of it?

#1: Tiesto – $75 million
#2: Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (Daft Punk) – $60 million
#3: Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk) – $60 million
#4: Paul Oakenfold – $58 million
#5: Paul van Dyk – $52 million
#6: John Digweed – $45 million
#7: Armin Van Buuren – $40 million
#8: Judge Jules – $42 million
#9: Sasha – $40 million
#10: Pete Tong – $32 million
#11: Moby – $30 million
#12: David Guetta – $30 million
#13: Steve Aoki – $28 million
#14: Fatboy Slim – $23 million
#15: The Chemical Brothers – $20 million
#16: Ferry Corsten – $19 million
#17: Deadmau5 – $18 million
#18: Carl Cox – $16 million
#19: Skrillex – $16 million
#20: Benny Benassi – $15 million
#21: DJ Pauly D – $15 million
#22: Sven Vath – $14 million
#23: Jeffrey Sutorius (Dash Berlin) – $13.5 million
#24: Calvin Harris – $13 million
#25: Avicii – $12 million
#26: Afrojack – $11 million
#27: Kaskade – $10 million
#28: Sebastian Ingrosso (Swedish House Mafia) – $10 million
#29: Steve Angello (Swedish House Mafia) – $10 million
#30: Axwell (Swedish House Mafia) – $10 million
#31: Hardwell – $9.5 million
#32: Darude – $9 million
#33: ATB aka Andre Tanneberger – $8.5 million
#34: Richie Hawtin – $8.5 million
#35: Jono Grant (Above & Beyond) – $8 million
#36: Paavo Siljamäki (Above & Beyond) – $8 million
#37: Tony McGuinness (Above & Beyond) – $8 million
#38: Gareth Emery – $7 million
#39: Diplo – $6.5 million
#40: Erick Morillo – $6 million
#41: Alesso – $6 million
#42: Martin Solveig – $5 million
#43: Eric Prydz – $4.5 million
#44: Markus Schulz – $4 million
#45: Mark Knight – $4 million
#46: Adam Beyer – $3 million
#47: Danny Tenaglia – $3 million
#48: Bad Boy Bill – $2.5 million
#49: Little Louie Vega – $2 million
#50: Morgan Page – $2 million

Posted by Jack Tregoning (via In the mix)

As with most things, a career in music means taking the good with the bad. On the one hand, there’s spots on the biggest festival line-ups around the world, fan numbers in the hundreds of thousands and the privilege of making music people want to hear. But on the flipside, there’s the ever vocal and hard-to-impress internet critics, ready to cut you down at every turn – just ask Krewella. The Chicago-bred trio – who’ve wasted no time carving out a big presence in the U.S. since their breakthrough single Killin It dropped last year – have had an impressive twelve months. But it hasn’t left them immune to backlash.

“The internet has been a battlefield lately,” the trio’s Yasmine Yousaf wrote in a blog post addressing the age-old topic of haters. “It’s impossible to scroll through my timeline on any social media and not see a post that is hating on something or someone. This is fucking scary for an artist. We’re coming upon the conclusion of the full length album, and for anyone who puts their heart into the music they create and let it out into the world once it is (almost but not ever quite) perfect knows how anxiety-inducing it is in the current day and age to do such a thing.

“Twelve songs. Through countless (probably over 100) demos, we chose twelve,” she continues. “It took a full year because we’ve been balancing touring and studio at the same time, but nonetheless it’s been a crazy road. And I can say right here and right now that some people are going to fucking hate us for these twelve songs. They’re going to think that we’ve taken a giant shit on the music industry, ruined their favorite genre of music, etc. etc. etc. It’s almost comical to me at this point, I always envision a small Napoleon-looking character sitting in front of their computer in a dark room, conjuring up new ways to advocate hate on the internet. I imagine them scouring YouTube for videos with too many thumbs-up’s just to even out the ratings with some negativity. Worse though, what’s in my head is probably not too far off from reality.”

Of course, they’re not the first bass-heavy act to cop flack. At last month’s IMS Engage, Skrillex addressed his divisive status. “A lot of it is internet hype,” he told the room. “Something that’s negative can seem a lot louder than positivity. When you click on the Facebook profile of someone who’s hating, it’s a 12-year-old kid talking crap.” But with a string of big singles and nigh on 400,000 Facebook fans to their name, it’s likely the positive reception will outweigh the bad for Krewella.

Posted by Katie Cunningham (via In The Mix)

The most influential DJ at this weekend’s Electric Daisy Carnival in New York opened the festival’s mainstage early on the first day: It was the French producer Cedric Gervais, whose 2012 hit “Molly” has inspired a catch phrase emblazoned on thousands of t-shirts across the parking lot of Citi Field, the home stadium for the Mets. “Have you seen Molly?” the song goes. “She makes me want to dance.” Much more than a cheeky request for MDMA via a garment purchasable from the Shore Store, it embodied the zeitgeist – not just that of the largest electronic dance music festival in America, but of the party generation. Rave culture has taken over this generation full bore, and the kids are so invested that thousands of young women hot-glued their bras with rhinestones, glowsticks and silk daisies, clearly prepping for this experience for weeks. Rare was the beefed-up bro not emblazoned in some kind of neon, making eyes at said bras while working on their Melbourne shuffle. This was Spring Breakers, Queens edition.

It goes without saying that dance music festivals Stateside are finally catching up to their European counterparts – this year, each leg of the two-day Electric Daisy Carnival New York attracted 50,000 people, paltry compared to the sold-out 325,000 who will descend on Vegas when the main festival hits in late June. Even so, the vastness of the experience was impressive and, at times, overwhelming, blanketed across four stages, a clutch of carnival rides, dazzling fireworks displays, and technicolor light installations, including the fest’s signature LED daisy the size of a tract house. (The Citi Field parking lot is huge!)

The two massive main stages were situated adjacent to each other with a ferris wheel and a Zipper ride wedged between. The first night, anyone (everyone) attempting to see simultaneous sets by house heavyweight Eric Prydz versus Swedish House Mafia mastermind Steve Angello got smooshed into a giant, disorienting rave pit. If any of those t-shirt kids ever found Molly, they surely lost the rest of their friends in the crush. But if they stood at the right spot at the bow of the ferris wheel, they could hear both stages at the same time, the speakers sending .wavs across the asphalt (which is, apparently, a great sound conductor). It was a perfect confluence of thump, where it almost didn’t matter if their sets were indistinguishable – most were lost in the ecstasy of the moment.

Still, several of the main-draw headliners proved their mettle. British producer Calvin Harris showed why he is such a force in the pop world, blending a crowd-pleasing set that included Basement Jaxx’s “Where’s Your Head At,” Justice’s “We Are Your Friends,” and his own “Flashback” – three songs released in the 2000s, practically relics at this point, yet the young-20-something-skewing crowd sang along gamely. (He didn’t make anyone wait for the megahit he made for Rihanna, “We Found Love,” dropping it about a quarter-way through to a stadium’s worth of squeals.) Harris’ harder counterpart in the pop world, ubiquitous Dutch producer Afrojack, crescendoed-and-dropped his crowd to submission before toning it down to a little piano set. “This is the best fucking EDM scene on the whole fucking planet!” he effused, keys twinkling. At a farther-flung stage beneath a tent, the British house icon Carl Cox played an understated set with a deft hand, hewing to gradual vibe creation rather than the power of the drop – music for dancers with attention spans.

But it took performers on the smaller stages to show how diverse America’s new ravers are, while making a good argument against using the term “EDM” – electronic dance music – as a corporate catch-all. Los Angeles dubstep god 12th Planet made a case for “trap rave” as a vessel to get dance kids to listen to rap music, blending hits like Ace Hood’s “Bugatti” into tasteful dubstep bass and post-Lex Luger triple-time beats. Seth Troxler, the Michigan-born house DJ, played a sophisticated set of minimal techno with a serious mid-range groove, while the DC duo Nadastrom blended their signature moombahton set with nods to dembow and even bhangra, up to and including a tweaky bass version of Elvis Crespo’s “Suavemente.” And when DJ Fresh played dead prez’s “Hip-Hop” over a corpo techno track, was it a referendum? Nope, it was just a segue into a trap song, exemplifying the jumble of music that occurs at Electric Daisy Carnival. His set, especially, was all over the map, but he tied it together at the end with a surprise guest – rapper Dominique Young Unique, performing a live version of their track “Earthquake.”

Several performers weren’t DJs at all, but bands, and had to use their creativity to fit in at a festival where rock music is an anomaly. Australian duo Empire of the Sun channeled Bowie with gold sequins and glowing neon guitars, while Italian producer Bloody Beatroots blurred the lines between rave and metal, in the tradition of Atari Teenage Riot and, well, Skrillex before him. The birdlike young British singer La Roux, wearing a white trenchcoat and looking like she was born to play Tilda Swinton in a Funny or Die skit, surprisingly opened with her two biggest hits to date – “Into the Kill” and “Fascination” – before debuting three songs from her forthcoming album. “Kiss and Not Tell” was a pared-down, simple synth track with a big pop hook, while “Sexytheque” had a touch of ’80s-influenced new wave.

Raves and dance music have to battle bad reps as drug havens now as they did in the 1990s, and “Where’s Molly?” merchandise isn’t helping. But lest this weekend’s EDC seem like one orgiastic cuddle puddle, consider this: Smack in the middle of 12th Planet’s set, the New York sun gleaming on all the neon, a young man not older than 19, eating a strawberry fruit popsicle and wearing a t-shirt bearing the logo, “MUSIC makes me high.” The kid, grinning, screams, “I can’t believe this is happening right now!” The party culture may define the zeitgeist, but it’s always the music that matters most.

Posted by Julianne Escobedo Sheperd (via Rolling Stone)

Between running label Mixmash Records, doing the international festival circuit and continually adding to his production resume, Dutch high-flyer Laidback Luke has experience to burn. He’s also a tireless advocate for new artists, with a string of proteges over the years. A few months back, we saw Luke share Tiga’s Six Golden Rules for Producers inthemix feature, so we asked the Mixmash boss to write his own for us. Being one of dance music’s standout good guys, he gladly obliged. Follow these pointers and you could be lighting up mainstages like Laidback Luke himself.

This is the order of how to get into producing…

#1 START WITH MAKING EDITS
This is re-arranging your favorite tracks and switching up the order of the song structure. Maybe try to cut a few notes and beats to make it sound crazier. Move into making mash-ups. This is basically putting two tracks together. Take the beats of one track and put the melody of another track over it. Most common mash-ups are putting an acappella over a track. Mash-ups will make you more aware of EQ-ing and compressing as well as blending elements together.

After this you will be ready to try and make bootlegs. Bootlegs are unofficial remixes. This involves adding your own beats and melodies to existing tracks. Please never call a bootleg a remix, unless the original artist or record label will release it. If you try calling a bootleg a remix, you will be seen as a wannabe by the professional world. After you have mastered this, you’ll be able to start making your own tracks.

#2 SAMPLE A KICK-DRUM FROM A PROFESSIONAL TRACK
A well-mixed, loud dance track stands or falls with the kick-drum. To ensure you use the right one, and it sounds heavy enough, just sample one from an existing track. This way, you know it has already been mixed and mastered. Any element you layer on it will kick ass.

#3 TIME TO MASTERCHAIN
I always start my productions with my full masterchain on. Masterchain are the plug-ins you have on your master output to make your track sound fat and at a decent professional-sounding volume. I always advise to have at least a compressor and a limiter on there. My masterchain has at least five compressors in there now! Whatever works for you to get the fattest sound is fine. Just make sure your track doesn’t distort and you still have dynamics in there.

#4 DON’T GET STUCK IN A LOOP
Take a half-hour break every two hours. Like, really push yourself to do so! I can tell you most of my ideas and inspiration came from taking a pee after those two hours, or while nibbling on a sandwich. That break clears your brain out from the strain and freshens up the ears. When you get back in studio mode, you’ll instantly hear what needs to be tweaked or what you need to do to take the track to a higher level.

#5 REFERENCE YOUR TRACKS
It’s very important to mirror your tracks with professional tracks. I often have three or more references to compare my tracks with. When you switch back and forth to your track and the professional tracks, you will hear where your track is lacking.

Think about it: these professional tracks sound good everywhere. So if your track sounds similar in the overall EQ and loudness, your track will sound good everywhere as well. After that, it’s good to try and hear your track on any type of system, whether it’s your car, TV or crappy earplugs.

#6 ONTO THE NEXT…
Make an effort to actually finish your tracks. Snippets don’t count. It’s a true producer’s skill to be able to actually finish a track. Although you’ve spent a ton of time on a track, and it feels like your baby, leave it and start working on a new track.

You might get people who aren’t into your track, or say this and that needs improving. Take that feedback and work on a new project. Only then will you keep evolving. It protects your artist ego, as the best is yet to come, always.

Posted by David Miller

We’re just a mere few days from the release of the stupendously hyped Random Access Memories, on which Daft Punk “went back to go forward”. The pair have now spoken out on some of the dance music that’s dominating the festival stages in the present, in another of the small handful of interviews they’ve given in promotion of the album.

“I don’t know EDM artists or the albums. At first I thought it was all just one guy, some DJ called EDM,” Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo wryly quipped to NME this week, comparing it to the sugary high of an energy drink. “EDM is energy only. It lacks depth. You can have energy in music and dance to it but still have soul.”

The pair told the UK mag they didn’t listen to a lot of electronic music. “Deadmau5? No. I wouldn’t listen to Deadmau5 for pleasure,” added Thomas Bangalter. He has however got time for EDM’s other reigning superstar. “Skrillex we have a lot of respect for. He’s said that he saw our live show with the pyramid in 2007 and it made him want to make music, but it feels like he’s not copying our formula. He might be the kid that breaks the cycle, but we don’t listen to a lot of electronic music. We never did.”

The duo’s cheeky comments come at the end of the week that’s been mercilessly crammed with all things Daft Punk. Random Access Memories was finally unveiled to the public when a stream was made available on iTunes, allowing everyone the chance to finally make up their own mind on the most talked about album of the year. This weekend sees the album land in full.

Posted by Angus Paterson (via In The Mix)

In years past, the University of Southern California (USC) has received large gifts from Hollywood moguls to support its academic programs. In 2006, George Lucas donated $175 million toward the university’s film school. In 2012 Robert Zemeckis gave $5 million to help fund a digital arts facility.

Now hip-hopper/entrepreneur Dr. Dre (aka Andre Young) and his longtime associate, music mega-producer Jimmy Iovine, are awarding the school $70 million to start up what’s being described as an Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.

An unspecified portion of the $70-million donation will go toward construction of facilities that will house the academy. Students, who can earn an undergraduate degree from the academy, will use existing facilities while new ones are being built.

The four-year program will feature four core curriculum areas: arts and entrepreneurship; technology, design and marketability; concept and business platform; and creating a prototype. It aims to foster entrepreneurship that brings students’ entertainment, technology and business skills into play. Instruction will involve engineering, computer science, fine arts, graphic design, business and leadership training.

That training will come from faculty at USC’s Thornton School of Music, Roski School of Fine Arts, Marshall School of Business and Viterbi School of Engineering, as well as “industry icons and innovators as visiting faculty and guest speakers,” according to USC’s statement.

In a news release, USC administrators also envision Silicon Valley venture capitalists and “other real-world experts” lining up “to give students advice and direction” with the new venture.

Forbes magazine puts Dre’s net worth at $350 million, ranking him third — behind Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z — on its 2013 list of the wealthiest hip-hop stars.

Celebrity NetWorth puts Iovine, a regular guest judge in recent seasons of “American Idol,” at $700 million. Forbes in 2011 estimated Iovine’s net worth at $400 million.

Posted by Randy Lewis (via Los Angeles Times)

Pasquale, Holly, Josh Strickland & Kaskade.

Pasquale Rotella revealed Sunday night that he’s going to wed Hugh Hefner’s former “Girl Next Door” Holly Madison, the mother of his daughter, Rainbow, on August 15 but just hours after the happy announcement he was in court on Monday morning facing more than 13 years in prison for bribery, embezzlement, conspiracy and conflict of interest..

Rotella appeared in a Los Angeles court in a pretrial conference for a case by the Los Angeles County District Attorney, which alleges that the event planner used more than $2.5 million in funds from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where he hosted raves, to pay off city officials. Rotella was indicted alongside five other men involved with his company, Insomniac events. Currently out on a $1.8 million bail, he could serve up to 13 years and 8 months in prison if convicted.

The case will reconvene on July 29, just over two weeks before the couple plan to wed. But Rotella remains confident that he’ll be vindicated.

Last year his attorney, Gary Jay Kaufman, said that his client, “has always acted lawfully and appropriately with respect to all of his dealings with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Any allegations of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Rotella by the District Attorney’s office are completely baseless and flat-out wrong, both on the law and on the facts. “All transactions between Insomniac and the Coliseum were transparent and approved by the Coliseum General Manager, his staff, and the attorneys representing the Coliseum. Any charges against Mr. Rotella are clearly politically motivated and publicity driven.”

However, innocent is the last way the city of Los Angeles is feeling like describing Rotella. While he may have been only arrested this past March, the drug-related 2010 death of one 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez at an Insomniac show led the company through 13 months of investigation and endless shots of foul play, which in the end has led to where the CEO and his five team members are today. For everyone’s sake, we hope such violent accusations are much less scary than they seem.

How will this affect Live Nation buying stake In Insomniac Events? What this will mean for Insomniac, whether it will sway buyouts from Live Nation and how it will impact the future of EDC events are still to be seen. Stay tuned for details as they present themselves. Neither Insomniac Events or Pasquale Rotella have release statements official or unofficial.

Posted by David Miller

Photo credit: Al Powers

Light’s sunnier counterpart, Daylight at Mandalay Bay, has released the lineup for its Memorial Day Weekend opening: Axwell and Zedd christen the dayclub’s decks on May 25, followed by a J-Cole performance on May 26. Daylight—dubbed Eclipse after dark—will also host a nighttime DJ series on Wednesdays and some Sundays, kicking off with Axwell on May 22, followed by Skrillex on May 26.

Waiting to order your Electric Daisy Carnival tix? Oops. Insomniac Events announced Monday that the June 21-23 fest has sold out in record time. Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella urged fans to take part in the soon-to-be-finalized EDC Week, which brings pool parties, nightclub events and the Bassrush Massive concert to the Orleans Arena during the festival week.

Just a few days after his rousing opening night set at Hakkasan, Steve Aoki debuted his Aokify Splash Vegas party at Wet Republic Sunday afternoon, with a special appearance from friend and EDM icon Tiësto in the DJ booth. Aoki doused fans with champagne while crowdsurfing on an inflatable raft, pulled off his trademark throw-a-sheet-cake-at-a-fan gag and played remixes into the early evening. All in a day’s work for the bearded turntablist.

Posted by Jorge Labrador (via Las Vegas Weekly)

BT treated his Twitter audience to a rare, lengthy diatribe on another artist, Porter Robinson. After preparing his readers for a “long story,” BT began to explain how he first found out about Robinson via MySpace three years ago. He says he struck up a friendship with the young producer (after talking with his parents – Robinson was but a high schooler then), and the two even worked on some tracks together.

As Robinson’s star began to rise through big room gigs, festival dates, and an official Lady Gaga remix, BT found him harder to contact – shrouded often by a team of agents, managers, and other “advisors.” While BT was understanding of this development, he describes Robinson himself as being “too cool to interact,” placing the blame squarely on the artist, not just his entourage. The tipping point came when Robinson told BT he could no longer finish the tracks they had begun working on together.

BT admits to having his feelings hurt by Robinson after being rebuffed by an artist who he felt personally responsible for bringing to a broader audience. But rather than make this a personal attack on Robinson (he calls the young DJ a “real talent”), BT goes on to use his experiences with him as an example of how the younger generation of DJs are similarly “self focused & selfish.” When he was an up-and-comer, BT says DJs like Sasha helped him, and he “vowed to pay it forward” when he could.

BT ended his “rant” with some advice: “So I hope you (and other young producers reading this) take this as a cautionary tale. Remember to act with respect and pay it forward.”

Tiesto, who BT shared Robinson’s tracks with and became an early supporter, weighed in as well, citing the lack of loyalty in younger producers (though Tiësto’s original tweet has since been deleted).

BT has around 622,000 Twitter followers; Robinson has about 216,000. Thus far, Robinson has not responded.

Posted by David Miller (via In The Mix)