Kx5, brought to you by Carnival , will perform on Billboard Presents The Stage at SXSW on March 18.
The show went so well that after a full hour-long set from Kx5 - electronic music supergroup, genre leaders Kaskade and Deadmau5 - it was an amazing feat of light, sound, video and the emotional impact of these elements. All at once the power went out, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum—and the 46,000 fans who had gathered there that December night—plunged into silent darkness.
Longtime Deadmau5 manager Dean Wilson ran backstage from the front of house, where he said "everyone was screaming like headless chickens, 'Generator on!'" »
The generator will not burn out. But he himself died from the heat and smoke. His program then ordered three backup generators to shut down to prevent the 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel from burning inside. Cascade director Ryan Henderson said the frantic crew worked to salvage what was described as a cult live show that cost "about seven figures to develop and more than seven characters to perform."
Success seems impossible. "When you have bugs like this, something usually goes wrong," Wilson said. "Something was not restarting correctly. Some configurations could not be reloaded due to a catastrophic failure." But when Deadmau hits the 5 button that theoretically restarted rendering, it started again. Produced by Live Nation partner organization and electronic music promoter Insomniac Events, the event featured a cast of artists and set the record for the world's largest dance event in 2022.
"I've been in the electronic dance scene since the early '90s," says UTA's Kevin Gimple, who represents Deadmau5, Kaskade and KX5. "I've had the privilege of experiencing many great moments throughout my career. However, nothing - and I mean nothing - compares to the emotion I felt when I saw [nearly] 50,000 people in this building singing "I Remember" at once. No. Magic be damned
When Kx5, deadmau5 and Kaskade created a collaboration that began with the aforementioned dark 2008 classic, it was one of the first defining EDM songs, song-wise and dance-wise to the end during the LA Coliseum party, all-time. In 2009 they released their next single "Move for Me". Now, 14 years later, they've reunited the partnership with the March 17 release of Kx5's self-titled debut album on Deadmau5's independent label, mau5trap Records.
The show wasn't just a whole Kx5 moment: it was a moment for dance music. In June 2010 Deadmau5 and Kaskade, working separately, were the last electronic acts at the Los Angeles Coliseum during an updated edition of the Los Angeles Electric Daisy Carnival. Produced by Insomniac and featuring famous acts like Avicii and Swedish House Mafia, the festival made headlines (and lawsuits) when a 15-year-old girl who attended the event died of an MDMA overdose. Then, Los Angeles EDC shipped the kits to Las Vegas, and the venue became inhospitable to electronic music—and, with the exception of a few concerts in 2010, to most other genres—even as electronic dance music became a major commercial force in the United States. . .
We were told they were going to play more shows at the Colosseum and I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if we played the first electronic band here? Wilson recalled. We're really testing."
As for why promoters would hire producers in places where dance music might be banned, Henderson said, "there's a cascade going on between electronica and pop." "People don't associate it with rave culture as much as you might think."
When the winners were announced at the December show, Deadmau5 and Kaskade symbolically celebrated more than a decade in which they were two of the genre's most successful acts. Alongside the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Calvin Harris and Skrillex, they've helped create the superstar DJ mold for Vegas residencies, arena events, festival headlines and big paydays. As of now, Cascade has 736 million streams in its catalog in the US, while Deadmau 5 has 1.5 billion streams in its catalog, according to Luminet.
They remain the scene's most elite artists, influencing an entire generation of fans and artists alike. John Summitt, a 28-year-old dance phenom who opens at the Colosseum, told Wilson that Deadmau5's Ghosts 'n' Stuff got him into music. (In 2023, Summitt will release the first official remix of "I Remember".)
But while Kx5's runaway success was made possible by each artist's popularity and the near-legendary status of their previous collaborations, the project had more to do with their satisfaction than some of their peers' new creative direction. Next up. their career development.
"It was the result of us saying 'Fuck,'" said Joel Zimmerman, who was born with a Canadian accent. "I'm not saying we don't like it, but we don't need it financially. That's what we wanted."
On a Monday afternoon in LA, Deadmau5 from Toronto sat down next to Chicago native Cascade (real name: Ryan Rhodon), who currently lives in LA. 40 times in a 45 minute conversation. "Dude" is Cascade's mirrored sunglasses-wearing scream.
As they say, Kx5 (pronounced "five keys"; the "x" is silent) is actually the result of a friendship that disrupts market demand and epidemics. The audience was still "crazy" when Kaskade included "I Remember" in his set, and in his words, "Every time I see Joel at a festival, I'm like, 'I think we should do something together.'" He said, "Yeah. , maybe I should." ""
When the live broadcast stopped, Kaskade called him to make it official, saying, "Well, seriously, I don't have anything to do. Let's do something about it." composed of
Kx5 opened in July 2021 as the headliner for Kaskade at SoFi Stadium in Englewood, California. Produced by Insomniac and the first public concert at the new venue, the show sold 27,000 tickets and grossed $2.6 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. It also featured a surprise opening set from Deadmau5, who later returned to play "I Remember" with Kaskade. (They weren't playing Kx5 music, and Deadmau5 wasn't wearing the plastic rat helmet he wore for so long during solo shows.)
Shortly after the SoFi show, Gimble began discussing Kx5 appearances at the Colosseum with UTA Insomniac and Live Nation. About half a year later, on January 3, 2022, Deadmau5, Cascade, and their managers met in Los Angeles to determine the strategy for Kx5. Talks about the artists doing something official together started even before the pandemic, when they were invited to perform one by one at HARD in the summer of 2020. When the show was canceled due to quarantine, promoter Hard Insomniac moved the show to EDC 2022, where Kaskade and deadmau5 decided to make their live debut at Kx5. But they still need a major.
Wilson, who has managed Deadmau5 since the release of Artist Luke in 2006, took part in a demo of British songwriters Camden Cox, Will Clarke and Eddie Jenkins' hit song "Escape". Deadmau5 worked on a demo but, according to Wilson, was concerned it was "not quite as fresh" as his recent work.
However, at a meeting in Los Angeles in January 2022, Wilson told Kaskade that they had a song that could be Kx5's first release. "Joel looked at me like, 'What?'" Wilson said. And I played "Escape" and Ryan said, "We have to do this."
Deadmau5 submits a portion of the song to Kaskade, who completes it immediately. ("Let's make radio," Deadmau5 said of his mission. "Let's do it 'I remember'—hey. Drop it, leave it in the early 2000s.") Released in March 2022—within three months of EDC Kx5 debut, Critics and fans hailed "Escape" as a triumphant return to form, a fresh take on the dreamy, sexy, and wistful style pioneered by I Remember.
"Escape" collected 47.7 million streams based on official US requests. And while the song (featuring British singer Hyla) reached No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Mix/Airplay chart in April 2022, Kaskade and deadmau5's idea for a Kx5 EP had already turned into plans for an album. "Don't threaten us until we're having fun," was the next joke about the project's growth. Cascade laughed.
In July 2022, Kaskade joined Deadmau5 at his home studio in Toronto. "We used to hang out a lot, water skiing, just chill out and talk about music," Cascade recalls. "We had songwriting sessions that lasted until about four in the morning. I couldn't sleep anymore."
Although their timings were different, they agreed that working together was a more efficient process than recording separately. "The advantage of working together is that you can share ideas with others," says Cascade. "Usually when you're at your place I think it's over?" With other people in the mix, I sent it to Joel. Like, I think it's done. What do you think?' They agreed that working together has also shattered their fans' expectations. "They don't know what to think," Cascade said. They said: Let's see what we are talking about. The resulting 10-track album is complex and brutal, featuring complex and inventive progressive house production that sparkles and shines. The lyrics - mostly about love and loss - are wonderful, often haunting melodies.
"Ryan excels at his work as a songwriter, arranger and arranger because I believe I master more technical sound skills, techniques and elements than he does," said Deadmau5. "He has his wheelhouse, I have mine, and we rarely cross paths. Like, I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than say, 'This is Ryan, sir.'"
The differences between them go deeper than their manufacturing facilities. While Deadmau5 is known for staying up three days straight to write songs, Kaskade seems to fall asleep regularly. Deadmau5 smokes. No cascade Deadmau5 drinks Corona. Cascade, a practicing Mormon, was sober. He mentioned that it was not realistic that he would be interviewed on the cover of Billboard . Deadmau5 has declared that he prefers to stay at home and play video games.
"I call them the odd couple," Wilson said. "They're yin and yang, lemon and cheese, completely different sides of the spectrum, but at the end of the day they respect each other as producers." And tributes to Deadmau5 are rare: At EDM's height, he used Twitter to insult everyone from Justin Bieber ("little f--king d-cohead") to Disney, who in 2014 railed against him for the similarity between "mau5head" and Mickey Mouse. Filed a case. . logo ("Disney thinks famous electronic musicians and artists can be mistaken for cartoon mice. They think you're stupid.") In 2015, he posted on Tumblr about combating growing frustration with social media; His team is now defending his account.
Deadmau5's prickly (though now predictable) nature makes his creative and personal chemistry with Kaskade all the more awesome. "It wasn't Joel...he had very few of those relationships," Wilson continued. "Joel is a self-contained machine. The studio is in the middle of the house. Works mostly independently. He doesn't collaborate much on a regular basis. But I think he likes the Kx5 because it's so different from a mousehead. There's pressure to it, but when you two are, Then you can see Joel say, "That's a little funny." 'Joel is more relaxed and fun because he has a sparring partner, Rapier, that he can have fun with. You can't do it if you do it yourself."
The fact remains: Kx5 has an expiration date. The duo will play five shows outside of SWS alone, with all festival blocks taking place in the US, from the Ultra Music Festival in Miami in late March to an unannounced East Coast event in September. (Although "nothing closes the door on what the future might hold," Henderson says. "There's something special here.")
"আমরা আসতে পারি এবং একটি বড় ইভেন্ট করতে পারি, তবে আমরা উভয়ই শেষ না হওয়া পর্যন্ত আমি বাতিল করব না," ডেডমাউ 5 বলেছেন। "আমি ভেগাসে প্রতি রাতে 20টি শোতে সিগফ্রাইড এবং রয়কে অভিশাপ দিতে চাই না। আমরা শুধু কিছু দুর্দান্ত, বড়, আইকনিক গান বাজাব এবং তারপর রায়ান কাসকেড এবং ডেডমাউ5 ডেডমাউ5-ইং বন্ধ করে দেবে।"
প্রকৃতপক্ষে, EDM-এর শীর্ষ রাষ্ট্রনায়ক হিসেবে (তুলনামূলকভাবে: Kaskade 51 এবং deadmau5 42), তারা ফিট বা বৈশিষ্ট্য নির্বিশেষে একবারের জন্য একটি দুর্দান্ত জুটি তৈরি করতে পারে। (Kx5 এর প্রভাব, যাইহোক, প্রতিটি শিল্পীর জন্য এয়ারপ্লে নম্বর এবং পৃথক অনুষ্ঠানের মতো "একটি অবশিষ্ট আয়ের প্রবাহ দ্বারা ইন্ধন দেওয়া হয়", হেন্ডারসন বলেন, কাসকেড সম্প্রতি ভেগাসে থাকার জন্য একটি আট-অঙ্কের, তিন বছরের চুক্তি স্বাক্ষর করেছেন। হেন্ডারসন যোগ করেছেন , "আমি বলছি না এটি একটি চিহ্ন যে Kx5 বাণিজ্যিক এতে অবদান রেখেছে, তবে এটি নিশ্চিতভাবে আঘাত করতে পারেনি।)
কিন্তু উদীয়মান, যেমন ডেডমাউ5 এটিকে বলে, "একটি মোড়কে" যখন EDM ছিল বিশ্বের সর্বোচ্চ আয়কারী জেনার, তার ব্র্যান্ড এবং কাসকেড এখন সঙ্গীত সংস্কৃতির প্রধান, এবং তাদের ব্যবসা সম্প্রচারের বাইরেও বিস্তৃত। "টাকা একটি সংযোজন," ডেডমাউ 5 বলেছেন। "বস্তুগত জিনিস [যেমন পণ্য], পারফরম্যান্স, পারফরম্যান্স এবং প্রযোজনা।" "আমি মনে করি না যে আমি 50 বছর বয়সে mau5head রাজা হতে যাচ্ছি," তিনি যোগ করেন, তিনি ইঙ্গিত দিয়েছিলেন যে তিনি বড় হয়ে গেলে এবং কম ট্যুর করার সময় mau5trap পরিচালনা করতে যেতে পারেন৷
কিন্তু ইলেকট্রনিক মিউজিকের স্বর্ণযুগে প্রবেশ করার পর থেকে, বৃহত্তর শিল্পে তাদের সাফল্যের পথ আরও কঠিন হয়ে উঠেছে, ক্রসওভার রেকর্ডিংকে উঠতি ও প্রতিষ্ঠিত উভয় শিল্পীর জন্যই কঠিন করে তুলেছে। Kx5 প্রকাশিত হওয়ার সময়, এর আটটি একক ইতিমধ্যেই প্রকাশিত হয়েছিল কারণ উইলসনের মতে, ডিজিটাল প্রদানকারীরা শুধুমাত্র দুটি গানকে সমর্থন করবে যদি সেগুলি একই সময়ে প্রকাশিত হয়, তাই কেউ বেশিরভাগ গান শুনতে পাবে না। . . যদিও Deadmau5 এর Instagram এবং Facebook-এ 10 মিলিয়নেরও বেশি ভক্ত রয়েছে, উইলসন বলেছেন যে অ্যালগরিদমগুলি তাকে তাদের বেশিরভাগের সাথে যোগাযোগ করতে বাধা দেয়। তিনি আরও বলেন যে ডান্স রেডিওতে "এস্কেপ" এর সাফল্য এবং কোম্পানিতে $300,000 বিনিয়োগ সত্ত্বেও, "আমরা এই রেকর্ডের জন্য কয়েক হাজার খরচ করেছি। এই ধরনের অর্থ আর কার কাছে আছে?" তিনি জিজ্ঞাসা করলেন, "তারা এই গানটি Spotify-এর টপ হিট টুডে প্লেলিস্টে পাবে না। দোকান বন্ধ।"
যাইহোক, deadmau5 এবং Kaskade ব্র্যান্ডের শক্তি Kx5 বৈশিষ্ট্যের প্রয়োজনীয়তা কমিয়ে দেয়। "তারা অবশ্যই তাদের উপার্জনের চেয়ে বেশি বিনিয়োগ করে," হেন্ডারসন বলেছিলেন। "এই পুরো প্রকল্পটি ভক্তদের জন্য। এটি এই লোকদের একত্রিত করা, তাদের মঞ্চে ছুঁড়ে দেওয়া, তাদের উত্তরাধিকার ব্যবহার করা এবং একটি ভাগ্য তৈরি করার বিষয়ে নয়। এটি আপনার ভক্তদের জন্য বিশেষ কিছু করার বিষয়ে। তারা তাদের কাছে পেতে লাভের 100% দান করে একসাথে খেলা."
কাসকেড স্বীকার করেছেন যে যেহেতু কর্পোরেট স্বার্থ EDM বুমের সময় পা বাড়ায়, মেজাজ "আরো অনুমানযোগ্য" হয়ে উঠেছে—অথবা, ডেডমাউ৫ এর মতে, এখন "প্রত্যেকটি ছোট গোষ্ঠীর প্রবণতা এবং জিনিসগুলি কীভাবে কাজ করে তা জানে।" , কিন্তু আপনাকে এটি এইভাবে করতে হবে, এবং এটি সবকিছুকে TT-তে ফিরিয়ে দেয়। উচ্ছ্বসিত জুটি কাসকাদে বিশ্বাস করেন যে তারা যে গোপন, অপ্রত্যাশিত সংগীতে উন্নতি লাভ করে তা সর্বদা থাকবে, তবে "20 বা 10 বছর আগের মতো নয় যখন বড় শিল্পীরা জড়িত হয়েছিল"।
কিন্তু যখন উইলসন বলেছিলেন যে ইডিএমকে প্রায়শই বিস্তৃত শিল্পে অন্যান্য, আরও প্রতিষ্ঠিত ঘরানার একটি "দরিদ্র আত্মীয়" হিসাবে দেখা হয়, এটি একটি "বিলিয়ন-ডলারের ব্লকবাস্টার যার বিপুল সফল উত্সব এবং একটি বিশাল ফ্যানবেস যা আমাদের টিকিট কিনে।"
"এটি কি পপ অ্যালবাম বিক্রির ক্ষেত্রে বাণিজ্যিকভাবে কার্যকর? এটি কি বাণিজ্যিকভাবে কার্যকর? হ্যাঁ। যদি না হয়, আমরা তা করব না। আমি বেড বাথ অ্যান্ড বিয়ন্ডে আপনার পণ্য হব," দুর্ভাগ্যবশত ডেডমাউ 5 বলেছেন।
ফলস্বরূপ, লস এঞ্জেলেস কলিজিয়ামের শোটি $3.7 মিলিয়ন এনেছে। Kx5 একটি নতুন অল্টারনেটরের খরচ কভার করা উচিত নয়।
পেনস্ক মিডিয়া কর্পোরেশন। SXSW এর বৃহত্তম শেয়ারহোল্ডার; ব্র্যান্ড হল SXSW এর অফিসিয়াল মিডিয়া পার্টনার।
© বিলবোর্ড Kx5 বিলবোর্ড কভার Deadmau5 ক্যাসকেডের সৌজন্যে এই গল্পটি বিলবোর্ডের 11 মার্চ, 2023 সংখ্যায় প্রদর্শিত হবে ।
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