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LSR/CITY V3 BY GARETH EMERY @ REBEL Toronto - EVENT REVIEW

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Gareth Emery @ LSR/CITY V3
Photos provided by INK Events.

On the nights of March 9th and 10th, Toronto's trance music scene reached new heights as LSR/CITY brought an electrifying experience to Rebel nightclub. Headlined by the legendary Gareth Emery, the event was a fusion of pulsating beats, mesmerizing visuals, and an atmosphere charged with excitement. Before Gareth took the stage, R8YZ opened the dancefloor for the night, onwards to Maximus warming up the crowd with his energetic set infused with a blend of minimal, tech and house. Thus, paving the way for an unforgettable night. 

For those that don’t know. LSR/CITY also known as Laserface by Gareth Emery, is a unique concert experience that combines cutting-edge laser technology with electronic dance music (EDM) to create a visually stunning and immersive show. Gareth Emery, a renowned trance music producer and DJ, launched LSR/CITY as a way to push the boundaries of live performances and provide fans with an unforgettable audiovisual experience. 

The show features intricate laser displays synchronized with the music, creating a spectacular and immersive environment for the audience. These shows attract EDM enthusiasts and fans of Gareth Emery's music from around the world, making LSR/CITY a must-see experience for anyone passionate about electronic dance music and innovative live productions. 

LSR/CITY V3 - Gareth Emery @ Rebel Intro

“There are melodies, there are lyrics, there are feelings. It’s a journey, like being transported to a whole new world.” 

Just in case you missed LSR/CITY here in Toronto. For the previous LSR/CITY sets, you can stream them online.
In fact, Gareth is going to have a watch party for LSR/CITY v3 in glorious 4K on Saturday, April 27th at 10pm EST.  

Watching LSR/CITY online is one thing, but being there in person is a whole new level of excitement. Seeing the lasers firsthand brings back that childlike wonder and hype. And when you're on the dance floor, feeling the music and bass, it keeps you dancing all night long. Especially when you’re enjoying the night out with your crew. 

All in all, I had never witnessed such an intense display of lasers before that day. The vibrancy and multitude of colors were mesmerizing, keeping my eyes glued to the front. It was truly amazing, especially considering my years of attending events in Toronto and seeing Gareth perform numerous times. This level of laser production is usually reserved for international music festivals like Transmission Festival in Prague, Czech Republic, or Lost Lands in Ohio. So, I'm grateful to Gareth for bringing this incredible laser experience to Toronto. 

Gareth playing live on the keys!

Throughout the night, Gareth made sure to include Annabel's live performance in the set, considering it’s an essential part of the LSR/CITY experience. Together, they performed "house in the streetlight," "Like A Prayer," "Ice Moon," "You'll Be Ok," and concluded with "Elise." Nothing compares to the energy of a live performance, adding a special and vibrant touch to the set. The LED panels even zoomed in on Gareth playing the keys, showcasing his live remixing skills, making this performance stand out from his regular sets at other events or music festivals. 

During the set, Gareth played some of his top hits such as "Concrete Angel" and "Sansa."

A fun fact if you didn’t know, "Sansa" and "Elise" are named after his eldest daughter and youngest daughter, respectively, a heartfelt choice that reflects in the beauty of these songs.  

In addition, the set wasn't confined to trance and Gareth Emery's tracks alone. It also delved into tech and tech-trance vibes, and as the BPM progressively picked up throughout the set. Gareth sprinkled in some drum and bass and happy hardcore, creating an eclectic mix that kept the energy high. I vividly recall the excitement my friend and I had as we walked back into Rebel from the patio, hearing and questioning if "Baddadan" by Chase & Status was coming on. As you can imagine, the crowd went wild during the drop and boy did we go ham as well too! To top it off, the transition into the Darren Styles & Chris Unknown Remix of "Concrete Angel" was flawless and added to the excitement of the night. 

Fully packed floor at Rebel for LSR/CITY!

In summary, with a sold-out show on day one and a repeat performance on day two for those eager to relive LSR/CITY or who missed the first day, Toronto finally got what it had been waiting for, thanks to Gareth Emery. The turnout at Rebel was unprecedented, especially for an event like LSR/CITY where everyone wanted the best view of the lasers, creating a unique challenge. Thankfully, attending on day two allowed me to fully experience and appreciate everything LSR/CITY had to offer. 

I will say though, I was waiting all night for my favourite song “Sanctuary” by Gareth Emery to come on, but it never did. It’s ok though as I’m sure I’ll hear him play it again one day! I guess this is the time I can say. Too much music! Too little time! Haha 😊  

Gareth! If you’re reading this, I want you to know that Sanctuary is probably one of the best and oldest trance songs that got me into listening to trance back in 2010-2011 before I started going to Guvernment.

I remember hanging out at an internet cafe called TeamPlay almost every night when I was 18 turning 19, playing foosball all night with my friends, not raving yet and jamming to a lot of EDM along with Santuary being one of our favourites!!! :) Two of my friends from back then came for day two too! Haha :D 

Make sure to follow Gareth Emery on his socials!

Thanks for reading! 
& I hope to meet you in person again one day Gareth! 
-Keith Au aka Keyfu. 

Photos all above by INK Events.
Photos all above taken by @domenicmorabito

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ELEPHANTE INTERVIEW - ELECTRIC ESCAPE X CANADIAN RAVERS @ THE FORBIDDEN CITY

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On Saturday, February 24th, 2024, I had the opportunity of interviewing Elephante when he made his stop here in downtown Toronto at the The Forbidden City for his Elephante North America Tour. With his love for music, Elephante followed his passion for music and pursued his career as a producer and artist, thus coming out with three albums and playing at many events such as Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). 

Elephante, also known as Tim Wu, is an American DJ, producer, and musician. He gained popularity with his remixes of popular songs and his original tracks in the electronic dance music (EDM) genre. Elephante's music is characterized by catchy melodies, energetic beats, and a blend of various electronic styles. He has released several successful singles and EPs, and his live performances are known for their high energy and crowd engagement. Overall, Elephante is recognized as a talented artist making waves in the EDM scene with his unique sound and captivating performances. 

With a full moon in effect that night, we had support from Twlight, DeeCee and Zo for a bass heavy night at The Forbidden City. Right before Elephante went on, I had the opportunity of having a nice chat with Tim for an interview and boy did we have a lot to chat about. Haha. Here’s the interview and I hope y’all enjoy it! 

THE INTERVIEW!

Can you tell us about yourself and where did you get the name Elephante? 

E: I've been producing and DJing for over 10 years now and the name Elephante came from before I was making music full-time, I had a corporate job. I hated it and was making music on the side while leaving work early to do so. And so, the elephant in the room was that I wanted to quit my job and become an artist, so it was about quitting my job and embracing the elephant in the room and becoming the Elephante. 

Are elephants your favorite animal? 

E: They're actually not, it’s actually penguins. But I do like elephants. 

For your latest song “Leave The Ground” with Amber Liu, how was that making the song with your friend? 

E: It's amazing, Amber's a dear friend of mine, she's a homie. We met playing Valorant and we just started chatting and we're like hey, do you want to make some music together? I had this idea for a ballad that I wanted to do as a duet and she's amazing, so we got together in the studio and wrote out this song and it was really fun working with her. She's awesome and she's such a goofball. And yeah, I’m happy with how it turned out and I think it's one of the most like heart-wrenching songs that I've ever made. 

Off the top of your head, what was your favourite memory of being a DJ or producer? 

E: Man, there's been so many but probably my peak moment was playing mainstage EDC. That's one of those things where it's you're like oh shit, I actually made it. It’s great and the views crazy from up there and there’s people as far as you can see and it's very surreal, but it's like you know it's one of those experiences where like very few people get to do this so you just want to really soak it in. I blacked out the whole time I was I there. There was just so much adrenaline. I look back at photos and I'm like I did that? That's crazy! 

For your set tonight, are we going to have some twinkle-twinkle little star dubstep? 

E: That was kind of a meme that I was just messing around for fun, so probably no twinkle-twinkle dubstep tonight. But that was like a couple hour experiment in the studio just for fun and yeah, I like doing goofy shit like that from time to time. 

Aside from DJing and music production, what do you like to do on your time off? I know that Valorant is one now. 

E: My game of choice is actually Apex, but I like to play pickup basketball. I got a dog a couple years ago so I do a lot of hiking and walking, he’s a husky mix. I just picked up carpentry so I'm starting to build a studio in my garage while learning how to cut wood. It’s nice to get out of the house and do something that’s not related to music, just to get a little palette cleanser. I mean it’s fun, working with my hands is a fun thing. 

Who are some producers or DJs you look up to? Even artists. 

E: Growing up, my idol was John Mayer, I know he’s not a DJ but he was the artist that made me want to make music. And then once I fell in love with electronic music, it’d be Skrillex, Porter Robinson, and Avicii. Nowadays I love Rufus and Odesza. Just any kind of electronic music with some heart and melodic soul and some real emotion in it. Seven Lions of course. Strangers by Seven Lions is one of my favourite songs of all time. 

Are there any producers or DJs you hope to collab with in the future? 

E: Yeah, I just launched an artist collective and label. I have another song with Sabai coming out in a couple weeks. And we’re working with a bunch of really cool artists on the label, it's very much a homie crew. There are guys like Hoang and Yetep. It’s called Hidden Horizons and we’re launching it at Miami Music Week in a few weeks with our very first event. And we’re going to put out some music along with it. So, I’m really excited for it. 

Are there any up-and-coming producers or DJs in your opinion who are making the waves in the scene right now? 

E: I mean I just mentioned a bunch of them. Sabai’s killing it, I’m very excited especially for the next generation of Asian-American artists because coming up for me. I was the one of the few people doing it. But now, I feel that the generational waves are changing and there’s a lot of young talented Asian-American producers I think are super talented. There’s this girl Chyl who’s making really dope music right now, very excited, very cool and very fresh. She’s awesome.  

Aside from Hidden Horizons, are there any projects that you might be working on that you can tell your followers about? 

E: Hidden Horizons is the big one, we’re launching this label and collective. And I have a ton of music associated with it coming out, and that's the big move for me this year. You know, staying on tour, playing a bunch of shows and doing some more events along with that. Planning a lot of big stuff for that. But as for albums, you’ll have to stay tuned though, my vision is to put out a collective album, the label, I want it to be very collaborative and very community driven. My goal and my dream is to put together a big album with my friends. It’s totally more fun that way. 

Are you going to have any new merch coming out soon? 

E: Yeah, I have a new jersey drop coming very soon and we’re getting some Hidden Horizon merch made as well. It is coming very soon, I might be leaking but I haven’t announced this yet, but we do have a Dynasty Season jersey coming, it got some really cool designs. 

I just wanted to say, so previously with my interview with Sabai. Before, I didn’t know that you actually sang most of your songs. So, I’m very impressed, you’re very musically talented considering you play the keys, the guitars and sing your own songs. Not a lot of DJs and producers do that themselves. 

E: Yeah, I mean it’s fun and that’s how I started my career in music, by writing songs, singing and playing open mic. I have a little bit of a different background than a lot of other producers. It’s just one of those things where you’re always looking for ways to make your songs unique and when I look inside, it's like what really makes me me, that’s a big part of it. 

I know that you’ve also worked with a lot of other artists as well, like Haliene is one of them. Are you slowly drifting towards more melodic bass or dubstep? 

E: Yeah I'm always experimenting with new things you know, early on in my career, I didn't do a lot of collabs because I always was pretty stubborn and very specific in what I wanted and I felt like I wanted to prove something, that there's a vision that I wanted to present and now that I've been around for a while and put out a lot of music. I feel like I don't really have anything to prove anymore. It’s more like working with other artists that are doing cool stuff and just having fun with it. 

Yeah cause you even have a new song with Beauz which was Right Before Our Eyes. We had them play here in Toronto not long ago as well. 

E: Yeah, they're homies too and they're making some cool music as well, but that was a cool club banger bouncy house song that we did and it's just like you know making music with friends and trying on new sounds. 

Aside from that, I’m going to say. I love your remix for Starbright by Dabin. That guitar solo near the end is too good. 

E: Dabin’s a homie and he’s also an unbelievable guitarist, I remember being like I love this song but I wanted to hit it a little harder, so I think I might have hit him up and went like “Yo, can I remix this” so that was a really fun one to make and I was really stoked how that one came out. 

Aside from having the Asian-American DJ producers coming out. I’m surprised there’s a lot of you guys that play the guitar too. There’s Dabin, Sabai, Hoang and you, that’s actually a good amount. 

E: Hey man, we were all music nerds at one point, like playing piano, with our parents teaching us. So, you know, we got to come back around somehow. 

Put it to good use! -laughs- 

E: Yeah, exactly. -laughs- 

LIGHTNING ROUND 

Day or Night? Night, when I was younger, it was definitely night, but now that I have a dog, I have to be awake during the day. I got to get up early. So, I definitely trend towards the night but in reality, I’m more maybe a day person. 

Piano or Guitar? I’m going to have to go with the guitar. I started with piano, but the guitar is where I fell in love with writing music. Yeah, the guitar is perfect instrument, you can get harmony, you can get chords, you can get leads, you can get rhythm. It’s just good stuff. 

Coffee or Tea? Coffee, for sure, every day, every morning to start off the day. 

House or Trance? House 

Dubstep or Drum & Bass? Oooh, for most of my life dubstep, but right now, probably drum and bass. I'm into drum and bass right now. 

Tech or Psytrance? Psytrance, psytrance is fun, I can’t do extended periods of it but when you get a little taste of psytrance, you get that energy. 

Cold or Hot? Hot. I live in LA. 

Dogs or Cats? Dogs, big dog guy. 

Rare, Med-Rare or Well-Done for steaks? Oh, med-rare. I can’t respect anyone that has well-done steaks. 

Following the lightning round, Tim and I got to chat around some more, I brought up the part about how my good friend was so sad Elephante couldn’t make it to Escapade Music Festival last year and for this booking we had here in Toronto, she couldn’t make it this time. Well, to anyone excited to see Elephante as much as my friend, Escapade was the first event Elephante ever missed. Tim said that it was such a bummer, he was at the airport and with the flight delays and the final arrival time, he was going to miss his connecting flight to Ottawa. There was just no way to get to Ottawa in time, which was tough, and he felt really bad. Which is why he came to play in Toronto. 

Tim even messaged my friends that were excited to see him at Escapade to let them know he was coming to Toronto! So honestly, respects to you Tim because that’s how fans and I feel your passion and love towards music and your fans. To anyone else excited to see Elephante perform sometime, just know that he definitely wants to make it up to everyone. So hopefully we’ll have Elephante back in Toronto again soon, perhaps with the Hidden Horizons crew! Like Tim said, that would be a vibe! 

As for his set after the interview. Man was that a good set! Tim went off starting his set with an intro version of “Dynasty” into “Closer” which is my most favourite song by Elephante. He even played and sang “Strangers” by Seven Lions too which we spoke about during the interview. As for songs from his three albums “I Am The Elephante”, “Glass Mansion” and “Heavy Glow”, he crushed it as the Elephante he is with mixing in his own edited versions of the songs while mixing in some dubstep, psytrance, a lot of live singing to even “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day into a drum and bass drop. I really didn't see that coming. Omg. LOL. 

Surely, we can’t forget songs like “Right Before Our Eyes” with Beauz to “Love Again” with Sabai to even his newest release “Say It Like You Mean It” with Sabai and Olivia Ray. As for the last song of the night. Elephante closed off with “Dynasty” which got the crowd jumping. Can I say, throughout my 14 years of raving. I’ve never seen a DJ sing so much in my life. So wow, that was truly a very special night. Thank you for that and the opportunity to conduct a very fun interview with you Tim! 

I can’t wait till you come back to Toronto soon! Fingers crossed that you’re going to bring Hidden Horizons to us! 😊 

Don’t forget to follow Elephante on his socials! 

Thanks for reading! 

-Keith Au aka Keyfu. 

This event was brought to you by IntoK Entertainment, Electric Escape and Elephante with his Dynasty Season at The Forbidden City. 

Don’t forget to check out the full video interview below! :)

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GIUSEPPE OTTAVIANI INTERVIEW - ELECTRIC ESCAPE X CANADIAN RAVERS X SLEEPLESS EVENTS X RWND ENTERTAINMENT @ THE FORBIDDEN CITY

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On Friday, October 20, 2023, I had the opportunity of interviewing the Trance legend Giuseppe Ottaviani from Italy at The Forbidden City downtown in Toronto. Giuseppe has been on tour all throughout the year and is well known for his blend of tech and trance infused with uplifting melodies. As a producer, Giuseppe currently has eight albums. That’s right! Eight albums! With his latest album named Horizons with 3 parts to it.

For those of you that don’t know Giuseppe Ottaviani, he has been a producer for more than a decade and has come to Toronto a handful of times. From Toika back in the day to Pure Trance with Solarstone and even bringing GO Live 2.0 at U4RIA. Giuseppe has literally been evolving his game and sound throughout the years.

In 2009, he made a significant mark in the Trance scene with his debut solo album, "GO!" Which showcases his love and passion for music, thus establishing a reputation as a new DJ to follow. In the years to come after, he released even more albums including "Magenta" in 2014, "ALMA" in 2016, and "Evolver" in 2019, all which demonstrated Giuseppe's ability to procreate more blends of melodic pieces that are indulged with driving beats, while creating a signature sound that brings you Giuseppe’s style!

Not being confined to the studio, Giuseppe is renowned for his captivating live performances from sets on his tour all throughout the world to his GO Live 2.0 sets and GO Live 3.0 sets. Giuseppe continues to evolve his sound while remaining committed to his style by bringing his own versions of live sets, if you ever have a chance to see any of these LIVE shows! I totally recommend you do it!

That night, Giuseppe played a 4-hour set at The Forbidden City. That’s right, 4 hours! What a blessing that we in Toronto get this, considering the year before at Nomad, we had it then as well. From 11pm – 3am. Giuseppe just kept the crowd going with his blends of tech and trance together. Especially with one of his newer releases at that time “Tears of the Kingdom” with Alex Sonata & TheRio. And surely with a 4-hour set. Most people were there from start to finish! At the end of the night, I had a chance to have a quick interview with Giuseppe Ottaviani himself. Must I say, I had a lot of questions for him considering it was a long night and long set! So, with limited time, I had a hard time choosing what to ask! Haha. So here it goes, I hope you all enjoy it.

THE INTERVIEW!

Can you tell us about yourself and your musical journey as a live-performer and musician.

GO: As a live performer, I’ve reduced the amount of shows I’m doing currently because it takes a lot of time and preparation, especially with the new live 3.0. With that it takes a month of prep before the show, so I can only do five shows per year. Otherwise, every show would sound the same whereas I want every show to sound 95% completely new.

On the brighter side, I’ve been embracing more of the DJ life. I usually don’t play long sets but I’m doing it now. The break I had during the pandemic changed my mind, it opened my mind to different sounds and exploring new things. Thus, I came out with an album called “Horizons” for exploring new horizons.

And the good thing that I like now is that different genres and subgenres are meeting in the middle. Especially when there’s a great melody in every single track you hear nowadays. For example, if you go to Beatport, they have different genres like progressive house, melodic techno, big time techno, mainstage, trance and so much more. Basically, you can grab tracks from every different genre and put them together into one single set and it works.

What I really like now is that there’s a common ground for all these different tracks with their melodies, and that’s why I’m open to playing longer sets. I enjoy playing music from other people too and about 90% of the tracks I’ve played tonight were from other people. Although I do take all the tracks to my studio to have them retouched up in my way. I’m never super happy with what I find usually, but if I like something, I’ll grab it to make my own version of it. But that’s a DJ thing, like everybody does their own edits.

What I do most of the time when I love a track, especially when it comes to techno or melodic techno. I’ll take the track into my studio to add a big melody in the breakdown, so it comes out as a completely different track. This is what I like to play, and in my set there’s many of these. So good luck if you want to do a track list from tonight but it’s impossible. All in all, I just want to make my own impact.

K: How was it like coming out with Horizons from Part 1 to 3? All within a year too, while managing to remaster your own tracks for the OnAir vibe?

GO: It’s the first time that I’ve made an album and remixed it myself. The reason I did that was because of a transition phase. These days, the crowd is more accepting to all the different things you play. For some reason, before the pandemic, if you were an uplifting trance DJ, that’s what you play no matter what. So, in 2020-2021, it was kind of a transition period for me. I didn’t want to shock my fans coming from 138 BPM all the way down to 124. So, I took the time to remix every single song of the album into a 138 uplifting style so that everybody’s happy.

K: Are there any plans to do more Horizon shows? Or Live 3.0 shows? Hopefully we can get a GO Live 3.0 show in Toronto sometime as well! 

GO: Yeah of course. I usually play a one-hour main stage set, but I enjoy doing longer sets now. For example, last weekend I did a three-hour Horizons set. I’m also going to be playing at Dreamstate, and recently they announced an after party. So, I will bring the Horizons sounds to the after party and this is the perfect opportunity for me to bring Horizons to a bigger crowd. But for sure, I’ll keep doing this, I usually have my flier posted on Instagram for the tour dates and every now and then you’ll see a Horizons set. 

K: Will there ever be a live 4.0 or is there another upgrade? 

GO: I don’t know, it’s a lot of work and for now, I really want to go with the flow. But for the moment, I’m not even thinking about this now. 

K: By the way, I love how you remix everything on top of your tracks. Especially when you play with the keyboards. 

GO: Well, it's not really remixing. I just play the actual track. Basically, the preparation I was talking about earlier is I prepare the set and all the tracks I want to play in the studio, and once I have everything ready with new edits, bootlegs, and new original tracks. I put them into my system, and I play the melodies from those tracks. Nothing super fancy there, but it’s just the live touch I do. 

K: Perhaps remixing was the wrong word. It's more like playing an instrument on top of your set to give that extra kick on top. What’s the difference between 2.0 and 3.0 by the way? 

GO: Exactly. Well, the main difference is how I play. With the 2.0, I created the music live considering the system was based on loops. I would take the melody and loop it, same with the drums and bass, so everything was very simple to play. With everything being controlled by Ableton, it gave me a different way to play with the music. For that, everything was short-looped where I was playing a few beats, a few melodies and then building the track by launching clips. It was so much fun. Especially since it gave me so many ideas. I even released an album out of the live 2.0 which is called “Evolver”. 

In the end, I felt the energy wasn’t quite there because I felt like all I was playing were just demos. Although it was nice to listen to, there weren’t any big drops or impact that the dance floor required. But sometimes when I play, especially at a big festival, the crowd wants the energy and the live 2.0 wasn’t delivering it because it was missing all those parts of a proper production that’s made in the studio. So, I said, no, I need more. It’s time to change to 3.0 where I prepare the tracks beforehand, so that's the main difference. 

K: I know that last time you played 2.0 here in Toronto was at U4RIA as well. So we got to see that. Being a producer and DJ for many years, I know you've worked with a lot of different artists. Are there any artists that inspire you and you hope to work with one day, or are there any potential collaborations with anyone that you've worked with before? 

GO: Well, talking about who inspires me or who used to inspire me is a thing of the past because as time goes on, your sound evolves. But basically, Paul Van Dyk is my hero. He’s the one that discovered me and inspired me from day one. I’ve got inspiration from him for so many years but nowadays, I'm playing a little bit differently. My inspiration comes from different artists and different experiences. 

But yeah, I have so many collaborations lined up. Like tonight, I played the next single coming out soon with AVAO. Two guys from Revealed Records. There’s also a collaboration coming out with Like Mike and another one with Showtek. Basically, all different names that you wouldn’t expect me to collaborate with. 

K: I know you worked with Showtek before from an Instagram post about it. 

GO: No, I’ve never worked with them before but that’s the track. I’m playing it now but that’s coming out in 2024. I also have other collaborations lined up that I can’t really say much about now. One thing is that when I was stuck with making the album, I couldn’t really do any collaborations at all. So now, I want my freedom. I just want to be free to say hey what's going on? Let’s do a collaboration together! 

K: You don't want to be bound to anything. 

GO: No, I just want to have fun with it. It’s nice to be able to chat with other producers and be like “Whats up? I’ve been working on this track, do you want to have a listen to the demo?”. “Oh I like it! Let’s do this together!”. “Yeah! Why Not!”. Freedom like this, it really feels more fun than work. 

Especially when you’re planning to make an album, it's a big project so you’re planning two years in advance. Imagine having 18 tracks and needing to find collaboration with singers, so you work so hard for so many months. Right now, I’m like what’s happening tomorrow? I don’t care. The album is okay, I can just do a lot of collaborations, lots of new singles and play around with different genres. And that’s what I’m enjoying right now. 

K: Which reminds me, I know you came up with the single Tears of the Kingdom recently with Alex Sonata & TheRio. They're actually here next week for AnjunaBeats After Dark. I was just curious, how was the process in making that song? It was a very good song. The second drop halfway in, it was very dirty, melodic as well and uplifting. 

GO: Well, that’s what I like. You know, no limitations. The guys sent me this melody idea which I liked and tweaked a bit and added a drop. I told them, I know this is for Anjuna but can we go a little bit harder than usual? They said, let’s try it. So, I made that drop and they made it even more techno-ish. I even asked are you guys sure? They’re like yeah yeah yeah, its gotta be right, we can do it. 

K: Just curious, in the drop where it goes like doo-doo-doo. Was that from you?   

GO: Yeah, from me. The piano. It's a little piano touch.   

K: Okay, I love that part. That was like that one small part that made it very melodic. 

GO: Exactly that. That little piano part. And then the vocals, originally it was a sample, some sort of sample from Splice probably. But then we found out someone else already used that. So instead of using the sample, we got a singer who was Tishmal, she got very close to the original sample, adding more lyrics and here we are. 

K: In the end, it all came together. I love that song. It's pretty good, hopefully next week when we're at Anjunabeats, I can hear that song again. 

GO: Oh, the guys are playing? 

K: Yes, AlexSonata & TheRio, Gabriel & Dresden, Kasablanca, MatZo and also Bexxie. It’s a sold out show at History. 

GO: Good, good! That’s cool! 

K: Yeah, thank you for doing this interview. I hope you have a good time in Toronto. 

GO: No worries, I had an amazing time. Thank you. 

At the end of the night, we were wrapping things up and I was glad that I got to interview one of the DJs I’ve been following since 2012. I still remember seeing him at Toika back in the days here in Toronto along with the PureTrance shows we had in Toronto! With the EDM scene evolving. I’m glad Giuseppe is keeping the Trance scene alive! For those that don’t know, if you’re interested in learning about producing as well. Giuseppe actually has a masterclass on his website where you can go through a course to learn the many different concepts that being a producer entails. This masterclass actually has chapters such as Inspiration, Melody Comes First, Making a New Track, Mastering, Remixing, Studio Tips and even more to go through. So check it out if you are one that is looking to up your game at being a master producer and DJ! 

As for “Tears Of The Kingdom” by Giuseppe Ottaviani, Alex Sonata & TheRIo, and Tishmal. Man is it a good song! There’s an extended mix of the song for anyone that loves to listen to the whole masterpiece. The song starts out with a nice bass-y tech-trancy intro. Followed with beautiful vocals by Tishmal and synths building up the next drop. To the drop where it just wants to make you dance with a very deep bass techish beat which feels quite dirty to me and melodic at the same time with the little piano touch that Giuseppe added in! But oh man. I definitely want to shuffle hearing this drop. And hearing this at both during Giuseppe’s set and Alex Sonata & TheRio’s set at Anjunabeats After Dark the week after was so good! 

To Giuseppe Ottaviani, his team and my Electric Escape & Canadian Ravers team. I would just like to take this chance to say. I’m sorry it took me a while to get this all edited and done. Life got busy for me, and then a harder part in life hit when I lost someone special for me. Thus, putting me in a hiatus where I really needed time for myself to come back to reality, especially mentally too. I’m thankful for the support, and I thank all of you for this. I’m thankful that there’s music in to help us feel the emotions we live through in life, as well as give us the drive to keep going and enjoy life. 

Once again, thank you for this opportunity and make sure to follow Giuseppe Ottaviani on his socials! 

Thanks! -Keith Au aka Keyfu

Toronto, Canada
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