For Fadi of Aly & Fila, it was Paul van Dyk’s “For An Angel” that flipped the switch.
“I was and am the biggest Paul van Dyk fan, I loved his originals, I loved his remixes, his tracks have the PVD sound, when you hear them, you know who it is instantly,” said Fadi Wassef Naguib, Aly & Fila when VIBE caught up with him at Sunset Music Festival in Tampa.
Fadi was such a Paul van Dyk fan; he traveled to Berlin, Germany from his home in Cairo, Egypt when he was 16 years old to experience a show in person. He was already a fan, but when he heard the trance legend drop, “For An Angel,” his appreciation soared. From that moment, he focused solely on listening, making and creating his own career in music. Today he’s a #trancefamily patriarch and one of the most influential producers in the business. More than 20,000 fans raged for two days at three stages in Tampa, Florida on this Memorial Weekend for reasons of their own, but for Aly & Fila’s Fadi, he was there “for an angel.” As we wrapped up our conversation, the evening’s headliner arrived, it was Paul van Dyk. Fadi left the green room to say hello to Paul – they’re great friends now.
This year the festival celebrated its third edition with dance music’s most massive headliners: Hardwell, Zedd, Benny Bennassi, Paul van Dyk, Aly & Fila, Orjan Nilsen, Andrew Rayel, Arnej, Borgore, David Solano, Krewella, Tommy Trash, DJ Snake, Adventure Club, W&W and Zomboy.
This year’s acts share more reflections and plans for the future with VIBE on the following pages. →
-
-
Sunset Music Festival Day One Artist: Ben Nicky
Armin van Buuren called Ben Nicky, “One of the hardest working DJs in the scene.” He set the pace on the Sunrise Stage on day one with a banging trance set.Nicky is in Europe for the next few dates, but returns to the U.S. in July to play the Luminosity Beach Festival in Holland, MI on July 4; Spin in San Diego on July 5; Headf**k Night at Sankeys on July 11 and Phoria in San Francisco on July 12.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day One Artist: Arnej
“I had a blast up there, I played an appropriate set, I was fourth on the stage with five more DJs coming on after me so I tried to offer appropriate energy for the time of day,” says Arnej after his set. “I played the Mark Sherry Remix of Max Graham’s, “The Evil ID.” I love both of those guys and I love that track. Ralph Fridge was one of the first producers I liked, his music motivated me to start making my own stuff and in 2007 I produced, ‘They Always Come Back.’ Markus Schulz liked it, he signed it and that started it for me.”Arnej released “Fusion” on May 26 and look for “Ambrosia” later this summer. He’s giving fans more bang for their buck and playing extended sets at his upcoming club dates. Party with Arnej at SkyBar in Buffalo, NY on June 6; Digital Dreams Festival in Toronto on June 28; Flirt Lounge in Philadelphia on July 26; Chasing Summer Festival in Calgary on August 8 and TomorrowWorld in Atlanta on September 26.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day One Artist: Andrew Rayel
We caught up with Andrew Rayel after his set: “I played in Dallas yesterday and started thinking about today’s set about three hours ago, it’s important to me that I play unique sets and surprise the crowd, I don’t want to be predictable. Today I started at 132 BPM and finished at 135, with a one hour set, I don’t move the BPMs too much. I had fun today, I played 18 tacks in an hour, I played a Clarity Remix, Zedd and I are friends, I played some W&W, I like those guys too. The crowd was having fun, I enjoyed it.”Rayel’s anticipated debut artist album “Find Your Harmony” dropped May 30 – it will be celebrated at Ministry of Sound in London the same day. He’ll be at Coloursfest in Glasgow; Marquee in Las Vegas, NV; Paradiso Festival in Seattle; Escepade Festival in Ottawa; Tomorrowland in Belgium – he’s everywhere this summer. Visit andrewrayel.com for the latest on this Armada star.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day One Artist: Orjan Nilsen
Before Orjan took the stage he spoke with us, “I would like to enjoy DJ sets in the crowd like I did for Gaia in Miami, but it’s almost impossible now. I like Mark Sixma, I like his stuff a lot, I think he was ahead of his time. I also like KhoMa, he’s very good. A few guys from Norway I like are DJ TeeBee and Boom Jinx. I have a lot of new stuff coming; I have 12 massive tracks on my laptop right now no one has heard before.”The Norwegian has a busy summer touring schedule; he’ll be in Malaysia and Indonesia before he plays Marquee in Las Vegas on June 19; Lizard Lounge in Dallas on June 21; Sound-Bar in Chicago on June 27; Escapade Music Festival in Ottawa, Canada on June 28; EDC London on July 12; Ultra Europe in Croatia on July 13 and Tomorrowland in Belgium on July 18.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day One Artist: Aly & Fila
Speaking to VIBE about proper trance, Fadi says, “I played a lot of melodic tracks tonight, Aly & Fila fans like it, it’s what they want from us. We try to make and play proper trance – we receive 50 to 100 demos a day and try to listen to them all. Part of being a dance music fan is the hunt for new music and we’re always trying to find music no one else has heard, we’re looking for music that gives us chills. Sometimes we find it; we get a lot of bad stuff too. I have an open mind for music, I give it all a chance, I might not like all of it, but I’ll check it out. Paul van Dyk inspired me to make music, I’m a fan of Hazem Beltagui, but I like other genres too – I like Richie Hawtin, John Digweed and Sasha.”Ministry Of Sound’s Trance Nation Mixed By Aly & Fila is available now and their artist album is slated to release in September. The trance duo is playing summer festivals all over the world – White Night Festival in Nairobi, Kenya on June 14 included. They return to the States for the Paradiso Festival in Seattle, WA on June 28 and FSOE 350 at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC on August 9.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day One Artist: Borgore
Borgore closed the Sunshine stage on Saturday with “Legend,” “Nympho” and all the other dub drops we’ve grown to know and love.The brostep badass is playing several dates in the coming months, and after Sunset we give you a nudge to catch him live. Check him out at Stereo Live in Houston on June 5; Opera in Atlanta on June 6 and Lizard Lounge in Dallas on June 7. He’s also got a debut LP, #NEWGOREORDER out July 8.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day One Artist: Zedd
The day one main stage headliner closed with a 90-minute banger set – he played edits and mashups of “Kickout The Epic Motherf**ker,” “Stay the Night,” “Summer,” “Reload,” “Safe and Sound,” “Clarity,” “Sweet Nothing ft. Florence Welch.” And with bombs bursting in air he closed his set with “Find You.” -
Sunset Music Festival Day Two Artist: Kill Paris
After Kill Paris dropped Hanson’s “MMMBop” during his set (it was awesome), we spoke with him, “I spend $300 to $500 a month on music, I look for cool album art and song titles. Song titles are important and I can typically tell a lot about the track. I’ve been making music for 11 years – all types of music and that influences my style. I worked in Nashville in country music, I like R&B, I like a lot of stuff.”Kill Paris played the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre on May 30 (he was really stoked about that show); Spring Awakening Festival in Chicago on June 13 and Flashbacks in Kelowna, Canada on June 27. According to Google Maps, Kelowna is in-between Vancouver and Calgary.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day Two Artist: David Solano
The Colombia/Miami “mashup” progressive house artist David Solano spoke with us after his main stage set, “I loved it up there, the fans knew the tracks, energy was incredible – I was really impressed with this festival. I played a new track that I co-produced with Lucky Date, the track doesn’t have a name yet, but I tested it here and the crowd loved it. I played a ‘Kaboom’/’In My Mind’ mash and I ended the show with ‘Unleash,’ the track I made with Adventure Club. I saw Columbian flags in the crowd, I grabbed one for the last track, I had a blast up there.” -
Sunset Music Festival Day Two Artist: Dirtyphonics
Some things never get old, Dirtyphonics dropped the dubbed up “Internet Friends” and New Order’s “Confusion,” the crowd went wa wa wa wild.Dirtyphonics is touring all over the planet this summer; they’re playing three dates in Las Vegas in June.
Photo Credit: Robert Gill
-
Sunset Music Festival Day Two Artist: Tommy Trash
One of the most talked about sets at SMF, Tommy Trash and his long wavy hair crushed the main stage on Sunday night. Any set with Jamaican reggae air horns is an instant winner.Trash plays three dates in North America in June; he’s at Prime in Boston, MA on June 6; HQ Beach Club in Atlantic City on June 7; XS Encore in Las Vegas on June 8; Spring Awakening Festival in Chicago on June 14 and Escapade Music Festival in Ottawa, Canada on June 28.
-
Sunset Music Festival Day Two Artist: Krewella
The sisters from Chicago enjoyed playing Sunset Music Festival so much in 2013 – they played again this year. They sang, they DJ’d, they danced – they lived for the night in Tampa at #SMF.Krewella plays six dates in June: World Club Dome in Frankfurt, Germany on June 1; Ministry Of Sound in London on June 13; Summerburst Festival in Stockholm, Sweden on June 14; Daylight Beach Club in Las Vegas on June 22; Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD on June 26 and Paradiso Festival in Quincy, WA on June 28
-
Sunset Music Festival Day Two Artist: Hardwell
The last beats on the main stage came from the man from Breda, the world’s current #1. He gave the crowd “Pursuit Of Happiness,” “Eat Sleep Rave Repeat,” “Kernkraft 400” and finished his set with an aggressive and awesome hardstyle infused remix of “Spaceman” – fireworks were blasting, Hardwell was standing on his decks leading the clapping – fans went bananas. And then everyone went home.Hardwell plays 10 shows in June alone; his grandchildren’s grandchildren will be using Hardwell’s frequent flyer miles.