i've been slacking on my blogging. but that's only because i've been "out there" doing/experiencing stuff so that i have something to write about.
hmmm what shall we talk about today? alright, how about this one. in the may 2008 issue of the lance, i wrote an article about the [then] upcoming detroit electronic music festival, or DEMF, as it is widely referred to. i had the opportunity to interview jason huavere who was the festival director for DEMF 2008. his company, paxahau productions, put on the event to much success. after the article was published, my lovely and wonderful editor lindsey rivait informed me that mr. huavere loved the article! yayyyy!! : ) also, she had put the article on the wire and it was picked up by a british columbia university newspaper and reprinted there. i'm posting the link to the sentinel's website [where my article can be found if you are so inclinded] in my "check this out!" section located on the left hand column of my blog.
as for DEMF, i was lucky enough to be given a set of press passes for the entire weekend. i was accompanied by igor beric who is an avid fan of techno. this was our first DEMF experience and i 100% recommend it for anyone who even kinda likes electronic music. hart plaza in downtown detroit was transformed into the biggest outdoor nightclub you've ever seen. over 100 artists were playing at 5 different stages that each offered it's own feel and variation of electronic music. there was techno at one stage, house at another, trance at the next, hip-hop and electronica further on. not only was the music great, but there were so many vendors and awesome sponsors that offered up free swag that could make anyone feel like a v.i.p. and this was the first time that i've been to a music festival and there was a food vendor selling fresh fruit.
the people at DEMF were unreal as well. you could sit in one place and see so many different people walk by you in a split second. the fashion and dancing seen at the festival ranged from obvious groups like ravers and ginos to new age hippies and metalheads. and EVERYONE GOT ALONG. everyone smiled at each other and there was a definite feeling of collective enjoyment and experience. i'm not naive enough to think that some illicit substances might have played a part in this, but even if that was the case, no one seemed to have a bad trip or anything. lol.
igor and i had predetermined which artists were absolutely essential to witness and we decided on benny benassi and my forever hero...the one and only moby. i'll talk about benassi first even though we saw him on the second day of the festival. after seeing him deejay, i 100% understood the appeal of seeing a dj perform live. it was like a give and take between him and the crowd. they played to each other. when the crowd wanted to jump and get crazy, benassi could read it and brought on an explosion of music. he transformed songs that i have frankly grown tired of and revitalized them by mixing in red hot chili pepper's "other side" and u2's "with or without you." he made the songs danceable and fresh and the crowd responded accordingly. although his electronic stylings differed from moby's they both had something in common: the remixing powers of "where's your head at" by basement jaxx.
moby remixed it during his set on the first day of the festival where he was the headliner. amazingly, igor and i made it to the front of the crowd [with a little help from our press passes] and i was within 20 feet of my hero. at one point, he remixed my favourite song of all time, "porcelain" and i cried tears of joy. lol i'm only slightly pathetic, but more than that, i love music and i love moby. that was probably the closest thing i'll have to a religious experience. anyyyyways, he remixed some other electronic favourites like the chemical brothers' "hey boy hey girl" and some of his own pieces like "go." being a fan of moby, i have heard him say many times how much he loves being in detroit, which is the home of techno. jason huavere also confirmed in my interview with him that moby was so excited to be playing DEMF this year. you could read the happiness on moby's face as he performed to a huge crowd under the stars and skyscrapers as he donned his chrome dome and a DETROIT hoodie.
xo stella.
