Tag: ultra music festival

January 29, 2016

UMFTV Dash Berlin Interview is Live!

My exclusive interview with Dash Berlin front man Jeffrey Sutorius is officially live on Ultra Music Festival’s YouTube channel UMFTV! During Ultra Europe last year, Jeffrey and I spent an afternoon in the beautiful city of Split, Croatia to talk all things music- from his goosebump-inducing Ultra Miami set to his worldwide schedule to what keeps him grounded in the crazy DJ world.

And grounded Jeffrey is, because what you don’t see in the interview is that during our little walk through Split, he bought me a few keepsake magnets! Jeffrey said this is his go-to souvenir when traveling the world, but since he is such an avid traveler, he’s super picky about what magnets he picks up– or else he’d have to buy more refrigerators. That’s what I like to call #DJProblems.

Dash Berlin is always a huge favorite for our Ultranauts, so I hope you enjoy this in depth interview with one of the world’s most popular DJ’s!

If you’re new to the dance music scene, here’s a little information on Dash Berlin:

Dash Berlin is a Dutch trance music project created in 2007 by Jeffrey Sutorius, Eelke Kalberg and Sebastiaan Molijn. Dash Berlin’s breakthrough came that same year with “Till the Sky Falls Down”, which shot to the top of the Trance charts worldwide. Dash Berlin won the IDMA award for “Best High Energy Track” for “Waiting”. In 2010, Dash Berlin won the award for Highest New Entry by entering the DJ Mag Top 100 at number 15, beating out other famous Dutch DJ’s such as Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, and Ferry Corsten as the highest Dutch entry. Since then, Dash Berlin has consistently held a spot as one of the Top 15 DJ’s in the world, according to DJ Mag’s Top 100 poll.

March 31, 2014

Andrea Brings Dance Music Style to Markkit

Fashion and Music go hand in hand, and the awesome people at Markkit agree, which is why we are bringing you a new collection for all fans of dance music: The EDM Collection by Andrea Feczko.

As the host of Ultra Music Festivals around the world, I have sometimes an impossible task of finding clothes that represent the high energy of these Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals that also look great on camera. Meaning, they should be form fitting, brightly colored, sexy, and classy all at the same time. Oh, and they should try to represent the exotic locations we are in- whether it’s boho-chic Ibiza, super sexy Miami, or Far East Seoul, Korea.

When people think of EDM festivals, they think of tutus, pacifiers, and panda hats. I wanted to show that dance music culture and its fashion has come along way from the raves of the 90’s.

When Markkit approached me to do this collection, I was immediately on board… with A LOT of ideas. In hindsight- probably too many for an initial meeting.

The Markkit team and I went to downtown Los Angeles to hand pick the items I’d wear for Ultra 16 in Miami, Florida. It was kind of like living in fantasy girl world down there. The Fashion District is this little section behind the storefront shops where only retailers are allowed to purchase items. Translation: It’s not open to the public, making the experience that much cooler. There are at least 50 shops to choose from with every style, cut, and color pattern you could possibly want. I fell in love with these dresses; the color scheme reminded me of the beautiful Miami beaches and the dresses were high-end to represent the special Ultra brand: it’s the premiere dance music festival, and Miami is the biggest festival of them all.

Of course, these are great for a girl’s night out to dance to your favorite DJ – local or Top 100!

Needless to say- I’m so excited about this new venture!!

Check out the styles:

September 4, 2013

Ultra Miami 2013 Official Aftermovie

“A perfect 17-minute after-movie masterpiece,” is what the Miami New Times called the Ultra Miami 2013 Aftermovie. And I can’t agree more, although we can agree to disagree on the spelling of aftermovie. I have watched it several times and experienced the symptoms of many of my peers: goosebumps, elation, excitement, awe, and, yes, even sadness.

Ultra is arguably the most important music festival in the EDM world. It is held during Miami Music Week and the Winter Music Conference, when the annual IDMA Awards (International Dance Music Awards) are given out. Translation: it’s like the Grammy’s of the DJ world. It’s held in March, unofficially kicking off the summer music festival season. It is pretty much the only time during the calendar year when all the DJ’s are in the same place at the same time- most of these guys go in and out of countries within hours. And with all those eyeballs, a DJ’s set at Ultra can set the tone for the entire year – good or bad.

This year was even more important as it was Ultra’s 15th year on the block. We went big, as we most definitely were not going home without a party. Ultra became the first EDM festival to cover two weekends, with a record breaking 330,000 people in attendance. And at UMF TV, we wanted to break some records of our own… which we did. We became the most viewed festival event in North America to date, with 10 million unique viewers; over 200,000 of which viewed concurrently for Swedish House Mafia’s final set, making it the highest concurrent number of views for any US non-sponsored music stream, as declared by YouTube.

For me, personally, Ultra Miami 2013 was the culmination of a whirlwind year. I moved to Los Angeles in March of 2011 as an aspiring TV Host. I gave myself a year to turn that aspiration into a reality. Exactly one year later, in March of 2012, Charly Friedrichs aka Final Kid, the mastermind behind the masterpiece, randomly saw my demo reel online and e-mailed me to be the new UMF TV host. In fact, he had to e-mail twice as I didn’t receive the first e-mail! Damn you, Spam! It was a dream job. I was literally looking at flights to go to Ultra! So, to not only be going there, but to be the host, was truly an honor and a no-brainer.

Then, EDM exploded and so did Ultra. I remember speaking to some of the guys about my travel goals for 2012, specifically Ibiza and Buenos Aires. By May, I had been to both, thanks to Ultra. While I cannot confirm this, I strongly believe I booked my other dream- being an MTV VJ– because of my experience and expertise in the music world via Ultra. By the end of the year, I had to think of new dreams as I had accomplished everything that I thought was once so unattainable! (I totally feel like a self-help book writing that.)

So while many people experienced the symptoms above because of the incredibly cinematic genius that is Charly’s work, I experienced those on a different level. Goosebumps, elation, awe, excitement, and, yes, a hint of sadness that such an amazing year had come to an end. If you follow me on my various social medias, you know the journey still continues with Ultra – and is only going to be getting bigger! – but I guess, nothing compares to your first time, right? It was my first year living my dream- owning it and breathing in every moment – and I couldn’t be more thankful to an organization and the dance community for embracing me and making those dreams come true.

Without further sappiness, here is Relive Ultra 2013: The Official Aftermovie. You will notice a familiar face around the 3:40 mark.

And here is my own recap! My behind-the-scenes video of what went down at Ultra Miami 2013 on the day of Swedish House Mafia’s last set.

June 11, 2013

Here We Go! UMF Korea Round 2 – and bonus BTS video

ULTRA made its first Invasion of Asia in August of last year… and it was INSANE. Since I’ve been with ULTRA as their live stream host, I have been to some really cool places and even better parties, but Korea was definitely a highlight. A lot of the dj’s agreed, saying the Korean crowd rivaled the one in Miami. They were super enthusiastic, as EDM is just breaking over there. It was incredible to feel the energy fill the Seoul Olympic Stadium- which is kind of massive by the way- when the superstars, specifically Tiesto, made it on stage and they were able to experience the party in person, some for the first time. Add to it the theatrics of the ULTRA mainstage, and it was quite a show.

I have captured this insanity, as well as a behind the scenes of what goes on, in the video below.

Now here we are in 2013, ready for the second UMF Korea. I don’t know how it will get bigger and better, but it definitely will. Those Faibisch brothers are always pushing the envelope. Make sure to catch it as we will be live streaming from http://www.youtube.com/umftv.

Here’s a look at my favorite pics from UMF Korea 2012, as well as my behind the scenes video.

Steve Aoki on the main stage at UMF Korea 2012. In Miami it’s hard to get on stage, but at the smaller festivals we get more access to the artists.

Fans at the festival. The audience was primarily composed Koreans and ex-pat Americans, specifically those serving in our armed forces. These pictures show the two main components of our audience, but all coming together as one to party!

Behind the scenes during the UMF TV broadcast: Director Charly Friedrichs, aka Final Kid, and I putting together a package on the festival on the spot. People are surprised when I tell them the broadcast is completely unscripted, as it comes together so well. I think that’s a testament of our relationship; we are both on the same page of what we want and trust each other to do our jobs. Plus, Charly is one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with and the entire UMF TV team is beyond talented.

DJ Jon Rundell wearing my ULTRA ears on stage with Carl Cox.

My favorite fan at UMF Korea. He had on a tail, a fox head scarf and glow sticks galore. In the video below, there is a hilarious exchange where I try to flirt with him, and then he SHUTS me down. I need to step up my game.

Enjoying the city skyline in Seoul, Korea.

Here’s the video with all the backstage antics of UMF Korea for my YouTube channel.

March 21, 2013

We Are Live Again from Miami for ULTRA 15!!

Our motto this year was ""Let's Make History Together"" - and we have already done that from Weekend 1. During Hardwell's set - who is set to become the #1 DJ if you believe the buzz in the Twitterverse - we concurrently streamed with close to 100,000 people worldwide AND broke his twitter! He received a letter from Twitter saying that he used 30% of the Twitter bandwith and subsequently shut his account down (temporarily of course). We also broke Goldfish Live's website after we did an in depth 10 minute interview with the South Africans, which included questions like ""What shampoo do they use?"" Have you seen their hair- then you will understand.

And then, of course, there is this weekend. It is Swedish House Mafia's final set EVER as a trio, and we are going to be airing it live. Let's see if we can make real history- and all come together for this special moment! I will try my best to hold back the tears.

Join me as I host the livestream at http://www.youtube.com/umftv from 4:30pm Eastern Time.