Monthly Archives: July 2022

Andrew Schulz: ‘The Future is Ownership, Not Censorship’ – Hollywood in Toto

Posted: July 21, 2022 at 12:57 pm

A comedians fortunes could change overnight with a spot on NBCs The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Even better? If Carson summoned the comic over to his iconic couch.

Late-night TV no longer transforms a comedians career in the same way. Now, its snagging a Netflix comedy special or streaming deal, with a few stars landing talk shows to call their own.

Andrew Schulz suggests that era may be waning, too, at least for stand-ups who wont play by the woke rules.

Schulz, the freewheeling comic known for hilarious YouTube videos and podcasts like Flagrant, is part of the new comedy revolution. Its not exactly by choice, but he suspects its the best path forward for stand-ups who loathe censorship.

Call it DIY Show Business.

RELATED: How Big Tech Is Crushing Conservative Comedy (UPDATED)

Schulz opened up to Megyn Kelly about his new comedy special, Infamous, and why he decided to share the special independently. He originally teamed with an unnamed streaming outlet but the platform demanded he remove select jokes.

He refused, deciding to buy back the special and produce it independently. So far, so good, according to TMZ, but it remains to be seen if hell get a return on his sizable investment.

Im not gonna edit my jokes anymore because I built my career without the streamers and I was able to build this career doing the jokes the exact way I wanted to I amassed this following and was able to tour around the world, he told Kelly.

I never felt like I needed the streamer the people validate me more than anything, he added.

His solo venture isnt the first attempt at avoiding comedy gatekeepers. Other stars like Nick Di Paolo, Jim Breuer, Louis C.K. and Steve Mudflap McGrew have tried that DIY approach.

The big test? Can comedians without that streamer cash and cachet?

If we prove you can make more money, or as much money doing it on your own than doing it with a streamer, then theres no point to go with a streamer and get notes, Schulz said. How do you make comedy the most pure?

Kelly agreed, noting how her career blossomed after NBC unceremoniously fired her on dubious charges. She went rogue, creating a powerful podcast and teaming with SiriusXM while retaining full control of the content.

I can work around the system where Im beholden to no one and my product will rise or fail entirely on its own merit, Kelly said of Schulzs approach, one that mirrors her own.

The future is ownership, not censorship, Schulz said. The companies that get that are starting to succeed. The creators who get that are succeeding.

RELATED: Tyler Fischer Scored By Blazing His Own Path

Earlier in the chat, Schulz broke down why the culture is suddenly so sensitive to edgy jokes. During the 1980s and 90s comedians like Howard Stern, Sam Kinison and Andrew Dice Clay challenged the status quo with gags that many found offensive.

They faced little punishment for telling them, though. Thats no longer the case, and Schulz thinks he knows why.

[Jokes] arent true, but the feelings are true. We have these feelings that are messed up thats whats relatable about jokes, he said. Even the old Borscht Belt comics, the Take my wife, please [material]. You dont really want someone to take your wife, but sometimes you have this feeling where, yeah, if somebody took herand thats funny to you.

How can this paradox exist within me? Thats humor.

Schulz credits Jon Stewart of The Daily Show fame for the shift.

He set an expectation for comedy to be true. And a whole bunch of kids grew up watching it, going, oh, thats what comedy is supposed to be, its supposed to be true, to speak truth to power.'

He also explained why the new wave of progressive humor often is reduced to clapter, not laughs.

Victimless comedy doesnt even exist, thats why its so hard to be funny and woke because nobodys a victim, then what are we gonna make fun of? he said.

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Hong Kong’s sedition offences should not be used to impose ‘political censorship,’ lawyer argues at speech therapists trial – Hong Kong Free Press

Posted: at 12:57 pm

Hong Kongs sedition offences should not be used to impose political censorship, a defence counsel has told a local court at the trial of five speech therapists who allegedly incited hatred against the authorities by printing storybooks about sheep and wolves.

District Judge Kwok Wai-kin on Wednesday heard closing arguments by lawyers defending Lorie Lai, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-ho, whopleaded not guiltyto conspiring to print, publish, distribute and display three books between June 2020 and July 2021 with seditious intention. The group were executive committee members of theGeneral Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists at the time.

The defence argued that the childrens publications alleged to be indoctrinating readers with separatism and inciting anti-China sentiment had no seditious intention. Theywere only printed to recount what happened in Hong Kong, including the2019 extradition bill protests, the detention of 12 Hong Kong fugitives by mainland Chinese authorities and a strike staged by local medics at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Representing Yeung, the unions external vice-chief, Senior Counsel Robert Pang said the books provided a narrative from one particular point of view, and there could be many other points of view. Barrister Anson Wong, on the other hand, said the prosecution used an erroneous approach to interpret the books from a radical perspective. He said the messages conveyed were in fact open-ended.

The whole prosecution case on the alleged seditious nature of the relevant publications is built on its assumptions of what an extremely radical or cynical reader as opposed to an ordinary reasonable one would perceive from [the books],said Wong, who represented the unions secretary Sidney Ng.

Similar arguments were made by barrister Peter Wong on behalf of Lorie Lai, the unions chairwoman. The lawyer said people with different backgrounds might form different subjective interpretations, and it was impossible to draw a blanket conclusion that all readers would form the same interpretation.

Wong also argued thatthe criticism of government made in the storybooks allowed people to vent their grievances. He said that, in society, people could hold and express dissenting views without attracting draconian criminal liabilities, and sedition offences should not be inappropriately used to impose political censorship.

[Those opinions] may be both unpopular and unreasonable. But such expressions should not be labelled or stigmatised as criminal with exorbitant legal consequences simply because they involve dissent and political opposition to the government and authority,he said.

The publications were thought to be a useful and effective tool to explain the political turmoil in Hong Kong to young children, Peter Wong quoted defendants Lai and Yeung as telling online radio station D100 in March last year. The pair said the books could help young readers develop critical thinking, he added.

The sedition offences covered in the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance could land thefive defendantsup totwo years in prison if convicted.It is different from the Beijing-enacted national security law that came into force on June 30, 2020, which targets secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist activities.

Lead prosecutor Laura Ng earlier compared sedition to treason, citing a UK case more than a century old to say that it was a crime against society. She also said it could incite people to an insurrection, a rebellion or even a civil war.

Defence counsels told the court on Wednesday that the recently resurrected sedition law had wide parameters and lacked clarity, which created the potential for abuse or misuse to prosecute dissenting voices. Similar legislation was abolished or reformed in numerous jurisdictions, they said.

Counsel Anson Wong said that the ambit of seditious intention was extremely wide and could cover political criticism. Without an incitement of violence or insurrection against the authorities, the suppression of speech would amount to imposing interference more than is necessary on freedom of expression, he said.

To say the least, such provisions could have a chilling effect on speech and writing,Wong said quoting the New Zealand Law Commission.

Judge Kwok challenged Pangs submissionthat people had the right to tell different narratives. He grilled the lawyer on whether the content of the storybooks was opinion or a representation of facts, and whetherspeech therapists had to distinguish one from another.

After examining numerous examples including the prevalence of security cameras in mainland China, Pang argued that, if people were not allowed to present an alternative narrative, the truth may be hidden.

The case was adjourned to July 30 for the court to hear remaining submissions from Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-hos lawyers.

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China censors ‘fat head and big ears’ poem over fears it was about the president – indy100

Posted: at 12:57 pm

Extraordinary scenes in China after a poem referencing the fat heads and big ears of an insect was censored for fear of offending President Xi Jinping.

Xuan Kejiong, a reporter who works for the Shanghai Media Group, shared his ode to cicadas on Weibo - a social media site where he has a staggering 1.6million followers.

Inspired by his experiences of running in the summer heat, the poet moaned of insects crawling out of the dark but apparently the reference to fat heads and big ears could be misconstrued and thus he was forced to remove the piece of work.

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The poem immediately went viral but within half an hour the Shanghai Media Group was receiving constant inquiries relating to what exactly Kejiong meant by his words. They got their man to remove the offending poem and put out a statement which read:

The Shanghai Media Group has solemnly criticised the reporter Xuan Kejiong, who realises his mistake... his personal reflections could be easily subject to creative association by others.

It is an extraordinary state of affairs when people can find fault and take offence to subtext that isnt even there. We shouldnt be surprised, however, since this is not the first time the President has displayed remarkably thin skin regarding his appearance.

In one of the most incredible examples of the Streisand effect in history, the 2018 Christopher Robin film was banned in China because of widespread comparisons between President Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh. With any luck this latest act of censorship will have a similar impact and people will talk of little else in the coming days.

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The Myth of the Modern Self | Carl R. Trueman – First Things

Posted: at 12:56 pm

The sheer rage that has greeted the Dobbs decision demands reflection. The rhetoric regarding victims of incest and rape is powerful but hardly explains the anger, given that such cases are comparatively rare and exceptional. They make good material for emotional appeal to the populace, but are neither foundational to the philosophy of the pro-abortion cause nor the real source of the outrage we are witnessing. Nor do they explain the violence and vindictiveness now being directed at Catholic churches and crisis pregnancy centers, still less the weirdly passionate response of people in other countries whose laws are often no more liberal than the Mississippi legislation that drove the Dobbs case.

That abortion became the hallmark doctrine of modern feminism is itself fascinating, given that it requires a fundamental denial or repudiation of that which makes a woman a woman: a body formed around the potential for conceiving, gestating, and then bearing a child. Not all women can or do bear children, of course, but that does not mean they are not women in accordance with this biological definition. As Abigail Favale argues in The Genesis of Gender, to reject this definition on such grounds is to confuse act and potency. Therefore, a feminism that makes the destruction of the child a point of non-negotiable dogma is a feminism that rejects the very essence of what it means to be a woman. It is a perversion of what true feminism should be. This, incidentally, lies behind the current ironic and incoherent inability of those who are so passionate about womens rights to define what women actually are.

And this gives us a clue to the outrage. The repeal of the right to abortion has two obvious consequences. First, it reasserts the importance of the physical body to female identity. Second, it strikes deep and hard at the idea that human beings are defined by their freedom and autonomy rather than by their dependency and obligation. In short, it contradicts two of the guiding myths of our contemporary culture, at least as understood by the elites. And when a cultures guiding myths are challenged, one can expect those committed to them to be very angry and to hit back with force.

There is an analogy here to the academic world. Academics as a class assume that they run their institutions. I am an academic myself and can testify to this. I stand in front of a classroom of students every day, feeling that I am king of all I survey. Every intuition in my academic soul whispers to me that I and my colleagues are the most important people on campus. Yet academics do not run their institutions. Administrations and boards do and, every now and then, these latter two groups will pull rank and assert their authority. At that moment, we faculty usually cry out with anger, not simply because we may disagree with some policy decision, but because we have been painfully reminded that our self-perception as masters of our professional universe has been shown to be a myth.

What is true in the groves of academe is even more powerfully true in our modern, technologized world. Western society is built on the myth that individuals are in charge of their identities. And when we are reminded that that is not the case, we tend to become rather angry.

Rage is evident in other areas of our progressive culture for much the same reason. Recent years have seen the excesses of this disembodied, libertarian anthropology become more extreme with the advent of technologically enabled developments such as transgenderism and transhumanism. This has been accompanied by an increasingly angry response to any who dare to use language implying any kind of realism. To misgender or deadname a transgender person can be a career-ending mistake. The disproportionate nature of this reaction indicates the same phenomenon now greeting the Dobbs decision: Those who imply that we are accountable to bodily reality are pointing out the mythical nature of the modern self.

This raises a further interesting question: When does a myth become a lie? Myths grip the imagination of a culture and are internalized by it. Therefore, they typically require no direct and powerful imposition by force. Once force and intimidation are necessary, the myth is surely becoming a lie, something that is known to be untrue but to which loyalty is demanded by our cultural powerbrokers anyway.

That would seem to sum up the position we in the West now find ourselves in. We are furious that our bodies place limits upon us, pointing out that we have natural obligations to others and cannot be whatever and whoever we wish. It is why anyone who argues thisand any court decision that moves society toward acknowledging this factis greeted with irrational fury and vindictiveness. Ours is an age in which the myth is becoming an intentional lie.

Carl Trueman is a professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

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Massive Night 2 Trance-Dance Fest with Guavatron at Dunedin Brewery MUSICFESTNEWS – Music Fest News

Posted: at 12:55 pm

Guavatron threw down an astonishing set Friday, July 15, at Dunedin Brewery, along with new St. Petersburg jamsters MiniM. How would they follow that up on Saturday?

Answer: with two completely mind-blowing sets of jamtronica, fusion, trance-dance, prog rock, and a Talking Heads cover!

Importantly, this was the 26th anniversary of the local landmark, and this Guavatron performance was the perfect pairing for this auspicious event.

Set one opened with three tracks from the groups album Momentous, released earlier this year. Things I Forgot get the night rolling before Awake, a tune that has been in the repertoire for some time. After that 15-minute gem, they played the familiar chords of Spring Roll, a song that has been in rotation for years. It was amazing.

Observers had noted that there was a synthesizer set up next to Roddy Hansens keyboards that looked suspiciously like Michael Lyn Bryants Korg Prologue. A dozen minutes into the heady Spring Roll jam, Bryant came up to twist some knobs and make things weird in the very best way.

At some point, it became just drummer Casey Luden and bassist Conor Crookham playing with Bryant. Then Adonis Guava and Roddy Hansen grabbed drum sticks and attacked the cymbals and drums. Even sound engineer Chris Fama (who had the boys dialed in perfectly both nights) got in on the percussion orgy.

From there, the group fell into a cacophonous section before Spring Roll proper re-emerged, a magnificent 32-minute romp. To close the first set, they offered up a tight Cousin Kelly. As they reached the jam section after the incendiary beginning, Guavatron hit that very Dead-like groove they often achieve, with Adonis Guavas guitar so reminiscent of Jerry Garcias, reminding of the transition from China Cat Sunflower to I Know You Rider. Just WOW.

Set two exploded instantly as they tore into the very metal tune GRIT, crammed with Conor Crookhams space bass, prog rock, screaming metal and more. They took a breather after that 27-minute outing before kicking into another great song, Get It On. Hansen, already all over synths, electric piano, and organ, added clavinet to this one, which almost picked up a reggae lilt at times.

The Guavatron boys were on fire. They played killer funk (Hot Sauce), a short one to shut down the show (almost). But of course there was one more. This encore featured the only cover tune, Talking Heads This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody). After playing the head of the tune, with Hansen nailing that little synth part, the groove once again turned into a Dead-like jam, the perfect way to send us home happy, sated, and ready for the next show.

Mazel Tov to Dunedin Brewery for 26 years of great music, great beer, great food, great service, and great friendship. On to the next 26!

[GUAVATRON: SET 1: Things, Awake, Spring Roll, Cousin Kelly; SET 2: GRIT, Get It On, Hot Sauce; E: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)]

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Roddy Hansen & Conor Crookham - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Conor Crookham - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Percussion jam w/ Chris Fama - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Michael Lyn Bryant w/ Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Conor Crookham & Adonis Guava - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Casey Luden - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Eric Dont’s ‘Ghetto Trance’ Is Taking Over St. Louis – Riverfront Times

Posted: at 12:55 pm

click to enlarge

VIA ARTIST BANDCAMP

Released in April, Eric Dont's five-song EP Dont Play With Me fearlessly melds fantasy and reality.

It just comes from being an alt black boy from the hood that likes experimental music, Dont says of his self-defined genre ghetto trance, which he describes as a combination of hip-hop, R&B, punk and trance, with a taste of experimental and cutting-edge atmosphere.

While many may be familiar with Eric Dont, who has been performing in the city since around 2016, it can be hard to keep up with the prolific artist. Donts first full-length album God Dont Like Ugly, came out that year, and his EP A Lamp in the Room was released in 2018, featuring standout single and video Nothing. Since that time the rapper has stayed busy, posting freestyle videos, new singles and collaborations with local musicians including singer-songwriter and producer Zaethone.

The past six months have been an especially fruitful time. Dont put out the stellar EP Dont Play With Me, started a new rave collective, opened for New York rapper billy woods at Columbia venue Cafe Berlin and was featured on Paris-based musician Sicaas song Departure Unknown, with a music video collaboration with St. Louis royalty Maxi Glamour.

Filmed by Donts longtime videographer and collaborator Dylan Schnitker, the video came out in March, starring Dont and Maxi as futuristic green and blue aliens. Sicaa and Dont met through the Black Marble Collective, and their track Departure Unknown echoes a glittery outer space beat alongside the music videos dream-like gauziness. Glowing in their sprite ears, Dont and Maxi excitedly roam around south city in search of gas station treats.

Dont says that his music videos are very important to him. When Im writing music, I already see how I would like to be performing in the music video, he notes. The collection of videos he's released over the years feels like a treasure trove, where one might reach in and find goth vampires, fairy-tale makeovers and a big rainbow wig.

Prior to the pandemic, Dont lived in Chicago for a couple years, where he continued performing and writing music. At a party in Chicago one night, Dont met producer Jeremiah Meece. The two quickly hit it off.

I had already heard of [Meece] because they had produced for other artists I love like Mikki Blanco and Mister Wallace, Dont says, The night we met, I just put it out there that we could snap on a track together. I could tell they got that all the time so I didnt really force anything. About a year later, they hit me up.

Out of the beats that Meece sent over, Dont picked the ones he loved, creating the five songs for his latest EP Dont Play With Me. Released in April of this year, the record fearlessly plays with fantasy and reality, seduction and humor, vulnerability and coolness. Even its shortest song, the intro Tried to Take Me Out, carries one of the catchiest choruses, managing to sound both soulful and spooky. Meeces beats and keys provide a retro and often hypnotic force over which Dont adds playfulness with his versatile voice.

Every track beckons a different mood: Homie Whaddup imagines a good day from good sex, getting paid, or maybe you might be high. Horror Movie revolves around Donts love for scary movies. Perhaps Donts voice is the director of the movie, and we, the listeners, are the main characters instructed to keep running from the scream around the corner. Feel So Good, the last track, switches to a more ethereal and misty place than the rest of Dont Play With Me. Dont rhymes and sings intimately (your stomach, I kiss it) about feelings between two people, where nothing else matters.

Although under a singular moniker, Eric Dont is always surrounded by collaborators and community. His music videos naturally incorporate groups of fellow local artists, and this culture of inclusion is a huge part of Donts ethos.

Think back to the 1990s rave scene in St. Louis: The address to the rave was often kept secret, revealed at the very last second to a select group. Today, Materia, a new arts collective which Dont helped form, is bringing rave parties to St. Louis, with yes, an address attached to each flier. Materia is composed of other electronic musicians and DJs Nadir Smith, Manapool, Umami and Sweeet, who all had the same vision for experimental music raves, which dont happen often here, in Donts telling. The monthly shows have mainly been inhabiting house venues and basements, influenced by a lack of club venues in the city since the pandemic and perhaps by an experimental desire to stray away from the constraints of traditional venues. Dont defines their audience as the weirdos, the outcasts. Our events make everyone feel comfortable, everyone is welcomed.

Donts carefree party-performer persona doesnt hide his genuine vulnerability.

I grew up feeling unheard, and when I started doing music, I think people really started paying attention to how I may really feel. My music is the more assertive version of me, Dont explains. All of [my] music is about things I actually experience and go through. I want people to know you are in control of your own narrative. I want my music to make people feel like they can rule the world.

Eric Dont seems ready for a world takeover guided by his stacked future plans: a possible headline show, Dont Play With Me music videos, learning how to DJ and a promise of more songwriting. I have so much in the vault I cant wait to put out, he says.

Like many St. Louis musicians, Dont wants the wider country (or intergalactic universe) to notice St. Louis as a place of creative gravity, and also really fun shows. He has hopes to show the world what STL is made of through vibes and song, he says.

So far, everyone tells me they wanna visit here. I make it look fun. Im like, it isss!

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Where to Watch and Stream Trance Free Online – EpicStream

Posted: at 12:55 pm

Cast: James McAvoyVincent CasselRosario DawsonDanny SapaniMatt Cross

Geners: ThrillerCrimeDramaMystery

Director: Danny Boyle

Release Date: Mar 27, 2013

A violent gang enlists the help of a hypnotherapist in an attempt to locate a painting which somehow vanished in the middle of a heist.

Trance never made it to Netflix, unfortunately. Still, Netflix holds a variety of shows one can watch for subscription plans that costs $9.99 per month for the basic plan, $15.49 monthly for the standard plan, and $19.99 a month for the premium plan.

At the time of writing, Trance is not available to stream on Hulu through the traditional account which starts at $6.99.However, if you have the HBO Max extension on your Hulu account, you can watch additional movies and shoes on Hulu. This type of package costs $14.99 per month.

No, Trance is not streaming on Disney Plus. With Disney+, you can have a wide range of shows from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney+, Pixar, ESPN, and National Geographic to choose from in the streaming platform for the price of $7.99 monthly or $79.99 annually.

Sorry, Trance is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at the price of $9.99 per month.

As of now, Trance is not available to watch for free on Amazon Prime Video. You can still buy or rent other movies through their service.

Trance is not available to watch on Peacock at the time of writing. Peacock offers a subscription costing $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account. As their namesake, the streaming platform is free with content out in the open, however, limited.

Trance is not on Paramount Plus. Paramount Plus has two subscription options: the basic version ad-supported Paramount+ Essential service costs $4.99 per month, and an ad-free premium plan for $9.99 per month.

Trance isn't on Apple TV+ at the moment, sorry! In the meantime, you can watch top-rated shows like Ted Lasso on Apple TV with a subscription cost of $4.99 a month.

No dice. Sadly, Trance hasn't made its way onto the Chili streaming service yet.

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Where to Watch and Stream Trance Free Online - EpicStream

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Ora and Q Nightclub hosting dual Group Therapy Weekender pre-parties this Thursday – Dance Music Northwest

Posted: at 12:55 pm

As you all know, Above & Beyond are coming to The Gorge this weekend. This Thursday, July 21, two of Seattles most prominent clubs, Q Nightclub and Ora, will be hosting a slew of Anjuna artists to warm us up before heading to The Gorge for the main event, Group Therapy Weekender 2022!

If your sonic tastes are a blend of trance and progressive house, Ora will be hosting Amy Wiles, Fatum, and Genix. If you gravitate toward the deeper sounds, Q Nightclub will have Eli & Fur, Marsh, and Olan.

The rosters are an excellent reflection of whats currently hot and Anjunas current direction and vision. It features a combination of the up-and-coming and solidified mainstays. Learn about all the artists at Anjunas Seattle showcases below!

Credit: Anjuna

Limited tickets are still available here

Long-time friends of the label, the U.K. duo has the flair for moody and dark dance paired with mysterious, brooding vocals. They have releases on Defected, Spinnin Deep, Anjunadeep, and their own imprint NYX Music. The duo has proven that their songwriting roots can be successfully paired with a club-oriented side. Check out their recently released Cercle Set live from the snowy mountains of Italy.

U.K. born, California-based DJ and producer Marsh is easily the labels current superstar and a fan favorite (a personal favorite too). Showing no signs of slowing down, Marsh has taken on Europe, Asia, South America, and North America. His enchanting deep and progressive house instills hope and healing. As he continues his incredible upward path, he has already solidified modern classics with Come Together and My Stripes.

A quickly-rising star and newcomer to the Anjuna family. Olan got her start with the label from her collaborations with Mat Zo and Nourey. Her sound is an eclectic melting pot, serving as a reflection of her own diverse upbringing and background. Aside from her electronic prowess, she sings and plays guitars behind the decks. She is an inspiring figure, being a colored queer woman in an industry dominated by straight white males. She is one to watch closely.

Credit: Anjuna

Limited tickets are still available here

London-based DJ & producer who got her start with Anjuna as a resident DJ in 2018. Wiles eventually took the reigns as the labels product manager. She has showcased for Colorized and Anjunabeats at Creamfields and Tomorrowland. Her performances have been primarily U.K. based, so this will be the beginning of her debut U.S. tour.

Genix has deep roots in the trance scene going back to 2003 and has become one of the most exciting acts on Anjunabeats. His formidable sounds take fans on unexpected twists and turns. He provides a high octane cocktail of trance, techno, and progressive house. Fun fact: he holds the Guinness World Record for the longest DJ set which clocks in at 84 hours.

The U.S.-based duo has been a solidified global dance music act. Fatum are Grammy nominated, Billboard Dance toppers, and winners of best EDM via Hollywood Music in Media. They have releases on huge labels such as Armada, Ultra, and of course, Anjunabeats. They capture the essence and euphoria of trance, showcased with strong notions of industrial techno. As curated tastemakers of dance music, they continue to put out their forward-thinking tunes.

Where will we be seeing you before Group Therapy Weekender? Let us know on social media and check out more of local nightlife events happening here!

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Manila Killa Drops Dusk: I Saw A Shooting Star Go Over The SkyI Wanted To Share That Feeling – Forbes

Posted: at 12:55 pm

Manila Killa.

Chris Gavino, known best as his Manila Killa moniker, fuses emotional music and melodic dance to create his signature sound. Today, July 21, the artist does it again with the release of Dusk.

The 12-track body of work is sonically diverse, featuring everything from melodic dance to drum and bass, uplifting melodies and progressive sounds. The first song, Soul, brings listeners into a sonic trance, one that emanates the feeling of being in outer space amongst the stars, while closing out the LP is The End, an emotion-filled yet wordless record. The albums title track boasts catchy lyrics, enchanting vocals and elated melodies. Dusk is indeed an impressive album by the Philippine-born producer.

Here, Gavino shares with Forbes the inspiration behind Dusk, what its like living in a house with other deejays, the biggest inspiration on the music he makes today and more.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Lisa Kocay: Can you describe your sound in three words?

Chris Gavino: The three words that come to mind are tension, liminal and introspective. Tension, because I feel like I'm really honing into dance music for this album, and dance music is all about tension and release. So that's something that I really focused on. Liminalthe traditional meaning is in between, and I touch on that a lot in the album, tookind of in between the night and day. So that's something I really wanted to convey in my sound more recently. And introspective is mainly because I did a lot of reflection, especially over the quarantine, about how I wanted to craft my sound with the album. Youre going to hear a lot of my own reflection throughout the album.

Kocay: What was the inspiration behind Dusk?

Gavino: There's one moment in my life that I kept coming back to when I was working on the album. I took a trip to Joshua Tree right before quarantine happened. There was one moment in time where I was sitting outside during the nighttime and the stars were just all out and it was really beautiful. I was listening to Andrew Bayer, a prominent trance artist who's released a lot of stuff on Anjunabig fan of his. I was also listening to The 1975, more so their ambient works. There was one moment in time where I saw a shooting star go over the sky. I found that feeling so beautiful, and that was something that felt like a feeling I wanted to share with the world. I wanted people to feel what I was feeling. So that was the main inspiration behind the entire album. [It] was trying to get people to understand that specific feeling. And with the music side, I wanted to make the music feel organic, but still sound like electronic music. I think with electronic music, EDM kind of lives in the dusk time of day where there's like one foot in the daytime and one foot in the nighttime. I wanted to convey that feeling.

Kocay: I know you said you wanted to convey the feeling of when you saw the shooting star. What exactly was that feeling?

Gavino: I felt at peace for one of the first times in my life. I felt like everything was okay in the world because it felt like I was kind of in outer space but on earth at the same time. It was kind of a feeling I never really felt before. I just wanted to share that with everybody.

Kocay: Can you share any stories behind some of the tracks and how they were made?

Gavino: Theres a song that I put out, a single called Take Me Higher (feat. fknsyd), which is a new style of electronic music for me. Its a drum and bass song. It was the first time I ever tried making drum and bass. The story behind that stems from during the quarantine, I used to live in a house with other producers and one of those producers was Robbie from Louis the Child. He told us all one night that we should watch this documentary called Drum & Bass: The Movement. I started to learn about the history of drum and bass, where it came from and why it is the way it is now. Later on in the year, after listening to drum and bass a little bit, I saw that Brownies & Lemonade. They throw a bunch of parties in [Los Angeles]. They put on a drum and bass event in [Los Angeles] with a secret lineup, and I wasn't able to go but I saw a bunch of Instagram stories.

They had this one artist named Dimension from the UK play, and I just instantly fell in love with his sound. I got super inspired by his sound. So a couple days before my New Year's show this past year, I decided to make a drum and bass song just to throw into the middle of my set. I wasn't expecting much at all, but I played it out, and that was the craziest reaction I had ever gotten from a crowd. So at that point I was like, All right, I got to finish this song. I got to make it crazier. I had this singer from Texasshe goes by fknsyd. She's done a lot of work with Rezz and stuff. She was perfect for something more dark.

I think one of the coolest, serendipitous moments [with] how one of the tracks were made ... [+] wasDusk, featuring the singer Lights from Canada, Manila Killa says. I had been such a fan of hers for years and years. I was listening to her back in high school, and she was actually one of the first people I saw in concert. She was always a bucket list collaborator for me.

Kocay: You mentioned you were living in a house with a number of other deejays. What was that like? Was it nice to be able to bounce off ideas with each other?

Gavino: I'd say yes and no. I think there are definitely positives and negatives to living in a house with other producers. The positives are definitely being able to bounce around ideas. If you get stuck, you can hit someone up in the other room and try and work on it. But I think for me, personally, I think I work best when I'm on my own and I have my own space to think. The funny thing about living with other producers is that it's never quiet. It's always loud. People are blasting music all the time. We lived in a house with pretty thin walls. So it was sometimes hard to just have a little space to myself, so that was the negative side of it. But [it] was still a really great experience.

Kocay: Who has been the biggest influence on the music that you make today?

Gavino: Honestly, especially throughout the album, I think it was like my girlfriend because she's a visual artist, but I think she has such a great taste in music. I think she was a blessing in disguise throughout the creation of this album because there came a lot of points where I was working on this over the quarantine where I felt like I was getting stuck. I felt like I was boxed in, quite literally as well because we weren't going anywhere. There were a lot of times where I felt stuck, and I think she was able to help push me out of those boundaries. I'd be working on a song for like two days and then she'd be like, Hey, why don't you try this? Then all of a sudden ideas started to flow out. So I found that super helpful and I really appreciated her for all of that. She was a big influence on the album.

Kocay: Do you remember the first electronic music song you heard that made you fall in love with the genre?

Gavino: I was actually in first grade. I had no idea what was happening. I was living in the Philippines at the time and I was watching a lot of TV. I was always interested in watching music videos and music video channels, because those are really big in the Philippines. There was one time where I heard Daft Punks One More Time, and what I found so compelling about that song in particular was that it was so unconventional compared to all the other music videos that I had seen as a kid. It was an animated music video. So it was all animation and I couldn't really put a human face to the voice that I was hearing. I just remember loving that song.

Unfortunately, I got disconnected from electronic music after that because my parents weren't into electronic music. No one I knew was into electronic music. I kind of grew up with the radio, and then eventually in high school was when I found a group of friends who were listening to electronic music. Then they showed me artists like Justice and Daft Punk. This was like in ninth grade. It was sort of a rediscovery for me, and from that point on, I kind of lost interest in all other genres of music and I just dove really deep into electronic music. I never looked back after that.

Kocay: If you could give yourself one piece of advice for when you first started making music, what would it be?

Gavino: I would say take the time to learn music theory. I don't know that much about it now, but I started to learn a little piano during quarantine, and I started to realize that understanding music theory is such an important tool because it'll help you find resolve in core progressions and it'll help you kind of extend your songwriting abilities. This advice would go to anybody who's starting out and producing music, toolearn the tools of the trade. You don't have to understand everything, but understanding music theory, at least the base of it, is really helpful in any type of music that you make.

Kocay: If you didn't go into making music, where would you be today?

Gavino: I would be in an office nine-to-five job. I believe that for sure, because l actually studied business management in college. I got my degree and I had a job lined up for me after college, but obviously that didn't happen because somehow my music got known by other people around me. But more recently, I started learning how to [make] pottery. I kind of feel like it gives me the same feeling that I felt when I started music in the sense that you're creating something out of nothing. I think that if I had found pottery earlier in my life, that could have been something that I would've done aside from music.

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Manila Killa Drops Dusk: I Saw A Shooting Star Go Over The SkyI Wanted To Share That Feeling - Forbes

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God, Give Me The Patience To Survive The Early Reader Stage – Scary Mommy

Posted: at 12:55 pm

Even if your childhood was devoid of the Reading Rainbow theme song or the thrill of a Scholastic Book Fair, youve almost certainly gotten the message that reading is essential, its benefits manifold. Parents are told constantly to read to their children right from the start, silly as it may feel to flip those pages before the glazed-over eyes of a newborn.

I am here for that. Bring on the comb, the brush, and even that bowl full of mush. Voices for heroes and villains? Ive got them covered. Ill read to these kids all day. Its all dinosaur dances and bear hunts right up until that to becomes a with. But reading with a child, or rather, mustering the patience of a saint to sit there while they stammer through the basic phonetics of early literacy? Well, thats something different.

Ive got two early readers at my house, plus one who we thought for a second might be a prodigiously literary toddler until we realized hed just memorized the entirety of Sandra Boytons portfolio. He still has a few more years before sight words. The other ones are running their fingers along pages and sometimes sounding out words with such impossible longevity that I am certain they are just delaying bedtime. I need to say a serenity prayer: Grant me all your calm to survive the agony of sitting next to my precious child with his shower-wet hair neatly combed, as he stares at the word bag, and takes an eternity to say buh then aaa then guh. Give me the strength to stay quiet while he runs the sounds together, when he finally shouts BAG! and I must act surprised, nay thrilled, at the identification of the brown sack with handles.

Its nice to remember that we do this for good reason. Reading with young children gives them better communication and speech skills, enhanced cultural understanding, and higher academic performance, just to name a few. Reading has been shown to bring about the health benefits of meditation, putting our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state. As for me, Im sharpening my self-control skills. How many times must we read the same Black Panther book?

And then, when a new book enters the rotation, I lie there thinking that since the dog has fallen off his scooter twice now, this one must be the time he gets it. Surely, we are at the climax. Im on the bottom bunk, head on a dinosaur pillow, trying to look convincingly interested or even just awake as my son holds a finger under the word celebrate, saying: Calibrate? No, no dont tell me, trying not to think about the dark chocolate peanut butter cups awaiting me downstairs, or perhaps even a book of my own.

Of course, of course, these are moments to be cherished. I am grateful for my childrens developing minds, for their love of books and desire to read them. Stephen King called books a uniquely portable magic. And anyone who has ever experienced Maxs sailing into the night of his very own room, or Harrys first run into the wall of Platform 9, or Jo Marchs writing by candlelight in her attic, knows it to be true. To think of the worlds my children will discover in the backs of wardrobes and in the slopes of shires thatll keep me propping up my dinosaur pillow, nodding along, and when its getting really late, offering to read the next page (or five).

Hampton Williams Hofer lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she writes and raises babies. Her work has appeared in Flying South, Walter Magazine, Architectural Digest, and Food 52, among others. Family aside, her great loves are a South Carolina beach, a Roger Federer backhand, a Charlottesville lawn, andmost of alla good story.

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God, Give Me The Patience To Survive The Early Reader Stage - Scary Mommy

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