The festivities are over again for another year and its certainly been full on. From people coming round and having nibbles and drinks to them returning the favour within days. For me this is what makes the holiday season. Its great to exchange presents, the Christmas dinner is always amazing but I just find the social evenings make it.
So fast forwarding somewhat to New Years Eve and for the first time in a few years our local pub held a party and we were going! A good friend of mine was DJing for the evening and he was in full force when we arrived but playing the classics that people generally associate with the theme of the night. A couple of Prosecco’s before hand to celebrate, where can this night go?
It’s no surprise that like pretty much most people in the world – music is a massive part of my life. While I have dabbled in the electric guitar I have never yet been able to completely play a tune all the way through. I have so much respect for anyone who has taken the time to perfect the skill and I am happy to say my boy has really started to gel with it, being able to play Plug In Baby (Muse) it makes me annoyed to be proud!
Music is subjective for everyone and I can quite bore of the constantly generated pop dribble that is made by corporations, I have admiration for those who are talented enough to write songs and music let alone be able to pull it off playing and instrument in front of tens of thousands of people. The recent visit to Switzerland reminds me of this where a small group of musicians played in front of well entertained crowd. It was a lively little brass band with great singers. What was even more entertaining was that their mascot also got involved dancing about. The video doesn’t do it justice but trust me with a vin chaud in hand, around the Christmas season, everyone around was in good spirits.
Weirdly, I never found my place with music until I was quite a bit older. Music when I was a teenager / adolescent was, at the time – dull to me. I had been brought up with the Kinks, Manfred Man, Beatles, Rolling Stones and so many other ‘less trendy’ bands. Looking back, these were pioneers in music but my dad did not care for the more modern music and so never had the chance really other to listen to the radio to know what was considered fashionable. I remember vividly dad telling me what a terrible band the Shaman were dude to the song Ebeneezer Good with its reference to drugs… Hypocritical really as there were many 60’s 70’s groups making similar drug references but apparently, that was completely different.
I can’t remember precisely when I fell in love with Electronic Dance Music (EDM), in fact I didn’t even know what a massive affect it would have on me in future. I just know it was David Guetta who sparked something inside me with ‘A little more love’ soon after I started my first career in the early 2000’s. Radio one played it near on constantly and I have been a major fan of his ever since. I have seen him live twice and the sets he produces are just explosive. The initial build of each set rise the tension in the crowd until the crescendo of dance tracks which entail, pushes them even higher. I think the best was the closing of his set in 2021 at the IOW festival. I did manage to hold it together for the big finish even though tens of thousands were battling to get to the front.
Clearly, music taste these days is hugely diverse but there’s nothing that gets me going currently than EDM and Deep House. Artists who also inspire me and get me through gyms sessions, work life and chores specifically are Nikko Culture, DJ Goja, GeoM, Pete Bellis and Tommy just to name a few. The tracks these guys come up with are perfect for just washing away any stresses. Combine their tracks with an evening Summer barbeque and its the makings of a perfect night.
All of these artists are on Spotify or Deezer, if you get the chance to listen to them let me know what you think and similarly would be interested to hear of similar up and coming artists I could add to my repertoire.
Back to New Years Eve and the DJ was getting tired. Step forward Dan and his alter ego. While this wasn’t a stadium packed with expectant fans, the equipment that the DJ had was outstanding and so all the favourite EDM music came out and made the crowd bounce. Maybe it was the few beers I had already consumed but I can see why the majority of DJs love their jobs, you have that ability of literally commanding the crowd to respond exactly how you want them to. You have them shouting for more and following every suggestion you make. Clearly all of this was just the makings of a fun evening and while there’s no intention for DJ Dan to make a comeback anytime soon, I certainly could consider getting myself some equipment to fuel the alter ego further, even if it is just for laugh!
So anyway here’s to putting a pretty eventful 2022 to bed and seeing what bigger and better things may be waiting for us all in 2023!
