Original Classic was released in November with features from well-known artists like Juicy-J, Lido Pimienta, and Haviah Mighty, just to name a few. In light of this highly successful release Keys N Krates sat down with Quip to discuss the new direction they’ve taken and how it came to fruition.

Cait Schmitz: How has the tour been going, was it exciting being back on your home turf in Toronto with your new album?

Keys N Krates: Yeah that was a highlight for sure. I guess it’s a little weird, we played a couple of sets in September, so it sort of felt like it started then. But I guess we officially started a couple of weeks ago and playing Toronto was definitely a highlight.

CS: Is it different playing festivals vs smaller intimate concerts?

KNK: I think there are pros and cons to both. Playing a festival sometimes feels like a sprint, but there’s also something to be said about a large crowd all dancing together at a huge venue… 

The band explained how smaller clubs give them the time to explore what they can do with certain beats and really get the audience vibing to different tempos. They also spoke to how the album came to be and how their process is largely a collaborative effort and they thrive off feedback from one another as well as critiques or suggestions from select others. Almost every song includes influences from all three of the group members, but they do give space for individual creative freedoms in order to explore their own distinct sounds. 

CS: Your music has quite a blend of different influences, especially on this new album, can you speak on where you drew influences for this album?

KNK: So we had already started this album before going into the pandemic. We kind of had an idea of what we wanted to do. I think the three of us after our last couple of projects knew what direction we wanted to go in. Our last few projects were more dance-driven and we wanted to continue in that direction heading away from just trap.

The one goal they had with this project, the band commented, was finding their place in dance music and really understanding how to make people groove and dance from a more global standpoint. Safe to say that goal came to fruition because this thirteen-track album does a fantastic job of blending together house, hip hop as well as dance music.

CS: Original Classic has a ton of collaborations with some incredible artists, was it easy working with these other artists?

KNK: It was actually really great. We love working with artists who might not have done something like this within their own body of work.

Haviah Mighty was an artist they really enjoyed collaborating with because together they were able to bring out aspects of her strengths she doesn’t normally use in her own work. Her work is incredible to begin with (hence the Polaris prize) but it was fascinating to travel in a different direction together, the band shared. 

Reflecting on other collaborations  Jr Flo expressed how the group wanted to do something different with a lot of the artists featured on the album and explore what they could do when pushed into a style of music that was maybe outside their normal genre. Pushing musicians outside of their comfort zones is often when you can get the best results, KNK pointed out with passion. It would also be evident pushing the limits is something they apply to their own work, we have come a long way from “Dum Dee Dum” and this growth is an ongoing adventure.

Keys N Krates new album Original Classic was released November 12^th and is an album you won’t want to miss. The group has just embarked on a tour with dates continuing all throughout the winter and into the spring – hopefully. This band of intricate rhythms and various styles are absolutely worth the listen and their live shows are a party you will want to attend.

Images by Mitch Brown, courtesy of the artist

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You all remember “Dum Dee Dum,” with the amount of shows the band embarks on it’s more than likely that track had you dancing at least once. The new work is more melodic and baselined, and we are way past “Dum Dee Dum” with tracks like “Glitter” and “Something Wonderful” that speak to a wider range of audience and offer a lot more listening opportunities. CURA is Keys N Krates maturing in the musical world. 

This most recent show was possibly one of the smallest they’ve had in Toronto. The tiny stage was barely enough room for them all to be comfortable, the lack of space also made it a rather a-typical set up for them – no one in the center, everyone equal, everyone cozy. A tight crowd of plus-ones lined up behind the stage leaning on a metal fence while the rest of the room was getting sweaty on the dance floor. 

The set covered all the basis: the bass-centric sound, the live scratching, teasers and samples, a bit of dub, a bit of hip-hop and generally a whole lot of beats dropping. Halfway through the night, the trio jumped on the Latin bandwagon with their own take on Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin’s “I Like It” which the crowd, naturally, went crazy for. Hey, who wouldn’t want to party with J Balvin, pick a time and place, we’ll be there. By the time we got to “Treat Me Right” and “Keep it 100,” the floors were sticky and almost everyone in the room has switched their gear to “rave mode.” 

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There were feathers, beards, leather jackets, fir coats, matching outfits, surprise guests, bad performances, good performances, new friends, and much more. Between the many highlights of the festival are:

Coleman Hell’s unicorn skin jacket – like can we all slow clap for that or what! Thing got really weird though when he smashed his ukulele on the stag, but hey, why not.

One of the note-worthy up-and-comers Lucas Dipasquale shocked everyone with his jazzy voice, strong rhymes, and personal stories. Looking forward to what comes next from him!

Dirty Radio made it snow and made a new track, with audience participating right on the stage.

Keys N Krates headline performance brought everyone to one stage and jumping up and down into the air with passionate ambition. If anyone knows how to turn it up it’s definitely these three.

The post Rifflandia Music Festival 2016 in pictures appeared first on Quip Magazine.

You’ve seen nothing until you’ve seen Elmo get low with a bunch of dudes in neon tanks and “Billionaire Boys Club” t-shits. Everyone was keeping it 100%, even Minnie Mouse got moves and the cotton candy sugar rush was only fueling the celebratory hype.

The stage was tucked away at the back of the yard under trees and you had to find odd corners around the space to be able to see the DJs through the blinding sun. Every now and then you’d spot an occasional body facing the wrong way while hundreds of people are throwing shapes, tossing vocal compliments towards the stage.

The day started off with Toronto’s local Harrison who has been making appearances around various major festivals across the city all summer. Though humble in appearance Harrison always delivers an upbeat set to get the party started. Tennyson, a brother-sister duo from Edmonton, are another two kids on the scene worth paying attention to. Making soft, glitchy electronic beats with a variety of drums, Luke Tennyson and Tess Pretty came together as a perfect soundtrack to melting crushed blue ice.

Ganz had trouble at the border and could not make his set but Tom Wrecks, one half of Thugli, stepped in for a respectable nearly hour-and-a-half-long performance. Playing classics from the Thugli repertoire and club heavy hitters from Ludacris’ “Move Bitch” and Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” to Jamie XX’s “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)”, Wrecks got everyone dancing.

Flat White was also delayed but was welcomed on stage with an epic introduction by Jr. Flo and David Matisse who then stepped off the stage to wander around talk to party guests. For the first little while Flat White seemed a bit out of his element but once he got going with the crowd’s favorites from Drake’s “Energy” to a James Blake throwback the set came together into a solid performance.

Just Blaze stepped in right after dropping faster, more energetic trap-heavy tracks getting the crowd worked up for the final performance of the day. The Keys N Krates chant happened earlier in the day but things did not get real till the birthday crew took the stage. Light. Them. UP!

KNK clearly likes birthday parties. We like birthday parties. You definitely liked this birthday party. Let’s do another one next year, same time, same place, same creepy Elmo.

See more photos from the KnK Birthday Party here.

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Davies is originally from Manchester and is currently residing on the Isle of Wight, where he started his own label, Wight Label Records. Today he hosts the Wight Label Records Radio Show and tours Europe, DJing parties. With Bestival originating in the UK, it made perfect sense to have Martin Davies as a special guest. While his usual repertoire consists of melodic, deep, house, his beach-side set was built on disco undertones, with tracks like Faze Action’s “I Wanna Dancer” causing waves on the sand.

By the time Rob Da Bank entered the DJ hut, the path to the beach turned into a line quickly regulated by flanking security guards. The main stage was host to Born Ruffians, with a tight crowd of people singing along to “Needle,” “same as everyone spinning underneath the sun.”

On the other side of the park, the Big Top stage was beginning to fill up for Cashmere Cat and what would turn into an exploding party in a few hours. Magnus August Høiberg, a Norwegian DJ/producer who goes by the name Cashmere Cat (not to be confused with Cajmere) is one of those performers with a humble attitude. Similarly to Jamie xx, Høiberg didn’t interact with the crowd at all, but his set of skills is nothing to be shy about. With a solid bunch of appearances at the DMC World DJ Championships, Cashmere Cat was masterfully going through the Mirror Maru and Wedding Bells EPs.

Immediately following Høiberg was Lodewijk Fluttert, a Dutch producer known as Bakermat. Over the last couple years almost everything Bakermat released became a summer hit, so much so that he had his own stage at Tomorrowland in 2014. Joined on stage by his usual saxophone player, Fluttert went through his hits from “Teach Me” to “Another Man,” with an ear to ear smile on his face from the beginning to the end.

The next artist crew to take the stage was local success story, Keys N Krates. Having exploded onto the mainstream dance music scene with the track “Dum Dee Dum,” Keys N Krates have recently dropped an equally successful Every Nite EP. The main track from the EP, “Are We Faded,” has already been remixed by a variety of people, on multiple stages and was a sure way to pack in the tent with shouting, jumping fans reaching for the sky. Having a gift for crossing genres from various decades, Keys N Krates are also regular guests at the Red Bull Thre3style, so these guys really know how to get the crowd going. This set was alive.

A newcomer to the music scene, ZHU, was second last on the Saturday night bill. No one knew who Steven Zhu was until sometime last year when “Faded,” (and subsequently it’s remix by ODESZA) exploded on the internet. ZHU is one of those artists who prefers to be seen for his music alone, he doesn’t do many interviews and performed behind a veil which stretched across the entire Big Top stage, serving as a screen through which you could occasionally get a peak at Steven Zhu.

In less than a year, ZHU has acquired a massive fan base. The mosh pit for ZHU’s set ended a few meters outside of the Big Top tent and those who could not get close were scattered, dancing in the nearby area on the grass.

With photos still flooding, one by one, onto Instagram and people reminiscing about the weekend, it is clear that Bestival has made an epic entrance into Canada. We hope to see you back next year U.K., let’s make Toronto Island your second home.

photos by Erik Shaw

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But What The Festival isn’t just another fest. It’s acres of land, featuring 8 stages, some huge and some intimate. One’s in front of a pair of huge wading pools so hundreds of people can splash, dance and hurl inflatable toys into the air. Another, accessible only by trekking through the Illuminated Forest art exhibit pathway, is shaped like a massive Chinese dragon with a pagoda structure on its back so the DJ stands 10 meters above the dance floor (which is grass), surrounded by trees on all sides.

Other, more intimate, stages are nestled into smaller areas, like the Shinto A Go Go just off the main drag. The Shinto area has a small torii entrance with traditional noren to walk through and features multiple miniature open-air tea houses brewing matcha and herbal blends; Luz Elena Mendoza of Y La Bamba fame played a set there Friday night and sounded fantastic. Just down the forest path is the LOL Stage, where decidedly un-techno acts like the LoveBomb Go-Go Marching Band or The Saloon Ensemble might play a half-gypsy, half-flamenco version of Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight”. It could happen. And after midnight, when the two main stages shut down, the Silent Disco starts up midfield, underneath the massive disco ball. There are few sights as surreal as seeing 200 people swaying in total silence, their wireless headsets glowing blue or red depending on which one of the two DJs they’ve chosen.

As you’d expect the two big stages are where the bigger acts play to crowds of thousands. Visiting the major stages is a breeze, you can pick one and dance nonstop for hours or ping-pong back and forth between the Effin’ Stage and the Main Stage.  Friday night’s duelling stages began to heat up at 8 when StéLouse was on the Effin’ Stage opposite duo Sabota on the Main Stage. Members of Camp Waldo – one of the more visible camp tribes, definitely a thing at WTF – must have been delighted by half of Sabota wearing nautical horizontal stripes and a red woollen beanie, but none could be reached for comment.

Friday night’s Effin’ Stage lineup peaked with twins Kendrick and Sherwin Nicholls’ Two Fresh. StéLouse handed them a good groove and they ran with it, their vocal-heavy, hip-hop-infused, dance music sounding different enough from what had come before to be novel. It helps that both Nicholls are born performers who use every inch of the stage and fire up the crowd, but credit where due: those were some amazing beats. The only quibble with their music might be their frequent use of “bitch” and “ho”, tired tropes that are deeply ingrained into the fabric of old-school hip-hop. But yeah, that’s a quibble. Two Fresh was a top-10 set of the weekend, easy.

When Daktyl played Portland last year, supporting Slow Magic, he was solid, but somehow unremarkable. Perhaps being on tour empowered him? Less than a year later at the WTF Splash Stage his set was unexpectedly bold, featuring an unusual number of tempo changes, as if he was daring the crowd to keep up with him. It worked. He walked a rhythm tightrope, keeping the party going while flirting with less and less traditional beats, giving himself multiple opportunities to drop (and re-drop) the bass. He read the roaring crowd perfectly and delivered one of the most musically memorable sets of the festival, in the sun, at 5 p.m. – no small feat. He had a solid lead-in by Ambassadeurs and made the most of it, upping the ante on the crowd minute by minute.

At a typical rock show there may be a 15 to 30 minute gap between performers to allow breakdown and setup of gear, but at most EDM events these transitions happen organically, as DJs seamlessly blend sets to keep the momentum going. It’s unspoken, but understood that if another DJ or producer is plugging in during the end of your set, it is incumbent upon you to pass it off to them as gracefully as possible. So it was shocking to see a performer pull the musical equivalent of dumping water on a campfire at the end of his set. QUARRY had a challenging time slot; 7 to 8 p.m. is between the poolside Splash Stage closing and the 8 p.m. headliners coming on, when the plurality of attendees get food, rest, and change clothes for the evening festivities. His crowd was not massive, but he had a solid few dozen people dancing when he seemed to have technical difficulties. A hard crackling stop mid-beat, some dialog, then a final track of synth washes, which seemed beatless, capped off by a dead stop, silence, then him saying “That’s it.” Uncool, and enough to dissipate the crowd.

By the time Ellie Herring started her set a moment later, a scant 8 people stood a good way back from the stage. Understand, this isn’t starting from scratch – it’s way harder. This was earning back spurned attention and having to overcome the lure of a very effective Little People set in progress just across the great lawn. You can see both stages, so it’s obvious when one scene is happening and one isn’t. Laurent Clerc a.k.a. Little People had a 15 minute head start and was banging, his trademark electronic sound effects punctuating solid beats that had attracted a large, and growing, crowd.

Some know Ellie Herring from her hooky, minimalist tracks like “Always Just OK,” but her 2015 work has been more muscular and driving – insistent without being aggressive and without the whisper-passive vocals featured on most of Kite Day. It’s a near-complete stylistic reinvention, different and good. Her WTF set picked up where her May tour with Dot left off, lots of percussive beats and short vocal samples that insinuate themselves into your earholes and demand body movement, at times sounding like next generation Jose “Chep” Nuñez or Tuta Aquino’s mid-’80s mixes.  As people poured back onto the festival grounds, heads turned and trajectories were altered as Herring soldiered on. A few minutes in she said “Hi, I’m Ellie, come dance with me.” and they did: 8 became 40 became 120 became 300 and upward, and the music soared. By the end of her hour long set she was handing Sweater Beats a hot crowd in a great mood. It was the biggest turnaround of the weekend and the talk at one of the campfires at 2 a.m. “Did you see Ellie Herring?” “Holy shit, YEAH.”

On paper, the Main Stage has a bit more firepower, lining up artists like GRiZ, Keys N Krates, Machinedrum Vapor City Live, Slow Magic, and Big Gigantic. The latter 3 artists, in particular, benefit from using analog instruments in performance. Watching someone thrash a drum kit or play sax can be a good visual break from the DJ hunched over the controls, not to mention a sonic differentiator. The Main Stage also has LED display screens built in to several vertical surfaces, allowing most of the stage to luminesce.

The first of the headliners to close the stage was GRiZ, who took the opportunity to stretch out his trademark funk; the vocal samples were there as well as slinky Chic-esque guitar snippets and occasional blasts of horns. GRiZ is one of the few artists at WTF whose sound could translate almost identically to a really tight live band, but he did it all himself. Imagine the sound of excellent tracks like “Funk Party” and “Get Down” writ large, with a thousand people stomping along in the dust. His music plays better live than most, he pushed the crowd hard, and might have singlehandedly convinced hundreds of people to consider a move to his hometown of Detroit. His work has always had an earthy, party vibe and that was ideal for the festival setting. Great, great set.

Machinedrum Vapor City Live’s work is less bombastic and more subtle and inspires a more mellow, groovy response. Like the crafting of a good mixtape, WTF organizers were cautious to mix things up from set to set, and Machinedrum’s near-downtempo washes of synth and voice over not-quite-but-almost drum & bass percussion was a kind of hourlong exhalation for the crowd after Hustle and Drone and Little People. Not that the set wasn’t exciting – it was, magnetic even, and an ideal crowd prep lead-in for Big Gigantic’s saxophone driven dance funk.

In scientific terms, people went ape shit for Big Gigantic. The duo – Dominic Lalli and Jeremy Salken – are veterans of Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza, and seemingly every other festival and it shows. Their set started sick and got progressively more insane as it went. Their set also marked the first sighting of one of a pair of massive, luminescent squid puppets, 5 meters high and requiring a minimum of 3 puppeteers. More than most, WTF inspires attendees to want to glow and present their tribes with costumes, signs, and pike-mounted objects that can be seen above the crowd. The massive squids were overkill of the best kind, dancing their way back and forth through the crowd, as Big Gigantic pounded their way through one of the best-received sets of the weekend. Big Gigantic’s set offered strong visuals on the LED screens as well – was that dancing Honda ASIMO robots as well as Apollo astronauts?

As for the other squid, he was undulating his way through the huge mob STWO handed off to TOKiMONSTA. Jennifer Lee’s work can be aurally challenging at times, demanding a careful ear, much like the rest of the Brainfeeder crew. But the set she played at WTF avoided her (at times) dissonant aspects and more experimental time signatures in favor of sleek beats and clever transitions. Fair enough – TOKiMONSTA’s style seems to change up from record to record anyway, and only the most churlish fan would expect her to step on the vibe by breaking out the more avant of her garde. More importantly, TOKi was beside herself, grinning, clearly enjoying the sight of a thousand or so people throbbing up and down to her music.

More than most events of its size, What The Festival places a premium on the variety of experiences offered to the guests. In addition to the stages of various sizes and the silent disco, the Illuminated Forest offers an interactive and beautiful break from the sun and sounds. Take a right at the outdoor hookah lounge and you’ll almost immediately be struck by the otherworldly beauty of the various art installations peppered through the woods.

One retro/futuristic device had hundreds of vintage slides being pulled along several belts which passed backlighting and magnifying glasses. Aside from being visually arresting as an object of curiosity, the feeling of sitting at its base and gazing into those lenses as the images passed by was like a steam-powered View-Master. Directly across the path is a wooden sculpture facing a screen and a Microsoft Kinect: like a giant multitrack theremin, it reads your gestures in conjunction with your selections and allows you to create music by waving your hands in different directions. Further down the path is a queen-bed-sized fiber-optic garden which encouraged tactile interaction.

Turn back toward the main lawn and you’re met with several fantasy forest guardians woven from branches and twigs, each with a luminous heart at its center, as well as a sculpted metal luminous pegasus whose every surface was open for personal messages to be written in the chalk provided. Other installations were less experimental, but just as welcome, such as the huge cushions inside a neon clamshell labeled “We Need New Friends”, the three-animal totem on which line art was projected, and a Mario Kart station. Artists were working on some installations all weekend long, often inviting input or help from attendees.

Cliché as it sounds, the best part of WTF is the people. Tribes representing themselves with costumes, wigs, and standards on 3-meter lengths of PVC; dancers and hoopchicks lighting up the night with luminous hula hoops, whips, and fur collars; yoga practitioners striking precarious poses at the edge of the Splash Stage pool; goths and punks and B-boys and heshers and vape geeks all gearing up and cruising the grounds to see who’s who and what’s what. (That guy with the dreds who flips a stick between two other sticks showed up too, but he goes to every festival – he hasn’t changed his poncho in years.) In most cities they avoid one another, but at WTF they all somehow mesh and become the friendliest crowd imaginable. Maybe the common denominator is loving Big Gigantic.

More photos can be found here.

The post What The Festival 2015: sound and vision appeared first on Quip Magazine.

What is normally a hyped-up festival began with chaotic guesswork; it was difficult to know which of the multitude of bands to catch without hours of listening beforehand. This year, the four-day music festival in Victoria, BC, took on an outer space theme, and the tagline “A weekend of discovery,” a statement which has never been more true.

Thankfully, on the flipside, what the festival does best is unify the city and its residents over four nights of spontaneity, all in the name of the unexpected. What makes Rifflandia, or Riff, so unique in the first place is its multi-venue approach, in addition to two main stages located at Royal Athletic Park, better known as the “Park”, Riff 2014 managed to book over 150 artists at 15 venues located around Victoria – no small feat for the size of the city.

Highlights included a flashy lights show to Tiger and Woods and a retro performance by Cool that can only be described as “rad.” (They sold tapes instead of records or CDs – I’d call that pretty Cool.)

But the real cherry on top was Pickwick’s performance at the gorgeous Alix Goolden Hall church on Friday night. After crowds had listened to hours of mediocre electronica, they offered up incredible energy, spirit, and unexpected beauty. The six-piece indie rock band from Seattle invoked a sense of realness, not to mention flawless acoustics that amounted to the perfect Rifflandia moment.

Half Moon Run also delivered tight performances on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, in what were, perhaps, the most current and highly anticipated shows the festival had to offer this year.

Alternatively, Born Ruffians delivered a lukewarm performance at the Park on Friday, followed by the adorable Dragonette, who, despite being somewhat of a has-been, literally appeared out of dry ice, getting the audience’s hands high in the air with old favourites.

Over the course of the weekend, the Park boasted the usual array of food trucks, mini shops and merch, including Rifflandia t-shirts with “September Forever” in caps across the front. In typical festival fashion, hipsters with floral crowns spent long afternoons soaking up the last of the summer sun. Rifflandia is a festival that captures the spirit of summer and holds it in its palm for one last time.

To conclude a weekend full of surprises, an actual meteor streamed across the sky during Death Cab for Cutie, eerily matching this year’s galactic theme. It’s moments like this that make Riff just so damn magical. It’s quite simply hard not to love Rifflandia.

While the initial release of the lineup suffered from a little bit of backlash, as always, fans of the much-loved festival (or rather, everyone in Victoria) came crawling back and it was no less out of this world than it has been in the past. Cheers, Rifflandia. And here’s to next year.

See more photos from the festival here.

The post A weekend of discovery at Rifflandia music festival appeared first on Quip Magazine.

One of the acts that kicked off the festival embodies electronic music, but with a hip-hop flavor. Toronto based trio, Keys ‘N Krates consists of David Matisse (keyboard player), Adam Tune (drummer), and Jr. Flo (turntablist). The group’s new EP Every Nite drops on September 23 and is spearheaded by the new single, “Are We Faded”. In support of their upcoming release, Keys ‘N Krates will hit the road this fall touring across North America alongside Gladiator and THUGLI.

Quip had a quick chat with Keys ‘N Krates about performing at the North Coast Music Festival, their upcoming tour, and their new EP, Every Nite.

Sherron Shabazz: What does it mean to you to perform at the North Coast Music Festival?

David Matisse: Man, we love North Coast. Played it a couple years back and it was one of our first big festival plays. Kids from Chicago always come out to party, so love being back this year.

SS: You guys are on the road for the next few months on the Every Nite tour. How will the tour dates be different from your North Coast performance?

Jr. Flo: Festival sets are usually limited to 45 minutes or an hour, so we try to bang out tunes and get the crowd super hyped from start to finish. On this tour, our set time will be a bit longer, so we can take the opportunity to be more musical and bring the crowd along on this ride that we’ll create.

SS: How’d the single “Are We Faded” come together?

DM: I waved a magical wand and it kind of just appeared. Ha!

SS: Explain the title of the new EP, Every Nite.

JF: The EP has a dark vibey feel too it. Something that you can just throw on every night.

SS: What can fans expect to hear on the Every Nite EP?

Adam Tune: They can expect to hear a composition of work that blends together and not just individual songs. It’s probably our most musical work to date. We’re really stoked on it!

The post Quick chat with Keys N Krates appeared first on Quip Magazine.

The new single starts out with a bang, but a much sexier and edgier bang than usual. They have made a sound that you don’t hear at every club, restaurant or concert and leave their fans wanting more. Which is a good thing, because they certainly have more for them. “Are We Faded” gradually turns into a much bigger beat than it begins with, and the climax isn’t instant or too soon. The vibe is a lot gentler than a lot of Keys N Krates’ other mixes, but it seems to be a good change. Originality and diversity have always been this band’s claim to fame.

Masters at fusing electronic and hip-hop music, these three musicians have proved their progression within their own songs, and also allowed their fans to see how much they appreciate and understand good music. The six tracks blend together seamlessly and if anyone was wondering if they are, in fact, “faded” track number four, titled “Yes We Faded” will definitely answer your question – both literally and harmoniously. Their true fans will recognize their sound, but value their growth.

With a massive Fall Tour starting in Phoenix on September 18^th, and a little help from widely respected talent THUGLI as well as Gladiator, Keys N Krates are sure to have some well deserved success over the next year.

The post Keys ‘N Krates kill it once again with “Every Nite” appeared first on Quip Magazine.

As teenagers in flower crowns (yes, that’s still happening) and neon tanks flooded the streets of Toronto, unloading trains and buses, the Flats of Ontario Place began to fill with energised crowds.

In its third year, this was the biggest festival in Toronto yet, an estimated 80,000 people came out, or at least tried to, some of them didn’t get past the security due to…being tired let’s just say, early on in the day. Electronic Nation, in collaboration with Uniq, Capture and a few other partners, made the festival bigger and brighter than ever before. The main addition was the fourth stage, Fantasy Land, located in the back of the island on the bank of Lake Ontario, occasionally gracing the audience with a sailboat or a pirate ship.

While small groups of people wandered the flats eating raw bell peppers, sleeping under trees, or chilling out in Muskoka chairs, crowds were gathering in front of stages in scattered dance circles. Fantasy Land proved to be just the right place for trance on a bright Saturday afternoon. With Saad Ayub and Alex M.O.R.P.H. people went into deep euphoria while the bigger beach was graced by Sébastien Léger, forming mosh pits on the sand.

The highlights of day one were mid-day/early-evening performances at the House of Boom: Hydee, Thugli, Keys N Krates and Crystal Method delivering serious hard-hitting trap and drum ‘n’ bass beats. Keys N Krates, known for their versatility, dropped a solid variety shredding tracks you may have already known off by heart to bits, while Crystal Method came here to show he’s not going anywhere, nor do his narrow retro shades.

On the second day of the festival, the vibe around the flats was a little more relaxed and a little less busy at first. People slowly trailed in for the first few hours just hoping to get some food, struggle with a warm $10.00 beer, and sway to some music until they got their energy back from the day before. The skies were clear, the sun was out, there was no shortage of bacon-wrapped hot dogs or deep-fried Mac ‘n’ Cheese, and the music was quickly taking over.

In the true festive fashion, Canadian DJ Jelo lit up the Dream Stage early on in the day. Known for his intense performances, Jelo came out in full force with some hard-hitting progressive techno and rock-and-roll-inspired mixes. A little heavy for some in the middle of the day, but his true fans and lovers of all things music kept the energy up, crowd-surfing deflating dolphins and lifting girlfriends in bikini tops closer to the sun.

The Chainsmokers hit the stage right after. This being their first year at the festival was eased by every self-obsessed teen’s favourite single, “Selfie” released earlier in 2013. The crowd was pleased and properly warmed up for Fedde Le Grand. While confusion began to spread across the crowd about set times and locations of things, Fedde started almost on time, causing crowds of sweating people to flock to the main stage across a shaking, floating bridge. Fedde brought a solid set playing a mix between his old and new hits like “Twisted,” but leaving out his infamous “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit,” and his new track “Love Never Felt So Good.”

For day two to everyone’s confusion, the new stage got renamed to No. 19 Social Experiment. This sunny and windy side of the Flats was where the festival came alive (and got wet). When long-time DJ Green Velvet (real name Curtis Alan Jones) hit the stage, the areas quickly became the busiest it had been all weekend. With a perfect view of lake, and a choice between dancing your heart out or chilling out on a hill with your posse, this was definitely the best part of the day. Green Velvet killed it as always even when Mother Nature decided to spring a rainstorm on everyone in the middle of his set, Jones kept on spinning. Most of the crowd ran for shelter, but his true fans could not be bothered by a little bit of water (ok, a lot). A few tiny technical glitches, a few thousand damp festival-goers, and about half an hour later, the skies cleared, and everyone was ready to take on the night to the last few notes of “La La Land.”

At this point, most of the festivalgoers made their way to the main stage to reserve a decent spot for Tiësto. Eric Prydz got the crowd alive and warmed up after the storm and before you knew it, Tiësto was taking the stage. “How are you doing Toronto!” came Verwest’s excited Dutch accent spilling through the speakers.

Hosting Tiësto is a pretty big deal since he doesn’t tour much, so Toronto welcomed him back with open arms, fireworks (really, really sad fireworks), and a lot of fist pumping. Being an older DJ playing for a (mostly) younger crowd can be tricky, so it wasn’t too surprising that Tiësto played most of his recent club hits, but it was somewhat of a shocker that his set was nearly identical to the one he played last year on the same stage.

Looking up at the fireworks trying to make their way into the sky with no real climax, lighting up the city skyline, surrounded by thousands of people coming together for the love of music (drugs, drinks, and dancing), it was a good weekend to be Canadian and a great way to kick off the summer.

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Without a doubt, this week must have been a challenging one for the judges. Some sets were more prone to a dance off than other but all of them illustrated some type of a ridiculous skill. We’ve heard it all, all of the genres and, quite possibly, at least a beat from every good track that came out since 1965.

Unlike the rest of the week, Friday night did not start up with a two block line up, though that might have something to do with an 8pm door. The early arrivers got right into the action to Thugli’s trap remixes blended in with some slowed down beats. Immediately after Grandtheft, one of the week’s judges, set an example for how it’s done playing his own tracks in combination with a good friends of friends mix.

Keys N Krates’ live, bigger than life, set riled up the sweaty crowd for the finale championship. With only 15 minutes to showcase their talents the six finalists (including two wild cards) of the Thre3style World Championships were DJ Shintaro, DJ Byte, Eskei83, Bazooka, Trentino, and Marquinos Espinosa. Each finalist brought their everything to the table, video game soundtracks, classic electronic tunes from the ‘70s, the new and the old school hip hop, some jungle, some drum ‘n bass, your favorite movie dialogues, acrobatic DJ tricks and a whack of attitude. But the ultimate championship title with all the sleek and shiny trophies and eternal glory went to Japan’s DJ Shintaro.

From the first beat to the last Shintaro brought it! Regardless of it being still early in the night the entire Kool Haus was raising up the heat, every track was welcomed by a finger snap or an “Oh no he didn’t!”

The audience had already thinned out by the time the judges announce the winner. With so many DJs swapping throughout the night and radical headline set by A Tribe Called Red the winner was not announced until after 2 in the morning. The judges seemed exhausted, the competitors were completely beat, and the tired crowds were slowly wondering out of the building, leaning on walls and poles, or slowly swaying in anticipation. The hard core dancers stayed behind for AutoErotique while the rest exited the venue smiling, looking for street meat and a way home.

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This is not an event that happens often. This is not the kind of show you would see in any of the participating venues on an average Tuesday or even Saturday night so people gave it their all. Most attended at least a couple days and the select few were fortunate enough to hit up the Art Of panels throughout the week at the Thompson Hotel. Most of the judges were either on the panel or in attendance every day tipping hats to each other throughout the discussion, sharing personal stories and insights. We’ve talked about the history of music with DJ Denise Benson, went way back to the beginnings of DJ culture with the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff and got to pick A-Track’s brain before his set at The Hoxton.

If you were really committed to experiencing Red Bull Thre3style you are probably exhausted and fulfilled, probably enjoying a caesar this afternoon with a tired smile. If you only had a chance to see one of the events you should head over to Thre3style homepage and watch the daily highlights, they’ll make you feel like you were there.

Having been there for nearly every event for us here at Quip this was a week of DJ Olympics, next time we do this I’m taking the whole week off.

Photo courtesy of Red Bull

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