P-p-p-p-odcast

So, today is definitely my personal "Patric La Funk"-Day :D Aside from releasing his two hot and brandnew tracks "Jazz" and "That's Why", Patric uploaded his latest podcast on SoundCloud.

Patric la funk Podcast _017 november 2010 by patriclafunk

On this month's playlist:

01. Noir - Africanism
02. Belocca - Boogie Wonderland
03. Nez - Inside Of Me
04. Shapeshifters - She Freaks
05. Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone (Deadmau5 remix)
06. Thomas Gold - Àgora
07. Prok & Fitch - After The World
08. Kaskade - Raining
09. Morgan Page - I've Had Friends (Jean Èlan rmx)
10. Marco V - Reaver
11. Chuckie & Hardwell - Move It To The Drum (Promised Land remix)

The episode is really hot so go, go, go and download it!

Jazz....that's why :)

It's a great end of the month for Patric La Funk. After some very successful studio sessions with Kim Fai and Fedde Le Grand (can't wait to listen to the results, by the way :) ), he released not one but two tracks on Beatport.



The first one called "Jazz" came out on 23/11 and it's a co-production with his studio-buddy Timo Becker. The track is super melodic and perfect to dance to in the club :)




The second track - "That's Why" is by Patric La Funk and Jorgensen. The release is out now on Beatport and includes the original mix, and two remixes - one by Alan Lockwood and the "Elegance Mix" by Alex Gomez and Bias.
It got already great feedback by Gareth Emery, Groove Armada, Markus Schulz, Jerry Ropero, Sarah Main, Mark Knight, Matt Darey, Sander Kleinenberg and, and, and..
You can see for yourself by buying the original @ Beatport.

Nicely done, gyus :)

Feel the vibe with Tara McDonald

She is the voice behind some of the most significant house music projects of the past years. She is one of the most amazing performers I've ever met - always looking fabulous, always in a good mood and with the BIGGEST heart someone could ever imagine! She is Tara McDonald, a young and very talented UK song-writer and singer and I'm sure, that she doesn't need to be introduced. Her talent lives through her music, which touches people all over the world. One day after her new project with Sherry Flavour "The Grand (We're not alone)" got released, Tara found some time to talk to me about her fans, her shoes and her new album:)






E: Tara, your new single called “The Grand (We're Not Lonely)” was released on 22nd November on Selekted Music, after getting big support by Armin Van Buuren, Cosmic Gate, Above and Beyond, Flash Brothers and many more. Can you tell me something more about it?



T: I had heard the instrumental of this track “The Grand” by Sherry Flavour and really loved it. Then I was approached by 3 different people from completely different sources to write a vocal line for it, so it seemed something that I was destined to do. I decided to write a song called "We’re not lonely" because when I hear the music I am uplifted and it can completely change my mood. I work in club life and sometimes you can have a bad day and don't always feel like going out. But once I hear the music playing I am transported and know that many other people feel that way. I want to remind myself and others that no matter where you are in your life you are not alone.

Sherry Flavour & Tara McDonald - The Grand (We're Not Lonely) (Radio Edit) by Selekted Music



E: Have you ever thought about an own album?

T: Yes! This is my next ambition I want to fulfil. I am a very cautious person. I wanted to feel ready for such an important stage in my career. I used to get so nervous about performing and had to overcome that. So I started backing singing and recording vocal sessions for pop and rock stars to get more experience in the studio. Then I started touring with them. After that I wanted to make records but was still too scared to do my own one so I wrote songs with other producers (mainly dance) and released tracks for their projects. This was great as I got to tour doing my own club shows and had to do some press and radio interviews and sometimes big live performances especially when I was working with David Guetta. Now I feel that I have experienced nearly every aspect of putting a record together and I'm now ready to work on my solo album (in fact I have already started and I'm so excited about it!)




E: What came first? The singing or the song-writing?

T: I guess what came first for me was singing as this is something you enjoy doing when your very young. When I was about 5 years old I was at a friend’s birthday party and there was a magician there. All of us children were singing happy birthday and the magician came over to my father and said "is that your daughter there?" My father nodded. He said "all the other children are shouting but your daughter is really singing" so I guess that was a sign of what was to come.



I didn't start writing songs till I was around 8 or 9, these were not good! But I was aware of song structure and interested in words/lyrics and how they could make you feel and tell a story. I started working in music at 9 years old traveling to London to perform in the musical “Les Miserables”. I had always loved to sing and dreamed of performing on a stage, I had to persuade my parents to let me be in the show. They took me along to the audition for fun, I don't think they ever expected me to get the part and I haven't stopped working since.


E: How comes that you’re in the house music business?

T: House music opened its arms to me and I have been very grateful. I was very shy growing up and going to nightclubs for me was pure escapism. In the day I felt I couldn't express myself because I was very insecure about my appearance and found it hard to talk to people except my trusted circle of friends. But somehow all that changed when I walked into a dark nightclub with the music pounding so hard it rocked my whole body. I wasn't image conscious there, I felt free. I became a different person like my bad ass alter ego :D So I always felt very comfortable in this environment, it was a way to escape. Simply dance music made me feel good and I was soon addicted to it.


E: Can you tell me about the moment, when David Guetta and Axwell got in touch with you, asking you to work with them?

T: The Axwell situation was through a music publisher, they gave me the track as they were finding it hard to get the right vocal line. I had always loved the instrumental and lucky for me they liked what I did.





The song "Delirious" with David Guetta was born out of another unusual situation. I had been contacted on MySpace by a guy called Sven Kirshner from a company from Yamabooki. He wanted to send me some tracks to write on but didn't tell me who they were from. It was good as I decided what tracks I wanted to write to on the strength of the music alone and I fell in love with one piece of music that I decided to call "Delirious" and another track I wrote too from that time was an instrumental from the Todd Terry Allstars that I called "Get Down". This was a really creative time and I feel very proud of both these records. David and I then met up in London and he got a real shock as he had only heard my voice before on "My my my" that I featured on with Armand Van Helden, he hadn't seen me before and thought I was going to be a big black woman.




E: When you write a song text, do you always know the melody already? And which way round is easier?

T: When I write with DJ/producers it's usual that I am sent a track, this can be rough and then I will just listen to this over and over again. I will start singing melodies that come into my mind and maybe I will get some lyrics at the same time. This happens sometimes but more commonly I will find the melody first and an idea to write about. Then it’s like a puzzle adding the pieces together. It has to be natural, it’s all about feeling and instinct.




E: How did you discover your passion for house music?

T: My passion for dance music came through my love of the nightlife in London, it was a real mix of excitement, fashion, glamour and a love to dance all night long. Now I'm in the process of putting together my own album, it's such an incredible time. I'm experimenting with different sounds in dance music, adding in different flavours too and I can't wait to share these songs with everyone!


E: You play a different role in every music video. Have you ever thought about acting?

T: To be honest I am loving working in music right now and haven't thought much about acting although a couple of people have asked me recently. It's defiantly something I would consider in the future but it would have to be a very special project and right now I want to concentrate on my album.



I have however just presented my own radio show for Sarah Main's "The Main Room", I had never done this before and it was a great experience to pick out some of my favourite tunes. I decided to concentrate on focusing on the singers and songwriters in house music as I am one myself. I had so much fun doing it.


E: Which was your most personal gig experience?

T: I feel so blessed to have had some truly amazing experiences over the years that have meant so much to me. It doesn't matter if it's a massive event or a small club gig, they all matter! The best feeling is sharing your music to an electric crowd. I have a few experiences I would like to share with you....



One of the biggest gigs I did was about 10 years ago, I was working with Planet Funk and we were performing at the MTV dance festival in Ibiza. I had never been to Ibiza before and was so excited to finally be on the island which is the mecca for all things dance music. We performed alongside Basement Jaxx and Faithless and the gig was at Privilege the world’s biggest nightclub. I was so nervous but the audience loved it and I felt such a high afterwards.




Another great memory was when I performed in Jakarta last year, I was singing "Get Down" and I usually put this in the middle of my set as it was a big club track but not so well known commercially. I had no idea how big this sing was in Indonesia. It was crazy, normally the biggest songs of the night from me are "Delirious" or "My my my" so I was really pleasantly shocked with the reaction I received.



More recently this year I played at the Tomorrowlands festival on the main stage in front of 90,000 with Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike & Dada Life. We wrote a track together called "Give Into the Night" which was the official Tomorrowland anthem and went to number 16 in the commercial chart in Belgium. I am really proud of this record as it's the first track that I have recorded the vocals for myself at my home studio and the artwork for the single cover was so beautiful. It was a great honour to play on the main stage after the Swedish House Mafia and I was blown away by the audience. It was really crazy!




E: Which was THE most strange fan gift?

T: I haven't had many strange gifts but I do feel so touched that the music I make reaches people and through that the fans care about me. I had one fan from Cairo in Egypt travelled all the way to Moscow on a private jet just to give me a rose before a performance which was pretty special because he thought I might be nervous. Also when I was in Germany recently a guy put something in my hand while I was singing. (yeah T, I saw that! :D) I gave it to my tour manager as I was performing in a dark club and couldn't really see what it was plus I was singing too. When I got off stage I saw it was a beautiful necklace in 22 carat gold. I really wanted to thank him but it was too late, he had gone already. So hopefully he'll read this and know that I kept it and I was very touched. Another fan in Romania is a very talented designer Anca AKA Little Artist she made me this beautiful leather bag in leopard print with a record on the front with my logo on.


E: Who makes your outfits for your gigs?

T: I am a bit of a shopperholic to be honest and I love to find new outfits. That’s my best excuse for shopping - "I need it for my job"! I will buy things from the high street, designers and also I do have some things made just for me. I'm not precious about where my clothes are from. Sure, I love expensive designer clothes like all girls but I'm just as happy with something from H & M. I did have one dress especially made for me that I wore for a Playboy party that I was performing, designed by Prince Charming who lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He wanted to make me into a modern day Jessica Rabbit!




E: How many pair of shoes do you have? :)

T: I honestly can't tell you...but it's a hell of a lot. I'm not good at throwing things out so the collection is getting bigger and bigger!


E: It seems to me that you love to tweet :) what is Twitter for you?

T: I love twitter and anyone out there that wants to follow me my address is http://twitter.com/taramcdonaldtv Follow me! :D

Twitter for me is amazing as it's such a quick and easy way to communicate to fans and update them what you're doing, new records, where you're playing and to thank the people that are supporting you. It’s also a great way for me to find out what other artists or my friends are doing. Everyone has such crazy schedules these days. Like last week I was playing in Dubai I tweeted about it and Afrojack tweeted me back saying he was there too. Without twitter he probably wouldn't have checked my web page. So it can be a good social tool too :) My mum likes to follow my tweets as she never knows where in the world I am so she can look at my twitter post and say ok she's ok she's just landed in China and is doing soundcheck LOL


E: Do you love your jet set life or do you sometimes get tired of being away from home every day?

T: I do love my jet set life......now. When I first started touring and doing my club shows I wasn't as well known as I am now so I used to travel everywhere on my own which could get very lonely. Also living out a suitcase can be hard, especially as I hate packing! It’s easier for the male DJ's and singers in a way as they just roll up to the gig in an old T-shirt, but for a girl there is a lot more pressure to look good. Trying to travel light with only hand baggage (in case the airlines lose your bags) but when you’re away for a week can be tricky. Touring has become such a big part of my life and now I'm in hotels more than I'm at home so I'm used to it.
This month for example I have performed in Miami, Dubai, Milan, Paris, Marrakech, Warsaw, Luxembourg, Belgium, and a Russian tour.



On average I'm on more than on 6 flights a week. Sometimes I get to stop and see something of the country and I love that. When I was performing in Egypt earlier this year, the ash cloud incident happened and I couldn't get home. This ended up being great as I got to explore Cairo, saw the pyramids and the museum and made some lovely new friends there. Also I played a show in Rome this year too and took a late flight back so I got to see the ancient city of Rome.



Sharing my music with people is such an incredible feeling. Believe me, the things I miss at home are a small sacrifice. I love what I do so much and know I am very lucky to live through my music. I am blessed and I’m learning to get better at packing my luggage!


Pictures by artist.

"One Night Only" Tour by SHM

Swedish House Mafia announced their UK tour dates for May 2011. You can party with them on following dates:

26/05 - Barrowlands Glasgow
27/05 - The Academy Manchester
28/05 - Alexandra Palace London

A small tip from me - order your ticket asap, Brixton was sold out extremly fast last May!! Pre-sale start is yet to be announced, official on-sale starts on 3/12 at 9AM.


Sources: Official Swedish House Mafia Facebook Page

Last night Seamus Haji saved my life :)

I'm not sure that everyone has heard his name, but I'm definitely sure that everyone has danced to his music. Seamus Haji is not just a name, he's a cult. Although he thinks of him like someone who has just followed the trail of the vets of the house scene, it's not only my personal opinion that he himself is one of them. It's a great honor to present you the producer of "Take Me Away" - one of the songs responsible for my falling in love with house music :)



E: Seamus, your track together with Mark Knight and Funkagenda “Good Times” enjoys a huuuge success all over the world. How long did it take you to get done with it? And do you have a special studio-work-mode?

S: That took some time to get the vocals right as it was such a classic to cover of course. I can't remember exactly how long it took but it was something that took a lot of tweaking and going back over to get the arrangement right in certain places. Plus everybody knows the Chic original so well so I wanted to give it a twist and accentuate the 80's vibe in the music with the electro synth hook and we carried on that theme in the video with the roller skates!


E: You’ve worked on so many projects together with Paul Emanuel. Do you prefer working on your own or in a duo?

S: I think it's good to do both. Paul doesn't DJ so I'm the one who's out there in the clubs and he's focused on the studio. Sometimes I like to do my own thing and sometimes our schedules don't permit us to work together. I like to do the odd collaboration which I've done with people like Mark Knight & Funkagenda, Kaskade or Romain Curtis for example and then when Paul and I get back together I think we usually come up with something special.


Take Me Away - HAJI & EMANUEL Feat. Erire (edit) by Erire



E: Tell me about your favourite gig over the years, which you’ll never forget.

S: The Week in Rio De Janeiro was pretty amazing! Every time I played one of my tracks or remixes they'd play the video on a massive screen at the same time. The crowd was amazing!


E: Which software do you use for your productions?

S: Logic and Live





E: How does a typical “Seamus Haji”-day look like?

S: If it's a week day - drop kids to school, then either in studio all day or working from home on the record label then usually catching up with my family in the evening or friends out socialising.


E: What can you tell me about “Big Love Music”?

S: Well Big Love is a record label and it all started 8 years ago. The label is still running but I have now been appointed as Head of A&R for legendary New York house label Strictly Rhythm. So now I'm exclusive A&R to them I can't sign any more music to Big love so maybe Big Love is something that I'll come back to in the future. Let's just say that Strictly made me a very good offer and I probably would have kicked myself if I turned the job down and then seen it go to one of my peers so I'm excited about the future! Saying that we are putting out our last release on Big Love this month Seamus Haji & Romain feat Awa "Just A Friend".


E: What can we expect from the newest compilation by “BLM”?

S: It's a look back at this years releases from Big Love so big vocal projects mixed with releases from our more underground imprint Big Love Digital with lots of exciting artists like Filthy Rich, Romain Curtis, Jason Chance, Jesse Voorn, Per QX, Nino Anthony, Dirty Harris, Whelan & Di Scala, Reza, Grant Nalder & Adam Asenjo.


E: What is the one place in the world where you would love to perform, but hasn’t had the chance yet?

S: I've always had a lot of studio/label and family commitments so I've never really liked to travel too far or gone away for too long. I was only just recently convinced by my agent to go to South America for some mini-tours for the last 2 years and I did have a brilliant time but I hate being away from my family. I always hear good things about Zouk in Singapore!


E: Are you nervous before a gig?

S: It depends on where & the size of the crowd really. If I'm on unknown ground then I can get a bit nervous yes! I find that I won’t notice I'm nervous before the gig but I may feel nervous as I start until I settle in and get the crowd on my side...well fingers crossed! :)


E: Seamus, looking back to the beginnings of your career, if someone had told you you’ll soon be working with Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Moby, Sugababes or Axwell, what would your reaction have been like?

S: I probably wouldn't have believed them. I remember when I was starting to make name for myself on the US House scene in London in the mid 90's and even though I'd play the more underground stuff from MK, Roger Sanchez & Masters At Work I'd also play the remixes they'd do for big artists on major labels so playing the David Morales remix of Mariah Carey's "Dream Lover" and seeing him go on to win a Grammy for it was very inspiring. As a DJ I thought "that's what I want to do" but didn't think I'd get anywhere close to it. People like David set the bar for the rest of us to follow.

The Annual 2011

The waiting has come to an end. On the 05/10 Ministry Of Sound released a new compilation set and I have to say, it's quite amazing. "The Annual 2011" includes 3 CDs with over 60 great tracks and 3 full lenght mixes on each CD.

My personal favourites on the first CD are:

- Steve Angello - Knas (Original Mix)
- Laidback Luke feat. Jonathan Mendelson (Chris Kaeser Remix)
- Tim Berg - Alcoholic (Dada Life Remix)
- Dabruck & Klein Albyn Myers - Lönneberga (Original Mix)
- Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand (Original Mix)
- Alex Gaudino – I’m In Love (Original Mix)
- Swedish House Mafia feat. Pharell – One (Vocal Mix)
- Avicii & Sebastien Drums – My Feelings For You

The second CD offers also some amazing tunes like:

- Tim Berg – Bromance (Aviciis Arena Mix)
- Morgan Page feat. Jan Burton – I’ve Had Friends (Jean Elan Extended Remix)
- Robyn – Hang With Me (Avicii’s Exclusive Club Mix)
- Dirty South feat. Rudi – Phazing (Original Mix)
- Max’C, Chris Kaeser feat. Anita Kelsey – What We Gonna Do (Mode CK Mix)
- Eddie Thoneik, Erick Morillo feat. Shawnee Taylor – Live Your Life (Eddie Thoneick
Dub Mix)

And I love these tracks from the last CD:

- Patric La Funk - Next To You (Sweat) (Original Vocal Mix)
- David Costa feat. Lima - Into You (club Mix)
- Patrick Hagenaar feat. I-Fan - Part Of Me (Original Mix)
- Fatboy Slim - Star 69 (Thomas Gold 2010 Remix)
- Wolfgang Gartner & Mark Knight - Conscindo (Origina Club Mix)
- Jean Elan - What It takes (Club Mix)
- Jovicii feat. Andy P - Don't Hold Back (John Dahlbäck & Avicii)

You just have to buy this release, it's definitely a must-have!! Listen to the mix below and see for yourself :)