Find Your Blog

Whether it’s trance, dubstep, house or progressive, DJ Mag Canada is the place to get an inside look at what is new in the world of EDM today. Through a number of different blogs, the writers for DJ Mag Canada reveal the latest and greatest in EDM from across the country and around the world.

Here is a list of our writers and their passions:

 

Chelsee Cook – The Trance Floor 

Don’t let the short stature fool you. Chelsee’s party drive is only matched by her thirst for knowledge about her favourite songs, albums, and artists. Knowledge is power and she feels the more you know about what goes into producing your favourite music the more you will come to respect and cherish it. The EDM night life isn’t about who you know, its about what you love.

The Trance Floor is a blog designed to bring the reader into the soul of all things trance. Striving to bring the latest releases and interactions with the artists to deliver a complete experience. Trance is one of the most frequently played but most mysterious genres. There’s a reason trance fans carry those feelings in their hearts for the rest of their lives. The Trance Floor tries to delve deeper into those reasons and convey all of the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of trance every Friday.

Twitter: ChelseeC_

John Mitchell – Interviewer & Photographer

John Mitchell has been a professional photographer in Toronto’s EDM scene for over a decade. What started as a hobby shooting the rave scene in the 90′s blossomed into a full time gig sometime in 2001. Having worked with countless websites dedicated to nightlife such as klublife magazine, nocturnal magazine, clubzone, hype1 and resident advisor, just to name a few, more recently john’s photographic work has been published overseas in major EDM publications such as mixmag M8, and tillate magazine.

Being a resident photographer at many of Toronto’s more known venues both past and present gives him a finger on the pulse of the scene few have John’s strength in the industry comes from long running working relationships and friendships with the who’s who of Toronto’s DJs, promoters and club goers, while remaining politic free. Something he takes pride in and it shows with his ear to the ground, keeping it real style of writing.

It is john’s desire to bring an edgier, real keeping approach to both writing and shooting for the DJ Mag Canada brand and he looks forward to doing his part to shine a light on the people in the Toronto EDM community that have long deserved it.

Twitter: @Jmitchell_photo

Facebook: John Mitchell Photography

 

K Lea – Calgary scenester / Interviewer 

For the last 12 years, Ms. Lea has been attending electronic music events in western Canada. K’s musical tastes embrace most genres of EDM, including drum and bass, ragga, glitch hop, drumstep, breaks, dubstep, juke, techno, electro, downtempo, house, moombahton, minimal and all other hybrids of these musical varieties. She believes basically all genres have something to offer, and all can be good with the right producer. Her blog can generally be found in the Canadian News and Your Scene sections of the DJ Mag site, and could encompass all of these genres, as well as other elements of the electronic music scene. In addition to EDM, Ms. Lea also loves hip hop, reggae, dancehall, indie rock, rockabilly, punk rock, jazz, funk and folk.

K also volunteers at many events and festivals throughout the year. Most weekends in the summer months are spent in a tent during prime festival season. She has been a member of the Village Stage crew at Shambhala Music Festival for about seven years, and looks forward to every May long weekend when stage work commences at the Salmo River Ranch with the rest of the “farmily”. The list of other shows and festivals is quite extensive, as it spans about a decade.

Overall, K is an advocate of arts and subculture. Her favorite activities are anchored around supporting and taking part in these various communities. She hopes to continue to be involved for at least another decade, if not forever.

Twitter: @KLea0

 

Keri-Lyn Pelletier – CDN Beats: TGN 

Keri-Lyn has loved dance music her entire life. Anyone who knows her will tell you that she is ALWAYS dancing. She constantly surrounds herself with DJs, producers and the whole EDM scene to ensure that she’s always hearing the best new beats.

Keri-Lyn is proud to present Canadian Beats: The Next Generation. As she’s grown, she has become most impressed by the younger generation of talented artists. Truth be told, she wishes she was that passionate when she was younger! CDN Beats: TGN features some of Canada’s youngest, passionate and talented artists. Check in with CDN Beats: TGN every Saturday to find out about up-and-coming artists.

Twitter : KLPea

 

Markos Polydorou – Production 101  

Born on Canadian soil but of Cypriot decent, Markos Polydorou was influenced by music at a very young age.  During his youngest years he trained in classical performance and music literacy while attending school. He started out as a turntablist for young hip hop artists like Shad, Ray Black and Okay City. At the age of 19, Markos dug himself deep into the underground where he discovered the art of minimal techno.  By the time he was 21, Markos had already opened for top Toronto jocks such as Carlo Lio, Nathan Barato, The Junkies, Jonny White, Kenny Glasgow, Joee Cons, and DJ Boza at various small underground events in Ontario.  After a few years of DJing Markos decided to change his focus to music production and in 2010 began to build his home studio in Niagara Falls, Ontario. His style infuses dark groovy tech beats, with classic acapellas and vocal snips from his start as a hip hop DJ and in 2012 released his first record on Not For Us Records in Cuiaba, Brazil.

Today, Markos involves himself in a variety of tasks within the Canadian electronic music culture.  Currently working as a record producer and writer for DJ Mag Canada, Markos hosts a blog called Production 101 which is focused on introducing users to the basics of music production. The aim of his idea when constructing the concept of his blog was to help simplify the learning curve for new producers getting into beat production. Keeping things simple, and to the point, the blog explains the basic fundamentals of beat production, mixing, and effects.

Twitter: @markospolydorou

SoundCloud: Markos Polydorou

Facebook: Markos Polydorou

 

The Slag – Basscast producer

The Slag is a chart topping electronic artist based out of Vancouver, B.C. After first being signed to Donald Glaude’s Eden Recording, The Slag has gone on to have over 10 top 100 singles on Beatport and TrackItDown. Together with Frederik Olufsen of Mau5trap, he co-manages Royal Fetish Recordings. He also produces a highly successful radio show on Digitally Imported Radio, which has since evolved into the official DJ Mag Basscast.

After returning from a year long residency at some of the biggest venues in Tokyo, Japan, he began producing music full time. It wasn’t long until he was voted first place in the Universal Records K-Os remix competition, and signed onto his first EP. Since then he’s released numerous EP’s with some of the hottest labels on the scene. Including Big Alliance, Big Fish Recordings, Royal Fetish and Eden Records. Eventually his accolades included a #1chart topping single on TrackItDown, as well as numerous reviews and publications in DJ Mag, MixMag, TrashBagKids and IGN.

Now teaming with DJ Mag Canada, The Slag hopes to bring his unique insight with exclusive interviews and reviews of some of the biggest figures and events in the dance music scene. He will also be producing the DJ Mag Basscast, a unique bass oriented podcast on a monthly basis.

SoundCloud: The Slag

Facebook: The Slag

 

DJ MAKE SMILES – The Breakdown 

Mike Miles is a 21-year-old dude from Winnipeg, Man. He works, goes to school, blogs awesome tunes and DJs under the name DJ MAKE SMILES! In his younger days, Mike was always very active in sports. He always had a strong love for music, but never got involved with it. His major musical influences growing up ranged from Linkin Park to Swollen Members to April Wine to Jack’s Mannequin. He went through many phases of music; classic rock, rap, screamo, indie rock … It wasn’t until the summer of 2010 when Mike was first exposed to his first house track, Violins from Lake & Lys.

The booming kick, the long builds, soft melodies … he fell in love. He bought himself some DJ equipment that coming winter, hibernated and sank deep into the music. With his love for the music so strong, he quickly honed his skills and has since been featured on numerous blogs and podcasts, as well as making his way onto the DJ scene in Winnipeg. He still has a long way to go to reach his dreams, but he’ll be there one day!

Catch his blog every Thursday, called The Breakdown, where he shares music from Canadian DJs and producers. Free stuff, previews, new releases and Beatport charts … it’s the works! You’re guaranteed to find some new stuff so don’t miss out!

Twitter: @djmakesmiles

SoundCloud: DJ MAKE SMILES

Facebook: DJ MAKE SMILES

 

Scott Slinn – The Drop 

Scott Slinn, or DJ Slinn for some, is originally from Toronto, Ont. but has lived in Ottawa, Ont. for the past five years while completing his degree at the University of Ottawa. He discovered Hype Machine two years ago and his life was changed, finding all these new sounds that he hadn’t ever given the time of day to listen to. It was over the summer of 2010 that his musical interests did a complete 180.

At the end of the summer, he downloaded Traktor (a mixing software) and began playing around on his computer. Three weeks later, he bought a little Vestax controller (which he later sold and bought a Traktor S4), got his first gig and his first weekly residency. Since then his popularity has grown and Scott has gained lots of experience at various bars and clubs in downtown Ottawa including the much sought after JunXion Public House.

Scott’s blog, The Drop, is all about sharing the music he loves. So many Internet sources have done their part in sharing music with him and showing him what he’s been missing and The Drop is Scott’s way of returning that. The music that he likes to focus on is generally electro-house, but he also likes to touch on other forms of house as well as some select dubstep.

Twitter : @DJSlinn

SoundCloud: DJ Slinn

 

DJ Si Edwards – #TourLife

With his creative vision and innovative approach to pushing the boundaries of DJing,  Si Edwards has taken not only his show but many clubs and nights to the next level. From his original old school days of dropping those illusive white label 12″ vinyls on a pair of classic Technics decks, to finding unique ways of mashing up live music on the infamous Pioneer CDJ’s. His next chapter see’s him at the forefront of performance technology using a combination of the most powerful laptops, high end digital controllers plus touch screen MIDI interfaces from his sponsors Vestax and Serato to create a show that combines music, video and visuals, for the ultimate experience. Its the future, now!

DJ Si Edward’s visionary approach to creating shows that go beyond the norm has him admired today as a leading Audio & Video DJ/Producer/Writer and Creative Entertainer. Ask Si Edwards about his success and he will credit it to the many clubs, promoters and artists who have supported and inspired him throughout the years. ”I have a backbone made of friends and a heart that beats to family.”

His advice in life? “Our mind is like a parachute. It functions better when open.” One vision. One love.

#TourLife features highlights from DJ Si’s adventures around the world, from Miami to Dubai. Playing in some of the most famous clubs and in the company of some incredibly talented artists, DJ Si breaks down the most stand out moments and features some great tracks along the way.

Twitter: @DJSiEdwards

SoundCloud: DJ Si Edwards

Website: www.djsiedwards.com

 

Stef Abrek – Festival Fever 

Stef Abrek is from Ottawa, Ont., and has grown up around many different musical influences. From the Beatles to Metallica, his dad introduced him to a variety of sounds. Moving to Ottawa from Quebec City at age 12 helped him discover different styles of music through new friends and experiences, this is when his love of hip hop and R&B was born.

It was only just over two years ago that Stef’s interests shifted and he truly fell in love with EDM. Although he had listened to many dance tracks and been previously “schooled” about the variety of genres within electronic dance music, it was when he purchased his first DJ set that really pushed things over the edge. He started researching and buying all the best tracks he could find and soon found himself fully immersed in the industry. He had finally realized what he’d been missing all these years, the general negative connotations behind hip hop and rap were uninteresting to him in comparison to the uplifting feeling of a true house track.

His main interests in EDM are house, tech-house, progressive, electro and some trance although almost every genre can be found on his iPod. His favourite artist is Carl Cox and luckily he was privileged enough to see him perform live for the first time at Ultra Music Festival 2012. Stef can now almost always be found in his studio at home mixing beats or spending time working on his own productions, all of which he still considers hobbies for now.

The blog named Festival Fever is simply a culmination of all the passion Stef has for EDM, he really enjoys learning about these amazing festivals and sharing them with all of you. Stay tuned to his blog and the website to hear about many of the world’s best electronic dance music events.

Twitter: StefAbrek