Tommie Sunshine praises EDM scene, enlightens fans and DJs alike in recent guest blog
Reflecting upon over two decades spent working in the cause of dance music, Tommie Sunshine took to Huffington Post this week to share a guest blog entitled ‘EDM is Growing Up.’ Much like one of his Twitter rants, Tommie’s message spreads love and optimism for dance music in the new year — only using a few more than 140 characters.
“That time is upon us… it’s going to be an amazing year for EDM and the emerging culture around it.”
Less than a week into the new year, Tommie was quick to point out the major occurrences that have already taken hold, including Zedd’s Letterman gig, Avicii’s world’s largest collaboration, and Armin van Buuren’s Madison Square Garden invasion — but that’s not even the half of it.
“We are at the tipping point. This is it. This is what I’ve been working at for 20 years of my life now.”
Sunshine summed up the peak of EDM’s explosion and its importance to him as an industry veteran and devotee for most of his living days. “The moment when this music becomes both a mainstream musical explosion and a cultural phenomenon simultaneously. If that isn’t something that causes growing pains, I don’t know what is.” Glorifying the massive audiences of festivals like Ultra and Electric Daisy Carnival, he encourages the recently absorbed youth to begin “feeling this properly and experiencing it on a much deeper level.” He then goes on to persuade his readers to “mentor the younger Ravers and teach them something in the confides of your brief psychedelic weekend encounters.”
Last weekend Tommie spent his New Years Eve with the explosive superstars he has praised, joining Afrojack at his Pier 94 celebration for an event that would be one of his biggest stateside shows to date. As DJs have become, in a sense, the modern day rockstars, they have also become treated as celebrities in the public forum. Tommie experienced this for himself, as he attempted to walk through the New York City crowd to reach a food truck, and was bombarded with fans hollering “what are you doing out here?” The DJ responded modestly, “we’re hungry,” as he didn’t see the fuss over mingling with his fans.
“Walking through a crowded event is always one of the highlights of the night for me… I haven’t felt so connected to a party in years; other DJ/Producers, I implore you to try this. It’s beautiful and truly amazing.”
Sunshine wraps up his oversized Twitter rant of a guest blog with numbers and predictions, putting EDM on the map of the future — logically and statistically. “This week’s Billboard Top 40 is 25 percent straight up EDM tracks and another 25 percent EDM-influenced tracks (see Swift and Bieber), so essentially, we have half the chart.” While he predicts that by 2015, 100 percent of the Billboard Top 40 will be EDM-influenced — in comparison to what European charts have been like for two decades — he also goes on to proclaim “these are the best days of it,” and to “enjoy it while it lasts.” Tommie leaves us with one final, enlightening statement, and a powerful, thought provoking question; “This is essentially still a secret, even though people are making it out to be the end. It’s not the end at all. EDM is just growing up. The question you should be asking yourself is, are you?”
Via: Huffington Post
Categories: Music