In 1992, on the way back from a youth skiing trip, a friend of mine slid a tape called Jyradelix into the church bus’s tape deck. From that tape, I heard techno for the very first time. I was also hooked on it. It was also Christian. After that, I couldn’t find enough electronica. Fortunately, that was start of Christian electronica. Well… maybe not the start, but that is when it started to rise and take shape into something that the Christian Booksellers Association took note of and stocked on regular basis thanks to the efforts of Michael Sean Black, Scott Blackwell and Diamanté Distribution.

Twenty Years Later…

Fast forward to 2012, it’s been 20 years since that first album from mYx Records. Today, you couldn’t find a Christian EDM release at a US Christian retailer if you tried. Ok, that’s not 100% true. You might find one of Andy Hunter’s CDs in the bargain bin. The truth is though that the Christian market for EDM has drastically shifted in much the same way that Christian rock has. Bands today do not have to be distributed in only Christian stores. The Christian market has been separated from the music in many cases. Top that with a willingness of the secular industry openly accepting Christian acts today and the secular market embracing much of it as quality music.

This traditional Christian ideal of having a section dedicated to your favorite genre of music in your favorite Christian store is still nice, but no longer valid. This has become doubled true with the advent of iTunes, Beatport and even Amazon. The major retailers tend to classify music as either Christian or EDM, but not both. This sub genre of a sub genre classification model isn’t financially worth the information architecture nightmare that accounting for it would create. And so the model overall has shifted so Christians EDM producers must compete in the secular industry if they want to make anything of themselves and I’m not just talking turning a profit here.

The fact of the matter here is that the Christian only market totally collapsed between 1998 and 2002. What was once found even in small towns like Wilmar, MN is no longer there. What is interesting today is that there are people in the Christian EDM community who missed out on the success of the 1990′s. They don’t know that EDM used to be in all the hip and even not-hip Christian retailers. And that is what this article is about in a way. How can we build on our accomplishments, not just try to recreate what we have forgotten has already happened and then… Build it in such a way that in 20 years, we aren’t looking back and having this same conversation. In other words, we need sustainability!

The Sustainability Plan

I think most of us know what sustainability means, but let me be specific. The type of sustainability I’m talking about here is one in which as one generation moves onto other phases in their lives, the next generation is already trained up and moving into leadership roles within the community. Much like how 2012 marks this transition with the Cornerstone Music Festival where John Herrin, the director for so many years, has stepped down from that position and Genesis Winter has taken over.

In order for this to happen, we need those of us with experience to share that knowledge here. We need those new to this community to find those old members and ask how things should be done. We all need to become mentors of one another and not be focused just on ourselves and our personal careers. Labels, communities and events require teamwork or they don’t happen. The also take a bit of wisdom too.

So, I would like to make this our goal over the next few months. Let’s start a series of articles about starting labels, communities and events that are sustainable. We will start out by tackling events as that almost always a hot button topic and one of the hardest to pull of in such a way that you even get a chance at having a second event.

If you would like to contribute either a article to this or an example, please contact me and let me know. The more people with experienced input, the better.

Until next time… I’m out.

Xen Ochren Is Evan Morgan, Producer, Sound Designer, and DJ. With charting releases for V.I.M. Records and Beatport feature attention. Xen is attempting to hone an emerging sound of deep, proggy, bush doof breaks; drawing heavily on prog breaks, psy breaks, and progressive techno influences, the result is a strong, head down dance floor experience, with diverse and ever flowing directions…
Xen acknowledges his dependance on Spirit, land, and technology.

For those of you who are lost in translation, doof is an Austrailian outdoor dance party.  For some of us, Xen, may seem like he is from another planet but he simply hails from another culture to which he is a part of and has been making an impact in for some time.  I’ve had the pleasure of watching Xen develop as an artist and a brother in Christ.  I hope one day we will have the chance to meet face to face and chat over a good cup of espresso in this world or the other side of glory…they do serve espresso in Heaven, right?  Sure they do!  Anyway enjoy the mix and don’t forget to check out Xen’s forthcoming releases this month.  Let’s support our Christian brother by purchasing a track or two!

Xen Ochren uses Abelton Live with an APC 20.

Guy J & Miriam Vaga – Fly (Hybrid Soundsystem Remix) Bedrock

Xen Ochren & ben Moore – Tensions – VIM forthcoming
Xen Ochren & ben Moore – Tensions (AP3X Remix) VIM forthcoming
Boson – Blackout (Retroid Remix) Ego Shot
Fisso & Spark – Freefall – Ground Level
Parallax Breakz – Asteroid (Broken Eye Remix) Rune Recordings
Digibox – Krypton (Xen Ochren Remix) VIM forthcoming
Noisia – Alpha Centauri – (Elite Force Remix)
Toy Quantize – Warlock – Dirty Drop
Interactive Noise – Rewire (Durs Remix) Spin Twist
Ben Moore – Its Been a While (Xen Ochren Remix) MK837
Big Mistake – Guenon – Psychoactive Records
Home Alone & AP3X – Connect (Synthetic Hype Remix) Diablo Loco
Parallax Breakz – Scream (Project Synthetic Remix) Rune Recordings
Xen Ochren – His Beat – Unreleased
Fisso n Spark – High Times – Kick It Records

Remixing music is an art that has been around for quite a few years. From Daft Punk sampling obscure 70′s songs to remaking a new song from the top 40 countdown this week, it all has one thing in common: individual samples that are morphed into an entirely new song. A lot of new remix artists make the mistake of grabbing a remix pack from a contest download, a label, or just from a friend who wants a remix, and only use all of the stems in the package. I’ve had a few remixes done for me personally where people have done this, and it seems that they simply rearranged the music I made and called it a remix. Every single remix I’ve been given that was like this was seriously disappointing. People who are looking for remixes are wanting to hear a different sound altogether, not just a rearrangement of a song.

I have been Producing music for about 15 years off and on, but only seriously for the last 5 or 6 years. I honestly wasn’t any good at it until the last few years. I have learned alot from different sources, but mostly from the mistakes and triumphs I’ve had on previous works I have made. I love doing remixes, and honestly, it is the best way to stretch yourself as a producer. It takes you out of your normal way of producing, and forces you to think of another way of making a song. All of that being said, a good rule of thumb is… DO NOT USE ALL OF THE STEMS!

When I make a remix, I always take the vocals and possibly one or two other small stems from the pack, and then build a new track around it as a whole new vision. People tend to listen to the original song and try to emulate that sound. That is not necessarily a good thing. When I remix a song, a lot of the time I will not even listen to the original so I can get my own artistic interpretation on what it should sound like. Here is a metaphor that might help out. Lets say you read a really good book, and love it to death. You are excited about a movie rendition of said book. The movie comes out, and you are vastly disappointed in the movie as it is nothing like what you pictured in your head. You created your own world from what the artist painted with their words for the book, and when you saw the movie, it was nothing like what you had imagined in your head as you were reading, and most of the time the movie is nowhere near as extraordinary as the world the book created in your mind.

Now, let us look at the oppsite side of this. You go see a movie that was based off of a book, you watch the movie, and liked the movie a lot. You like the movie so much that you go out and buy the book. When you read through this book, no matter how hard you try, you will always picture the scenes in the movie and the actors that were in it as the characters in it. The movie painted the picture for you, and removed all aspects of your imagination. This principal applies to remixing music as well. if you are going to do a remix of a song, it will always always always be more benefitial to you to have your own outlook, your own style, and your own artistic representation of that song.

The next step is to take what you like from the remix pack and use a few small parts. Try not to use them as they are. Break them up, rub some funk on it, and chop up the samples to make them unique. If the lead is your favorite part of the song, by all means use it. Don’t use the same lead from the remix pack, make your own! Tweak it, add some more funk to it… heck even change the pattern and melody a bit! Shake things up! After all that is what remixing is all about. Personally I do not like to use leads from any pack I get. I will listen to the lead, chew on it for a bit, then make a new lead from a synth and midi notes that I can adjust at will. This brings me to another point. When you are getting a remix pack, it is always helpful to ask for midi tracks that you can use, as this will add more tools to your raw recreation of a song. If you can get this, you will be able to adjust the lead, bassline, or anything for that matter to ANYTHING you want. Midi tracks are literally limitless and will always be your best choice for artistic freedom.

The next part is the meat and potatoes of any remix; the vocals. This is when bootleg remixes come into play. Most of the time it is VERY hard to get permission to use vocals, or any part of a signed song for that matter. Vocals will usually be the driving factor of your remix if it has vocals. If you can get vocals easily, that is great, but if you are making a bootleg, that is a different matter. There are hundreds of online websites that you can access that provide acapellas, sometimes really good quality ones, and sometimes… not at all. www.acapellas4u.co.uk is a good one that I go to. Just search google for acapellas, and you will find a treasure trove of decent vocals, most of the time they are creative commons.

When you do add your vocals to the mix, again, add some funk, chop them up, do fun things to them, the sky is the limit! Take parts out, add parts in, make several tracks that have effects you have built from the vocals etc etc. I use Ableton live for my production, and will not ever change to anything else. The reason: warping. Ableton has a feature that makes it ridiculously easy to fit any vocal into any bpm range (reasonably of course) and makes it as tight as you want. You can warp the vocals in any way, and use the tool to make them fit in your mix without ever going out of time. Warping is something that took my mind a few months to wrap around, but after I understood how to use it effectively it became my favorite tool in Ableton. I could go on for hours about all the benefits of warping in Ableton, but that will have to be a different article altogether.

When downloading vocals from an obviously bootlegged song, I must strongly STRONGLY caution you, as you CAN get into alot of legal troubble for remixing a song from songs that you do not have permission to use. The best way to not get in trouble for this is simple: keep them for your own sets. Having a song that literally NOBODY ELSE has is a beautiful thing in a dj set, especially live. This also can help you with promoting yourself as people will ask you about the song afterwards, and you can tell them that it’s your remix. They will go nuts over that fact. If you are cautious, ambitious, and are willing to be risky, you can provide a bootleg publically, on soundcloud, or any other resource, but DO NOT TRY TO SELL IT! If you do make money off of a bootlegged remix, you WILL get caught, and the legal fees and fines for such a thing… well… lets just say… you can’t afford it.

Remixing is very fun, and can be very eye opening as far as what you really can do if you broaden your horizons and just go do it. Let your creativity loose. Let it fly. Experiment. You will get better. You will learn from your mistakes. The best part is, you will make a killer track that everyone will like, you will get famous, and live in a big house in Miami. Well, maybe not. But it will be fun! If you have any questions about this article, I’m always available, and always willing to help others out with what I have learned from long hours of wrenching my brain and smashing my face into the keyboard from frustration. I would love to write more articles like this one. If you have any requests, shoot me a pm. Now go! Make something sick! And may the force b… ahh whatever…

This week we have a special guest……. DJ J.Hill!!!!  Jon Hill is an up and coming DJ & Producer who likes to make a lot of noise, with his heart.  Jon has a huge heart for people and a huge vision for music.  He recently had the opportunity to open up for Above and Beyond in his home town.  DJ J. Hill is definitely someone to keep an eye on!  I also bring you a monster Electro mix that I know you’re going to enjoy!

Main Mix

1. Devin Martin - To Insanity And Beyond (Droid Beats Remix)
2. Bastian Van Shield – Nobody (Tujamo Remix)
3. Dada Life – Rolling Stone T-Shirt (Cazzette Remix)
4. Nero – Must Be The Feeling (South Central Remix)
5. Digital Lab - Never Come Down (Hot Hips Mix)
6. Speaker Buster - Same Story (Original Mix)
7. Cazzette – Killmode vs. Right Here Right Now (CZT’s A Soccer Hurdle Bootleg)
8. Sam Wallace – Memento (Original Mix)
9. Azzido Da Bass – Dooms Day (Dare2Disco & Future Flas Remix)
10. Stanton Warriors – Turn Me Up Some (Bombs Away Mix)
11. HeavyFeet & Nate James - Back Foot (Project Bassline Remix)
12. fRew feat. John Dubbs & Honorebel – Wicked Woman (Blaze Tripp Dub)
13. Etienne De Crecy – Am I Wrong (Felix Cartal Remix)
14. Kaskade – Room For Happiness featuring Skylar Grey (Dirtie Clouds Bootleg)
15. Posse Of Lunatics - Can’t Get Enough (Mobin Master Safari Remix)
16. Sinaver – Distressor (Original Mix)

Geust Mix: DJ J. Hill Mix

1. Kenneth G – Bazinga (Original Mix)
2. Karim Mika – Jump (Original Mix)
3. Sander Kleinenberg – ‘T.I.O.N’ (5k Remix)
4. Gemini – Fire Inside (Feat. Greta Svabo Bech)
5. Gosteffects – Kick The Bass (Original Mix)
6. Donald Glaude – Let The Bass Drop (Twockers Wobble Mix)
7. Tommy Noble – The Engineer (Original Mix)
8. Tommy Trash – The End Original Mix
9. Kloe – Big Teddy Bear (Original Mix)
10. Porter Robinson – Language (Original Mix)
11. Wolfgang Gartner Vs. 4 Strings – Take Me There And Back (J.Hill Mashup)

Josiah Freebourne has had the honor of playing many concerts and music festivals across the United States. Some events of note include the Ichthus Music Festival, Heavenfest, Cornerstone Music Festival, and Lifelight. He has been a resident DJ for Project Purpose on Power WLOU in Louisville, KY and now hosts a show called Holy Vibes on God Radio in Greece at the top of every month. Josiah plays various types of House with an emphasis on Electrohouse.

How long have you been a member of Tastyfresh?

I first found the site in 2001 but have been a more active member in the past 6 years.

What first intrigued you about it?

What first intrigued me about Tastyfresh was the fact that there was a community of Christians who gathered together through the common bond of Electronic Dance Music. It made me feel like I could be a part of this culture in a God ordained way.

What have you learned from the site?

I learned how to make the ministry that God laid in my heart a reality from the great articles and brotherly/sisterly advice that didn’t sugar coat anything. I have also learned that to truly enjoy community you must be willing to build it with others. That takes self discipline and self sacrifice.

Where do you see the site going in the next few years?

I for see another generation of Christian DJs/Producers/Fans growing in their faith in Christ, impacting EDM culture in a big way, and making a difference in their communities through the mutual love, respect, and exchange of ideas that has always been at the heart of Tastyfresh.

Spotify has been in the spotlight for months now. They’ve been making people happy worldwide with their low cost subscription plans for music. Who couldn’t blame their subscribers for being happy with the service? I find it hard to blame them simply because I’m a Netflix subscriber. I enjoy having unlimited content at hand. It’s not just a feeling of “power” but it saves me a trip to Blockbuster – which in case you haven’t noticed has been absorbed by Dish Network and is turning into a mostly streaming movie service. With the advent of the MP3 and high-speed Internet, the whole entertainment industry has been turned upside down. In many ways, it’s been a good thing. In other ways, it opened a Pandora’s Box that cannot be shut, but has not offered a clear solution after more than 10 years offered a clear solution.

So what has really changed? Well, the majors labels are struggling to find a way to remain big, while at the same time downsizing their staff like mad. Back in February, Warner Music Group announced its 8^th straight quarterly loss. That kind of loss is impossible to sustain. Then again, they deserve it right? After all, a major label artists only makes on average 8 cents on per iTunes download. This is where I think we get caught up in the streaming debate. If the big labels are so evil in the eye of public opinion, where does that leave the small indie labels like Dot Dot, MK837, Deeplife, Llama Farm and others?

Ultimately, beyond the DJ world (and even within it at times) all labels are lumped together and treated as evil entities. This builds up resentment among the buyers of music, and with sites like Megaupload and Piratebay, well… they turn to piracy. After all, the artist is going to get screwed anyway and the music should be free.  Because of the way major labels HAVE treated artists in the past, and how they continue to fail adapt to the new mediums, the market reacts negatively and together the idea that a label should exist at all or even that an artist should be paid for a recording has been lost.

Today, it seems that the market believes that an audio recording has zero value. It does not matter if it’s a CD or MP3. Vinyl has some nostalgia, but the allure of physical media is becoming lost on younger generations. The youngest among us barely know what a CD is these days. The future could be bleak for those of us still in love with pristine audio and music packaging.

All of this combined with the use of mobile devices, wireless networking and various other “pod” like devices has culminated in streaming services. The market is quickly going from an ownership mindset to a renter’s mindset. Whereas 10 years ago someone might have spent $10-40 on music a month, now they can cut that expense down to $9.99 or LESS per month.  That cuts personal music budgets down from roughly $120-480 per year to less than $120 annually. Did I mention that you can listen to not just your collection of music, but THOUSANDS of releases for that? To quote a myriad of people:

“I can’t compete with that!”

To survive as an artist or even a label, you have to compete with new business models. This is the new music reality: ownership among the masses is now nonexistent or soon will be.

What is the real impact of this? Time to look at some numbers. Most of you have probably read about how low the payouts are from streaming.  On average, a single stream of a track nets about $0.007. That’s before the distributor takes a cut. That’s before the label has their cut. That’s before the artist sees a single… wait… what exactly is $0.007 anyway?

The point is, that in order to make total of $7.00, that track has to have 1,000 streams. Now, I can brag a bit here about my label. We believe that the artist puts the most effort into creating the product we sell. Because of that, they deserve the biggest cut. So they get over 50% of the royalty. That said, in order for them to make $7 from streaming, they have to have close to 2,000 streams. Figure in mastering costs of no less than $20 for a CHEAP job on one track and you’re still looking at a loss for the artist of $13 after 2,000 streams.

It doesn’t matter how good your contract is, streaming is not enough to keep the artist in the black.

And there’s the rub. Streaming has the potential to give artists a ton of exposure. However, like the Internet in general, unless someone recommends an artist to you, you have to make a real effort to find something new. With thousands of artists available through streaming services, the chances of receiving 2,000 streams in a given quarter is quite slim. MK837, from October through November had a grand total of 293 streams with the most any one track received being 20.

Now, I’m not complaining about MK837’s streams, but I am using them to show that relatively unknown artists and labels do not break through this whole “People will discover you” argument. Sure, it’s possible. Yes, it does happen. It’s also a bit of false hope. People have to have a reason to seek you out and communicating that reason can often times be difficult when your audience doesn’t have a face.

Despite the 3 million paying subscribers that Spotify has, indie labels are leaving Spotify due to financial reason. I’m not talking major labels, but rather Indie labels. In fact, the major labels own a good bit of Spotify. This environment favors the known artists rather than the unknown. Streaming is basically the new radio. Those who are popular will be played. Those who are not will be tried and forgotten rather quickly.  The advantage here is rather than having to purchase the music later so you can listen to exactly what you want, you just click on it.

The counter argument that wasn’t

One of the most common counter arguments as to why streaming services are good is that artists are forced to go on tour and earn money that way. The music is free (as they believe it should be), but the experience of a performance has value. It’s also exclusive. Not only that, but it’s not a new concept. It’s always been that way.

Yup, from day one, live was it. It’s just in the past 135 years that recorded audio was possible. The buying and selling of anything other than sheet music is really a relatively new concept. Concerts were the staple income for composers and musicians for hundreds of years. What was old never really went out of style. These days, what is new quickly falls out of fashion. It’s a loss of a revenue stream, not an opportunity to start touring.

Again, I’m not saying that you cannot be successful in the realm of streaming music, but that the odds are stacked highly against you.

The simple fact is that even if most acts wanted to do more touring, the opportunities may not be there.

Think about it. Since the late 90’s there has been a music production revolution. It doesn’t matter what genre you produce, a studio can cheaply be made in your house. This is true even if you are recording vocals. Andy Hunter proved this clearly back in 2007 in his video blog. Distribution became simple thanks to outlets like CD Baby, Bandcamp and so on.  To this new environment’s credit, thousands of people who might not normally have been able to get something recorded and on the market has managed to do it on their own. Sans label. Sans studio. You can argue about the quality of the material, but you can’t argue the effectiveness of the new production model.

Now we have increased number of people who are making music. The problem is that we don’t really have an increased number of music venues for live performances. In fact, we probably have a fewer number today thanks to the current economy. As an event promoter, you live and die on your bottom line. If you don’t think an act can cut it, you’re not going to book that act. More people seeking a 1-2 hour set at a local club just means the competition is that much fiercer. It may not have been easy to get booked before, but it certainly isn’t any easier now. Let’s not even go into how much you will get paid for your live show. It’ll probably be more than for streaming though.

An actual tour is another level of complexity. As an unknown act, you’re making the big bucks. Even some well established DJs traveling struggle to make $1,300 a night.  With hotel costs eating up $100-200 a night, flights of $250 or more and food, that gets whittled down pretty quick. Remember those are just the travel expenses. Add in the cost of either manager or the time it takes for you to book the gigs yourself as well as any other business expenses you might have.

Making money while on tour is possible, but more than likely you will be losing it for a long time.  You’ll have to keep a day job and if you have a family, traveling may not be exactly high on your priorities. These factors make it very hard in today’s world to step out on a tour. Yes, you can do it, but there are consequences that involve missing out on loved ones and incurring a greater financial loss than if you had stuck to only selling music.

The above graphic is a break down of the typical expenses and revenues an unknown band will have trying to attend Cornerstone as a generator bands. They aren’t official bands. They have to pay their way 100%. In the end, a good showing for them will be 20-100 people per set that they play. Yes, there are success stories from these bands, but financially most of them just fall further and further behind. Keep in mind to, I left some expenses out like the costs of making those CDs and shirts.

So what’s the solution?

This is the questions just about everyone is asking. If traditional ownership of music no longer works and if streaming doesn’t lead to revenue then what is the solution in this post-ownership world? Well, despite my doom and gloom, I don’t fully believe ownership is dead.  A recent study from Europe in a way confirms this in regards to CDs.

People still want their music after their subscription is over, but they only want what really matters to them. They want the music that they are truly fans of. In the EDM world where DJs need higher quality audio, they will still buy their music (or pirate it). From an EDM label’s standpoint, it makes more sense to focus on growing support among DJs than the masses. It’s a solid/identifiable target audience so to speak. It’s something you can work with.  This group also tends to follow labels, artists, genres and of course the exclusivity of early release. The person who can deliver all of this to a specific group of DJs on a regular basis is going to be the winner.

In other words, labels struggling for survival need to re-envision themselves as “channels”. They provide a specific line-up. They have a specific group of followers. These people will tune in for every release and never want to miss a show. This is what every label needs to survive. Spotify will never provide this because that isn’t its purpose.

The idea that has been hitting hard these past few months with me is that all any label needs is 100 fans who will buy anything they put out. In reality it’s probably closer to 1000 fans, but 100 would be a great start. What if you expanded that idea a bit though? What if you could get each one of those fans to commit to spending $10-15 a month on your label? They would of course get your newest releases and possibly some extras (videos, remix packs, mix sets). They’d also have the benefit of ownership as well. How would 100 fans change your label’s bottom line? $1,000-$1,500 a month in revenue is how.

Such a service could take your label from earning an average of $100 per release (if you’re the average label) to somewhere between 5 and 10 times that. You maintain a solidly loyal fan base. Move the release dates up so your subscribers get all of your releases a month in advance and you gain the loyalty of DJs as well. So, what’s the catch? The tools that artists and labels need to pull this have not been fully pulled together by anyone to do just this.

Wait… that’s not entirely true…

I wasn’t alone in coming up with this concept. Other people have been working on it for longer than I have. I’m always a bit slow to this stuff. The truth is Ghostly International has been working on this concept for some time. Recently, they have unveiled their new project drip.fm. It’s still in the beta stages, but Drip.fm is poised to make this revolutionary jump. The solution won’t be for everyone, but those who truly follow labels will benefit from it. In fact, it will help labels to focus more on putting out quality music. When they know that they could possibly loose subscribers over a bad release that puts a different kind of spin marketing and pressure on A&R.

Currently, Drip.fm seems to be sporting only three labels. MK837 has applied for beta access and I suspect that many other labels have as well. Even MTV has caught on already to Drip.fm’s potential. I don’t think this is something labels will be able to afford to ignore. We’re in a new world order as an industry now. The majors are struggling, but probably have found a home in streaming. The indie labels, the boutique labels; we don’t have a spot in the mass market. We know this. We understand that. Spotify is cool and all, but it won’t lead us to increased revenue. It won’t lead us to more exposure. It exists for when we, as a boutique label, become main stream. That’s a big if.

“Underground will live forever. We’re just like roaches. Always livin’. Never dyin’.”  – Roaches by Trancesetters

That’s what we have to do. We have to get “back to the program” and do what we’ve always done best: innovate music. Those of us who can produce a quality product and get it not only to market, but in the hands of paying DJs, will win. It doesn’t matter what the tool is that we use to do that. While current streaming subscriptions target the wrong audience, I think it’s a safe bet that a targeted subscription services like Drip.fm stands the best chance at helping boutique labels like MK837, Dot Dot, Deeplife, Llama Farm and others to survive.

Back with Episode 2, I have a range of tracks Im throwing at you this month.  Starting off with some top Techno tracks and leading into some banging Electro, I know you guys will enjoy the all the various styles in this mix.  I also throw out a quick mix that I recorded live at an event called Blast.  Blast is about 1,000 students gathered into one facility for a massive weekend of concerts, fellowship, and spiritual growth.  Its an event I look forward to every year and I always have the pleasure of opening up the first session and trying to create as much energy as possible.  This year definitely achieved that.  Its a mix that you will recognize almost all the songs but done in various styles.  Remember to send your mixes and tracks my way to get on show!!!

Tracklisting:

1. Umek & Beltek – Keep The Frequency (Original Mix)
2. DJ Falk – House Of God (Phunk Investigation Remix 2012)
3. Mr. Bizz – Exit (Original Mix)
4. Umek & Beltek – Firewalk (Original Mix)
5. Sian & Mladen – Front Pocket (Original Mix)
6.  Umek & Beltek – Out Of Play (Original Mix)
7. Marcelo Castelli, Chus, Cebalos vs. Christian Cambas – Quimera Rebel Without A Cause (Rocks Bootleg Mix)
8. Abel The Kid & Karim Haas – Hale Bopp (Original Mix)
9. Umek & Beltek – Charley Chopper (Original Mix)
10. DJ Dank – Midnight Moroder (Darth & Vader Remix)(Science Drop Edit)
11. Nero – Must Be The Feeling (South Central Remix)
12. Skrillex & The Doors – Breakin’ A Sweat (Zedd Remix)
13. Minero – Bi-Polar (Fast Foot Remix)
14. Wolfgang Gartner – There And Back (Original Mix)
15. Dirty South & Thomas Gold featuring Kate Elsworth – Eyes Wide Open (Felguk Remix)
16. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain (A-Peace Remix)
17. Kaskade – Room For Happiness featuring Skylar Grey (Dirtie Clouds Bootleg)

Hot Mix

1. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem (Arion Dubstep Remix)
2. Our God Is An Awesome God
3. Tim Berg featuring Amanda Wilson – Seek Bromance (Porter Robinson Remix)
4. Katy Perry – E.T. (Skrillex Remix)
5. Casxio – Seventeen (Skrillex Remix)
6. M.C. Hammer – Cant Touch This (Filthy Rehab Touch Twice Remix)
7. Fast Foot – Eye Of The Tiger (Club Remix)
8. NAPT featuring Louise Marshall – Make My Day (Original Mix)
9. Casset Doreen – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Money-G Remix)
10. Dirty Impact vs Royal XTC – Toms Diner (DJ From Mars Remix)
11. Marco Vab Bassken – Minnie The Moocher (Max Farenthide Remix)
12. B.O.B. – Nothin On You (Zedd Remix)
13. Adele vs Robin S – Show Me In The Deep (DJs From Mars Classic Bootleg)

Some of you might know that I’m a DJ. I’m also a follower of Jesus. I like to mix those things. DJs tend to be good at mixing things (see what I did there?). Mixing those two things means that I have a vested interest in the Christian Dance Music community. I love the fact that in the last few years the quality of the DJs and music being produced has gone through the roof. So many good record labels putting out a lot of good tunes. Above All, Deeplife, Deepsink, MK837, Fuzion Four, God’s DJs, Heaven Sound, and Royalty to name a few, are all puting out really quality tunes. I love the fact that it’s a truly international movement. Not only do we cover the USA; coming out of Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota, Denver, Washington, Florida, Cali, and Virginia but our community represents the world including Brasil, Canada, Portugal, Czech Republic, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, and more. God is truly raising a global generation to make a new noise to lift His name high. We are putting God in every genre of electronic dance music. House, electro, trance, progressive, breaks, d&b, tech, deep house and even dubstep is feeling the love! There is no EDM fan that we don’t have the capability of reaching.

But despite all of these beautiful things I LOVE about Christian Dance Music, there is one thing that I see that’s really disturbing to me. Our community is fractured. We have separated ourselves and formed factions. You have to pick a team to play on and you will play their events and release on their label and that’s it. In a sense, it is quickly becoming everything I dislike about the Church: divided for no reason other than just disagreements between people. This
includes everyone. No one is excluded from this. I’m not playing favorites; God just laid this on my heart and I’m sharing it.

I see these little spats and tiffs come up about this-and-that and then people never talk to each other again. We are supposed to be a united front. We are supposed to be recognized as THE Christian Dance Music community, not a bunch of completely separate, ambiguous units. It’s become brother against brother. The body of Christ at odds against the body of Christ. In Mark 3:25, Jesus said that a house divided against itself cannot stand (and I know a little something about House Divided). The body of Christ can’t be against itself and expect to still be effective, that’s crazy.

I see myself as neutral. I am just an outsider looking in. But, I can tell you, as someone who loves this music, this community, and the people that make it what it is: if we keep going at this rate, our mission of reaching the lost and showing the Church that EDM is viable worship will fall completely flat.

We’ve got to get it together.

I know that we’re still fledgling and we have a long way to go before we reach our goals, but that should be all the more reason to band together, isn’t it? If we really are one body of believers, the whole body benefits at the success of an individual part. I’m just going to say it: If God’s DJs is successful, we all win. If Tastyfresh.com is successful, we all win. If Deeplife Records is successful, we all win. If FSOW, or Cornerstone, or Lifelight, or any event is successful, we all win… and do you know why we all win? BECAUSE JESUS WINS!

So why are we trying to keep each other from being successful?

I want to remind everyone of WHY we do WHAT we do – exactly what it is that makes us different.

Imagine taking the trip down to Miami for UMF. Hundreds of thousands of people are jumping to the music, hands in the air, enjoying great music in unity. WE, being Christian DJs, have the unique opportunity to have those people jumping, hands in the air, worshiping Jesus, in unity; praising Him with something totally new. Without Jesus, we are just a few more added to the thousands of random DJs on the internet begging for attention to feel relevant. What makes us different from all those guys is that they say, “Look at me!” We say, “Look at Him!”. Why in the world would we ever try to separate ourselves from the chance to stand side-by-side and take that stand with our brothers?

Look, I’m not saying all this expecting that everyone merge their websites, facebook pages, record labels, and events and sing Kumbaya while holding hands, but if we’re ever going to get anywhere as effective for the Kingdom of God that we hope to be, we need to come across the table, squash our beef and really get into koinonia: a real spiritual community. THAT is how we reach the lost, THAT is how we spread EDM as worship.

I said all that to say this: I love Christian Dance Music too much to see it go through all this drama. I KNOW that God has a big plan for every single DJ and producer reading this and for this community as a whole. Together, we can literally change the way that people worship God and help lead people down the path our Father has laid out for them. Enough with the trash talk and drama, we’ve got work to do.

I love all of you guys and I seriously want God to bless you.

-J.Hill

Tastyfresh Homegrown is a podcast featuring undiscovered and rising DJ talent from around that world, who believe in Jesus Christ. Each month, our host Josiah Freebourne will be showcasing a mix by some of the finest untapped DJ talent the dance community has to offer. Here’s your opportunity to get to know some great DJs before they blow up on the scene!

This month our guest DJ is Takaki Matsuda of Tokyo, Japan. Takaki fell in love with Electronic Dance music in the early 2000′s. His career started in 2005. Takaki mainly plays progressive, electro, and tech house as well as having produced some tracks for labels like Deeplife Records, Fresh Records, and Cross Border Records. This mix features some self produced tracks as well as some awesome electro/progressive bangers! Enjoy. This is Homegrown!

Tracklisting:

1. Vancouver (Original Mix)-Afrojack
2. Reply (Original Mix)-Takaki Matsuda
3. I Want That Body (Original Mix)-Takaki Matsuda
4. The One & Only (Original Mix)-Quintino
5. Azure (Original Mix)-Sebastian Krieg & Andrew Bennett
6. Keep It Coming (Original Mix)-Starkillers feat. Nadia Ali
7. Maze (Original Mix)-First State feat. Tyler Sheritt
8. B U Tiful (Original Mix)-Radion 6
9. Breath (Original Mix)-Takaki Matsuda
10. Put Your Hands Up High (Original Mix)-Takaki Matsuda
11. No More Serious Faces (Original Mix)-Inpetto
12. Green Tea (Original Mix)-Takaki Matsuda

One of the most influential mandates for the follower of Christ is found in the very words spoken by Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:19-20.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”

It is an observation of mine that, today, we are nearing a spiritual landscape more similar to the early Church than compared to the last millennium.

Throughout a large part of the world, the Church held influence in nearly every aspect of culture that affects the lives of people. The arts, science, government, education, finance, and spirituality were all understood, at least in principle, by the view of the Church. Then, as society had increasingly become nominally Christian the mandate of “Go” became more of a “Come”. If one needed answers it was a given to go to the Church. Now, there were all types of missions to other cultures throughout the world so in a sense the Church never really turned loose of the great commission from Christ. But the culture in monasteries and on the mission field was quite different to the established territory of Christendom.

With that being said, I would like to posit that in today’s world we are more connected than we have ever been. The Church was the dominant source of culture for centuries and now the Internet, known as the information super highway, is the connective factor in culture. Now the world has become a little bit smaller but ideas have become more numerous than ever. For the Church to succeed it must go back to its roots in “Going and making disciples of all nations”. To have an attitude of “Come” here is to lose ground in a world where many different answers are at the click of a mouse button.

The problem is that the Church at large has a mindset of going door to door to share the gospel with complete strangers. Forty or fifty years ago that was normal because most people in the western world had heard the gospel and probably had a family bible displayed on the mantle. Now if a couple of strangers come to my door I figure they are going to:

1. Try to sell me an overpriced vacuum cleaner that I could get on Ebay for a 1/5 of the cost.
2. Try to sell me some product out of a white van with the story of “It’s your lucky day because such and such happened so we have to sell this stuff right now for dirt cheap.”
3. Try to get me to be a part of some cult religion.

Number three is the most likely way you will be perceived if you are intending to preach the gospel in this modern society of ours. Now I’m not saying that street evangelism should go out the window. I’m just saying that first you better know the culture, the people you are approaching, and how you are going to do it.

With the advent of Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter it is possible to connect with people in your same culture of thought, music, government, religion, etc. Just look at Tastyfresh. I was thrilled beyond belief that such a thing existed because living in a rural area DJ’s who were Christians that played Electronic Dance Music were few and far between. I really didn’t even know if there was anyone within a hundred miles who was a Christian DJ. Through Tastyfresh I found out that DJ Lovejoy was actually one hundred and three miles away in Anderson, Indiana. At any rate, the cultural landscape has shifted at breakneck speed but in a way, we have become more tribal, more connected. It is easier for us now to experience a variety of culture and to be an influence in it. Really, everyone has a voice. We are empowered to make a difference to soooo many more nations than those defined by territorial land lines.

So what does this mean for those of us who reside in the nation of Electronic Dance Music? Just as the about page on Tastyfresh so succinctly states (http://www.tastyfresh.com/about-tastyfresh/), we have a two-fold mission. I encourage you to read the about section if you haven’t already. What I would like to posit in this article is that we take the example of St. Paul in Acts 17. Here is a man well versed in the scriptures and a Jew by heritage. Yet he is called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. The Roman Empire wasn’t influenced much at all by the Church at that moment and in this particular instance he finds himself in Athens, Greece, a hotbed of cultural influence throughout the world. Paul does something very interesting. He starts out in the Church (Synagogue), ventures to the Gentile Christians (who wouldn’t be in the synagogue), and ends up in the marketplace where the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers hear him speaking. If you notice here, Paul has a two part mission as he speaks to the Church and the marketplace. Remember, this is the guy who coined this phrase under inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22

Like a good DJ, Paul quickly recognized the change in crowd and smoothly transitioned to the next record that connected them with the idea he wanted to get across to them. In speaking to the Athenian people he tells them he noticed that they had an altar of worship to “THE UNKNOWN GOD”. He takes that part of their culture and uses it to point to the truth in the gospel. Now to most of the people in that city would have recognized the god intended to be worshiped through that altar to be just another god in the plethora of pagan gods. He then proceeded to use a part of their own poems in Acts 17:28 “For we are also His offspring” to show them the truth about the Living God we all know and serve. Can anyone say “Remix”! Paul just totally took a popular piece of pop culture referring to Zeus and remixed it to point to Christ. Not only that, they are now considered to be part of Holy Scripture by way of inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So what does this mean for us as Christian DJ’s who use a song made by a person who isn’t a Christian but the words in the song point to Christ or is something that Christ would say? Ahem, I’ll save that question for another article.

My point is this. If we are a part of the culture of Electronic Dance Music let us glorify God in the Church, through record labels (Christian & Not), events (Christian & Not), radio (Christian & Not)…you get the idea. First and foremost, know your crowd. Second, speak their language. Third, continue to “Go ye to the nations” in the will of God trusting in Him to lead and guide you into all truth by the Holy Spirit! Our Faith in Jesus Christ is not a one-time experience that we check off of our bucket list but a living and vibrant relationship meant to be lived out into all eternity. Now go be who the Father has created you to be!