Music

So you’re going to Ultra this year. Maybe you’re a first-timer, or perhaps you’re a veteran. Maybe you’re going for the music, or maybe you’re going for the atmosphere. The point is, you’re going. And so are somewhere north of 50,000 other people. When you get that many bodies together…

Paul van Dyk’s annual visit to Miami will not happen this year. The German trance legend fell 20-feet off the main stage during his February 27 set at A State of Trance 750 in Utrecht, Holland. He was airlifted to an Amsterdam hospital where he was treated for a concussion…

Each year, for six-straight days in March, our city gets a little louder. Its known as Miami Music Week, and it has become one of the world’s greatest migrations of dance music lovers. Like thirsty buffalo in search of water, both tourists and locals alike will brave the dangers of…

For live artists, praising the city they have found themselves playing in is an all but essential practice. Whether it be New York City or some Podunk town in nowhere, U.S.A., the codification of concert etiquette has all but strong-armed artists into proclaiming “I love/thank you/ ‘insert municipality of choice…

There are six days in March where the 305 is inundated with every DJ and dance music-lover this side of the equator. They call it Miami Music Week, but for the music lovers who don’t know EDM from WTF, you don’t have to spend the entire week with your head…

Last year was my first time at Ultra, and when I close my eyes and think about it, one image in particular keeps popping up. It was the final night and Eric Prydz was playing at the Carl Cox & Friends Arena. The arena was an open-air semicircular enclosure and…

Back in the mid-2000s, Studio A was known as Miami’s quintessential underground party spot, a place where the Magic City’s misfits would go to see everyone from M.I.A. to Moby put on raw, uncensored performances. It was a mid-sized venue that hosted some of the 305’s most infamous weekly parties,…

Anders Sherberger is a man with a plan. He, along with his company Massive Ideas, has been seamlessly putting on parties and events that combine live music with electronic music in Miami for a while now.  Filling a void such as this is the mark of a promising promoter. Anders’…

The Heavy Pets have always had a conflicted relationship with cover songs. “We always had a soft spot for covers, but we avoided playing them for a long time because we always thought it was overdone in our scene,” explains singer and guitarist Jeff Lloyd, who helped form the band…

Most dance fans would kill to travel the world and attend all the dance music festivals this earth has to offer, but for Geronimo, the head of EDM Programming at SiriusXM Radio, it’s just another day at the office. As the program director for SiriusXM dance channels, he handles all…

The term “underrated” is relative. One could argue that the Beatles are underrated considering Parliament hasn’t renamed Liverpool after them. But, for our purposes here, let’s boil it down to this: an artist who is not getting the attention he or she deserves. These days DJ rankings tend to be…

The first time we tried to track down Martin Garrix — born Martijn Garritsen — for a phone interview, he was on a skiing holiday, cruising through the mountains. Reception was spotty. It’s an easy image to conjure: The EDM prodigy sliding down a pristine mountainside in a designer jumpsuit,…

Thirty years after guest-starring in an episode of Miami Vice —in which he played con man “Phil the Shill” — Phil Collins now calls the Magic City home. Following his two sons who attended school in South Florida, Collins bought a home here last August and is hoping to give…

Alex Omes was found dead in his bed January 12, 2015, the day before his lawsuit against Ultra Music Festival, which he cofounded, was set for trial. From the get-go, his death was shrouded in mystery. Police found a vial of coke in the Biscayne Boulevard apartment where he lived…

Rihanna’s success has never been bound to language or a cohesive set of lyrics. Cast her effortless chic on the beat du jour and all you need is a few syllables on the hook to create joints like “Disturbia” and “Umbrella,” two of the best-selling digital singles of all time…

If there ever was a party that epitomized the true attitude of Winter Music Conference and Miami Music Week, it was Sunday School for Degenerates, which took place at several locations during its run, most famously at Pawn Shop and Ice Palace Studios. It started out as a 24-hour event…