Since first breaking onto the alt-pop scene in 2007, Owl City has built a global following on the strength of his heart-on-sleeve songwriting and endlessly inventive sound. Along with earning a monumental hit with the diamond-certified “Fireflies”—a 2009 release that reached No. 1 in 26 countries—the Minnesota-bred artist otherwise known as Adam Young has made waves with smash singles like the double-platinum “Good Time” feat. Carly Rae Jepsen and brought his exuberant live set to sold-out shows around the world. With total album sales of over three million and single sales surpassing 20 million globally, Owl City has now delivered the highly anticipated new album Coco Moon: a wildly imaginative body of work revealing his deepened devotion to the strange magic of creativity.

AFTERLIFE OUT NOW 

bitly.ws/CMZ9

Since launching the Datsik brand, Troy Beetles continues to evolve as a solo artist all the while pushing his beloved bass music world to new lengths, both on a personal artistry level and as a genre as a whole. From bedroom producer to chart-topping artist, internationally touring act, and owner and founder of the enterprising Firepower Records, Datsik is poised to make bass music the sound of the future with his recent Down 4 My Ninjas EP (Nov. 2014 / Firepower Records) and upcoming release Smoke Bomb ft. Snoop Dogg (Nov. 2015 / Ultra Records). 

Datsik took his initial steps into global dominance in 2009 with his first official release, the Nuke ‘Em EP, which set the new precedence of the future of dubstep and bass music. Immediately following that was the Boom EP featuring Excision and the legendary Flux Pavilion as collaborators. In that same year, Datsik claimed 10 Beatport #1 releases. Additionally, he has also released massive remixes for dance music icons Skrillex, Diplo, Kaskade, and Zedd, as well as two collaborations with Bassnectar and two more with Diplo on his Express Yourself EP. He has also remixed artists from the mainstream pop world and hip-hop spheres such as Coldplay, Lil Wayne, MGMT, Linkin Park, Wu-Tang Clan, one of the biggest influences on his sound, and, most recently, Lana Del Rey.

Nonetheless, Vitamin D, his debut artist album released on Dim Mak Records in 2012, remains his gleaming trophy of work. Rightfully so, as Vitamin D was the first project to illustrate the full spectrum of Datsik’s production cannon and to give glimpses of the artist’s potential as a producer and songwriter. Vitamin D was the first major milestone of many to come in the Datsik storyline. The next chapter came in 2013 in the form of a two-part release, the Cold Blooded EP and the corresponding Let It Burn full-length album, both released on Firepower. While shorter in length, Cold Blooded packs as much a punch as big brother Let It Burn. Hand in hand, Cold Blooded and Let It Burn comprise the knockout one-two punch in Datsik’s artillery.

Datsik stands at a point of transition with his recent EP Down 4 My Ninjas. It exemplifies a more mature Datsik, both in sound and in vision, as it sees the producer taking vast steps outside of dubstep and deeper into his ever-burning fondness for hip-hop. In essence, it is his love letter to the hip-hop and bass music genres and sees a full circle for Datsik as it combines the best of both worlds. Featuring collaborations with DJ Paul of renowned Southern rap group Three 6 Mafia and the legendary KRS-One, Down 4 My Ninjas sees Datsik keeping one foot in bass and one foot in hip-hop and, for the first time ever, sees the artist pairing his original productions with bona fide, universally celebrated members of the rap world. 

With Down 4 My Ninjas in tow and a hefty supporting tour scheduled for 2015, expectations are higher than they’ve ever been for Datsik. Beetles welcomes the challenge, though. It’s what’s kept him developing since those bedroom producer days, and it’s what verifies Datsik as one of the leading figures in the bass music scene of today and tomorrow.

Management: 
hello@watsematter.com

Bookings: 
katarina@aceagency.com

Formed in the summer of 2015, DNCE, which also features guitarist JinJoo Lee, bassist/keyboardist Cole Whittle, and drummer Jack Lawless, was born from Jonas’s long-brewing plan to launch an offbeat pop project inspired by the melodic R&B of Earth, Wind & Fire and Hall & Oates. “I had this vision for about five or six years, but I took some time to hit the reset button and figure out what I wanted to do next,” says Jonas, whose former group the Jonas Brothers started in 2005, went on to sell more than 17 million albums worldwide, and parted ways in 2013. “Once we got going on making this new music,” he continues, “it all just fell together so perfectly.”

In assembling DNCE, Jonas first rounded up some old friends from the road. Born and bred in South Korea, Lee met Jonas while playing lead guitar for Jordin Sparks (the opening act for the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 world tour) and later joined him on a tour supporting his 2011 solo album Fastlife. Also a former touring guitarist for artists like Charli XCX and CeeLo Green, Lee taught herself to play at age 12 in order to join in her older siblings’ band, POS. “I was the youngest and grew up watching them make music and put out albums, which seemed so cool to me,” she says. “At one point they didn’t have a guitarist, so I learned all their songs and they let me in. That was my whole teenage life.”

Another former tourmate of Jonas, Lawless grew up in New Jersey, played in bands in the Asbury Park area throughout high school, and dropped out of college his first semester to replace the drummer who’d quit in the middle of the Jonas Brothers’ fall 2006 tour. “I’d never rehearsed or anything — I just got on the tour bus, and my first time playing with them was at sound check the next day,” he remembers. Lawless then became the band’s full-time drummer, and later toured with indie-pop acts like Night Terrors of 1927 and Soft Swells.

A founding member of Semi Precious Weapons, Whittle started playing piano at six and took up bass at 12. “As soon as I picked up the bass I was addicted,” says Whittle, who hails from Richmond, Virginia. “At school I wouldn’t eat lunch; I’d just sneak into the janitor’s closet and practice bass the whole time.” After graduating from Berklee College of Music, moving to Brooklyn, and playing in the Big Apple Circus band for several years, Whittle joined his freshman-year roommate Tranter in forming Semi Precious Weapons. Initially an underground party band known for their outrageous live show, Semi Precious Weapons had a twist of fate when their longtime fan Lady Gaga invited them out on her worldwide Monster Ball tour. Whittle and his band then spent two years straight on the road with Gaga, later toured with Ke$ha, and broke up in late 2014.

Almost as soon as they started playing together, DNCE had a palpable chemistry and easy camaraderie that they hope to carry over into their audience. “We really want this to feel like a party,” Jonas says. “We want everyone to feel like they’re in on this little world that we’ve created for ourselves.” (Asked to describe DNCE’s live show, he adds: “It’s like going to some club in Europe at 4 a.m. and everybody’s all sweaty and looks like they’re in the Village People. We’re all from different worlds, but we’re all here together.”) And though the band name has its own wacky origin — it’s the next best thing for “when you’re too drunk to spell ‘dance,’” says Jonas — there’s also a deeper meaning that’s got to do with the shedding of self-consciousness. “It’s incomplete, it’s imperfect, but it’s still all right,” says Lee of DNCE’s name and guiding philosophy. “You don’t have to be a great dancer to dance — you can dance however you want to, and still have so much fun. That’s really the beauty of this whole thing.”

Uncompromising, infectious and original, Lazy Habits are ready to take their place amongst the growing stars of the UK Urban Music Scene. 

Inspired by New Orleans jazz, soul, hip hop, Big Bands of the 50’s and soaked in British Culture their eclectic sound packs a lasting and unforgettable punch, with the band describing themselves as "Beats, Rhymes and Brass of the highest calibre”

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Formed in 2005 and originally the brainchild of one MC, the Hackney based outfit now stand as a full eight piece band who’s onstage energy is a colossal live experience that will keep you buzzing long after you’ve left the venue.

Having notched up shows at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, The Roundhouse, KOKO and venues up and down the UK, supporting the likes of Mos Def, Soulwax, The Specials, Bonobo, Chali 2Na (Jurrasic5) and Beardyman, Lazy Habits have won hearts and blown minds, proving they can take on any stage.

 They've smashed Glastonbury with their live performances, hosted and DJ'd on “The Other” and “Jazz World” stages, ticking off slots at Bestival, Secret Garden Party and Edinburgh Festival along the way.

2011 sees them travel even further afield including festival performances in Latvia, Croatia, Taiwan and The French Alps as well as a full UK tour.


Their debut self-released EP “On the Wagon” put the Habits on the radar of Taste Maker Huw Stephens, and blew up on the underground scene, selling out on pre-orders alone. Their follow up single “Even Out” introduced them to a wider audience and was used on commercially released cinema and TV productions both domestically and Europe wide. 

Championed by Eliza Doolittle, Paloma Faith and a host of BBC radio DJ’s, including Huw, this lot will defy you not to be on your playlist in 2011.

You’ll thank them for the memories.

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Agent: Rob@empireagency.com

StarTalk has moved off of Soundcloud! Find the podcast on these other platforms:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1mNsuXfG95Lf76YQeVMuo1?_authfailed=1

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startalk-radio/id325404506

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@StarTalk

Unleashers of brassy funk since 2006.
Downloads: https://luckychops.bandcamp.com/
MGMT: info@luckychops.com

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