Tuesday, 09 March 2010 05:19

Party animal Damian Lazarus recently launched a two month musical pilgrimage across the Americas, under his Rebel Rave banner.

With techno trouble-makers like Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler in support, the Rebel Rave tour will soon touch down in Guadalajara, El Paso, Houston, Montanita, and Miami, where it finally come to a sticky end at the Electric Pickle club during the annual Winter Music Conference at the end of this month.

The Rebel Rave tour coincides with a recent deal with Comcast (one of America’s biggest cable TV providers), to broadcast Lazarus’ Rebel Rave TV series on Comcast’s A&R channel.

To find out more about that deal, and the mammoth tour, we caught up with the Crosstown Rebels boss as he prepared for another week of manic touring.

What did you want to achieve with the Rebel Rave tour?

I’m hoping the tour will highlight the amazing music and skills us Rebels possess and of course our amazing ability to party harder than anyone else.

When you take the likes of Jones, Troxler, and myself on the road, you’re clearly not going to be in bed by 2am with a good book.

The tour is an opportunity for people to hear for the very first time, sounds and tracks that will shape the rest of the year, played by some of the most exciting DJs and artists on the planet.

 

Damian Lazarus ‘Diamond In The Dark’ (Damian Lazarus Club Remix)

 

 

What does it actually take to be a rebel?

A sense of being, and the balls to go be it, but not always sensibly.

Is life one big party? What happens in Lazarus world when the music stops?

The music never stops. Yes, life is one big party. What else are we going to do, wait around to die?

What makes for the ‘right party’ in your eyes?

Obviously the music selection and way the music is crafted together is a main component, but in reality it’s really down to the attitude of the people that come out to party.

If you’re coming to a Rebel Rave, be vocal, be open-minded, and be up for it!

 

In a time of the internet and multi-media, what is being underground, anarchistic and a rebel all about?

The real anarchy is in places like Iran where ordinary people stand up for their human rights and take to the streets to make themselves heard.

As musicians and DJs it’s difficult to live up to this sense of being a rebel. But in our small way, Crosstown Rebels stands up for the smaller, less heard, more thought-provoking artists.

We play the kind of music that doesn’t get too much exposure, and we go into clubs like Space and Pacha and challenge the status quo by basically saying you guys are usually fed the lowest common denominator commercial music, let’s see what you think of this!

But you’re about to have Rebel Rave TV broadcast to 17 million homes through Comcast. Does this mark Crosstown Rebels and Damian Lazarus going commercial?

Certainly not, have you seen the Rebel Rave films? They are anything but commercial. The films are an expression of life on the road, a little bit of behind the scenes, a lot of great people dancing to great music and a lot of Crosstown Rebels artists being silly in front of the camera.

As the series progresses we aim to build it into something even fresher and even more exciting. Having the A&R channel on Comcast support us is amazing as it elevates our weirdness, our special take on dance music, and its characters, and puts us in front of a much wider audience.

Video: Rebel Rave USA special - Wolf+Lamb

How important do you think collectives are at the moment in establishing identity for labels?

When you have a team of DJs and producers as incredible as we do, it makes total sense to get them all out together. We party and hang out together when we are not working so why not combine the two?

It’s a great life travelling the world playing music to super people, but it’s so much more fun when you have your crew on board.

I wish we could have brought all of our artists out on the tour but unfortunately we had to focus on a handful to make it viable.

However, at our final party on March 27th at Electric Pickle in Miami we will showcase 18 of our artists in one 12 hour session across three rooms. That’s going to be wild.

Who else do you intend to add to the Crosstown Rebels family?

I get all worked up and excited when I come across a new artist; this year are working with three new artists. We are close to releasing the debut album by Glimpse whose take on house music is very special and unique.

Then we will launch Deniz Kurtel, whose music is some of the freshest I’ve heard in some time. And then we will concentrate our efforts on a very exciting new artist, Maceo Plex.

At the same time there are singles coming from Laurent Garnier, Jamie Jones, Freaks, Rob Mello and Metrika. It’s going to be a bumper packed year.

I heard that Deniz Kurtel will incorporate a LED light installation as part of the Rebel Rave tour. There has always been a strong visual/multi-media element to Crosstown Rebels. Why do you think visuals are so important to dance music?

I have always taken great pride and care in our aesthetic vision. It’s like going out for the day, you want to look good, don’t you? I’m really happy with the artwork for the Rebel Rave tour right now, which was created by Cave Studios in Brazil.

Deniz’ live show is particularly interesting because this is the first time she has ever performed in front of people, so she’s being super brave!

Describe your DJ style.

Trippy, deep, weird but full of energy and special moments.

 

Damian Lazarus ‘Spinnin’’ (Sasha Remix)

 

 

What do you think partying will be like in 25 years?

Pretty much the same as it is now. Party people dancing to great music, having fun - experiencing mind-bending and beautiful moments on a dancefloor.

Source: beatportal