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Tag: Zedd

  • Phillip Frankland Lee Brings NADC’s Viral Wagyu Burgers Home to Los Angeles

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    Phillip Frankland Lee and Neen Williams. Jake Ostrowski

    Chef Phillip Frankland Lee moved from Los Angeles to Austin during the Covid-19 pandemic, but there was not a damn chance that he was abandoning California. 

    Lee, who grew up in Los Angeles, has continued to operate Sushi by Scratch Restaurants. The Montecito outpost earned a 2021 Michelin star, and Sushi by Scratch is also going strong at its locations in Encino and the SLS Beverly Hills. Lee keeps pushing harder at Encino’s Pasta | Bar, which has had a Michelin Star for five consecutive years and was featured in Apple TV’s Knife Edge series last year. (In 2025, Lee and his brother, Lennon, made history by becoming the first siblings to earn a Michelin star at different U.S. restaurants in the same year.)

    And now he’s back in L.A. to remind his hometown that he’s also an ace at creating casual food. On Friday, Feb. 27, Lee and pro skateboarder Neen Williams will open NADC Burger’s first Los Angeles location in Westwood, near the UCLA campus. 

    NADC, which is short for Not a Damn Chance, is a wagyu burger spot that Lee and Williams already operate in Austin, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Denver, Charlotte and Nashville. The menu is straightforward and habit-forming, with double wagyu cheeseburgers and beef tallow fries. 

    The menu is composed of double wagyu cheeseburgers and beef tallow fries. Jake Ostrowski

    NADC has become a viral, celebrity-friendly sensation, with clientele including David Beckham and Zedd. Jelly Roll, who has declared that NADC’s burger is the best he’s ever had, loves it so much that he serves the burger at his Goodnight Nashville honky-tonk. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck recently popped by NADC in Austin and also headed next door to Lee’s new Shokunin sushi restaurant.

    “I think what sets us apart at NADC is that I run it like I run the line at Pasta or Sushi,” Lee tells Observer. “I put as much attention into every spec when we’re building the burger.”

    There’s American cheese, secret sauce (a ketchup and mayonnaise base enhanced with Tabasco and some “little secret notes to make it extra umami”), onions, a generous amount of pickles and “slightly tamed” jalapeños that are boiled before they’re pickled. The beef is American wagyu with Japanese genetics. And when each 3-ounce patty comes off the griddle, it goes onto a resting rack with a 90-second timer so that the juices settle and excess grease drips off. This is precision-focused cooking that grew out of Lee’s backyard hangs with Williams. 

    Lee applied the same principles from his other restaurants to making the burgers at NADC. Jake Ostrowski

    Like Jelly Roll, Zedd and Joe Rogan (who collaborated with NADC on a limited-edition burger in Austin last year), Williams was a guest at the counter of Sushi by Scratch when he met Lee.

    “I was already a fan of his because I grew up skateboarding,” Lee says. “He was solo, and I always talk to everybody. He’s like, ‘Yeah, I like to cook.’ I’m like, ‘OK, cute.’ And then he shows me a picture of his backyard where he has a 12-foot masonry hearth that he built himself. I’m like, ‘Oh, you really cook.’”

    Lee and Williams started hanging out a lot, skateboarding together, getting their wives together and cooking together.

    “We did whole pigs and a lot of steaks over the fire,” Lee says. “And one thing we were doing often was burgers.”

    Lee had recently returned from Bangkok, where he had been working on a sushi restaurant and a burger spot that never opened due to the pandemic. So he was in the mood to make burgers, and he and Williams started giving away burgers at Austin skateparks and comedy shows. That led to a 2022 pop-up and then, in 2023, NADC’s first brick-and-mortar location.

    Jelly Roll, a huge fan of the NADC burger, was a guest on Lee and Williams’ ‘Not A Damn Chance!’ podcast. YMH Studios

    The success of NADC has spawned the Not A Damn Chance! podcast, with Lee and Williams talking to guests like Jelly Roll, Zedd, Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura, Mel Robbins, Aaron Franklin and poker pro Doug Polk. Lee is an avid poker player who’s done well in tournaments. And to use a gambling term, he’s been on some kind of rush, opening restaurant after restaurant.

    Lee didn’t have any intention of moving to Austin when he went there in 2020 for a sushi pop-up. But after he saw that pop-up sell out with a 25,000-person waiting list, he kept it going month to month. After five months in Austin, Lee looked at his wife, pastry chef Margarita Kallas-Lee, and said, “I think we live in Austin now.”

    Lee has built a new life in Texas, where he’s now working to create his most over-the-top project yet. He’s found four acres in Hill Country, about half an hour from Austin, where he plans to have a farm, inn and restaurant with aspirations at three-Michelin-star status and World’s 50 Best recognition.

    “We will grow or harvest most of the menu and hunt the rest of the menu,” Lee says. “We’ll milk cows in the morning to get the cream to make butter. We’ll get dairy cows from a local farm and finish them on the grain of the local brewery and the mash of the local olive oil mill.” 

    Lee is nothing if not ambitious. In 2017, when he was 30 years old, he told me he wanted to have “100 world-class restaurants” by the time he was 50. The pandemic slowed him down a bit, but the L.A. location of NADC Burger puts him at 30 restaurants, and he still thinks he’ll hit his lofty goal.

    “I’m the same age Thomas Keller was when he took over The French Laundry, and you could argue that was the beginning of his career,” Lee says. “I’m going to be 39 on March 9, so I’m still young. I think I’ll probably surpass 100 restaurants by the time I’m 50. But I don’t think I’m doing it for the same reasons that made me want to do it before.” 

    All the success he’s had has motivated him in a more meaningful way. 

    “I’ve now gotten the stars and the TV and the accolades and the personal freedom to feel like I’ve ‘done it,’” Lee says. “But I think I now get off on different things. It used to be more ego-driven. Now I look around and see someone who comes on as a prep cook, moves all the way into executive chef in our company, has a child and gets a fully paid paternity or maternity leave. They’re getting a 401(k). I have cooks and bartenders buying houses. The more I grow, the more we grow.”

    NADC Burger, located at 1091 Broxton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024, will be open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to midnight.

    Phillip Frankland Lee Brings NADC’s Viral Wagyu Burgers Home to Los Angeles

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    Andy Wang

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  • Telos Is Zedd’s Musical Playground

    Telos Is Zedd’s Musical Playground

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    Multiple Grammy award-winning Zedd sits on a plush cream armchair when he answers the Zoom call. A dozen other journalists from several media outlets (including those buzzing in our hive with us) stuffed across tiny square windows for the press conference. He has a yellow shirt and matching hat, a scruffy beard etched across his jawline. Because the chair looks a little futuristic, much like everything else he does, his motion camera webcam follows every minuscule movement he makes. It’s as if he’s contacting us from the USS Enterprise rather than the Hollywood Hills. And the Star Trek reference somehow worms itself in. It makes sense, considering he urges a space movie when asked what sort of movie or television show he’d prefer his cinematically acclaimed album Telos to be in.

    ‘1685’

    Notably, ‘1685.’ The last track on the album is split into two parts. It starts with this tuning of a nineties-sixties radio. In context with what he’s said, we’re assuming it has been picked up by an astronaut long after Earth has crapped itself. It then unfurls into this lullaby, ticking timebomb, him believing that it’d be best used during “something grand and spacey.” He’s correct, by the way! It might yet be overlaid into a sci-fi flick. But at some point, the techno-flickering collaboration with Muse just dies out. Then, it beats back to life like a hidden track. He credits this to the albums he loved back in the day.

    We pay thanks to his dreams of being an audio engineer for a long-form game, even if it was a seven-year undertaking. The entire track seems like an elevator pitch as it accurately engages with his belief that sound can guide one’s emotions during a game. Or, in this case, it can make us believe we’re in a space movie. Er, game—it can be many things!

    Whatever the music really needs, it gets.

    Zedd on the press conference

    The Making Of Telos

    ‘1685’ isn’t the first time he’s acquainted himself with Muse. It’s more learning the lyrics ‘Plug in Baby’ than shaking the hand of lead vocalist Matt Bellamy. Zedd’s band, Dioramic, made that song the first they ever played live. And even he believes he’s grown immensely since then! Maybe there’s some Russian dialect still wavering in his accent, but if that wasn’t made clear, he lets us know that he once had some insecurity around singing because English wasn’t his first language. Then you’re thinking of Zedd singing? What an odd match, primarily when he’s known for syncing up his EDM brilliance with other artists’ vocal abilities. There’s Maren Morris for ‘The Middle,’ which has made Spotify’s Billions Club, and then Alessia Cara’s ‘Stay.’ 

    Telos isn’t like that! He esteems it to be a giant playground, usually having sat on the swings with Lady Gaga, writing ten songs for her. Then, he decides to jump off to go make his own: Clarity. This time, he was the first to head up to the slides. He built off the childhood play area into a concept album. He states that subconsciously, it followed the same pattern (something which he realizes while on the call) yet required a lot out of him, gelling computerized sounds with those of contemporary jazz. Unlike albums that feel like playlists, clicking on the elusive green heart until it’s sent like a repetitive package that you’re going to unwrap again and again to your favorite section, he brought out maps and wanted to curate energy structures. “Playlists can’t intelligently morph into songs,” he notes.

    Emotional Weight

    As he and we said, it was a massive undertaking, and burnout quickly became a topic on the call! “Call a sickie,” many would proclaim, and it took some time for Zedd to agree. His idea of one is looking at houses, fangirling over architecture, his mansion having appeared in Architectural Digest six years ago—skittle machine intact. But it’s more strenuous than that. He recalls his lost weight and endless sleepless nights when ideas about Telos appeared like counting sheep. 

    If I had to remake Telos, I never would.

    Zedd on the press conference

    He also starts on a new topic with an “I don’t like collaborating.” Understanding the irony, he enlargens the statement further by saying that it’s more about people’s expectations, that while there are two people involved, there’s still the same number of chords, verses, and such. One’s imagination is often more calculative of the mindblowing emoji than the result itself. But he does love it when it’s done right! One of those examples is his reimagination of Jeff Buckley’s ‘Dream Brother,’ which you can tell by his adoring facial expressions mean a lot to him. He had sent the track to Zane Lowe before the album release as he had interviewed him back in the day. Both he and his wife approved of the track. 

    TELOS TOUR

    That only really leaves the TELOS TOUR. His motion camera kicks in again upon describing a particularly loved part of the show. He’s tiptoeing the lines of not wanting to spoil us but also unable to give his own five-star review. “If you can hear it, I want you to see it,” he states, illustrating that it’s better described as being at the theater than a concert. 

    There are still a bunch of dates for the tour, wrapping up at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre on October 15! If you haven’t already, swipe a ticket and let us know our social media, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, which show you’re going to (or have already been to). What are you most looking forward to hearing? 

    TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ZEDD:
    FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE

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    Rachel Finucane

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  • What to stream: Adam Sandler, John Legend, ‘Only Murders in the Building’ and Star Wars Outlaws

    What to stream: Adam Sandler, John Legend, ‘Only Murders in the Building’ and Star Wars Outlaws

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    “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returning for its second season and Adam Sandler’s first comedy special since 2018 are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: John Legend offers his first-ever children’s album, season four of “Only Murders in the Building” shifts to Los Angeles and DJ and dance producer Zedd is back with an album after nearly a decade.

    NEW MOVIES TO STREAM

    — “The Fall Guy” is finally coming to Peacock, where it will be streaming starting Friday, Aug. 30, alongside an “extended cut” version. It might not have reached the blockbuster heights the studio dreamed about during its theatrical run, but it’s pure delight: A comedy, action, romance that soars thanks to the charisma of its stars. Based on the 1980s Lee Majors television series (he gets a cameo), the film features Ryan Gosling as a stunt man, Emily Blunt as his director and dream girl, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an egotistical movie star and “Ted Lasso’s” Hannah Waddingham as a Diet Coke slurping producer.

    — Ishana Night Shyamalan’s thriller, “The Watchers,” in which Dakota Fanning plays an artist stranded in western Ireland where mysterious creatures lurk and stalk in the night, begins streaming on MAX on Friday, Aug. 30.

    — Emma Stone gives a performance (and interpretive dance) worth watching in “ Kinds of Kindness,” her latest collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos fresh on the heels of her Oscar-winning turn in “Poor Things.” The film, streaming on Hulu on Friday, Aug. 30, is a triptych with a big ensemble cast including Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons (who won a prize for his performance at Cannes), Hong Chau, Margaret Qualley, Mamoudou Athie and Joe Alwyn. Jocelyn Noveck, in her Associated Press review, described it as “a meditation on our free will and the ways we willingly forfeit it to others — in the workplace, at home, and in religion.” Noveck wrote that the “Stone-Lanthimos pairing… is continuing to nurture an aspect of Stone’s talents that increasingly sets her apart: Her fearlessness and the obvious joy she derives from it.”

    — Somehow the Yorgos Lanthimos film is not the most eccentric new streaming offering this week. That title goes to “ Sasquatch Sunset,” Nathan and David Zellner’s experimental film about a family of sasquatches just living their lives. Starring an essentially unrecognizable Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough (in addition to Nathan Zellner), this Sundance curiosity begins streaming on Paramount+ on Monday. In his review for the AP, Mark Kennedy wrote that it is “a bewildering 90-minute, narrator-less and wordless experiment that’s as audacious as it is infuriating. It’s not clear if everyone was high making it or we should be while watching it.”

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    NEW MUSIC TO STREAM

    — DJ and dance producer Zedd is back with an album after nearly a decade, “Telos.” The first single is the appropriately titled “Out of Time” featuring Bea Miller, a dreamy tune with atmospheric strings that builds into a dancefloor banger. Zedd has revealed that he started writing “Out Of Time” way back in 2015 but was never able to finish it. That changed with Bea — “her voice added an emotional depth that completed the song. ‘Out Of Time’ really encapsulates the DNA of the Telos album, which is why I chose it to be the song that introduces this new era,” he says.

    — If you’re into a slower change of pace, check out John Legend, who releases his first children’s album, “My Favorite Dream,” on Friday, Aug. 30. It’s produced by the chamber pop polymath Sufjan Stevens and centers on universal themes like love, safety, family and dreams across nine original tracks, two covers, a solo piano track and three bonus covers of Fisher-Price songs.

    — Get ready for a blast of K-pop — on your television. Apple TV+ has the six part documentary “K-Pop Idols,” a behind-the-scenes look at the highly competitive reality of K-pop stardom, starting Friday, Aug. 30. It features Jessi, CRAVITY and BLACKSWAN as they learn choreography and pull everything together to seize the stage. Producers say the series “follows the superstars through trials and triumphs, breaking down cultural and musical barriers in K-pop with passion, creativity and determination as they chase their dreams.”

    — RZA takes a sharp turn as a classical composer with the album “A Ballet Through Mud.” The composition made its debut in the form of a ballet last year, performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Composed and scored by the Wu-Tang Clan star, the piece mirrors his journey from growing up in the projects in New York City to famous artist, “weaving in tales of love, loss, exploration, Buddhist monks, and a journey ‘through mud.‘” RZA says he began the project early in the pandemic after rediscovering notebooks full of lyrics he had written as a teenager. “The inspiration for ‘A Ballet Through Mud’ comes from my earliest creative output as a teenager, but its themes are universal — love, exploration, and adventure,” he says.

    — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

    NEW SHOWS TO STREAM

    — Adam Sandler has the feels in his new Netflix special “Adam Sandler: Love You” featuring his standup and trademark comedy songs. It’s directed by Josh Safdie who — with his brother Benny — co-directed Sandler in the 2019 movie “Uncut Gems.” “Love You” is Sandler’s first comedy special since 2018. It premieres Tuesday on Netflix.

    — Charles, Oliver and Mabel (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) head to Los Angeles in season four of “Only Murders in the Building,” because their podcast is being turned into a film. Their Hollywood life is interrupted when another murder occurs, meaning the trio has a new case to cover. Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis and Eva Longoria join the cast. “Only Murders in the Building” premieres Tuesday on Hulu.

    — A new animated series in the “Terminator” universe comes to Netflix on Thursday. It follows new characters voiced by “House of the Dragon” actor Sonoya Mizuno, Timothy Olyphant, André Holland Rosario Dawson and Ann Dowd.

    — Season two of “The House of the Dragon” has aired in its entirety on HBO and if your fantasy itch still needs to be scratched, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returns for its second season Thursday on Prime Video. The story is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, prior to the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings.”

    — Alicia Rancilio

    NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

    — Luke Skywalker may get the headlines, but the true MVPs of the Star Wars franchise are rascals like Han Solo and Lando Calrissian. Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws introduces a new scoundrel: Kay Vess, a young thief who’s trying to work her way up the galaxy’s crime syndicates and make the big score. She isn’t a Jedi or a Sith, but she knows how to fire a blaster and fly a spaceship. Outlaws comes from Massive Entertainment, the developers of Tom Clancy’s The Division, and it aims to spread Ubisoft’s brand of open-world adventure across multiple planets. It launches Friday, Aug. 30, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

    — Many gamers who grew up with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System remember 1993’s Secret of Mana as their introduction to a particular type of high-fantasy role-playing. It’s been 15 years since we’ve gotten a new chapter in the marquee Mana series, but Square Enix is finally delivering Visions of Mana. A youngster named Val is chosen to accompany his friend Hinna on a pilgrimage to the life-sustaining Mana Tree, and they’ll need to use magic and swordplay to fight all the monsters along the way. The lush, anime-style graphics are bound to stir memories in old-school RPG fans, starting Thursday, Aug. 29, on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

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  • Your guide to the NCAA March Madness Music Festival in downtown Phoenix

    Your guide to the NCAA March Madness Music Festival in downtown Phoenix

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    It’s a treat we don’t get very often: The NCAA March Madness Music Festival is coming back to Phoenix this weekend as part of the NCAA Final Four Festivities. It’s been seven years since downtown Phoenix has hosted the three-day music event featuring some of the biggest names in the business…

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    Jennifer Goldberg

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  • Insomniac Outdoes Itself for the Biggest and Best Escape Halloween to Date [Event Review] | Your EDM

    Insomniac Outdoes Itself for the Biggest and Best Escape Halloween to Date [Event Review] | Your EDM

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    Original Photo by Ivan Meneses for Insomniac Events

    It’s been a week since Escape Halloween took over the NOS Events Center for its 12th edition, and like most things Insomniac, the festival just got bigger and better. Featuring mind-blowing production, sick attention-to-detail, immersive Halloween experiences, blistering sets, immaculate vibes, and plenty of space to move and groove to; Insomniac pulled out all the stops for the largest Halloween festival on the continent.

    It was our first time back at the NOS Events Center since last year’s Countdown and our first Escape since 2019! One of the things that definitely stood out is how wide open and easily accessible everything was. Insomniac has definitely taken steps to make it easier to access all of the vast NOS Events Center where their events take place. At no point at all did I deal with bottlenecks or crowd congestion.

    The other thing that, of course, stands out upon entering the Escape festival grounds is just how immersive it is. With the exception of EDC, (the flagship festival) Escape has without a doubt the highest production values, the most performers, the most Easter Eggs to explore for. Escape is simply massive, and, if you ask me, is the best of Insomniac’s Southern California festivals. It certainly didn’t hurt that the weather was absolutely perfect for the weekend too.

    Original Photo by Jake West for Insomniac Events

    I’m not wrong when I say that this was the biggest Escape to date, they actually added a fifth stage inside the Citrus building, Wicked Woods. Crazy Town, which ostensibly serves as Downtown Escape, is a perfect meeting spot. Its location is easily accessible from all stages, and its landmarks are unmistakable. The fire organ is a sight to behold and always has a performance popping off, it’s the perfect place to sit and take in the splendor of the festival grounds. The Crazy Town fountain is also a perfect spot to reunite with your crew and figure out the next move. Oh, and of course, they’re all great photo ops too.

    As far as the stages go, they were all top notch. The main stage is, of course, The Grimm, a massive cloaked skeleton with its two hands stretched out clutching two spherical stones. Again, outside of EDC, this has to be the best Insomniac stage around. The lasers got major reinforcements and the huge video panels lining the ceiling of the mega-structure helped to create an even more immersive experience. Even if you were seated on the fake grass or at the tables outside of the mega-structure, you still felt like you were immersed in the stage. Sound and video production were A+ this weekend.

    Original Photo by Jamal Eid for Insomniac Events

    The second stage was Feeding Grounds, also inside a mega-structure. This stage’s theme was a massive spider web. White canvas adorned the ceiling of the mega structure and instead of a disco ball, there was a massive black widow spider hanging above the stage in its place. The third stage was Sanitarium, a slightly smaller mega-structure, its rectangular video panels would play macabre and disturbing images of a mad surgeon conducting unsound experiments.

    The stage that probably got the best treatment of all though was Sewer District, the Factory 93 stage. When I went to Escape in the past this was not a stage I gave much thought to. I figured let the techno snobs hang in the back. Well, techno has now permeated the mainstream and I was keen to check out a set at Sewer District. Insomniac fully leaned into shipping trailers and an underground warehouse type of vibe. The light panels were just right and the sound was pitch perfect. I talked to several headliners who said that Sewer District had some of the best sets of the weekend.

    Original Photo by Marlene Sanchez for Insomniac Events

    Speaking of the sets, let me tell you about them. Every single DJ absolutely brought it this weekend. Everyone’s got to go a little bit deeper, a little bit darker, especially the closers, to match that Halloween vibe, and that’s exactly what we got. Friday night really didn’t get going until I watched AFROJACK’s set at the Grimm. The Dutch legend did not disappoint, dropping a massive set that ignited the crowd. This was the set that truly set the night off as AFROJACK took full advantage of the Grimm’s production capabilities.

    After that I caught a little hardstyle over at Sanitarium, then headed back to the Grimm for Above & Beyond. Much like AFROJACK’s set, the crowd packed in the stage to overflow capacity. Jono & Paavo threw down a captivating set that had the crowd enraptured. Above & Beyond always strives for “moments like these” and they certainly achieved it at Escape.

    After A&B, I headed over to Feeding Grounds, which was hosted by Bassrush for the night, to have my face just melted off. ATLiens were well into their set of wonky dubstep, rap mashups and trap beats. It’s always nice to see the different vibes at different stages, but aside from the Grimm, the Basscon stage was bringing better vibes than the Bassrush stage. Zomboy followed up ATLiens and also proceeded to ignite the crowd.

    Original Photo by Felicia Garcia for Insomniac Events

    I proceeded back over to the Grimm, but I made a quick stop at the new stage, Wicked Woods. I’m always a sucker for an indoor stage, and Insomniac made the most of the space they were given. Setting up a mini forest behind the DJ booth as well as a circular video board, Wicked Woods was a huge come up if you happened upon it. Not too crowded, but still stellar production. I watched a little bit of K?d’s Throwback Set and I wish I had caught more.

    Finally back to the Grimm, Kaskade closed the night with an incredible set that saw him lean into the REDUX sound and turn the Escape mainstage into an underground club. The lasers and stage production could not have been more on point.

    We got there nice and early on Sunday. As I mentioned before I started things out at Sewer District and caught Charles D. Despite the early time slot and smaller crowd, the vibes were on point for Sewer District. I was now prepared for techno on Halloween weekend. I flitted between stages and sets checking out TOBEHONEST at Sanitarium, Ship Wrek at the Grimm, who drew a massive and rowdy crowd for such an early time slot, and Rossy at Feeding Grounds, who killed it with her blend of bass house and trap.

    Original Photo by Ivan Meneses for Insomniac Events

    After that, it was back to the Grimm for Matroda’s massive house set. Along with the permeation of techno into the mainstream, the re-eruption of house music has to be noted too. My god, people absolutely love house music. I didn’t recognize a single song Matroda dropped, but it was still a dope set and the vibes were unmatched. Tchami came on next and dropped a set for the ages. Opening with the AC Slater x Chris Lorenzo (Fly With Us) track “Seismic”, Tchami’s mix of French house was absolutely perfect. The lasers and pyro also started taking over.

    DJ Snake took the stage next and turned the Grimm into an absolute trap house. The beats were coming hard and fast with DJ Snake, and the packed crowd was more than ready for all of his hits. “Southside”, “Trust Nobody”, “Lean On” and he even dropped Knock2’s “dashstar”. A memorable set indeed.

    Zedd was up next and he thrilled the crowd by opening with his “Where You Are” remix. The packed out crowd was chanting along with the lyrics. Zedd was also one of the few DJs to dress up for Halloween as he sported a Super Saiyan outfit (from Dragonball Z). Zedd dropped a masterful set consisting of his hits like “I Want You to Know” and “Stay the Night” on top of his energetic live edits and some EDM classics like Eric Prydz’s “Call on Me”.

    Original Photo by Ivan Meneses for Insomniac Events

    Finally, Armin van Buuren closed out the weekend. Armin perfectly blended trance and techno for the best Halloween set imaginable. Armin maintained his signature sound while seamlessly blending in some dark techno beats that were perfect for the spooky season.

    It was an absolute joy to be back at Escape after three full years away, the longest drought we’ve had between Insomniac festivals. The Pandemic denied headliners festivals in 2020. I didn’t get to Escape in 2021 because there was the Fall Edition of EDC a week before. I could have gone in 2022, but I didn’t. I’m elated to have made it back in 2023. Although no announcement has been made, I would expect Escape to return for its spookiest 13th edition next year.

    Original Photo by Scott Hutchinson for Insomniac Events

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    Mark Fabrick

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  • Dance Trio NOTD Welcomes Summer With “AM:PM (feat. Maia Wright)”

    Dance Trio NOTD Welcomes Summer With “AM:PM (feat. Maia Wright)”

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    NOTD knows how to make a pop-dance fusion track that tops the charts. You may have heard their iconic collaborations, “I Wanna Know (feat. Bea Miller)”, “So Close (feat. Georgia Ku, Felix Jaehn, Captain Cuts)”, and “I Dont Know Why (feat. Astrid S).” These songs have catchy beats and equally enticing lyrics that had fans singing along at all hours of the day.

    Their music has impressive accolades including reaching the US Pop Radio Top 40 twice, and two certified Platinum and Gold records. And yet, NOTD is not even close to being finished. With their new single “AM:PM (feat. Maia Wright)”, the duo is solidifying their place as one of pop-dance music’s quickest emerging stars. You can listen to the track here:

    Maia Wright’s vocals pair perfectly with NOTD’s iconic sound for “AM:PM,” where Wright sings about wanting love around the clock. This is just the beginning of a busy year for NOTD, who plans to tour with the kings of mashups, Two Friends, this summer. It’s the first track since the duo’s debut EP, NOTED…EP, featuring names like Quinn XCII, The Band CAMINO, and kenzie.

    “AM:PM” is a track to watch out for this summer. It’s reminiscent of days spent on the beach and nights spent out with your friends. NOTD spoke exclusively with Popdust about their new single and their future!

    Congratulations on your new single, “AM:PM ft. Maia Wright” – what was the inspiration behind the track?

    Thank you! We’re so excited the song is now out in the world. We got this topline from two amazing writers: Devan Glover and Grant Boutin and immediately fell in love with it. At the time the production was a bit funkier but we just heard the classic NOTD pop/dance potential in the vocal and got super inspired to make it our own.

    You’ve had majorly successful collaborations in the past like “I Wanna Know ft. Bea Miller” and “So Close ft. Georgia Ku and Captain Cuts.” How do you combine your sound with different genres of artists?

    For us, the vocal on a song is another instrument. It has always been about who sounds best on the record and we’ve been so lucky to have the opportunity to work with incredible vocalists — Bea and Georgia included — whose voices really make you feel something every time you play the song. Since then, we’ve continued to evolve as people and musicians which led us to collaborating with incredible bands like The Band Camino and Nightly on our debut EP last fall. on ‘AM:PM’, we absolutely love how Maia (Wright) sounds. She’s a long time friend of ours in Stockholm and it’s really nice to finally find the right song to do together.

    “AM:PM” has a fun, summery dance sound that makes people want to get up and dance. What was your favorite part about creating the single?

    The ideas came together super fast on this one. The production you hear today was made almost entirely in the 12 hours after we first heard the demo. Once the foundation was there, we gave ourselves some time to dial it in and ultimately sent it to Maia who also loved the song immediately and nailed the vocal. This song is just so feel-good and we’re just so happy people are loving it as much as we do.

    You’ve toured with ZEDD and have several live performances coming up this year. What’s your favorite part about performing live?

    The best part has to be seeing people sing the words back to us. We spend a lot of time in our Stockholm studio working on the music so to get to travel the world and see and hear from fans how the music affects them is so rewarding.

    Which songs are you most excited to perform for your fans?

    At the moment, playing ‘AM:PM’ is so fun because it’s just an infectious song. Even if you’ve never heard it before, you know the words by the second chorus.

    You released your debut EP, NOTED…, back in September after previously releasing all of your music as singles. How is NOTED… different from any of the work you’ve done before?

    As we sort of touched on earlier, our first big break was ‘I Wanna Know’ in 2018 when we were 17 and 19 years old. Since then, we’ve continued to evolve as people and artists and the lockdown really gave us an opportunity to experiment with new sounds. We found ourselves listening to artists like The Band Camino, Nightly, the 1975, and LANY and putting our spin on that world was and still is really exciting to us. To collaborate and become friends with some of our favorite bands was a privilege and showed our fans a different side of us that we’re really proud of.

    What’s next for you in 2023? Will “AM:PM” lead into a new album?

    There’s plenty of new music in the pipeline that we can’t wait to start sharing. We’ll also be joining Two Friends on a bunch of tour dates this summer, in addition to playing at a bunch of schools around the country. Stay tuned!

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    Jai Phillips

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  • Zouk Group Announces Formidable 2023 Roster of Las Vegas DJ Residencies – EDM.com

    Zouk Group Announces Formidable 2023 Roster of Las Vegas DJ Residencies – EDM.com

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    Zouk Las Vegas has announced the 2023 DJ residencies for its flagship clubbing properties, Zouk Nightclub and Ayu Dayclub.

    The powerhouse roster of artists includes some of the biggest names in EDM and hip-hop, like deadmau5, Kaskade, DJ Snake, Zedd, Jack Harlow, Tiësto, Travis Scott and more.

    Known for pushing the envelope at the intersection of technology and live music in Vegas, Zouk Group, who were named EDM.com’s best event organizer of 2021, offers unparalleled clubbing experiences at both their daytime and nighttime venues.

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    Rachel Freeman

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