Electronic Dance Music (EDM) has many contributors from around the world, and it continues to grow in popularity as the years go by. Australia is definitely no exception to this global trend, as we celebrate another year of the European Festival and the Australian Open Festival in submissions, Adelaide. What makes this show so unique though? The rise of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ to create new musical creations by artists and DJ’s all over the planet that are truly extraordinary in their own right.
So what has made the Australian electronic dance music festival, Adelaide, one of the premier electronic dance music events internationally? First of all it is located within an active city; Adelaide. There are several major radio stations within the city, and a plethora of other resources for anyone interested in listening. In addition, music festivals such as the ACL have played major roles in the growth of music and dance culture in Adelaide. This leads us back to that second point about intelligence creating new musical creations.
A cursory glance of the history of electronic dance music derivative forms in Australia reveals many names from the past, but none stands out more than the punk sub-culture. The formation of this movement was sparked by the events surrounding the execution of the Sydney Opera House bombing in July of 1997. In the aftermath, people found themselves searching for new and edgy styles to represent their solidarity with the people fighting for change in that country. It was at this point that breakcore began its journey within Australia.
After the formation of the punk sub-culture, more artists and DJs in Adelaide began to experiment with new electronic dance music. With the influx of new musical styles came new songwriters and vocalists, which led to the evolution of the Aussie electronic arts scene. One artist who stood out at this time was breakcore artist Aaron Spectre, whose popularity grew to such an extent he became an international star with his self-titled album.
Now breakcore can be easily said to be a direct descendent of pop punk. Both are rooted in the early 1990s Australian underground music scene. However, while pop punk happened to be centered around the city of Melbourne, breakcore usually happens to have roots in places like Newcastle, Sydney or Brisbane. The breakcore scene emerged as a direct response to the hardcore noise metal acts of the early 1990s such as Bath Scene and Minor 7th.
With such artists as Kaleidoscope, Chase & Status, Stereophonics, Team Dynamite and others, breakcore gained enough popularity in Australia to gain entry into the pop music 2020 compilation series. The majority of the songs featured on these compilations come from Australia, although there are a few from Europe, including the classic “Buy Her a Drink” from Adrenaline. In addition to featuring popular rock bands, breakcore also features artists who have gained popularity outside of Australia such as Skrillex, producers behind Skrillex, Arty Meldal and others. Skrillex is well known for featuring heavily stylized vocals in singles such as “amins” and “Bangin’ on the Door.”
In pop music YouTube, you can find videos from a multitude of artists, all of whom have gained recognition through major social media outlets. One of these artists is Londoner Dan Theabel, whose real name is Lauren Tipperson. Ms Tipperson is an artist known for her YouTube channel which features work she has made as a studio musician. Her musical influences include the likes of the Arctic Monkeys, Weezer and LCD Soundsystem. The songwriter behind one of her most popular songs is London based artist Aaron Sparks. His real name is Aaron Stever.
The next artist we are going to feature is California based musician Justin Timberlake. Justin grew up in the west coast area of California and has made his home here since he was young. He is best known for being one of the biggest pop culture icons of our time, with his massive hit “Love Yourself”. Some of his other popular singles include Blanket Girl, Rehab, I’m a Believer, and most recently the duet with Jennifer Lopez for the track Let’s Make Love. Justin also gained popularity because of the huge fan following that he enjoys with his various electronic dance albums and singles. One of his latest singles was West Coast rapper Dumbga Thayme’s self titled debut album, which debuted at Number Three on the charts.