As part of a global “Smirnoff Experience” event in South Africa, the company is about to release an exclusive track, “Dreaming”, which shows DJ/Producer Tiësto merging his unique sound with BLK JKS – an emerging prog rock band from South Africa, and recent SAMA winners for “Best Alternative Music Album” (South African Music Awards, the equivalent of the US Grammys). Sounds interesting, no?
The track will be vailable as an exclusive download to fans on: http://www.facebook.com/smirnoff. The track will be premiered live to a worldwide audience via an online live stream from the ‘Mashup Street’ event on the 15th May in Johannesburg, allowing people from all over the world to participate.
It’s great to see companies like Smirnoff get so heavily behind music – both live and recorded. The result is unique content that both revilalizes their own brand and that of the artist, helping to breath new life into the ever-changing landscape of the music industry.
We recent had a chance to listen to the track, and it’s yet another example of what we’ve come to know Tiësto for – a brooding synthy intro and a building bassline pulsating, finally breaking to reveal BLK JKS’ intense vocal. The electro-trance breakdown follows a cinematic mix of rising strings and a chorus of call and response using a bass hook of epic proportion, infused with blips of township funk and kwaito bop.
Here’s what Tiësto had to say about this unique collaboration: “Over the past year, I’ve done several collaborations with artists from a variety of genres, but have never worked with an artist from South Africa. I was excited by the opportunity to work with an act like BLK JKS, who are influenced by their South African roots, but also have some dance music sensibility. I’m looking forward to playing “Dreaming” live for the first time on May 15 at Smirnoff Experience South Africa and on tour this summer. ”
BLK JKS said in response: “Some people don’t realise it, but we are big fans of dance music. We’re honoured to be selected by Tiësto and Smirnoff to take part in this collaboration. We’ve created a straight up dance track, which is not what we would normally produce on our own. I think “Dreaming” will surprise our own fans, and hopefully open us up to new ones.”
As I mentioned the other day in my review of the Major Label event, it’s great to see companies like General Pants, or in this case Smirnoff, get behind live music – it’s through their financial stability that interesting musical events continue to take place around the world, showcasing a backlash against the option so many record companies have shown over the last decade – complaining that people are downloading music, rather than creating innovative ways to keep people buying their albums and going to their concerts. It’s interesting how the landscape changes…
Watch the live stream via http://www.facebook.com/smirnoff/
Watch the trailer: http://bit.ly/tiestoSA
Watch an exclusive interview with Tiësto: http://bit.ly/TiestoBLKJKS
For more information:
http://www.smirnoff.com
http://www.youtube.com/smirnoff
So… What is the Smirnoff Experience?
With stops in Moscow, Shanghai, Paris and New York, the Smirnoff Experience series continues its journey around the world, having landed last weekend in Berlin on 23rd April with headliner Simian Mobile Disco before heading to South Africa. The events celebrate originality in nightlife by bringing to life original concepts, forming one-off collaborations and championing original party experiences.
The Tiësto concert, his collaboration with BLK JKS and Smirnoff Experience ‘Mashup Street’ is the latest installment from Smirnoff’s BE THERE program – a call on others to create, seek out and participate in more one-of-a-kind experiences. It is an event that celebrates the fusion of vibrant South African music and street cultures.
