Adidas always knows how to celebrate with a bang. Giving you a sneak peek of what’s to come this year, Adidas Originals wants to welcome you to the street where originality lives; the adidas Originals neighborhood. A place where the world of Adidas Originals includes athletes, musicians, skaters, artists, entertainers and more, coming together to show their colours, their style and of course, their originality. Hey, we want to live there too!

Adidas Originals’ impressive list of neighbors include Adrienne Bailon, Agyness Deyn, Ana Ivanovic, Calle 13, Cheer Chen, Ciara, David Beckham, DJ Neil Armstrong, Fernando Verdasco, Hyori Lee, Ian Brown, Jay Baruchel, Jeremy Scott, Louise Roe, Mr. Hudson, N-Dubz, Noel Gallagher, Snoop Dogg, Tallulah Morton, and Whitney Port. Keep your eyes akimbo for this star studded cast of a campaign.

For more info log on to www.adidas.com/originals or become a fan at www.facebook.com/adidasoriginals

Dylan Eiland’s alter-ego Le Castle Vania rocked the decks and served electro junkies with hard pumping beats at Mist recently. We asked the man who fancies Quentin Tarantino and hearts villain characters about his music projects.

Text Adli Syahril
Image Mist

Welcome to Malaysia. Are you sexcited to play tonight?
Yeah, of course! I always feel sexcited to play in a new city.

Good to hear! Your real name is Dylan Eiland but why do you choose Le Castle Vania as your stage name? Isn’t that some sort of a video game?
It was actually a joke when I started my first remix project on ‘Black Eyes’ by Snowden with a bunch of friends which I was not really picking it seriously and we made a joke about naming a band after a video game. So I just put the name on that remix and it sound pretty cool. The song was spreading all over the internet, music blogs and a lot of other DJs are playing it. So that’s my name now.

We are aware of your side project, Lies in Disguise. So is there any difference between Lies in Disguise and Le Castle Vania musically?
Lies in Disguise is a collaboration between me and a friend Blake Miller from the band Moving Units. We were excited to make music together but it’s not really active anymore. We’re both mainly focused on our own thing right now.

Can you tell us how your passion for DJing started?
I started DJing when I was 16 because I was too young to go to clubs. I wanted to see bigger DJs. So I decided like “Oh, if I start DJing now, I can go to clubs and that’s cool!” I was into Dance music and stuffs like that. That’s how I started and it kept growing.

If you were not a DJ, what would you be?
I’d probably be nobody. I have to be a DJ. That’s my only option.

What influences your music?
I take influence from all different kind of music, mainly the fusion of rock and dance music. I always grew up liking the aggressive sound like rock but also enjoy the sound of electronic and dance music.

What was the weirdest thing you’ve seen at your gig?
Oh, man. I’ve seen a lot of weird things. I can’t think of a good one.

What is the current killer track that you think will put everyone in frenzy?
I have a new single called ‘Back to the Light’. I think it has the cool energy and really different for me. It stands out from my set and of course, my most recent single ‘Nobody Gets Out Alive’ also got everyone excited.

Which super-villain do you hate the most?
I actually like villains. I think it would be Mr. Burns from Simpsons.

If you were stranded on an island, what are the 3 things that you would need to survive?
I think I would go crazy if I wasn’t able to make music. Obviously I need food and at least one smoking hot girl. If I have those things I’d probably stay on the island.

What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you wish more people could know?
Ermm. (long pause) I prefer to remain mysterious.

So you don’t want anyone to know anything about you?
No but I’d like them to know more about my music.

Which is more challenging to you, making remixes or produce your own track?
Producing my own track is much more difficult because remix is about changing the original and making it better than it was. I need to pour my own ideas to create an original track and be inspired.

Besides DJing and producing tracks, what else do you like to do?
I’m interested in film. I also do a lot of video production, DVD and visual stuffs for my own show. Yeah, I’m a movie buff. My favorite movie is True Romance by Quentin Tarantino.

Tell us how do you see yourself in 10 years time?
I have no idea. Still making music, I think.

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be?
I would have started putting out my music sooner. I’ve made a lot of stuff but never managed to finish it and put it out. I wish I could do it sooner when I was younger.

Do you think the electronic dance music scene is evolving?
Always. What’s cool about electronic music is the new style and new trends coming even though a lot of ‘followers’ are into what is popular right now but there are more new stuffs coming out all the time. People should pay more attention to that. The scene is always changing and shifting.

Second that! What is your upcoming project for this year?
I’m mainly focus on new releases from my label Always Never. I’m not really focusing on releasing an album. The music industry is weird. Maybe one day I’ll try, but not now.

Le Castle Vania was in KL for Neubeats Launch Party #2 at Mist Club on March 11. Dance to his music at www.lecastlevania.com and www.myspace.com/castlevaniadisco.

10 years after the first ever release of ‘Out of the Blue’ by System F, the trance classic is available again with fresh new releases from the likes of Tiesto, Laidback Luke, Giuseppe Ottaviani and many more. Aside from this re-release of the single , this milestone moment is also celebrated and supported by a unique remix contest, where you not only get to determine what remixes appear on the final product - you, local dance music producers, get to contribute your remix to the album!

Text www.decktimestories.com

The original album has been digitally remastered and includes a special bonus CD, which contains the best and now hard to find remixes of System F cuts made by Armin van Buuren , Barthezz , Rank 1 and Jan Driver. Fans will also be happy to find the highly sought after ‘Violin Edit’ of ‘Out of the Blue’ plus other material that was never digitally released before.

In conjunction with the landmark release, Ferry has created an exciting competition in which fans, as well as amateur and experienced producers have a chance to remix one or all of the System F tracks ever released. The competition gives new talents the chance to remix one of my productions. I get a lot of enquiries of producers that want to remix my tracks so this is their chance,” says Ferry.

The outtakes and parts of all the original album cuts will be available through www.fcsystemf.com; and the winning remixes will end up on the upcoming FC System F ‘Champions’ album. All entries will also be credited on the sleevenotes.

The competition, which takes place in stages, began on 2 Feb, with entries and votes for remixes of singles ‘Out Of The Blue’, ;Cry’, ‘Dance Valley Theme 2001′ and ‘Exhale’ and ‘Lost In Motion’ now in. You can still vote for ‘Elevate’ remixes until 30 March.

For those looking to contribute remixes ‘Needlejuice’, ‘Soul On Soul’, ‘Indian Summer’, ‘Solstice’ and ’Insolation’ are yet to be contested. Remixes for the final single ‘Insolation’ closes on 25 April with voting closing on 4 May. We suggest you check the site for details as remixing and voting times are limited.

It’s your chance to appear or determine the tracks that appear on Ferry Corsten’s upcoming FC System F ‘Champions’ album. Get the lowdown at www.fcsystemf.com now. Contest closes 25 April.

Images GAB + Miranda Yeoh

Japanese hip hop artist Jun Seba aka Nujabes was killed in a car accident on 26 February. This 36 year old musical genius’ death was confirmed the news on the artist’s record label website on Hydeout Productions. Another sad day to the music scene.

Nujabes crashed his car leaving the Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, as confirmed on the website and his friend and collaborator, Shing02. Attempts to save him were unsuccessful. His death and funeral was kept secret for unknown reasons.

The entertainer is the founder of his record company Hydeout Productions, owner of two Tokyo record stores, Guinness Records and T Records. Nujabes, who’s nickname is actually his real name spelled backwards have worked with some of the most respected underground hip hop artists of our times namely CYNE, Apani B, Five Deez, Substantial, CL Smooth, Terry Callier, Funky DL and R&B singer Dwele. Hydeout Productions will release some of Nujabes’ tracks he’s been working on before his untimely death.

His death is being mourned by many from all around the world. Even DJ Premier, a renowned hip hop producer and DJ dedicated a blog to the late Nujabes on his blog.

“Damn, I was such a big fan of the man. Not only his music, but his character too. I remember when a hip hop fan got back from Japan they always asked him if he went to his record shop and took pictures of it and if they met Nujabes himself. Because it was so rarely to see him on image, he communicates with music like no one else did. His vinyl were always hard to get for non Japan heads, it was crazy how they were sold. The underground world really recognized him and always will, no doubt about it. He was one of the best hip hop producer of Japan and that is what he will always be remembered for, R.I.P. my friend, we’ll miss you. 2010, damn…”

Remember Nujabes at www.myspace.com/nujabes.

Greg Henderson is no stranger to the Malaysian local scene. This Aussie fella started in Sydney since 1984, moved to Singapore in 1995 and has been in Malaysia since 1997. Hired as a senior engineer at Synchrosound Studio and worked on local female rockstar Ella on her El album, which won him an Anugerah Industri Muzik  award in 2000 for that album. He has worked with big guns such as OAG, Pop Shuvit, Anuar Zain and so many more. We asked Greg to shed some producing knowledge on us. Here goes.

With the advent of the computer, the art of record production is slowly being lost. Whole studios have been replaced by plug-ins, virtual instruments, virtual cabling, virtual everything. It seems as if it’s only a matter of time before the artists themselves are replaced by virtual virtuosos. What a sad, numb world we have created for ourselves, where instant DIY music is available to any pleb who can spell “torrent”. It’s a damn shame.

Me? I’m from the old school. I don’t believe in virtual shortcuts to success in music, or in any other area of life for that matter. I firmly believe that in order to succeed as a record producer, one must begin at the very beginning: with the fundamentals of production. The earthy basics. The stuff we learnt back in the 80s.

So here, in a JUICE exclusive, I shed light on a few of these long-forgotten rudiments of studio craft. The essentials, just as they were taught to me during my earliest days as an assistant engineer at EMI Studios 301 in Australia, 1984.

Making Coffee
Good studio coffee is served piping hot and fresh from a percolator. Purified water is dispensed in the boiling chamber of the percolator prior to turning the percolator on. The studio assistant then takes 1 coffee filter and places it in the filter holder inside the percolation chamber. Approximately ¼ cup of fine imported drip filter coffee is then added, and the lid closed firmly. The percolator is then switched on. At the completion of the brewing process, the assistant pours the coffee into 2 porcelain cups. The cups are then placed on a tray with cream and sugar on the side. The spread is then offered to the engineer and producer in a cheerful and respectful manner. Especially proactive assistants may also serve biscuits with the brew. Or a light snack. Chocolate is also good.

Taking The Blame
As every engineer knows, recording studios are complex places where any number of things can go wrong. Often, expensive mistakes can be made. For example: irreplaceable performances can be accidentally erased, coffee can be spilt down the faders of the recording console, precious vintage microphones can fall off their stands onto concrete floors, corrosive cocaine can be flicked down into a patch bay–these are just a few potential disasters that can befall a recording session. It is thus recommended that assistant engineers be willing to accept blame for any mistakes the engineer or producer may make during the session, especially the expensive ones. This kind of attitude makes life easier for the production team and is an excellent way to show how grateful you are to be allowed to participate in sessions with these gifted and experienced people. It also could help to persuade the engineer to allow you to use some of the session time for your own educational purposes, or your friend’s band. Just a thought…

Keeping Notes
Look, in all seriousness, the very best thing you can do to learn the craft of recording music is to find a producer/engineer whose stuff you really like and ask if you can sit next to him for a mix. During the mix, take as many notes as you can, ask as many questions as you can and observe with all your attention. Treat the time you have with him/her like gold. This is how I essentially got started learning to be a producer. After the coffee and the coke and the blame was all done, I was lucky enough to sit next to some really fantastic producers and engineers. I watched them work. I observed them with all my energy. I asked as many very specific questions as I could think of and I wrote a hell of a lot of it down. I think it’s one of the best things you can do.

And once you’ve done that, get into your own home studio and practise. Practise. Practise. Practise!

Responsible for some of the biggest trance anthems of 2009, including hits ‘Eivissa Eivissa’, ‘Out Of The Box’, ‘The Beginning’ and his ‘RTFM’ remix for Misja Helsloot vs. Signum, and with a knowledge for studio buttons, sliders, computers, instruments, sequencers and plug-ins that borders on obsessive, there’s no doubting why Jan Oostdyk has been at the happy end of a love-in with peers like Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Gareth Emery and Paul van Dyk. Even name checked by Ferry Corsten and Sied van Riel in their DJ mag interviews as the Breakthrough DJ & Producer of the Year, next to his talent as a DJ and Producer, Jan also hosts an outstanding monthly podcast. His 2009 was a blast, but if our crystal balls are to be believed this 2010 Jan’s future is gonna be strapped to a rocket.

What’s the last thing you did before going to bed last night?
Let me see, I checked my e-mail, talked to some people on MSN and did some work on the mix of my new track.

And what do the Dutch have for breakfast?
Normal Dutchmen eat bread, but those rules don’t apply to me haha. I always work at night, so morning is night for me and the night is morning, if you get my point? When I wake up I usually run to my coffee machine and if I feel like eating, I’ll eat anything I have lying around the house.

Ugh…. The music you make has an incredibly euphoric vibe, what contributes to this?
The inspiration for my music comes from anything … love, anger, a dream or just happiness. And yes, I consider myself to be a very positive person. I always try to solve my problems, make things right and every day there’s another achievement. So I really try to get the best out of life and truly believe that every person is here for a reason. Besides that I believe everyday can be your last so you have to make the most of it!

You’ve had some of the world’s biggest and best DJs and producers give you props. Which of your peers do you admire the most and why?
I admire Ferry Corsten very much. Producing a good piece of music is quite a challenge, and to keep on doing that and to keep being on the top for so long is what I call talent!

In our January issue, JUICE tried to get to the bottom of why it is Dutch DJs find such great success. What is your theory?
In 1999 trance music found its way to reach a global crowd and I think the Dutch were the first to become famous for it; the Dutch are on the top of the trance world. Besides that, I think the Dutch have a great sense for telling a story and finding a touching melody – Sied van Riel, Leon Bolier, W&W, Ferry Corsten, Benno de Goeij (Rank 1) can all do this perfectly!

Trance is a genre that gets a lot of flack, why do you think that is?
Personally I think that’s because the standards in trance are very high, so producers will try to imitate other producers to get some success. In Holland we call that cheesy. If you copy someone’s style, the emotion and vibe will disappear. The sound is the same, but the value of the track is gone. I believe this is also the reason why the trance community dislike the copiers and place true composers/producers on a higher level.

What about downloading?
Because of all the illegal downloading, ripping and sharing of music, lots of producers don’t see the use in spending some extra time on a being original and making a track perfect. If a producer has an amazing trance track, he will sell about 400 mp3s – not that much. I work on a track for about three weeks, day in day out, but the money earned on the record is not something to get excited about. So maybe, we should all stop downloading and sharing music. If you love it, buy it!

1999 was such a great year for trance, which you yourself have pointed out. 10 years along, where do you see the dance music industry, especially the trance scene?
I have the feeling that dance music will stay with us for many years. The evolution of dance music never stops, new genres and new talents keep on presenting theirselves and as long as producers keep on making new material and the people keep listening, it will remain with us. At the moment house is having a huge revival in the mainstream music charts and someday, trance will return in the charts. Trance will make its breakthrough in the United States soon and will be used by many pop artists.

Tell us more about the Basement radio show.
My monthly one hour radio show The Basement is broadcast by 13 radio stations. I host the show myself and have a 20 minute guest mix every month. I prefer the show to be short and contain only the best music that month. At the moment we have a lot of listeners and it looks like I’ll keep on doing the show for quite some time!

What was the last movie you watched and give us a quickie review?
The last movie I saw was 2012. It’s a movie about the theory that the world will end in 2012. I’m so happy that it will take 2 more years before that happens so we all still have some time to enjoy . The movie ends (spoiler for everybody that hasn’t seen it), with the continents moved instead of the earth being destroyed. So if that happens in 2012, Thailand will have a white Christmas and Holland will finally have a normal summer haha!

Last album you bought?
Lenny Kravitz – Greatest Hits, awesome music, especially when driving!

What are you working on at the moment and can we expect an album?
I just finished some new tracks. One is a collaboration with Robert Smit (who also worked with System F), one is with Ron van den Beuken. Besides that I have been working on the follow up to ‘Eivissa Eivissa’, which is inspired by Malaysia. This one is almost done and I expect many people to like this one.

Thanks Jan! We’ll eat some Edam in its honour.

For times of Jan’s Basement radio show podcast and to subscribe to Jan’s newsletter there, drop it at www.janoostdyk.com.

Vanity Mansion had their grand opening last Thursday to officially open their doors to what hopefully will be a future of crazily wild and fun parties. It had an amazing turn out and a special appearance by Tevin Campbell who performed a couple of songs that night.

Tevin Campbell was definitely the highlight of the night. He really brought the house down as he sang rnb hits such as ‘Always In My Heart’ and ‘Can We Talk For A Minute’. Though it has been quite a while since I last heard from him, Tevin showed that he still had what it takes and had all the ladies going gaga. I couldn’t even get close and had to snap pictures from the sidelines or risk getting trampled by stilettos. The ladies finally dispersed when Tevin had finished his set and started for the dancefloor the moment DJ Reggie and John Dave were up on the decks.

Thought the night was filled with people dancing and drinking away, I felt that the event could have been better. At certain times the DJ did not have a consistent flow. This made the crowd look like they were unable to follow the rhythm. Though it was all the super wicked tunes and the latest hits that he dropped, if they could just fix this small thing that I believe that their nights will be flawless.

It was still an enjoyable night and everyone was seen leaving for home or sitting around looking pretty with nothing but smiles on their faces and you can bet that they will definitely be visiting Vanity Mansion again.

Vanity Mansion Grand Opening was held on 11 March 2010. Check out our gallery for pix!

In the good ol’ days Edwin was at the height of denim engineering. To represent what those days of glory, Edwin launched the Vintage Collection line in 2008. Today, the collection is still going strong and Edwin has just introduced the newest addition to the line, the suspender pants.

Using a specially developed uneven thread used for warp and weft throughout the Vintage collection, these 13 oz Japanese Selvage denims are produced on shuttle weaving machines, the two elements combining to create a feeling of old fabric. The Selvage, named Hinomaru Selvage was designed to reflect the colours of the Japanese National flag. Take a closer look at the details, now isn’t that a work of art?

For more info, log on to www.edwin-europe.com

Tim Burton’s body of work is an Underland. His latest is Alice In Wonderland for Disney and sees the animator/director reunite once again with muse Johnny Depp. JUICE speaks with its favorite auteur of all time about the making of, why animation is back better than ever and why Alice is like us, young and conflicted.

Why do you think Alice In Wonderland is still popular more than 140 years after its publication?
It somehow taps a subconscious thing. That’s why all those great stories stay around because they tap into the things that people probably aren’t even aware of. There’s definitely something about those images. That’s why there have been so many versions of it. As a movie, it’s always been about a passive little girl wandering around a series of adventures with weird characters. There’s never any kind of gravity to it. The attempt with this was to take the idea of those stories and shape them into something that’s not literal from the book but keeps the spirit of it.

Growing up, did you have a favorite children’s book?
I was a Dr. Seuss fan. It was easy to read. I liked his drawings. But, the reason I wanted to do “Alice” is that it was a really interesting challenge. I didn’t feel personally, like I might on another project, like, oh, there is one great version out there, so to try and do another one, might be a problem. But with “Alice,” there are some interesting ones, but I don’t know if any are completely successful.

What do you like about this version of the story?
It’s more of a personal journey. These are the things that are actually the most important in life. That moment where you make that important choice. Maybe it happens to everybody. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it does a couple of different times in your life, where you learn something, you grow. You know, it’s like you’ve got two sides of yourself in conflict. Emotionally conflicted. And then, when you make that personal growth, it’s quite an amazing thing. Quite a strong thing. It’s reconciling within yourself who you are, becoming the person you’re going to be, a human being. It sounds light, but it’s important.

Why did you make Alice a 19-year-old?
That age just seems to me to be a crossroads. There, I think you’re entering a culture where you’re pressured into society, or getting married, or some other thing. I just felt like Alice is an interesting character, because she’s at that age, and she’s got both a young person’s and an old person’s soul. There’s a dynamic—at odds feeling both the young and the old, and then reconciling those two things. It just seemed like the classic structure of fantasy—go back to The Wizard of Oz. Or any of a number of fairy or folk tales—these adventures are always to work out the character’s emotional problems. That’s why I’ve always been intrigued by the poetry and the purpose of such stories—myths and things. They mean something. And, so, her adventures are her coming to terms with who she is and gaining her personal strength. Those are the journeys that are made in these stories, but they’re quite private, too. It seemed like the right age to explore that dynamic of somebody, at a moment of change.

Is it Underland or Wonderland? What does it look like in this film?
It is Underland and has always been Underland, but according to the film version, when Alice visited as a child, she misheard the name and called it Wonderland. Everybody’s got an image of Underland. I think in people’s minds, it’s always a very bright, cartoony place. We thought if Alice had had this adventure as a little girl and now she’s going back, perhaps it’s been a little bit depressed since she’s left. It’s got a slightly haunted quality to it.

Where do you see the future of movies going, now that you have this mixture of 3D and live-action?
I was in animation several years ago. It was pronounced dead, and then they stopped doing hand drawn. So, the good news is that there are more forms for everything, which is great. There should be 3D, drawn animation, computer animation, stop-motion. It’s all valid. It’s all great. And it’s better now than it’s ever been. I was struggling for 10 years to get a stop-motion movie made. Now, you can do it—no problem.

Hooray for that!