All posts by Xavier Capdepon

Xavier Remixes Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre is one of the most prominent figures in the music industry after recently surpassing P Diddy as the “Richest Man in Hip-Hop,” after Apple bought his company Beats by Dre for $3 billion. He has not only made a name for himself in the Hip-Hop realm, but he has also shinned in the business world as the CEO of Beats Electronics and Aftermath Entertainment. He was previously signed to Death Row Records as an artist and co-founder. He has been instrumental to the success of various notable rappers such as Eminem, The Game, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Kendrick Lamar. He is also credited with the popularization of the West Coast G-funk rap style that is characterized by synthesizers with heavy, slow beats.

Dr. Dre became famous with the notable rap group N.W.A, alongside Eazy-E, MC Ren, Ice Cube, and DJ Yella. He debuted his first solo album, The Chronic, in 1992 which became one of the best-selling rap albums in 1993, and lead him to his first grammy for his song, “Let Me Ride.” In 1996, he left Death Row Records in the pursuit of creating his own record label, Aftermath Entertainment. After 2000, he primarily focused on producing tracks for other artists. In 1998, Dr. Dre signed Eminem to Aftermath Entertainment and in 2002, he signed 50 Cent.

One of Dr. Dre and Eminem’s most popular song is called, I Need a Doctor, and features vocals from Skylar Grey. The singer songwriter known as Skylar Grey began her music career when she was 17 years old under her real name Holly Brook. She was under contract with Linkin Park’sWarner Bros. She is most well known for her vocals on Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go,” T.I.’s “New National Anthem,” Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor,” and P. Diddy’s “I’m coming home.” View Xavier Capdepon’s new remix using Skylar Grey’s vocals from the popular single, “I Need a Doctor” by Dr. Dre featuring Eminem.

Xavier Capdepon – I Need a Doctor (Remix)

Dr. Dre – I need A Doctor (Xavier Capdepon Remix) from Xavier Capdepon on Vimeo.

 

Australian Singer/Songwriter, Vance Joy

Xavier Capdepon Vance JoyVance Joy is an Australian songwriter and singer who creates indie pop music and alternative rock. Vance Joy’s real name is James Keogh, and he is under a five-album contract with Atlantic Records. His debut EP, God Loves You When You’re Dancing cam out in March of 2013, and one of the songs on the EP, Riptide, was the number one song on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2013. Vance Joy recently released his debut studio album, Dream Your Life Away, in September of 2014.

James Keogh was also a professional football player in the Victorian Football League. He played for the Coburg Football Club and won the rookie of the year award in 2008. He obviously decided to give up his football career to peruse his passion for music.

Vance Joy’s pride and joy, Riptide reached triple platinum, and has taken part in multiple commercials including one for GoPro. The song peaked at the #6 slot the Australian Record Industry Association charts. Dimitri Basil directed the music video.

A book called Bliss inspired the name Vance Joy. The protagonist in the story had a crazy grandfather, Vance Joy, who was an exceptional storyteller.

Vance Joy dropped his first studio album, Dream Your Life Away, late last year. “Mess Is Mine” was the most popular song on the album, peaking at #37 on the Australian music charts. Vance Joy discusses his album early in 2014, talking about how he thought that there would be an eclectic mix of songs and songwriting that all tie in together.

Take a look at Xavier Capdepon’s remix of Vance Joy’s popular hit, Riptide, as Xavier has taken different acapellas and turned the song into an indie electro remix along with a music video using stock footage from the Internet.

Xavier Capdepon’s Riptide Remix:

The Bad Boys from Boston: Aerosmith

Xavier Capdepon Aerosmith Dream On MusicThe Bad Boys from Boston, better known as Aerosmith, is considered one of the greatest Rock and Roll bands in the history of Rock and Roll. Their music style incorporates elements of pop music, heavy metal, and blues to encapsulate as blues-based hard rock. The band began in Boston in the early 70s with Joe Perry on the guitar, Tom Hamilton on the bass, Steven Tyler on the vocals/harmonica, Joey Kramer on the drums, and Brad Whitford on the guitar.

In 1972, Aerosmith was signed to Columbia Records and their onslaught of gold and platinum records began. They released their debut album, Aerosmith, in 1973, followed by Get Your Wings in 1974. The band really began to rise to stardom after releasing a set of more mainstream albums: Toys in the Attic in 1975 and Rocks in 1976. Aerosmith’s first five albums reached multi-platinum status. By the end of the decade, the band was one of the most popular bands in the world, followed by their extremely loyal fan base that called themselves the “Blue Army.”

After the 70s, internal band-conflicts lead to the departure of Whitford and Perry. Their replacements were Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay; however, the band was unable to match their previous success. Aerosmith remains at the top spot for best-selling rock band in the United States. They’ve sold over 150 million records worldwide and 70 million in the United States. They also hold the US record for most gold albums with 25 gold albums in their repertoire.

Xavier Capdepon recently remixed one of Aerosmith’s most popular songs, “Dream On.” Take a listen below and let us know what you think:

 

The Anonymous EDM Producer & DJ, Zhu

Xavier Capdepon Zhu Faded nycWho is Zhu? That’s the pivotal question nowadays in the electronic dance music community. He first came on the scene with an anonymously disclosed remix of Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson.” The song was a big hit on all the major music blogs, but no one knew who actually made the song. The deep house sound from this remix led people to believe that the famous EDM group, Disclosure, was behind the popular remix. A week after releasing the Outkast remix, the anonymous EDM artist came out as Zhu, with the release of his first original track, “Superfriends.” In April of 2014, he came out with his first EP The Nightday, which featured his first single “Faded.”

Zhu’s entire aura revolves around anonymity and judging him solely on the music that he makes. It took a lot of digging to finally unearth the anonymous artist as Steven Zhu from Los Angeles. Zhu has apparently been working on various music projects since 2011, but he has kept completely quiet on social media projects until now.

His marketing tactics keep up with his air of anonymity, focusing on a gorilla and grassroots approach. Zhu recently had a secret show in Brooklyn, NY where he made his fans aware of a show somewhere in NY, but never specified the place or time. He posted posters all over the city of an upcoming show, but the details remained anonymous.

The anonymous approach in this day and age is reliving in the face of huge marketing tactics used my EDM producers in the modern age. Rather than judged by the music, their marketing team is judges on whether or not they were able to find more followers. Zhu’s tactic is reminiscent of Daft Punk before they were discovered. Critics believe that Zhu’s marketing techniques could possibly change the EDM scene, with more of a focus on the created rather than the creator.

Check out Xavier Capdepon’s new remix of Zhu’s first single, “Faded.”

Profile of Schoolboy Q and DJ 20syl

Schoolboy Q:
Schoolboy Q, aka Quincy Hanley, is the California hip hop artist best known for his Oxymoron album release in 2012. Even though he’s only been rapping professionally since 2006, Schoolboy Q was able to secure a recording contract with Interscope Records in 2011/2012 alongside labelmates like Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.

Q started his career with Top Dawg Entertainment, an independent record label that began to take him under his wing at the tender age of 21. Jay Rock and Ab-Soul of Top Dawg liked what they heard and continued to invite Q back until they eventually signed him in 2009. The generally positive reception to his mixtapes in 2008 and 2009 helped him start touring and getting material for his first independent album, Setbacks, in early 2011.

Setbacks was hardly a setback for Schoolboy Q; it brought critical acclaim, plenty of attention, and a large fan following. Building off that momentum, Q released Habits & Contradictions in 2012 and eventually announced his major label debut on Interscope Records. His various releases have shown just how flexible Schoolboy is with his rapping technique and rhyme style. Though he cites Jay-Z as a major influence, Schoolboy Q pulls some aggression from 50 cent and lyrical strength from the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore.

20syl
20syl (pronounced “vin-sil”) is a producer, producer, and DJ extraordinaire from Nantes, France. He’s earned a solid reputation for his jazz, funk, and soul influences and for his collaborations with the likes of The Procussions and Thomas Lawrence.

Aside from his own blossoming solo career, 20syl has actually been a part of the musical landscape for over a decade thanks to collaborative projects with DMC World Team winners C2C and the acoustic hip-hop/jazz group, Hocus Pocus.

Where the magic happens:
If you haven’t already heard 20syl’s remix of the Schoolboy Q Rapfix Cypher, then you need to check it out pronto. It’s a masterfully smooth and professionally mixed recording of a Schoolboy Q freestyle. 20syl somehow takes a cypher full of pauses and stutters and turns it into a fresh and polished mix absolutely brimming with feeling and soul. Check out the song below!

Also, check out Xavier Capdepon’s dubstep remix of 20syl’s remix below!

Who is Clean Bandit?

Xavier Capdepon Clean BanditClean Bandit is an electronic group from Cambridge, England founded in 2009. The group consists of four members: Jack Patterson on the bass guitar, keyboard and vocals; Luke Patterson on the drums; Grace Chatto on the cello and vocals; and Milan Neil Amin-Smith on the violin. In January of 2014, they released their first single to hit the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart, “Rather Be.” In the United States, “Rather Be” reached the number 12 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

They music style of Clean Bandit can be described as a mix of electronic/deep-house music with elements of classical music. The music that they make uses elements from classical compositions from Dvorak, Beethoven, and Mozart. They released their single “Mozart’s House” in 2013 and the song reached  #17 on the UK Singles Chart. A lot of their music can be considered humorous at times as many record labels refused to sign the band because they thought that they were a comedy band.

In a world where a lot of electronic artists these days are hiring production interns to produce their own music, Clean Bandit actually produces their own music. Jack, Chatto and Amin-Smith all met while attending Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. Chatto and Amin-Smith were leads in a string quartet. Chatto was Jack’s girlfriend while at college, and he would record remixes to Chatto’s vocals from time to time. One of their songs, Motzar’s House, eventually materialized and thus began the journey to becoming an electronic band.

Their band name comes from the minds of Chatto and Jack Patterson. They both lived in Russia for a bit, so “Clean Bandit” is a direct translation that from Russian to English that is used to mean “complete bastard” or “utter rascal” in British terminology.

The other night Xavier Capdepon completed his remix of Clean Bandits’s most famous song, “Rather Be” with vocals from Jess Glynne. Check the song out below!

Xavier Capdepon’s Introduction to Music Blogging

The music industry these days is vastly different than it was a decade ago. These days, DJs and musicians have to rely more on touring than they do on CD sales. The music experience and success relies on major record labels signing artists and building their careers in the music industry. Aside from this, all there really is to do if you want to enter the music industry is 1) have a web presence 2) network within the industry and 3) learn how to produce music. I have made this blog as a steppingstone for my career. I want to simply play good music and make a living doing so. Music is my everything, and I have been doing music for my entire life. I am a firm believer that music is a necessity in life as it brings joy and happiness to a ridged and stiff world. I know great music and I am in the middle of learning how to make good music. I’ve DJed all over the world, so I know what it takes to get people off of their seats an onto the dance floor. This website will act as a place where you can find good music, but more importantly, good NEW music. This era of music is moving faster than ever. With new technology and electronic music taking over the industry, there is much more accessibility to music production tools. People are able to churn out songs faster than ever, and songs don’t stick around for years, like they used to. It is important to not only create music in this industry, but to keep evolving with it and keep up to date with the current trends. Thus, this will be a place where you can find the hottest trending songs. Below is Xavier Capdepon’s soundcloud creations of the songs that he has produced himself. Listen and enjoy!