Tag: martijn garritsen

My favourite photographers

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog, a new Monday and a new week. I hope your weekend was good and that you’re all feeling well and happy. Can you believe February is already coming to an end? Because I can’t, at all. It’s gonna be March in just a few days, which means my birthday is already lurking around the corner. And then I’ll be 24. Oh wow. Time really flies by. And I know this sounds a bit sad or dramatic, but, I think, I’m happy about growing older, because, generally, it means growth and moving forward and that’s exactly what I want to do. To grow and to do more and to see more. Make the most of my life, basically. And to continue sharing all of that with you guys. Which I also want to do today, but, as you could see by the title of this post, we’re not going to focus on my life today, but on that of someone else. That of Louis van Baar, to be exact. Welcome to part four of the “my favourite photographers” series. Let’s go.

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Louis van Baar

Let me introduce you to Louis. If any of you are fans of Marty – Martin Garrix – and/or have ever taken a look at his Instagram, you will most definitely have seen some pictures that were taken by the wonderful Louis. You will surely have, because ever since 2014, Louis has been Marty’s official photographer and has thus spent the last five years and a bit traveling the world with him and taking pictures of him and the beauty that can be found on our amazing planet. And I’ll say it right upfront – Louis definitely is one of the best photographers I know and it happens more than just a few times that I look at one of his pictures and wonder how he managed to get such a perfect shot. In the end, he makes a living shooting EDM gigs, which are probably the most thrilling and rapid concerts ever. There are lasers and fire and the hyped-up crowd and, of course, the DJ, who’s jumping around like there’s no tomorrow. Getting a super clear, stunning shot in such circumstances sounds like the most difficult thing ever to me. But somehow Louis manages to get those perfect shots every single time and that’s only one of the reasons why I would call him a genius behind the camera.

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There is also the fact that Louis is super freaking young. I mean, just 26 years old young. That kind of young. And that’s his current age. Which means he started touring with Marty when he was just 21, which, looking at the pictures he took at that time, is mind-boggling to me. I know it might be a bit weird to base it all on age, but somehow, for me, talent definitely must be on another level when it develops that early and leads to such a career that early on.

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Obviously, him being that young, also Dutch and that talented in one, makes him the perfect photographer for Martijn. Because he isn’t just his photographer, but, more importantly, he’s also a really good friend. Actually, their story is super cute – in 2014, Martijn and his team were looking for a photographer for his summer tour and found Louis. They toured for a few weeks and it all went so smoothly, they decided to keep on working together. And now we’re in 2020 and they’re still together. How cute is that? And on top of that, a bit more than a year ago, they published a photography book, made up of Louis’ best shots and some background stories from Martijn. And yes, I have that book. Twice. It’s freaking stunning.

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When you take a look at Louis’ pictures, you can clearly tell that he has a special style. Big shots with lots of colours and a feel of dimension that makes it seem as if you’re in the picture. He quite frequently takes pictures of landscapes, architecture, and cities they visit, most of the time during helicopter flights. In short, the photos are breathtaking. In my opinion, they are so grand and aesthetically pleasing, that I could easily see them hanging in someone’s villa or be part of some special photography installation at a gallery. That also goes for all the shots he takes during Marty’s gigs, which never fail to perfectly capture the feeling of his shows. The lasers, the fire, the energy, and excitement – you can feel it all through the pictures. That’s why Louis is such a genius photographer. He doesn’t only capture the colours, the view, but also the feeling, the moment. What an artist.

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I highly recommend checking out his and Marty’s Instagrams as well as Louis’ website to take a closer look at his art. I’ve also gone and picked out a few of my favourite shots of him, which you can see down below. I hope you like them. Obviously, none of them belong to me, all the rights go to Louis. Additionally, here’s the link to their photography book, which I can also highly recommend. It’s one of those books you can have lying on your table as a piece of art or decoration. It is that pretty.  And yeah, besides that, I hope you enjoyed this post and getting to hear Louis’ story and to see his amazing pictures. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And, of course, I wish you all a nice week and thanks for reading. x

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Sziget Festival – Part Two

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog and another Friday. I hope you’ve all had an amazing week and that you’re doing good. And, regarding what we will be talking about today, I hope you’re in the mood for another trip to paradise – aka Sziget festival – and that you already enjoyed my recent post about the first two days of the festival (click here if you want to check that out). I am so excited to tell you all about day three and seeing Marty again and what happened after that and how my mum and I got home at half-past 5 in the morning. In short, I’m crazy happy to tell you about anything and everything and I can’t wait for you to read it and to relive all these moments with me. Are you ready? Yes? Then let’s jump right in, shall we?

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Day 3

As I mentioned in my previous post, Sziget couldn’t have been more perfect than it was. It was an absolute dream come true and I’d do lots of crazy, crazy things to be able to go back and do it all over again. And Day 3 especially. The moment I woke up that day, I knew that exciting things were ahead. Because it was the day I’d finally be seeing Marty again, after a year. Some of you might know that ever since seeing him live for the very first time in 2015, also at Sziget, I’ve been to one of his shows every single year. It’s become a full-on tradition now. It’s become my thing to see him every year. And I couldn’t wait for the fifth time, especially because of the fact that it was at Sziget. Our five-year-anniversary and at Sziget, just like the first time. It was bound to be perfect. And on top of that, it was also STMPD-Day, so after Marty’s show, his label would be taking over a stage for the rest of the night and I was so ready for that.

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So, as soon as my mum and I got on the island, we once again went for a little walk around the island and went to the beach (yes, the festival even has its own beach). There weren’t many acts on for us to see, so we still had some time left to just wander around, do some people-watching, visit the funfair again and get some food. Again, I need to mention that the whole festival is an absolute paradise and crazy beautiful. I love it with my whole heart.

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At about 4 pm we walked over to the Volt Stage to see Wild Front, who I was super excited for, as I had already seen them at the beginning of the year in Brighton at a teeny-tiny venue. As you can imagine, it was pretty cool to see this small band play at my favourite festival. I don’t know, it just felt like some part of Brighton was visiting me there. And obviously, they were absolutely fantastic. If you haven’t heard of them, you should definitely go and check them out – here’s the link to their youtube channel. And after seeing them, it was already time for us to head to main stage and to get ready for Marty. Just like in 2015, mum and I wanted to save ourselves a spot at the second barrier, so no one would be jumping around in front of us. So we waited, about 3 hours, but unfortunately, at first, we didn’t really get a good spot for us to stay at. There was no way we would be able to see anything if we weren’t right at the front – I don’t know what happened this year, but somehow all the other festivalgoers seemed to have grown way more than us. They were all so freaking tall. But, obviously, it wasn’t the time to give up. So while my mum stayed at our spot and watched 6lack (some kind of rapper/RnB artist), I went over to another stage to check out Gang of Youths and then go on the hunt for a good spot. And guess what, we really managed to get front row, right at the barrier and I think even at the exact same spot we were in 2015. It was quite emotional, to be honest.

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So we waited through Tove Lo, who we had both already seen at a Coldplay gig, and then it was finally time for Marty to come on stage. I was so hyped up, not only because I would be seeing Marty again, but also because I would finally be seeing his ANIMA show. Every year Marty and his team premiere a new show at ADE and then work with it until the next year. And this year, it was the ANIMA tour and as for all the pictures and videos I had seen online, I was more than ready to finally experience it all myself. See it with my own eyes. Feel it with my own body. And mentally bow down to Gabe Fraboni and Lorenzo de Pascalis and the rest of the team for creating something as genius and beautiful as this.

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When I look back at how the whole show went down, I still can’t believe that I really got to experience all of it. For me, it actually started as soon as Tove Lo had left the stage and they started to build Marty’s set-up. Because that’s when his team came out. And when I got to see Gabe. I couldn’t believe my eyes. As some of you might know, I don’t just listen to Marty’s music and go to his shows. I watch his videos, behind the scenes clips, heck, I even watched the movie he was in. Usually, when I’m a really big fan of someone, it’s the most important part for me to familiarize myself with the whole team and not just the band. I basically want to know everything and everyone. And Marty’s team was no exception. So I haven’t just been a fan of Marty since 2015, but his whole team. Of Gabe, Louis, Lorenzo, Damien, everyone. And just the simple fact of actually being able to watch Gabe prepare for the show, set up the lasers and get everything ready cranked up my excitement by a thousand. It was all really happening.

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And it didn’t just end there. Gabe (Marty’s show/creative director) wasn’t the only one who was there. I saw Louis (his photographer) and Watse (his manager) and then his mum came around and Julian (one of his closest friends and also DJ) and some of his other friends and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was at that very moment when I saw his whole team come together. All the people I had watched clips of for years were suddenly all there. And because of his mum and his friends, it felt like it wasn’t just another show, it felt like a family event, something very personal and special.

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Obviously, my excitement peaked as soon as Marty came on stage. It felt so good to finally see him again and hear his music. And god damn, the show was absolutely mind-blowing. It was really out of this world. I remember once hearing Gabe say that ANIMA was their best show to this day and, wow, he wasn’t exaggerating. There were fireworks and lasers and breathtaking background clips and the phenomenal music and then the team handed out glowsticks so the whole crowd turned into a huge rainbow and it was all so perfect. And Martijn just looked so good. Holy moly. I felt like I was in a dream, like it all was way too perfect to be real. But it was really happening. I was really there, having the time of my life. And once in a while I turned around and looked at the back tower where the mixing board was and where Gabe was working his magic and just watched him do his work. Watched Marty’s mum dance a bit. And I might just add that one point, Louis was suddenly standing right in front of us, taking pictures of the crowd and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I mean, I literally have his photography book at home and now he was standing right in front of me. I was shook.

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Altogether, I can just say that the show was freaking fantastic. I danced and jumped and laughed and cried more than once and I felt so at home and happy, I never wanted it to end. Marty is just such a phenomenal artist and live act, I could go to his shows every single day and I wouldn’t get bored. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend going to one of his shows. You won’t regret it, I swear. And I loved Marty’s energy. You might know that about two months ago, he had to have an operation on his foot and then wear a plaster until about two weeks ago. I bet it still hurt a bit, but he fought through it like a trooper and just jumped around on one foot. Talk about being absolutely adorable. And he also looked so happy. And I was so happy that he was happy. In short, the field was packed with happiness.

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But that actually wasn’t the highlight of the day. No no. The highlight happened when the show had already ended. You should’ve seen me at the end when Marty played his last song. I cried so freaking much, but not because I was sad, but because I was just so happy and full of gratitude and love. First I had watched his mum film the crowd from the tower during the last part of the show. And then after Marty had left the stage, everyone came up to Gabe and they all hugged and clapped and celebrated and by witnessing all of that, I felt like I was part of that too. Like I was seeing something very special. I cried so much, I think my mum was actually weirded out a bit, but in a good way. I mean, she knows me and she let me hug her very tightly and shed a few tears on her shoulder, so it should be fine. And then she followed me through the crowd, because, obviously, now that the team was packing up all their stuff, I had to try and get a closer look while they were still here. So I dragged her back to the tower and there he still was, Gabe, the first one to show up and the last one to leave. And I just stood there, looking up at the tower, watching him. But, you know me, obviously I had to say something. I don’t even know what got into me, I just knew that I probably would never get the chance again to talk to him. So I went up to the barrier and called his name. And what happened then is basically the cutest thing ever. He had his back facing me and then turned around when he heard me, but at first he didn’t know who had called his name, so I called again and then he looked at me and suddenly the biggest grin spread across his face. I’m sure I must have looked like a total mess who had just cried her eyes out, but I was smiling at him nonetheless. So we grinned at each other and I shouted how amazing the show had been and thanked him for everything and he thanked me back and smiled. And although the whole interaction probably lasted for about 30 seconds, it felt like an eternity for me. But it didn’t end there.

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After having packed up everything, he came down from the tower and proceeded to head to the stage and then backstage, which meant he had to walk past us. You can probably guess what happened then. Of course I had to walk up to him and talk to him. And he was literally the nicest guy ever. I again told him how much I had enjoyed the show and thanked him for his work. And then mum took pictures of us, which turned out to be the cutest pictures in existence. And then he left, but not without taking the time to talk to everyone who was waiting for him. I wonder if it feels weird for him that Marty’s fans know him as well and want to have a chat with him. That he has his own fans too. I just hope that he knows that he’s an absolute genius and that ANIMA is a total masterpiece and that there’s a reason why people adore his work. Meeting and talking to him was the definite highlight of my week at Sziget, because, for me, he’s an absolute role model when it comes to believing in your own work and talent and to working your butt off to create something you can be proud of. And I never thought I’d ever get to meet him, but it truly happened and I’ll be forever grateful for that (after I’ve finally realized that it wasn’t just a dream).

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After that, being all high on happiness and emotions, mum and I headed to the STMPD stage. The plan was to at least stay there until 4 am, so we could also see Julian, aka DJ Julian Jordan, so we knew that we had a long night coming up. But a fun one. I remember when Sziget announced that Marty would be playing again, the next thing I was hoping for was a STMPD stage. And I’m still so grateful that that dream really came true as well.

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Overall, these were all the acts we saw on that day:

  • Wild Front
  • Grace Carter
  • 6lack
  • Tove Lo
  • Martin Garrix
  • Bart B More
  • Mercer
  • Justin Mylo
  • TV Noise
  • Julian Jordan

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I don’t think I have to mention that the whole night was absolute craziness. At one point, mum and I were even sitting on the ground in this huge tent, leaned against a pillar and having the music blasted into our ears at 3 am. Yes, we were tired, but I can promise you that we couldn’t have been in a better mood. All the acts were absolutely fantastic and I’m so glad I got to see them all. Also, at this point, I have to thank my mum for being basically the best mum ever and a real trooper and for staying with me the whole night. She’s the coolest and I’ll be forever thankful that she endured hours over hours of EDM music, that she’s not even the biggest fan of, just for me and just so that I could see all these acts and be happy. Mum, you’re the best. And I love you.

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I went to bed at a quarter to 6 am that night (morning?). It’s the longest we have ever been at any festival and although I had little to no voice nor hearing the next day (which I will tell you all about in my next post on Monday), it was all totally worth it, because it had been such an epic night that I’ll never ever forget. Even the walk home was magical. The sun was just coming up, the sky turned into beautiful shades of pink and orange and I introduced my mum to the sunrise, as they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. Altogether, it was an absolutely unforgettable day/night and I loved and cherished every single second of it. And I can’t even put into words how much I miss Marty and his team already. I can’t wait to see them all again soon (hopefully).

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And yeah, that’s basically the whole third day of Sziget. I’m sorry this post ended up being quite lengthy, but I just had to share all these phenomenal memories with you, guys, so I hope you still enjoyed reading all about them. Being able to share all of this with you means a lot to me, so thanks if you’ve made it this far. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below and, of course, I wish you all a nice weekend and thanks for reading. x

A Celebration of EDM

Hola everyone.

Do you ever feel like you should be at another place, somewhere else? Yes? Same. This is something that especially happens to me whenever there’s a concert or a festival I really wish I could be at while being stuck at home. Which is exactly what I went through the past week.

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If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you’ll probably know what happened exactly a year ago. ADE. Or one of the best nights of my life. The night I went to Martijns show. The night I danced for three hours straight. The night I definitely lost some of my hearing. And the night I saw Martijn, up close, standing right in front of me, smiling. It was a night and a weekend I’ll never forget.

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Which brings me back to present time. And the one event that has been ruling my past week, even though I wasn’t there. You guessed it right – ADE. The best EDM festival – apart from Tomorrowland, of course – and the week where the whole scene, all the DJs, all the fans, get together in the one and only Amsterdam to celebrate this incredible type of music.

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But I don’t want to bathe myself in self-pity. I’m still very, very happy to be where I am right now – especially because of one massive thing that happened on Friday, which I’m going to tell you all about at the end. Actually, I want to use this post as a way of celebrating EDM and Marty – who was again awarded as the Nr. 1 DJ in the world for the third time in a row btw – literally gave me the best reason to with the release of his newest EP, which includes five new songs. He released one every single day for the last week, just another reason why last week was way more exciting than I had anticipated.

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For me, all of the songs are a masterpiece for themselves and I love how none of them sound anything like the other. And I’m more than proud that I get to share them with you guys. So, let’s go.

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Breach (Walk Alone)

This was the very first song that went out on Monday, so just about a week ago. It’s actually a collaboration between Marty and Blinders, one of the DJs he has signed at his label STMPD, known for the bop “Snakecharmer”. And from the very first beat on you can feel Blinders presence in the song. Until you get to the part where a female voice hits you and that’s when Martys fingerprint becomes more visible. Also, the small hints of violins basically scream his name, which I totally love and which seem like a theme throughout the whole EP. Apart from that the song is just a pure banger and literally perfect to get a crowd heated up.

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Yottabyte

The EDM lovers among you will probably know the beautiful melody of this masterpiece, which was premiered at this years’ Tomorrowland festival as the opening track of Martijns set. Besides the usual electronic beats, it also features a series of sounds that strongly remind me of the rewinding of a music box and its comforting tune. This is also what gives the song its special feel. And, of course, the beat just drives you into it.

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Latency

This is another collaboration, but this time with Dyro. I can still remember hearing this for the very first time this year, Martijn telling the crowd to clap in sync with the beat. It was breathtaking. The intensity of the beat, building up until it reaches its peak, with its harsh electronic shredding in the background, makes you throw up your hands in the air and jump like you’ve never jumped in your entire life. It’s EDM at its best.

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Access

Also known as Chinatown, this song is one of the highly anticipated tracks that got hinted by Marty about one and a half years ago during a YouTube live stream. After all this time, it is now here, out in the world. And following the electric beat of Latency, it almost has a sense of cuteness to it. You can feel that Martijn was younger while producing the melody and how he got older and more musically mature during the finish. It’s like you hear him grow up by listening to this song.

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Waiting For Tomorrow

Well, where shall I begin? This is it. This is the song that literally every MG fan has been waiting for (apart from Rewind, Repeat It – can we please release this too? Thank you). This is Waiting For Tomorrow, featuring Pierce Fulton and Mike Shinoda, which most of you will probably know from the band Linkin Park. This masterpiece of a track was first premiered at Ultra in 2016 and has ever since been a recurring highlight during Martijns shows over the past few years and months. Although I already know it by heart just from going to his shows and watching the sets online, it feels damn good to have it finally out there in the world, for everyone to enjoy it. From the very first second on, the song builds up, utilizing amazing vocals, energetic melodies, great percussion just to peak with a drop that turns the whole track into a breathtaking piece of progressive house music. All I can say is that it was definitely worth the wait.

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So, there you go guys. That’s what happened last week. I have to say, I do feel pretty sad that I didn’t get to attend this years’ ADE, but I’m already preparing for next year. Also, like I hinted at the beginning, one very cool thing happened just a few days ago, which would’ve never been possible if I hadn’t been in Brighton. Because, guys, guess who got to talk to the one and only Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie. And no, I’m not joking. I did really meet and talk to my favorite YouTuber. And yes, I’m still floating around on a cloud of pure happiness and I don’t intend to ever change that. I don’t want to turn the little convo we had into a huge dramatic deal, but I just want to say that Felix was literally the nicest guy ever. I was quite nervous about talking to him, especially as I know that he doesn’t really like it that much. But I just told him that I loved his videos and thanked him for everything and then let him get on with his day. I don’t get fans who go up to their faves and literally ask them for a picture and then just walk off. That’s not me and that’s certainly nothing he deserves. And I guess, overall it was really a nice talk. Especially as Edgar seemed to really enjoy my cuddles. (Just a little insert by my inner fangirl – OMG, can you believe I really talked to Pewds? How is this even possible? Holy moly.)

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Okay, and now I’m going to end my brabble about EDM and special human beings. As always, I hope you enjoy this post. Please don’t hesitate to leave your comments and thoughts down below. I wish you all a nice week and hope you’re all doing good. Oh and guys, just for your info, I won’t be posting anything until next week as my parents will be visiting me and I want to spend as much time with them as I can. Thanks for your understanding. And, of course, thanks for reading. x

High On Life

Hola everyone.

I’m so sorry for the short delay of this post. I just started my actual third job yesterday and it was pretty exciting and pretty cool and also pretty time-consuming, so unfortunately I didn’t get to write anything, but here I am again. And holy moly, I’ve got something prepared for you guys. Some of you may remember from the end of my last post that I was planning on going to another EDM festival to see Martijn again. And guess what, it was freaking amazing. I’m still on such a high, wow wow.

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Okay, so, most of you probably know that Marty and his music and his shows mean quite a lot to me. Like, a lot. So when I came home from Amsterdam last October and saw that he was going to headline a festival right here in Vienna, I was more than thankful to hear that and of course had to grab some tickets as soon as possible. You have to know, since 2015, I’ve seen Martijn live every single year, so this has become like some sort of cute tradition. So, getting the chance to see him again this year was like a dream come true. And yes, I’m indeed already looking for ways to see him in 2019. Maybe I’ll fly to ADE again… These shows just top everything else, they’re far too special. But yeah, nothing’s fixed yet, so let’s see where the next year takes me.

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Anyways, let’s talk about the most important thing here – the show last Saturday. And holy moly guys, what a show it was. Like I mentioned before, the show was in Vienna, in the middle of a field actually, right at the center of the city. And yes, it was huge. The festival itself is actually a newbie, so it had its premiere last week. I have to say, I really hope that it won’t end up like so many other new festivals here, so like, take place for two or three years and then just stop because there aren’t enough visitors. I mean, of course we have EDM festivals in Austria, two pretty cool ones actually, but none of them are in Vienna, so yeah, in my opinion it was well overdue to have one here. And I hope it gets even bigger than it was this year. We need more cool festivals in this country. Bring it on.

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We arrived at the venue/the field at about 3 pm, just in time for Mike Williams, who I really wanted to see and who was pretty amazing, to be honest. As we already had front of stage tickets, I wasn’t really stressing out about getting a good spot and when we got to our dedicated area, there actually weren’t that many people and we quickly found a pretty nice spot right at the barrier. Needless to say that we stayed there the whole day. I mean, if you’re really lucky enough to get such a good spot, you don’t move and give anyone the chance to steal it from you. You stay there, no matter what. The only thing that’s allowed is to move further to the front, which we also did and then ended up in like the third row right when Marty came on stage.

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The only thing that was a bit irritating was the weather. First it was sunny and pretty chill, then it started to rain like button-sized drops and then the clouds literally vanished and the sun got close to burning us all alive. It was so freaking hot, I thought I’d faint then and there. And looking at my friend, I wasn’t the only one. We eventually tried to hide from the heat by sitting down at the barrier and stayed there for like two hours or so. Thank god it got better as soon as the sun went down. And when Marty finally came on, the weather was perfect. I mean, it was still freaking hot, but also perfect.

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Oh, here’s the lineup for all the curious EDM fans among you:

Martin Garrix Seperator between DJs Kshmr Seperator between DJs Robin Schulz Seperator between DJs Alan Walker Seperator between DJs Deorro Seperator between DJs Alle Farben Seperator between DJsWill Sparks Seperator between DJs Mike Williams Seperator between DJs Tony Junior Seperator between DJs Third Party Seperator between DJs Klopfgeister Seperator between DJs Möwe Seperator between DJs DJ Selecta Seperator between DJs Rudy MC Seperator between DJs Darius & Finlay

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I would say that it was a pretty cool lineup and I am really glad that I got to experience so many different DJs and their different styles. Like I said, we got there when Mike Williams was playing and the saw Will Sparks and so on.

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And now, let’s get to the highlight – Marty. Guys, I’m just going to say this now and I don’t care what anyone thinks about it, I just freaking love this guy so so so much. I love his music, I love his shows, I love how he makes me feel. I’ve only got love for this guy. And I’m so so thankful for everything he does and for last Saturday, because I seriously had the time of my life. As soon as he went on stage I was in trance. I screamed and jumped around and threw my arms around my friend. And then I slammed my elbow right into the metal barrier with my full body weight and I didn’t even notice it, because of all the adrenaline and the endorphins that were rushing through my body. I mean, I haven’t really been able to use my arm since the show ended, when the pain finally sat in, but it was so worth it. The things you go through for this guy, am I right?

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Apart from that little disruption, the show was breathtaking, as always. He played so many new songs and new mixes and jumped around and smiled and just looked so happy. And I still adore him for always pointing at the fans with posters and thanking them during the shows. That’s just so damn cute. And it shows how humble he is, because although he has this huge ass crowd to entertain, he still manages to pay attention to his fans. So cute.

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The only thing that I noticed was missing were his Area 21 tracks, which basically are the true highlight of his shows, because they’re just so different from all the others. But oh well, his show was fantastic nevertheless. I really loved it. And holy moly guys, not to be dramatic or anything, but I’ve never sweated so much in one and a half hours in my entire life. That wasn’t just an EDM show and it also wasn’t just a Martin Garrix show, no no no, that was a fully grown rave. Good thing I didn’t give a frick about what I looked like then and there, because I probably looked like a maniac, jumping around and screaming like it was the last time.

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But besides all this, my favorite moment has to be when Bonn, a singer, joined Marty on stage and they played “High On Life”, their new single. Apart from being such a special moment due to the lyrics that really spoke to me – I would walk a million miles just to see you smile – (although I usually drive or fly those miles, but I would probably walk too),  those were also the three minutes when the stage was fully lit up. If you’ve ever been to one of Martijn’s shows you’ll probably know what I mean. Because they always tend to darken the stage to focus on the background and the lasers and fireworks and so on. But right then and there the focus was on Martijn and Bonn and for the very first time I could see him clearly and then it just hit me that I was seriously standing there, in the crowd, with Marty, the real human being, right in front of me, just a few meters away. I was starstruck. And yes, I cried a bit too. I was just so freaking happy, I couldn’t help myself.

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And this is exactly why I love going to Martijn’s show. Because they make me feel like the luckiest and happiest person on the planet and forget everything else. Those are the moments I feel completely free. And I can’t even tell you how thankful I am for that.

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So yeah guys, there you go. That’s what happened last Saturday. Like you may have noticed, I’m still overly happy and seriously can’t wait to see him again. Buuut before that, I’ve got quite some things to do, like for example, and now please buckle up, ED’S FREAKING SHOWS NEXT WEEK. EEEEEEEK. Guys, I’m so close to going insane. I can’t believe this is really happening. In just seven days and a few hours and a few minutes, I’ll be sitting in the venue, waiting for the one and only Edward Christopher Sheeran. Oh my god. I can’t believe it. And I already can’t wait to tell you guys all about the shows. And until then I hope you enjoy this little post right here. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And, of course, I wish you all an amazing week and thanks for reading. x

Welcome to STMPD

Hola everyone.

Guys, you know that I love talking about music more than anything. But as I guess that all these music lists are getting a little bit boring, I thought I’d change it up a bit. So, today I have the honor of introducing you to one of the coolest music labels on this planet.

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But before I begin I wanted to give you guys a little update on my last post and party a little bit, because it seems like Trump stopped working against the ban for elephant trophies. He stated that he stopped it because he wants to investigate further on how the conservation works, but I’m pretty sure that he stopped because the whole world was literally screaming at him and his administration. So yey and congratulations to all of us. Seems like we just helped to save this planet – at least for some time. Well done guys and whoever got active – thank you so much. You’re awesome.

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Okay, there’s that. Now let’s get back to this very special music label. The EDM fans among you will probably already know this supercool label called STMPD RCRDS. It was founded in May last year by the one and only Martijn Garristen – also known as Martin Garrix. And before any of you guys question my opinion about this label, no I’m not just interested in it because it’s his label. I mean, I was at first, but now that I’ve actually taken time to get to know it, it’s like Martijn introduced me to this amazing thing that I am now exploring on my own while being so damn thankful for the introduction.

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So yeah, it all started in May 2016, so you could say that the label is still pretty young. Martijn founded it after having some severe arguments and a disagreement about the ownership rights of his music with his older label Spinnin’ Records. And as the genius he is, instead of signing to another label, he just created his own, which now gives him complete freedom when it comes to his music and pretty much everything else. If I’m right the label now “belongs” to Sony Music and it seems like Martijn himself couldn’t be happier. Until today there are about 15 or so artists signed to the label, including Martijn himself (unfortunately I couldn’t find a complete list) and I have to say, all of them are freaking amazing.

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What I think is especially cool is that the label mostly consists of pretty much still unknown DJs and artists – I mean, at least I didn’t know them before. And also, like I said, Martijn is totally free when it comes to his own music and productions and so on, but of course he has his portfolio and type of music that people expect him to release and stick to, so he can’t just release anything. That’s why – another genius move – he just created side projects like GRX or Area 21, so he can release other music he enjoys to produce too. And I think that’s so damn amazing, because that way he’s able to show the world even more of his talent.

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STMPD is based in Amsterdam (like Martijn, of course) and just about a few months ago he and his team took over one of Amsterdams coolest recording studios called FC Walvisch, a spot used by international superstars like Pharrell Williams, Lady Gaga and of course Martijn. Actually, in the last of his videos YouTube series “The Martin Garrix Show”, you could see him and his team celebrating the official opening of their new headquarters. You can now find the studio under the new name STMPD Recording Studios – here’s a link to their website.

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I have to say that I am incredibly proud of Martijn for bringing this whole thing to life and making his dream come true. It makes me kind of speechless too. And let’s not forget the fact that all the signed artists are seriously so damn good. I mean, how perfect can a label get? Cool headquarters, fresh young vibes, the most amazing boss ever and freaking good artists and breathtakingly good music. That’s all anyone in the music business could wish for. Oh, and if you’re wondering why the label is called STMPD – the name was actually inspired by Martijns father’s stamp auctioning company. So it’s basically just another cute tribute and link to his family.

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Okay, so, that’s pretty much all the most important information about this amazing label that I can provide you with. And now let’s get to the most fun part, which is getting to know some of the artists. I actually highly recommend following the label on Spotify (if you do have Spotify), their playlists are amazing and also quite addictive. I’ve been listening to them on repeat the past weeks. So, without further ado, let me present you some of my favorite song releases:

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As you can see it’s pretty hard for me to not just add every single song the label ever released. I of course had to put Area 21 on the list, because I just love this side of Martijn so freaking much, and also CMC$ as his song features the one and only Conor Maynard. Like, can you believe it? Two of my favorite guys are working with and for the same label. That’s so damn crazy.

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And yeah, that’s pretty much it. There you go guys. Welcome to STMPD RCRDS. I have to say that I’m truly so thankful to Martijn for founding and introducing me to this amazing label and awesome kind of music and awesome artists. And it would actually make me so happy if some of you enjoy it too. So please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below, I’m really curious. And yeah, I really hope you enjoyed this post and I wish you all an amazing week. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

Amsterdam

Hola everyone.

So, as recently mentioned in my last post about Martijns amazing show at ADE I was luckily able to visit myself (here’s the link), I was in Amsterdam a week ago for a short trip with my friend. And I can just tell you guys, it was freaking amazing. What a lovely city.

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Okay, so first things first. We stayed in Amsterdam for four days, from Thursday until Sunday. Martijns show was on Friday so we thought it would be better to fly home on Sunday, as Saturday was our literal hangover day. God, was I tired. I think we got home at about 5 o’clock in the morning and as excited and hyped I was, I just couldn’t sleep and basically slept for about three hours that night. But oh well. Sleep is underrated, right?

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Apart from Martijns show, which of course was the highlight of those four days, the trip was really really really amazing. I loved it so much. I mean, the city is so cute and you just feel so welcomed there. All the people are so nice – as you can see down below in one of the pics, as some guys came up to me all of a sudden while my friend was taking a picture of me and placed themselves around me for the picture. First I thought that they wanted to make fun of us or anything, but they actually were so nice and funny. Like, just look at the picture. How funny is that? And it came out looking so perfect, I just love it.

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And the city overall has such a cool vibe to it. I mean, I’ve never seen so many good-looking people in a matter of four days. No wonder I want to move somewhere up North.  And all the stores and restaurants and cafés are so cool too. They all look so modern and new and stylish, it’s nearly overwhelming. I couldn’t stop looking around in total awe. It was actually my first ever time visiting The Netherlands, but after those four days I fully understand why it’s one of the happiest countries on the planet. It was really hard for me to not smile during those days. Seriously.

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What made the weekend even more special for me was of course ADE. It’s so crazy to be in a city that is filled with people who share the same love for music. And let’s not forget all the DJs that were there too. I got a teeny tiny heart attack every time I saw the yellow flags around a corner. God, I can’t wait to visit the city and ADE again and make the most of it – go to all the different shows, of course visit Martijns shows on Friday and Saturday and go to different talks and masterclasses. The festival is literally such a cool opportunity to see different artists and meet so many different people from all over the world.

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And I think apart from ADE, we also made the most of our trip. We went to different museums – the museum for modern art and the Van Gogh museum -, walked around the city pretty much the whole day, went to supercool restaurants and cafés and visited basically all the important places you should see when you get to Amsterdam for the first time. I really really really loved it.

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Also, I just have to mention that Dutch is such a cute language, oh my god. No is Nee there. Nee. How cute is that? And the architecture, it’s so charming. All the crooked windows, walls and houses, the cute bridges and holy moly, so many bikes. I’ve never seen so many bikes in one place. And I think that also shows the amazing mentality of the people there, because most of them use bikes or if they use cars, they are mostly e-cars. What a green city. Really.

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So yeah guys, there you go. Those were the four days in Amsterdam in a nutshell. I really enjoyed my stay there and I can’t wait to come back, preferably during ADE. I can quite understand Martijn for living there and not moving to LA or something, like all the big names in the music business. Good choice.

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But guys, have any of you ever had the chance to visit Amsterdam or ADE? Did you enjoy it as much as I did? And do you maybe have some tips for me what to do the next time I get there or which city I should visit next? Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below. And until then I hope you enjoyed this post and the pictures down below. I’m pretty sure that Amsterdam is one of the most photogenic cities I’ve ever been to, so please enjoy. And, as always, I wish you all an amazing week. Oh, and Happy Halloween. x

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