They spin, they blog, they book, and they hype. They are Laura Sutnick, Patrick Walsh and Moshe Franco, and they're collectively known as Nightdrive. In addition to coming to you in the clubs and over the radio, the trio of DJs also makes it possible for some of the world's most promising talents to take to our town's various booths and stages. Tonight, Nightdrive teams with Bardot to bring us a spin from the French dream wave merchant Anoraak, who has come a long way just to take a "Nightdrive with You."
For those who don't know, what's Nightdrive? Nightdrive started as a collective of DJs with similar taste and mutual enthusiasm for the growing music scene here in South Florida. It soon became an event production/promotion company that aimed to bring great indie bands to Miami while simultaneously putting Miami bands and DJs on the global map. We also started a music blog that frequently appears on Hype Machine charts and helps us connect the local music community with the indie scene and blogosphere at large. The next step was to manage the bands we work with and now we're launching a record label. Stay tuned.
What part do you play in the proceedings? According to the boys I'm the "ball-buster" of the crew and put the "drive" in Nightdrive, lol. Patrick and Moshe are the other two thirds of ND and we all bring our expertise, network, and resources to the table to make it all happen.
Aren't you also the Music Director at WVUM? Sure am. I've been the Co-MD for two years now but have also served as the Programming, Promotions, and Underwriting Director in the past. It's been an incredible three years so far.
And isn't there some kinda Best College Radio Station contest goin' on right now? MTV has nominated WVUM as a top 10 college radio station in the country, however, we need Miami to help us get to # 1 by voting and voting again and again and again (voting is unlimited). This is huge for WVUM as we were just granted a power increase by the FCC and getting #1 would really appeal to potential financial sponsors to give us money for the equipment we need to implement the boost. We're competing with much larger public universities with bigger student bodies, so getting votes from the community is imperative. We're also having a speed voting rave/competition this Sunday from 4-8 p.m. on the U of M UC patio (Coral Gables Campus). We have REALLY cool prizes for competition winners. Vote here: wvum.org/vote.
Cool. Let's get on with the events. Nightdrive's next throwdown is tonight - wanna tell us about it? We're hosting a French electronic artist named Anoraak from the Valerie Collective. The Valerie Collective is a group of artists that formed in the mid-2000s with a similar taste for retro synthesizers and italo disco. Anoraak was one of their leading artists that came up as a more minimal alternative to the harsh "maximalist" stuff coming from labels such as Ed Banger Records. He'll be doing a DJ set with an opening live performance by our artist Entresol with DJ support by myself and Patrick. AV8 will be providing their usual sick visual projections.
How'd you come to book Anoraak anyway? We didn't actually, Bardot did. But this is a great example of how we work with various venues besides booking and selecting our own acts/shows. After the success of the Little Dragon show at The Electric Pickle, Bardot approached us about promotional support, and since Patrick is a huge fan we thought it'd be an excellent fit.
Doesn't Nightdrive also have something with ANR coming up soon? About a week ago we posted ANR's remix of a Kisses track on our blog. Our friends at Sweat Records noticed and asked me to spin at the event and help support one of Miami's best indie bands. Supporting local music is something we love to do. The event will be on March 5th at Eve. It's the release party for their new album Stay Kids and we're excited for Miami to hear it.
After that I believe there's something at BAR during WMC. Details please. Through our blog we're able to connect with many of the artists we feature. Palmbomen (Dutch for palm trees) is an artist out of Amsterdam that's been getting a lot of recognition lately. He was featured on the latest Kitsunè Maison compilation and has been on heavy rotation on WVUM for a few months now. Palmbomen's manager contacted us directly to book him for WMC and we thought it would be appropriate for Bar. His live performance is pretty amazing and features a customized light show that will drop kick you in the face (in a good way). They're also bringing DJ Bear for support and Entresol will be doing a live set. The event will be Thursday March 10th and it's completely free.
Any other must-attend events we need to know about? We're really excited about our Ultra week plans. We'll be working with Bardot again and hosting the Bond Music Showcase on Thursday, March 24. Bond is a booking agency with some really innovative and established artists. We'll be bringing Alan Braxe, Woolfy, Eli Escobar, Lifelike, Still Going and Jessica 6. If you're a fan of the Nu-Disco movement, people will definitely want to check this out. The night also happens to be our one-year anniversary to the day.
We're also planning a giant showcase in collaboration with Home Team Music on Saturday, March 12 of WMC at The Stage. We're rallying a long list of Miami's best DJs from Poplife, Champion Sound, Nightdrive, IamYourVillain, etc. to come out and represent the local scene. It'll be a chill afternoon party starting at 2 p.m. and will feature a live performance by one of our favorite local groups, Psychic Mirrors. We're planning a lot of surprises for this event. You'll also get fed.
Special events aside, what's the best way for Miamians to catch Nightdrive DJs? You can always catch me on WVUM on Monday's at 5-7pm for Vamos a La Playa and Thursdays 5-7 for rotation. I'm staying away from residencies for now due to my grad school responsibilities. Patrick frequents Bardot, Carlos Llanos is spinning at Kill Your Idol this Sunday, Team Rojas is back and forth between Miami and New York, and Edwin Adams and Terence Tabeau are residents at KYI on Fridays and spin regularly at Bardot on Tuesdays. We all play at the Electric Pickle and Vagabond from time to time and we're always hungry for more.
Nightdrive presents Anoraak (DJ Set) with Entresol, Patrick Walsh and Laura of Miami, Friday February 25 at Bardot 34th/N Miami Avenue Midtown For more info call 305.576.5570.
