REWIND // Electronic Sound Summit: 2020
The month is February, all hands are on deck at LAN HQ, coffee is consumed by the gallon and the days are getting longer. The whole team is putting together the final details to our flagship event, the Electronic Sound Summit. From February 28th to March 1st 2020, the 3-Day Conference on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront was a celebration of our culture, a place to discuss the challenges of today’s industry, and the perfect setting to expand the ever-important Network.
Now that all is said and done, we want to reflect on the events of that weekend and check in on what our speakers have been up to. As well as giving you access to exclusive content letting you rewatch entire Masterclasses from that long weekend.
Friday 5pm, we opened the doors to the world of dance music, as industry luminaries and artists launched the event with a session that would set the tone for the whole weekend; the Ableton Takeover. Ableton devised a programme of 4 sessions taking us through Ableton 101 and going right through to the nitty-gritty details of Live performance integration with Alex Banks. Alex showed off his intricate setup, with hardware heavyweights like the Moog Mother-32, Korg Kaoss Pad 3 and the Roland TR8s.
Days 2 and 3 saw the conference in full swing, with sessions from some of the best minds in dance music; and panels that tackled the issues in the industry and sharing the inside tips to getting ahead as an artist. Sunday evening saw the doors close on this year's Electronic Sound Summit, and time to rest, regroup and commence plans for 2021. But that doesn't mean that ESS:2020 is in the past…
During the weekend, we had our good friends over at Make Your Transition and Your Music Industry busy capturing sessions including Detroit Swindle, Denney and Sasha’s PR Lydia Laws. Each session was packed full of knowledge and insider tips to inspire and educate the next generation of creatives. These are now available to access via the MYT Website and Your Music Industry Podcast. If you were there then why not relive the highlights of the weekend; and if you didn't manage to get down, then dive in!
Over the past few months, we have been keeping an eye on our speakers' activity to see how they have adapted to the new challenges we’re all facing. Alex Banks recently released the full live set of his new Album Beneath the Surface, available now on Max Copper’s MESH. We caught up with Alex to hear about his brand new live show; and how he’s building on techniques from previous tours while incorporating more outboard gear and interactive visuals. His live show now incorporates all aspects of A/V with bespoke visual sequences that accompany different sections of tracks and can be manipulated in real-time with Touch Designer, creating an intuitive, immersive experience. All very exciting stuff!
Another new development comes from Dutch DJ, Mike Mago. Mike was with us on Day 2 for a production masterclass, Inside the Remix. Over the course of an hour, Mike delved into a then-unreleased remix of You Should Be Sad by Halsey, showcasing his studio techniques and dissecting the components of a solid remix. The track is now out in the wild, and we can all check out the fully finished product here.
And the releases don’t stop there! Over in Newcastle, Elliot Adamson linked up with Justin Jay for a four-track EP on Patrick Toppings Imprint, TRICK, packaged with a Remix from Chicago’s own DJ DEEON. Elliot joined us on the Sunday for a Masterclass that was certainly a first for us, with just 45-minutes he created an entire track from a completely blank Ableton session! From what we saw that day and the raw, improvised groove of this EP, Elliot is definitely one for your radar.
Check out the links below for more release news:
We also want to say a massive thank you to all those in attendance this year, we are grateful to be sharing our vision with so many amazing people who operate within dance music, showing resilience to the challenges of today and those who champion positive change for our industry and the wider creative arts.
Who would you like to see join us for ESS:2021? Do you feel there are areas of our industry that should be voiced using our platform? Feel free to reach out with any ideas or questions!
Gallery
Here are some of our favourite shots of ESS:2020
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