Making waves: Klangkarussell’s Sonnentanz has clocked up one million plays on youtube.
By Geoffrey Rowlands
You know you have something special when a song which is unavailable in record shops takes less than a month to rack up one million plays on YouTube. Such was the case for Austrian dance music production duo Klangkarussell with the original six-minute version of their electro-house track, Sonnentanz.
“We felt like we’d put together an amazing piece of music when we first created the song,” recalled Tobias Rieser. “But you can never be sure about these things. Something which might sound great when you hear it in the studio doesn’t always become the most popular dancefloor filler when it’s played in the clubs.”
Tobias and his musical partner, Adrian Held, began their career as individual producers and DJs. Having been friends for some time, they decided to join forces in 2011.
“My stage name was I Herald,” Adrian remarked. “Tobias was using Klangkarussell, Sound Carousel in English. This name summed up the type of music we wanted to create so we thought we should use it for our combined output rather than trying to come up with something different.”
Although tracks such as Sternenkinder, We Want Your Soul and, particularly, Netzwerk, proved hugely popular, Sonnentanz was clearly the hottest item on Klangkarussell’s set list.
“We decided to make a video to accompany the song,” Adrian explained. “The English translation of the title is Sun Dance so we wanted a video which matched this. Basing it around a pool party was the perfect concept, especially for a track which was aimed at holidaying revellers in the dance clubs on Ibiza and the other Ballearic Islands.”
“We also managed to rope in some famous faces to make cameo appearances in the video,” Tobias added. “People like Jared Leto, A$AP Rocky, Louis Brodinski, Alain ‘A-Trak’ Macklovitch and Steve Aoki are all in there.”
Sonnentanz was originally written nearly two years ago. The track’s initial impact on the charts was only through digital downloads. It was first released on CD around this time last year and immediately found significant chart success across much of Europe.
“We were delighted by the sales of the original version,” Tobias smiled. “But we thought there was the opportunity to do much more with Sonnentanz if we created a shorter, more radio-friendly edit.”
“The track was reduced to three minutes and forty seconds,” Adrian explained. “We made a different video for this. Sales of the new version were also very good but we felt we could still do more if we wrote some lyrics and turned it into a genuine song rather than just a tune.”
This endeavour essentially changed the carefree concept of Sonnentanz. Rather than develop lyrics around the pool party theme, Tobias and Adrian’s words relate to emptiness felt by the singer when the love of his life is not with him. Although Sonnentanz remains the main title, it is completed with the addition in brackets of Sun Don’t Shine.
“We understand some people might not have expected these kind of lyrics,” Tobias admitted. “We also understand that while Sun Dance sounds happy, Sun Don’t Shine sounds sad. But the lyrics really aren’t sad. The words are actually about how much the singer loves his girl.”
Vocals are provided by 21-year-old British soul singer Will Heard.
“Will is an incredibly talented artist who is sure to become a star in his own right,” Adrian stated. “When we heard his voice, we knew he was perfect for the vocal version of Sonnentanz.”
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Miley Cyrus
After some of her antics in recent times, Miley Cyrus fans probably won’t be too surprised to find a host of rap stars guesting on her upcoming album, Bangerz. Big Sean, French Montana, Nelly and Future all appear on Miley’s new LP.
With artists such as these on her album, not to mention the videos for lead single, We Can’t Stop, and her US chart-topper, Wrecking Ball, Miley has cast aside the last vestiges of her wholesome image gained through starring in Disney’s Hannah Montana.
Like Britney Spears, who also guests on Bangerz, Miley is clearly determined to rid herself of the teen star tag and become very much an adult performer. We must hope she does not follow Britney’s lead too closely and pass through a period during which she goes completely off the rails.
For the moment, many fans seem to approve of the new Miley. Her video for Wrecking Ball set a new record on VEVO registering 19.3 million views during its first 24 hours online. This smashed the previous mark of 12.3 million set by One Direction’s video for Best Song Ever which itself had broken Miley’s earlier record of 10.7 million views for We Can’t Stop.
The video for Wrecking Ball can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8
One Direction
Speaking of One Direction, a new song from the heart-throb boy band has been leaked on YouTube.
Diana is assumed to be a track from their third album, Midnight Memories, which is scheduled for issue on November 25. Fan reaction has been universally positive but the song is by no means certain to be the group’s next single. Word is that no decision has been taken as to which track will be the first release.
For now though, One Direction fans can enjoy hearing Diana on any number of YouTube postings. One of these is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=opfSzG_eEXA
Moby
Moby has just released his eleventh studio album, Innocents. Unlike his previous work, the new record features guest artists on seven of the 12 tracks.
“I’m usually alone in the studio,” Moby stated. “This time though, I decided to give myself some semblance of a social life by working with other people. Mark ‘Spike’ Stent helped me to produce the album. I’ve also had amazing artists such as Wayne Coyne, Skyler Grey, Mark Lanegan and others perform guest vocals or collaborate with me on the songs.”
Although The Lonely Night was released earlier this year for Record Store Day, A Case For Shame is the official lead single. Videos for both tracks are posted on YouTube. The Lonely Night can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SO0qSfxqyk while A Case For Shame is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=j00LQHkwA5k
The latter is a radio-friendly edit just over half the length of the original album track.
Bad Things
Shaun White is famed for his incredible snowboarding and skateboarding skills. The 27-year-old “Flying Tomato” has won two Olympic gold medals and is the most decorated athlete in X-Games history. But he can now be heard playing lead guitar in his rock band, Bad Things.
It was winning a snowboarding event as a teenager which effectively set Shaun on the path to a second career in music.
“The prize was a Fender Stratocaster,” he explained. “It was supposed to be just a trophy. But I fell in love with the guitar and wanted to play it.”
The band’s self-titled debut album will be released later this month. Lead single, Anybody, can be heard at (no www.) soundcloud.com/badthings Caught Inside, another song from the album, is also posted here.
