Life's been good since Thomas Gold befriended the mafia. Well, the Swedish House Mafia, anyway. His inclusion into the the SHM family last year on Axwell's Axtone Records catapulted his career to the next level. Now with his own Fanfare Bus World Tour, residency at the new Las Vegas Light Nightclub in Mandalay Bay and Fanfare radio show on Sirius XM; Gold has turned into an in demand world renowned artist. He made his Coachella Festival debut this year where he worked his progressive house magic at the Sahara tent, with heavy, drumline-inspired beats that rattled our spines. We spoke to the Berlin-based artist backstage about how he typically constructs his DJ sets, including the one for his next gig tonight at the newly opened SBE nightclub Create, located at the old Vanguard in LA and promoted by Insomniac Events.
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Gold emerged onto the EDM scene in 2006 with his first release. As a producer crossing plenty of genre boundaries, he has made tracks on every staple from tech house on Toolroom Records to progressive on Dirty South's Phazing. With remixes for Adele, Lady Gaga, Miike Snow and even Fat Boy Slim it was evident his talents as an iconic producer were going to take him to great heights. Yet it was his original track “Sing2Me” on Axtone Records released at Winter Music Conference in Miami last year that put him on everyone's radar. “I've always been passionate about house music because I love the vocals, instruments, build-ups and the energy,” says Thomas. “What I like most is that it's a very positive kind of music and that's the groove I like to dance to.”
“As a producer you are reproducing sounds which have been made before in a studio, but I think the art of deejaying is just as hard if not harder,” says Gold. “First you have to connect with the crowd and read them so you are playing for them and not yourself.” This sort of connection can be felt everywhere from a tiny dance club to a major festival through Thomas Gold's sets. The way he captivates his audience with EDM bangers and then splices them seamlessly with more underground drum beats keeps your attention yearning for more. “I often start with an eclectic intro to build the tension and then take the fans through a musical journey with my track selections,” he says. Not to mention it's not hard to put his crowds in the right groove with the massive array of original songs, remixes and personal edits in his arsenal. “The fun part is seeing them reacting to the story I am trying to tell and their energy,” he adds.
Thomas Gold's live sets were further expanded with the addition of his own eight piece drum line which joined him at last years Las Vegas Electric Daisy Carnival and at Governors Island in New York City. “I love to incorporate these big drum sounds in my tracks like on 'Marsch Marsch' and even my 'Set Fire to the Rain' remix,” says Gold. “Here in America it's popular to have these drum lines in the University, so I started Googling and getting my managers involved.” The result was a team of 10-12 people from New York who bring their own instruments, coaches and join Thomas Gold on stage banging along to his massive beats. “The drum line is very difficult to bring and if you think about the cost then you would never do it,” he says. “I love them though and I'm very proud of them when I get to bring them out.”
Don't expect the drum line to come to LA obviously, but maybe we will get lucky at this upcoming EDC in June again. “I do have a couple of collaborations going on which will be finished around the beginning of summer hopefully,” says Gold. Also on his plate this summer is a residency on the white island of Ibiza at Cream Amnesia and as part of Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso's “Departures” party at Ushuaia. Tomorrow Thomas Gold celebrates his 50th “Fanfare” radio show with a special two-hour marathon edition on Sirius XM in North America and RadioFG internationally where the fans pick the programming. He will also be giving away special prizes via twitter on June 5th at 9am to celebrate — what a fan favorite! It's no wonder he made his DJ Mag top 100 debut this year at number 82.
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