TranceFamily SF

TFSF One Year Anniversary Celebration at South Beach Park in San Francisco | Food drive for San Francisco Food Bank | 4.30.2011

Allow me to introduce myself..Shaina’s the name, but most of you probably know me as SvB. I’ve been obsessed with music since as far back as I can remember. Seriously. One of my earliest memories is hanging out in pre-school listening to Barney songs on a cassette tape. From there on out, I cycled through various genres: pop, R&B, underground, alternative, and finally settled on EDM (trance) in mid-2008.

It is about 7 pm in Miami, Florida and the world’s #1 voted DJ David Guetta is just about to jump off the decks for the night’s closing headliner of the final day of the world famous Ultra Music Festival; perhaps the most revered EDM festival in the world.  After a crowd of thousands have been rocked by about an hour of the pop-hip hop-electro heavy sounds of Guetta and hours of other house juggernauts before him, the night’s closer was…a trance act?  A couple of things could already seem a miss by the casual EDM concert goer who just happened to stroll in to Miami on this particular weekend.  Seeing as how  Ultra is a showcase of the who’s who in EDM, why would the #1 DJ in the world NOT be the headlining closing act?  Why would the final artist of the night be a stylistically different sound of music than the previous acts throughout the day on the main stage?  And if you’re this casual EDM concert goer, you may ask yourself “why should I stay to watch this?”. Well the answer is simple.  This headlining artist is no ordinary DJ. It’s none other than the mighty Armin van Buuren.

Kendra Aker and friends: Amanda Berkowitz, Natalia Jaramillo, Gabrielle Chretien, Anthony Ebright, and Cardinal Newman High School student James Madison II, volunteered at the Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County in Sebastopol, Ca on January 7th, 2012. A great way to kick off the New Year! On this beautiful Saturday morning Kendra and the crew worked alongside the Habitat for Humanity Staff and also the father of one of the families that will be moving into this location. The foundation, walls, floors, and the roofing have been in progress since the Summer of 2011, therefore, the crew helped with the construction of the first floor joist and exterior wood paneling around the perimeter of the house. Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to improving lives by building modest, affordable homes in partnership with the communities and people in need. Their vision is for every person in Sonoma County to have a simple, decent place to live. Visit their website for more information to get involved!

I personally would like to know what is your musical background?

I studied the piano at a music school for 7 years.  It was really cool!  I played at many shows and festivals.  I had a lot of piano practicing lessons so I really stressed out back in the day.  Right now I really appreciate what my teachers did for me so ya it was really great for me.  It really helped my music making skills!

Is the piano the only instrument you play?

I play a little bit of the guitar but only a little.

So you’re 21?

Ya, my birthday is next week!  I don’t have any plans.  I’m going back to my town to spend time with my family and my girlfriend.  So heading back to my home after this tour.

Well they’ve had us waiting for some time for this one!  Teasing us at shows with previews and tweeting about it, but it’s arrived and it’s HUGE.  Tritonal has finally released their club mix for their album track closer “Still With Me” on Piercing The Quiet as their latest single and the response has been nothing short of overwhelming.  It’s been out about a little over a week now and since it’s release, it’s hit #1 on Beatport.com’s Trance Chart and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.  Attribute this to the massive support it has released from the industry’s top leading DJ’s and their radio shows.  ASOT, Global DJ Broadcast, Corsten’s Countdown, Gareth Emery’s Podcast, Trance Around The World, and others have all played the track.  Markus Schulz himself tweeted during his GDJB show: “probably their best work for quite a bit, good vocal too”.  Big compliment from a trance giant.  This just goes to show how much Tritonal’s stock has been rising in the music world with every single they release.  This one is definitely in the Tritonal style of heavy bass synth, melodic breakdown, and the incredibly soothing vocals of Cristina Soto.  It’s always a pleasure to the ears every time those 3 work together.  While this is a remix of the album track, in comparison they seem like two completely different songs.  The feel of the original is a slow, emotional, almost orchestral piece of work while this one is definitely club ready and set to get the Tritonians on their feet with energy.  This one most certainly earns the TFSF seal of approval.  More releases like this one will certainly keep Tritonal up in the ranks with the rest of trance music’s greats.  Be sure to support it and keep it #1 on Beatport’s Trance chart as long as possible, click the link to pick this one up: http://www.beatport.com/release/still-with-me/816819

~Mark