Hollywood, thanks so much for sitting with us. The EDM Awards are here! Coming from more of a mainstream “Top 40/Pop” background, what made you so interested in Electronic Dance Music?
I’ve been surrounded by dance music ever since I was a kid during the Disco era. I was raised in Las Vegas and Reno, and I DJ’d the Nevada circuit as a teenager. I started out playing all the teen night clubs and then in my early twenties, I moved into all the Nevada adult spots. To this day house music, I guess has stayed in my blood. The clubs, the festivals and the culture, there’s nothing quite like it.
So how does it feel to be inducted into the “Radio Hall of Fame”?
While DJ’ing I transitioned into radio and have been a radio DJ for over 40 years now. I was lucky enough to be a part of such an amazing medium in its heyday. I’ve been part of some of radio’s most iconic stations such as Z100 New York, KIISFM Los Angeles and now for the last 13 years KTU in New York.
The EDMAs cover a lot of genres in dance music, can you tell us how and who came up with the categories?
Although with these particular awards the winners are decided by the fans, the categories are decided by a compilation of industry professionals in the EDM field. The categories and nominees were selected by a long extensive data collection process compiled of the suggestions from record companies, producers, label executives, streaming platform play-listers etc. Because of this every year categories will vary based on the suggestions and the mood of the industry.
We love to see fans involved and deciding who the winners will be, can you explain this process?
Music fans in general are basically the driving force within any genre of music. I’ve had the opportunity within my career to be associated with and interview hundreds of artists. The one thing I hear constantly from these artists is whenever they receive an award, the selection process is rarely driven by fans. The fan driven awards are undoubtably the most appreciated. Vote now at EDMAwards.net 😉
Tell us the names of some notable winners in previous years.
This will be our first EDMA presentation. It’s a spinoff of our incredibly successful Remix Awards pool party during MMW in Miami every year presented by iHeart and Digital Music Pool. The Remix awards celebrated all things remix and now after the Covid two-year hiatus we thought we’d take it to a much broader level. Every major EDM superstar including all up-incomers have either won a Remix award, presented or performed at our parties. Lots of those pictures are over at EDMawards.net.
What do the winners get besides bragging rights in the EDM Community?
The award itself is actually a work of art. It’s a modified, enhanced extension of our Remix Award. It’s almost an identical / actual size of a deck used by most DJs in the industry. Plus, the metal Jog dial in the center rotates. We’ll be showcasing the award just before the winners are announced June 17th.
Tell us about the 2023 EDMA’s in Miami, what can we expect?
We thought we’d roll out a “get to know us online soft presentation” for 2022. Next year we’ll be back in Miami during Miami Music Week with that exclusive invite-only banger we’re most known for. Immediately after this year’s online presentation we’ll be announcing the hotel we’ll be partnering up with on our 2023 event. We’re so looking forward to getting back and presenting the hottest private party of the year. Like I said before, every year the event is super exclusive and invite only, so for chances to win tickets, keep checking back with EDM.com or 1001tracklist.com for updates!
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