2012

Twothousandtwelve

"Do not believe what anybody says, rejecting it either, but research it".

Krishnamurti

Since 2006, blogging has become popular (yes I have recently become a fanatic in this), but over the last couple of years, everyone also become fascinated by the concept known as…. The End of the World.

Around 2008, I was still at secondary school and I was presented with a presentation about Nostradamus. Interesting but completely inconsistent.
At home I asked my parents about this subject, but they had never heard of this God, as we may call him by now. On the one hand this may be because they encourage peasant sobriety or they simply do not attach importance to this thing.
Approximately four years later I am now working for Elevator Passion. Elevator Passion is a really nice company but.... sometimes I need to give up my own point of views. The first life-changing task was giving up my eating habits.
Lettuce become a daily topic of conversation, the deep fryer stays closed but besides the word 'Lettuce'  the only noun synonymous with lunch time, we also had a discussion about the end of the world. Yes the end.......

All the alarm bells went off immediately, I'm not the most fond of talking about faith, traditions, predictions - excluding Sinterklaas and kale with a gravy-dimple. Contrasting with Lisa (the boss), she is really open to the subject and we have had enough arguments about 21/12/12 to make me even want to listen…Oh yes!

Lisa wants me to write a blog about the end of the world… luckily she sent me an email with 10 links, I needed to check out, trowing myself into the depth of the conspiracy theories. The links are open on my desktop but seriously reading went too far… no I’m not doing this ;) 

I will interview Lisa, check all the plus and minus point, think about it and put together a conclusion. This is what I’m gonna do!

Two cigarettes later Cenk is getting involved, Cenk the man who can do anything inside the office, but how often I assume things of him, the end of the world is a different matter though.
Next to Lisa I will give Cenk also a series of questions, because how far do they want to go in the theory about the end of civilization ? What do they believe? What do they want to believe in?, how far do they go into this? what do they want to do about it? Etc….This is the first time I am intrested in this matter at all. The countdown has begun and I will prepare myself…Preparing for a madness that is sure to come, or is it something that will stay fictitious….?

- To be continued -

alex

ALEX THOMSON - ALEX MIZZI

Alex is a tour guide in the techno jungle

Fame is not something you will find Alex Mizzi looking for. Better known as Alex Thomson who uses his Tropical, Tribal & Fresh Tech sounds to elevate the dance floor at our "Into the Wild" events every two months.... "It is not right if it's too much about me. It really about the music. " is how he starts off the interview.

Outside he explained in a phenomenal speed his entire life in not more then two minutes, Alex is definately on fire and is always looking for bigger and better things.. you can hear it in his voice. Once back inside we decide to start the interview, Alex is our kickoff interviewee in a series of reports and interviews of Djs who provide support to Elevator Passion. Alex is the first one I will interview. He seems to know a lot about the music and audio world and approaches it with an easy going and open-minded attitude, ready to share his knowledge with anyone that will listen.

Alex lives music... He plays it, makes it, teaches it, engineers it, designs it and most likely eats it and sleeps with it too. 

It all began in 2006 where he started off DJing in Malta helped out by DJs Moose and Duncan F (in pic 2), he later moved to Liverpool to study and gain his Diploma in Audio Engineering, 2 years later he landed here in Amsterdam where he earned his Degree in the Recording Arts and Audio Production. 

But what I was really interested in is two things. One being "Why the Panda?" and two being, "Where does Thomson come from?"

Alex began to explain  about his connection with the Panda. 

"When I was born my Uncle bought me a huge Panda bear to sleep with and keep me warm. I was born in Scotland and it was pretty cold. I grew with this Panda soft toy being bigger than me till I was about 5, I always felt like it protected me, and I decided to bring the Panda back into my life, as my Logo for Alex Thomson and as the main feature and inspiration of my upcoming Audio-Visual Live Show... The Panda Project. It means something to it, and people seem to respond to that and understand, everyone loves the idea of a Panda at a party, I cant tell you about the amount of funny videos and images I receive everyday of Pandas just having fun, people relate that to me, and I really like it." 

And Thomson ?

"Thomson is my mother's maiden name. She always supported me and encouraged to do what I enjoy and to make the most out of life, I decided to use "Thomson" as my artist name as a sign of respect to her. It also helps me define myself. Alex Mizzi is the normal day - to - day world version of me, he goes grocery shopping and pays the rent, whereas Alex Thomson gets to jump around from Studio to Studio and club to club meeting a world of interesting people and doing as much in the Audio world as possible.

At only 21 years old Alex's accomplishments show his eagerness to learn and his driving ambition. He's moved country three time and finally landed in Amsterdam becoming a member of the Elevator Passion team. His home base for as long as we can keep him.. and yes he is doing well! 

Ableton teacher: CHECK    

Gigs: CHECK   

Degree in Audio engineering: CHECK

International Releases: CHECK

His Mission ?Alex Thomson is passionate as we can see, he strives to bring good music when under the spotlight and aims to please his crowds "I'm a techie, I calculate and match the match the music to suit the situation, I want people to go on a tour on the dance floor and understand how Tribal Tech House can meet Techno ’’ - Alex is a tour guide in the techno jungle. – Using Powerful basslines and tribally influenced percussions to lead his people. 

But what drives him? '' Everything... if I had to say one thing .. it would be Curiosity. I always need to know everything about anything new in the audio world, new sounds, new ideas, new people, the information feeds me and inspires me. Its all a game in the end, you just have to learn how to play it.  I got to where I am because of my curiosity, it drives me and inspires me to keep creating new things. 

Im working on a couple of technologically impossible projects - but if they work out i'll be super happy ! The end result of a crowd going crazy to something I've built is what gives me the biggest rush."

Alex Thomson is not an ordinary DJ, for him its especially all about the perfect sound. You will never see him doing a DJ cliché or playing any commercial music that doesn't suit his powerful Tribal Tech sound. He believes the music needs to do the work, it needs to make the people move.  that’s his statement. One of his favorite tracks that he's playing at the moment and supports his statement is F sonik - Forest people.

Music means a lot to Alex Thomson and that one thing he would like to tranfer to others.. "I'm happy to teach and share any knowledge I have, wether its musical experiences in a club full of people or through teaching at Unis Academy."

Do you want to see Alex in action YES YES YES 

Beat palace club! 

- Club Canvas op de 7e 

- 15-12-2012 

-  Tech-House, Techno!

Or check out his fan page to keep up to date on his upcoming gigs and productions - he promises to keep it updated ! 

https://www.facebook.com/djalexthomson?fref=ts

See you there! 

THE PERFECT JUNGLE

 THE PERFECT JUNGLE

Into the wild

Yes roaaaaar, we're back, completely recovered

after a fantastic kickoff of the first edition 

of Into the Wild

We are satisfied, lets say, very satisfied with the launch. 

Tamara and Bob ,the lucky winners of our all inclusive 

wild treatment had the same feelings about it.

Around 6 o’clock the whole happening started at Vakzuid which was the beginning of their all-in wild night out. Pheasant on the plate and a glass of bubbels in the hand. Nice! Next stop: Vagabond collective for a wild hair bush and Bob got a trimming session, Free, hey! not bad at all…. ;)

To finish with a face painting by the incredible duo Arts in Parts…Now you probably have regrets

 that you did not win, right? No problem, we will 

warm you up for the next edition with this story!

After a wild & wicked opening by Roy Verschuren,Mike Ravelli from the wilderness of Haarlem took over the decks and filled the room with beastly elephant screams. The crowd had clearly taken their dancing shoes out of the closet….Jose Ibanez, Dublinal & DjesH, made sure everyone was vibrating at their feet of excitement all night long!

Visuals enlighted the dance floor with special mappings and interactive wildness, ShiTv made sure for excellent visual entertainment.

Going KO with a nitrous oxide balloon? NO problem.

Hearing a panda? WHAT? YES! Alex Thomson the fellow that securely closed the WILD night. He's a lover of life but a player of pawns. He knows how to do this! The monkeys seem willing to strike up the tune. But the night was already over…No worry the next edition will be at 25^th of januari.

Although the next Into the Wild night will have a new host for the upper room ....
it will be quite a job for new ones to beat the boys of IAM TECHNO.
Oh that was nice, what a glory….serving delicious beats from a pretty cool DJ booth they rammed the whole room full with wild dancing tigers…..

SERIOUS! I can write so  much thing about our kickoff of Into the WIldout …of excitement….as an outlet for all the work that have been preceded. Yes yes we are lucky ... I suggest you, be ON the next time .. seriously this can not and should not be missed….

If you are that tiger who previously would discharge your energy, this Saturday 8^th of December, ShiTv is trowing mappings at Studio 80 with sounds of Iam TECHNO…. Nice though!

Preparation showtime

Dear Monday,

Even though the Monday morning is not the perfect moment of the week, for several reasons this day begun highly productive for us.

06.00 the alarm went off. Your bed feels so comfortable at times you must wake up, but today Cathy from Amsterdam breakfast radio was waiting for us at their radio station to talk about Into the wild.
Thank you Cathy :) we are looking forward to getting wild with you on Friday :)

Our previous month was completely absorbed by Into the Wild.
Production Planning, arrange sponsors, creating the flashmob after-movie, and making decoration.

Decoration making ... Material procured... ideas are there,  now only starting with it all… This step was bigger than expected, where do you begin when the whole office is filled with fabric, sewing yarn, aerosols and brightly coloured ribbons, we didn’t saw where we had to start. So what is Elevator Passion without elevating ideas? For us it seemed a nice idea to purchase a sewing machine. Yes, a sewing machine...

The Thought behind it was that we would probably book much faster results and it also indicates our creative passion ;)

I must say that it all went really quick...Wehkamp.nl delivered our order the next day at our studio.

The first Liane's and leaves were made easily, but what if the sewing machine stops because there is something tangled up inside? We become stressed, do not feel like sewing anymore and wanting to quit.

Then it turns out that women have simply really low patience for something like  that ... after a few coffee's and cigarettes we gained our patience back and kept on working with our new office member " The Sewing Machine".

Well I can not complain, the whole week was characterised by Into the Wild, we have only five days to go before it's showtime. Super curious about the result.
We are really happy to have a team of people around us that support  us in every possible way. We go for it and we are going to succeed. Thanks everyone!
One of the ways in which we have received tremendous exposure last weekend was the flashmob trailer, It’s worth to check it out, and it will give you a good impression of the atmosphere to expect at Into the Wild… release your inner animal!!
From next Monday onwards we will  post an interview with each one of our artists on this blog, the first one scheduled is Alex Thomson, you can also check him out at Into the Wild. We will show you all the in-and out-sides about his DJ adventure of the past years. 

Elevator Passion

Blog party or party blog?

BLOG PARTY OR PARTY BLOG?

A blog party is, in its most basic definition, a spot for bloggers to share their work with an audience they might not normally reach, and an opportunity for the host blog to gain some extra traffic. And thats exactly what we are trying to do at the moment.

We want to reach as many people as possible. One of the tool we use to reach our target group is 

our special action.

We want to make our new event - Into the Wild - more special then it already is. 

We make it special by offering you the opportunity to win a wild night out,which you will never forget. 

We offer a all in treat for two , you and your (party)friend.

What is the treat like?

You will get a haircut at vagabond collective, Vagabond is nothing like a typical hairdresser. Vagabond is a group of free hairdresser spirits who are cutting, dyeing and styling your hair, at various inspiring location in Amsterdam. the lucky winners will have the opportunity to visit  them at the centre of their operations - at their salon

Next to a fabulous haircut you will have a dinner at Vakzuid in the Olympic Stadion. The dinner includes  a 3 course chef's special dinner. Be surprised by the taste, smell and fresh products. Next to the superior food you will have an amazing view, looking across the sinter-path that was used by various olympic athletes during the olympic games in 1928. 

Hopefully after this dinner and a couple of drinks you will be in a wild party mood, prepare because the treatment isn't done yet. It will go on and on and on...

Next step, finishing your total make over ... Arts in Parts our steady make up team will give you a wild look. 

Animal patterns? Maybe, only if you want... One thing is for sure these girls will make you special, your inner god or goddess will pop up. Inner-tiger, Inner-Panda whatever you want..

If you want to meet and greet the DJs of the night, like our headliner Mike Ravelli,

this is your chance, so join them for a drink before the party starts. After all you are free to join the party that will start after your meet and greet. Enjoy enjoy!

Okay, but what do we want from you? We don't ask that much, the only thing 

you need to do is, uploading a picture of your inner animal /party animal :) at our page into the wild 

that's all....
This competition closes Monday the 26th November and we will choose the photo which best represents an inner animal. Be creative , be wild !

Elevator Passion

Into the wild

Into the Wild

Our launch of a monthly clubnight in Amsterdam

Kiemura a female tiger from the concrete jungle invites you to join Into the Wild – a new club night in Amsterdam!

                             

Kiemura was born between Finland and Amsterdam, with the hands and heart of  an amazing designer AinoNieminen, Elevator Passion & Ko Kreate it was a great pleasure working together on this and we highly recommend her stunning creativity & skills! Please check more of her work on

Charley Horse halloween

Alex Thomson at Charley Horse Halloween

Our very own Alex Thomson will play at the sensational Charley Horse Halloween party.
Present by Sleepwalkers Amsterdam and Midi-club Amsterdam.

Charles Horse will bring the Mexican day of Dead and halloween together at the 2th of November, location Club Barkode (ex Club Home)

Who gonna win?

Dark tech-house for the darkest days of the year!

- Rapunzel & Daniela Haverbeck (sleepwalkers Records)

- Salomaonumes (MIDI-Club) b2b Der Process (Origenes)

- Alex Thomson (Elevator Passion)

- Vidya b2b Anthity (Club NL)

Entrance Free!

Dresscode: Mexican/Zombie or Mexican Zombie


Don't meet the following fears on friday!

Samhainophobia is an intense and persistent fear of Halloween that can cause panic attacks in sufferers. Other relevant phobias for this time of year: wiccaphobia (fear of witches), phasmophobia (fear of ghosts), and coimetrophobia (fear of cemeteries)


Prepare yourself, dress up and shock!

We are of to Istanbul

Far away from the Netherlands on 2th of November, 400 year relationship between Turkey and Netherlands will be celebrate at Indigo, Istanbul with the best of entertainment

PHAT ELEPHANT & PLASTIC DREAMS PRESENTS...

Phat Elephant & Plastic Dreams will bring club Indigo a fine selection of some of the most progressive electronic music artists from Holland.

BART SKILS (Drumcode, 100% pure, NL)  

MAKAM (Dekmantel, sushitech, NL)

OLENE KADAR live (Mo's ferry, NL)

FLOHIL & SMIT live (Phat elephant, NL)

LISA KAY & CENK UNIS (Elevator passion, NL)
As addition to the great musical line-up, we are invited with our crew of creatives to create an interactive atmosphere/playground where guests have the chance to be in the spotlight of the event!

Expect make up, hair styling, interactive photography and Live VJ visuals!

An audio - visual experience you definitely shouldn't miss!

TEASER: Elevator Passion & Phat Elephant present ADE special 2012

ShiTv @ Pink Istanbul - Saturday 13 October

Pink Istanbul connects art ,culture & people!

Coming up Saturday our boys from ShiTv were invited and will bring their best interactive & visual entertainment to Paradiso, alongside the sounds of Erol Alkan, Lupe, Riptide, Dearhead, The G-Team, Miss Bounty & Discoben.
Many other performances will delight your eyes among many others Benchellal, an Amsterdam based costume designer and performance director who creates spectacular fashion designs which come to life in extraordinary visual and breathtaking performances. Visuals are projected onto hand-made creations and put in motion by a performing artist to create an optical illusion.

Beat Palace Club invites Elevator Passion artists

Urban Stylistix presents the electronic music club experience BEAT PALACE at Club Canvas Amsterdam on October 6th 2012, inviting well-known DJs – Mike Ravelli (GZG, Shoeless, Misc Agency), Lisa Kay & Cenk Unis (Elevator Passion) and Alex Thomson (Elevator Passion) accompanied by on-beat video performances, a video installation and interactive light-painting. on top of all this visual entertainment by ShiTv ( Elevator Passion)
Date: 06.10.2012 / 22:00 – 03:00
Location: Club Canvas op de 7e / Wibautstraat 150 / Amsterdam
Entrance: 8,50 Euro

Style: Tech-House, Techno
Website: http://www.beatpalaceclub.com/

Elevating sounds and an interactive playground at  Amsterdam Dance Event

                   Elevator Passion & Phat Elephant join forces in Amsterdam’s highest nightclub 

Get a makeover and dance the night away, when label and booking agency Phat Elephant and event and booking agency Elevator Passion join forces and turn Canvasopde7de into a musical and interactive playground. On Saturday, October 20th, both agencies combine DJs, producers, hair and make-up stylists, technology and visual excesses during their party at the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the largest event for the dance scene in the world.

Owners of the labels LocalTalk and Basic Fingers, the Swedish Mad Mats & Tooli are in charge of providing the elevating sounds. Room with a View’s label boss Dairmount and producer Paskal & Urban Absolutesare welcomed to the turn tables too. Mark Mywords is new to the Phat Elephant family and is invited up to do a live set.

Cenk Unis, Dj producer & also certified Ableton trainer will launch his very first solo live set during the event. Alex Thomson and Jose Ibanez & Roy Verschuren, also artists from Elevator Passion, spin the dance floor on the seventh floor of the Volkskrant building to a higher level.

This evening, Canvasopde7de turns into an interactive playground for adults. ShiTv surprises and amazes with beautiful visuals and mapping. A team of stylists are ready to work on the visitors. Arts in Parts provides face painting and makeup. Hair stylists Vagabond Collective ensures that hair is not left behind.Raggamuffins provides wardrobe

support for your vintage bohemian style in order to get ready for a photo shoot for the VJs of ShiTv.

As part of the celebrations of 400 years of relations between the Turkish and Dutch nations, Phat Elephant is organizing an event in November, bringing the Amsterdam HIFI connection to Indigo, Istanbul in Turkey. Elevator Passion is invited to bring the creative interactive multimedia feel and create an all encompassing audio visual experience.

In short:

ADE Special: Elevator Passion & Phat Elephant
Saturday, October 20, 2012 | 10PM – 5 AM

Canvas | Wibautstraat 150 Amsterdam

Entrance € 15 at the door | Presale € 13 via presale 

Join our event on Facebook!

www.elevatorpassion.com | www.phatelephant.com | www.amsterdam-dance event.nl