New York City – So far, this summer has found Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden going back to their roots a bit, as the popular Cali-based DJ/producer duo have embarked on a cross-continental Classics Tour.
Playing from open-to-close in some of North America’s more renowned venues, Gabriel and Dresden have been dropping any number of original productions, classic remixes and edits, giving their fans four to seven hours’ worth of music each night.
And tonight, as a part of the America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ & DJ Times, their latest all-night gig hits Manhattan’s Cielo club. We recently caught up with the America’s Best DJ nominees to discuss the tour and the music.
DJ Times: This tour really seems to be geared toward the fans who’re in for the long-haul at a club. What was the impetus for a four- to seven-hour show at each tourstop?
Josh Gabriel: Once we decided to run with the idea of a classics tour, it seemed like a natural progression that we would also do the shows open-to-close. In order to give the fans a truly authentic nostalgic experience, it kind of needed to be us DJing the entire night. It would have been way too difficult to find an opening DJ in each city who understood the concept and delivered what we wanted.
DJ Times: From the DJ’s point of view, how do you pace your set?
Dave Dresden: The key for us on this tour has been to really read the dancefloor. We zero in on a few particular dancers, ones whose moves are helping to lead the club, and we ask ourselves, “What do they want?” Then we ask ourselves, “What do we want?”
Gabriel: We also do a lot of things based on what tempo range the song is. In a seven-hour set with music ranging in BPM from 120 to 140, we sort of know that we’re going to have to start out with 30-45 minutes at 120-123, then maybe another 30 in 123-125, and so on and so on. Once we start raising the BPMs, we never look back.
G&D Classics: Always in the Box
Andain – “Beautiful Things” (Gabriel & Dresden Unplugged Mix): “This is one we have to play. Our fans know all the words and dropping it means there’s an instant singalong about to happen.”
Perasma – “Swing 2 Harmony” (Gabriel & Dresden Remix): “This is one we have not played a lot in years, but we’ve found that was a dumb decision because what it does to a dancefloor cannot be explained in one short paragraph.”
Motorcycle – “As The Rush Comes” (Gabriel & Dresden’s Sweeping Strings Mix): “Another instant singalong. This is a song that has never really gone away and you can still hear its influence in so many different dance-music genres today.”
Dash Berlin – “Till The Sky Falls Down” (Dub Mix): “This track, which we feel was inspired by our music, never fails to make people feel good. The song itself is really good, but we prefer to play the dub and let people on the dancefloor make up their own words.”
Grab tickets to the event here.
