Jeremy Olander summons Dhillon for techno-laden NYC debut performanceL1000730 E1364485672188

Jeremy Olander summons Dhillon for techno-laden NYC debut performance

Jeremy Olander is not your average electronic music artist. He stands tall with a rugged demeanor, ponytail gathered behind his head as to not disrupt him during his carefully crafted DJ sets. Under his real name he produces an authentic brand of progressive house, releasing numerous hits on Pryda Friends. Under his Dhillon techno moniker, he’s already cemented releases on Adam Beyer’s acclaimed Drumcode. On Saturday night, while thousands descended upon Miami for Ultra Music Festival and its surrounding parties, a saddened group of non-attendees found their audible fix during Olander’s set at New York nightclub Santos Party House.

When I arrived to Santos, I scanned the crowded line at the entrance inquisitively — how in God’s name could there be a line at all? Wasn’t everyone and their mother in Miami? What left me more dumbfounded was the mere fact that Olander had broken a record for ticket sales. You heard that correct. Electric Beach at Santos has hosted big names like Mat Zo, Funkagenda, and Alex Kenji, but the Swede had outsold them all.

From the first bit of pressure he placed on the CDJs’ buttons, Olander’s sound waves slapped a grin on my face for the duration of the evening. Dhillon was out to play and I was loving every second of it. A venue and party brand that typically favors the commercial side of house music was experiencing a proper DJ set comprised of dark and unrelenting techno and tasteful progressive house. Track after track flowed through the high-grade sound system, and despite the fact I couldn’t ID a track for the life of me (and Shazam wasn’t complying), I was as happy as could be.

An hour went by and I was only able to make out a handful of tracks. His “Layerleaf” Drumcode release under his Dhillion name caught my attention with ease, along with his recent Toolroom release “Norrsken” and Pryda release “Let Me Feel” — which he waited until the final moments of the night to drop. I can confidently say this was my favorite night at Santos ever.

Seeing a DJ for the first time is always an exciting experience — especially someone of Olander’s caliber. I learned that he has the ability to produce distinct music, yet DJ to the darker side – something a lot of DJs are too scared to try. While I was texting my friends watching the master of the techno-prog house crossover Cirez D play back-to-back with Adam Beyer at Scuba’s Hotflush party in Miami, I was witnessing a performance by a talent dance music has yet to truly discover. They may have won for sheer rarity of event, but I sure as hell will never forget the first time I saw Jeremy Olander crush his NYC debut. Eric Prydz has Cirez D, and Jeremy Olander has Dhillon. It’s going to be interesting to watch the parallels of these two acts as his career continues to mature and expand.

Tags: , , , ,

Categories: