Paris in Ibiza (2010); click for more

Billionaire party girl Paris Hilton announced this week that she’ll soon be joining the ranks of pop-dance superstar DJs David Guetta, Tiesto and Afrojack, kicking off her career with an 1 hour set before 30,000 revellers in Brazil.

Promising that her show at the Pop Festival will be ‘the first of many’, she told reporters she’ll be spinning ‘custom-made remixes of the best tracks’ (presumably made by boyfriend Afrojack or regular collaborators Manufactured Superstars) and told Billboard she’s ‘very excited to share all of my hard work with the world.” (http://bit.ly/KYGR7j )

“Electronic music is a huge passion of mine and I’m finally letting the world experience it with me,” she told reporters.

“I have been working in the studio for a long time and ready to take deejaying to the next level. I chose Brazil for my debut because it is the country of music and dancing.”

Somewhat predictably, deep house legend turned Twitter scourge of Swedish House Mafia, DJ Sneak was unimpressed.

‘PH sucks at everything, she is wealthy she should stay out real DJ business. this is 4 pros,” he advised.

“Like once PH realizes how much work this really is she’ll give up,” he predicted, “she doesn’t belong in this business this is for grown folks.”

https://twitter.com/#!/PARISHILTON

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Traci Lords (click for more)

Bruce Wagoner unveils his new documentary based on interviews with former porn stars asking ‘What happened next?’ While Traci Lords (not in the film) went on to make music with psy-trance legends Juno Reactor not many of the other actresses appear to have fared so well . . .

email Jonty@skrufff.com with your recommendations....

As part of the new site design we’re adding daily selected links  (see to the left of the screen) covering everything from DJ mixes, new videos and tracks, games and special events to End Time theories, fancy recipes and serial killer stories.  Please send in your recommendations to jonty@skrufff.com

Dance Paradise Brasil- click for more

Brazil’s number one EDM radio network Dance Paradise FM is adding Germany Calling to their schedule and will be broadcasting the Berlin produced show every Thursday afternoon from June 7 (17.00 local time, 22.00 Berlin time).

The Curitiba based station reaches millions of listeners via a network of 55 terrestrial FM radio stations.

Sérgio Maslowsky from Dance Paradise FM chatted to Skrufff this week about the story behind the fast growing Brazilian radio network and recalled how they started 8 years ago ‘just as a web radio station broadcast from a small room here in Curitiba.’

“Initially we began broadcasting a few trance and house radio shows from some international artists and during that period times were really hard but after a few months we got in touch with some huge artists who supported and believed in the idea and the concept of the radio station- people like Markus Schulz, Matt Darey and Menno de Jong,” he recalled.

“Back then the radio was 90% trance and some other EDM songs, then over time we connected up with lots more new artists and we became so full of DJs and musical styles that we launched another channel, dividing up the genres. So we had just one for trance, and the other for house and techno. Nowadays we have 4 different channels and each is broadcast across 55 FM Stations around Brazil.”

Germany Calling specialises in delivering exclusive upfront underground house and techno tracks from labels such as Kling Klong, Soma, Crosstown Rebels, Turbo, Culprit, Punch Music and Great Stuff and is produced and presented by Jonty Skrufff and Fidelity Kastrow. Each week’s one hour show also includes one or two classic cuts and rarities and is also broadcast on BLN.FM (Germany), Underground FG (France) and Ukraine’s leading dance music radio station Kiss FM.

For Sergio, who handles Dance Paradise’s international and artist relations, Germany Calling’s inclusion on the Concept Channel fits a programming schedule that already includes shows from Carl Cox, Yoshitoshi and Get Physical. (This is Dance Paradise; on Youtube: http://bit.ly/KQQ3tI )

“Dance music has always been a global phenomenon and we reflect that on Dance Paradise FM,” he says.

“How many of the shows are in English? Well almost 99% of our output is either in English or foreign languages,” says Sergio. “We have a handful in Portuguese but that’s all.”

Fidelity Kastrow & Jonty Skrufff - Click for archive shows

Skrufff (Seb Mortimer): How do you decide what styles of music and DJs to support?

Dance Paradise (Sergio): “We’ve always maintained good relationships with the DJs who provide us with radio shows, and we’re always looking for good stuff, whatever the genre. The key issue for us is to have good quality programmes and be open minded to new trends and styles. Sometimes these can seem aggressive and weird at first, but when you look into it and see a lot of different material and so many people following that genre then we’ll experiment and put it right in the middle of the schedule and see what feedback we receive.

The artists decide the music they play on their shows of course, and we already have huge numbers of listeners who are addicted to trance, house, techno, deep house and even chill-out so we’re not relying just on numbers, we feel it.”

Skrufff: What’s your assessment of club culture and EDM in Brazil; how much is the country now embracing EDM in the mainstream?

Dance Paradise (Sergio): “Brazil’s EDM scene is growing constantly these days, thanks to both the internet and global communication in general. We need it here too. If I can use myself as an example, I personally hate samba and I hate with all my heart performers such as Michel Telo and that country style music, so I really miss that Europe atmosphere and culture about e-music.

In the past, and I’m talking about not longer than ten years ago, if I told someone I liked Paul Oakenfold or Cris Liebing they would turn to me and say ‘what the fuck? Who are those guys, I’ve never heard of them.’ Or ‘so you use drugs or have a mental problems?’ But nowadays most people in Brazil are familiar with these names and many more and though people aren’t 100% into dance music, it’s changing. We think we’re helping this happen because dance music is our passion- we love what we hear and what we do.”

Live @ D-edge (Sao Paulo)

Skrufff: How about places like Florianopolis; how much do you cover that scene: how much does it have the potential to become an Ibiza style destination (over December to March)

Dance Paradise (Sergio): “We have strong partnerships with clubs such as Pacha and Stage Music Park, they’re excellent clubs and partners, and that city is such a beautiful place. We’re always doing special events there, whether it’s live broadcasting or events or even doing our own special events.

But Ibiza is Ibiza, nowhere in the world beats it. Armin van Buuren once said ”every year we have a new Ibiza, and it burns for that season, and sometimes in the next season it’s gone, but you cant compare the magic of that island, its unique”; Florianópolis has a long way to go still but I think Floripa already has its space at the sun.”

Skrufff: You broadcast to 57 affiliate radio stations: what kind of audiences do you attract: for the mainstream shows and the underground ones?

Dance Paradise (Sergio): “We try to attract both Greeks and Trojans because we have both types of artists on the crew, but let me answer you with another question: What is underground these days? Even in the underground we have mainstream artists and with information now available everywhere you don’t really have underground scenes anymore; certainly not in the way it used to be.”

Dance Paradise; click for more

Skrufff: How do you see Dance Paradise developing- in the next 6 months- in the next 3 years?

Dance Paradise (Sergio): “It’s hard to say even what we’ll be doing tomorrow, but I think it’s definitely our moment, our time to shine even more. Expanding to 57 station was a big jump, and we’re starting to get these fruits now, so I think Dance Paradise will be bigger than it is now, and I can expect huge events and festival partners and more conference tie-ups in the future.”

Skrufff: Anything to add?

Dance Paradise (Sergio): “Thanks to everyone, even our enemies – if we have any . . .”

Listen to Germany Calling every Thursday afternoon from June 7 (17.00 local time, 22.00 Berlin time).

http://www.danceparadise.com.br

http://www.mixcloud.com/jontyskrufff/ (Listen to archived Germany Calling shows on demand, here)

Seb Mortimer: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Kreuzberg, Berlin

DJs and artists in Berlin will be amongst hundreds of thousands of self employed people who could soon be forced to pay €350 a month pension contributions on top of mandatory health care costs plus taxes meaning each will have to earn at least €600 before earning one cent.

“These mandatory contributions will be hundreds of euros per month for a basic social security which they can’t live on. For many freelancers, this could signal the end,” freelance news portal Deskmag.com predicted.

“From July 1st 2013, many self-employed workers risk enduring significant financial burdens that threaten their professional existence, especially for those who have inconsistent or precarious sources of income. The creative economy is likely to shrink as a result,” they suggested. (DeskMag.com: http://bit.ly/IJmMlJ )

Expat news portal columnist Seymour Gris of ExBerliner was similarly alarmed.

“In a new package of proposed laws beautifully entitled “Rewarding Life’s Work” planned by the Merkel government, the self-employed will be required to pay a monthly “retirement contribution” of around €350 to help fill up the coffers of the bankrupt German pension system which is already subsidized by €80 billion in taxpayer money beginning in 2013,” he said.

“Berlin is especially susceptible to this legislation, as it will kill off myriad microcosms of entrepreneurism in every imaginable field from culture to food to IT. Or else drive more small business people into the tax-free black market,” he predicted. (http://bit.ly/KmzHNp )

Brighton based freelancer and DJ/ promoter Nick Titchener also ridiculed the proposals branding them ‘ridiculous’.

“If a similar thing was brought into play in the UK, many, many freelancers wouldn’t be able to afford to eat, or pay their rent.  Where do the lawmakers think the money is going to come from, especially for start-ups or those going through a bad time – as every “freelancer” or self-employed person does? Anonymous benefactors? Donations from big business?” said Nick.

“It will be a medium term nightmare for the German economy, particularly with mobility of labour in the EU; why would anyone start something up in German? You know those little innovative “we can start by building it in the garage” business like, say Apple or Microsoft . . .”

New 5 star hotels on the Spree

http://bit.ly/J739cf (Click here to sign a petition protesting about the bill)

http://bit.ly/IrJOCl

Seymour Gris: Killing off the Creative Class http://bit.ly/KmzHNp

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Barefoot's Big Om (@ Wembley Arena) click for more

Barefoot Doctor: “It’s not about whether it’s OK – it’s more that whenever you despise anyone or anything, you merely generate a nasty energy within, one that drags you down and puts you off your own path.

If instead you send everyone good wishes and wish them well (whether you believe they deserve it or not) you’ll generate a healthy, bright energy within; one that fuels you along your own path to success.

In simple words, you win by sending out loving thoughts and lose by sending out hateful or disdainful ones.

Whatever someone else owns is a part of their destiny and no matter how good it looks from the outside (and inside), it nonetheless comes with a painful side – everything does and the more beautiful, the more the pain – that’s basic yin-yang physics.

Sometimes it’s difficult to believe looking in from the outside but get close to any zillionaire, and you’ll soon discover they’re dealing with problems and suffering in proportion to their good fortune.

So instead try to have compassion for everyone, whether super-rich, rich, middling, poor or super-poor – everyone is suffering inside one way or another. And by the same token, use the positive aspects of someone’s wealth as inspiration for whatever you wish to achieve for yourself.

For while greed is ugly and ostentatious displays of wealth merely indicative of existential insecurity, to change anything, you need to change it within yourself first – relinquish greed and ostentatious display within – that’s the only place you can effect real change for the better in the world.”

Questions by Skrufff.

Click to hear Forge of the Vulcans

The Bulldog Amsterdam; click for more

Amsterdam based British DJ Dave Clarke welcomed the imminent introduction of a cannabis café pass system designed to prevent tourists from buying pot in Holland this week, telling Skrufff ‘I think it is a good thing.’

“Holland and Amsterdam is much more that the stereotypical view of smoking and poking. Most Amsterdam-ers are quite OK with the ban, to be honest,” Dave suggested.

“What impact do I think it will have on the club scene? Absoluely none,” he predicted, “Though Easyjet sales might be down for a while.”

Moving from Brighton to Amsterdam some years ago, the infamously single-minded techno star settled in the heart of Amsterdam’s touristic centre and painted a sorry picture of the smokers he encounters around town.

“I’m sorry to say it, but most of them seem to be English and German idiots who cannot control themselves, they think they can fly and then throw up at best or fall out of windows at worst,” Dave complained.

“I very, very rarely smoke, maybe a few times a year at the very most,” he added. “The last time I went to a cafe was a long time ago in the winter maybe two years ago, but I went because they did a killer hot chocolate to go with a steaming hot olliebal.”

“Come to Holland for the culture and the architecture, Amsterdam is, for me, the most beautiful city in the world,” said Dave.

His approval of the foreigner weed ban, which was implemented in Dutch border towns including Maastricht last week, came as police reported that buyers are simply driving further into Holland, with some popping up 90km from Maastricht in Nijmengen.

“In recent days, we are spotting cars with Belgian plates in the city center, who are clearly there for the coffee shops,” Nijmegen police spokeswoman Florian Vingerhoeds told reporters. “Before, we never saw Belgian plates.”

The futility of using laws to crack down on drugs was also emphasised by former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski who writing in the New York Times this week admitted his attempt at total zero tolerance with heavy prison sentences for users was a total failure.

Leading Poland between 1995 and 2005, the ex president admitted they expected the prospect of fierce prison sentences for people caught with even ‘minuscule amounts of drugs’ would deter users and catch dealers but said neither goal happened. Instead tens of thousands of otherwise law abiding young people were criminalised. he said.

“The vast majority of those individuals were not drug dealers,” he added. “Some of them, however, were adolescents whose prospects for careers as lawyers, public officials or teachers were suddenly blighted.” (New York Times: http://nyti.ms/LokREY )

http://www.thebulldog.com

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

5: Tomy DeClerque – Squashed / Intec

http://www.amazon.com/Squashed/dp/B007QDKAMC

Max Cooper