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AUSTRALIA'S #1 SOURCE OF EDM NEWS, INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS.
The music industry has always been integral in my life since I was young, having spent the most part of my life chasing artists and festivals globally and have, over time developed a deep-rooted passion for the industry. In the last 5 years, I have found myself becoming more ingrained in the industry, taking my love and passion for festivals from a desire to see my favourite artists, to now appreciating the festivals as a whole. My love for the industry extends for festival/show productions, venues and record labels, these appreciations I never dreamed I would ever see myself admiring 5 years ago, that have learned that without these, there would be no artists and festivals for me to enjoy. Despite attending some of the worlds biggest and exciting music festivals, it wasn’t until attending my second Tomorrowland 2016 where I took my passion to the next level, by founding a Facebook community dedicated so Australian’s making their lifelong dream of attending Tomorrowland a reality. Today, we have a team of 7 admin’s in total, managing over 8,000 diehard EDM fans from all parts of Australia, who we help daily to ensure they have all the knowledge we can give them, to ensure they achieve their goal of attending the best music festival in the world. Since becoming more ingrained in the industry, I noticed there was a lack of Australian representation from the media perspective, which frustrated me, and lead me down the path where I walked away from nearing a decade as an Account Manager in Finance insurance, to follow my dream of starting a premier EDM media company, based here in Australia. Behind the Decks is a long-grown passion, turned into a resourceful information provider to give you the latest and hottest headlines from the EDM world, both from here in Australia and globally.
gene convery
founder
Bianca Tavitian
marketing & Pr consultant
Bianca has spent her career conquering the fashion world, working across multiple Australian and international labels. Her long list of career accolades to her name tops with the successful design, production and distribution of the Australian Commonwealth Games uniforms in 2018. After a life-changing trip to Europe and Tomorrowland in 2017, Bianca has found her self becoming increasingly involved in the music industry. She is part of the Admin Team for Australia’s largest Tomorrowland Group, where she runs and oversees multiple social media accounts for some of the worlds biggest acts, as well designs and distributes merchandise for multiple festival-related companies. With the shift from fashion into the music industry, it is an exciting new chapter for Bianca and we are proud to have her as part of the team at Behind The Decks.
shane price
I got into the dance music scene around 2007-2008 in the good old days. I enjoyed the scene so much and also got into a bit of djing and had my fun as a youngster running amuck at that time.I started travelling and started doing some of the European festivals as Australia had really slowed down. First doing Tomorrowland and EDC London back in 2013 to now doing Tomorrowland 2013,2017,2018,2019, multiple Szigets and even Untold in Romania.I'm hooked and I loved to get my teeth into anything EDM. I had a chat with Gene when he started Behind The Decks and instantly couldn’t wait to be apart of something I feel so strongly about.Now getting to work with some of the DJ’s I looked up to when I was a youngster has become a dream for me. The effort we put in here is for our community and to bring Australian EDM and festivals back to their glory days!
community manager
oliver liwanag
Oliver has been attending gigs, events and festivals for over 20 years around Australia and Europe. He is passionate about live music, seeking new acts and artists to obsess over and learning about music history and culture. He particularly appreciates the local live music scene. This is why he is a strong supporter of grassroots movements and organisations like ‘Keep Sydney Open’ to ensure we protect and nurture what is left of music and culture in NSW.
But it is not all about the music – Oliver is also an avid traveller, a fanatical Sydney Swans supporter and foodie. To make a living to fund all of his passions, Oliver has been a Marketing professional with over 10 years’ experience in retail, banking and consumer goods and is currently working as a Brand Manager in the Hospitality Industry.
contributor
Marco
bombaci
lead content creator
Marco, the youngest member of the BTD team has been an avid electronic music lover since he was in his early teens. Growing up surrounded by 90s Dance, Techno, and Trance is where he fell in love with the sounds that would shape a new era for EDM. By 2011, Marco was of clubbing age, and EDM was growing into a worldwide phenomenon. Just out of High School, Marco went on to study Audio Engineering – upon completion of his degree, and as a graduation gift to himself, he decided to fly to Europe and attend Ultra Croatia, Tomorrowland and made his dream come true of partying in Ibiza. He now classes himself as a Tomorrowland and Ibiza veteran, after travelling to these places another three times since! Marco has also travelled to the USA for Ultra Music Festival, Miami Music Week, and Anjuna Beach SoCal. Living in Melbourne for a short time, Marco craved alternative scenes like warehouse raves, typically where the deeper and darker sounds of Techno are heard. Whilst he prefers this type of music now, he will give anything a listen – from Jazz to Rock, Classical to the occasional heavy metal. Now residing in Sydney, Marco is focusing on the local scene and is very optimistic about what is to come. Marco frequently attends club gigs, festivals, and special events all over the east coast of Australia. Marco’s primary focus is on the local industry and mental health awareness in Australia. But it’s not all about travel and the music – Marco also follows motorsports, is a car enthusiast, and a Coffee connoisseur. He has worked in Hospitality for the last 8 years and enjoys a good chat.
It’s so weird saying that I never went to a music festival until 2017, but on a spur of the moment decision I purchased a ticket to Tomorrowland in Belgium, and that was the slippery slope that threw me into the world of EDM. Whilst I’d always enjoyed electronic music, a range of drum and bass or trance or dubstep, I’d never been crazily in love with it. There was always a few producers that consistently popped up in my playlists – Seven Lions, Pendulum and Krewella to name a few (oddly enough, a lot of what I liked was on the Monstercat label). Flash forward to July 2017, and I arrive at Tomorrowland solo and throw myself into the Rose Garden stage, for the best damn day of my life. That was the turning point for me, where I made a solid commitment to myself to attend Tomorrowland every year (2018 and 2019 – Check), to watch that SINGLE stage without fail. Now I’ve managed to discover and party to other huge names like Rezz, NGHTMRE, SLANDER, Tokyo Machine, Pegboard Nerds, Myrne, Grant, Slushii, Kill The Noise – So many powerhouse names in a single location!!
Tomorrowland wasn’t my only vice though, since that day I’ve hit Sziget in Budapest (3 times), Untold in Romania (2 times), Ultra Sydney, Lollapalooza Chile, Tomorrowland Unite in Malta – and so many more festivals, all to keep that newly founded passion for music alive. Now? I’m a photographer/travel manager living in London, with so many opportunities to see and experience music new and old, at the best venues in the world. It’s finally time to give back, and let those who can’t experience what I can (Sorry Australia, but you just don’t get the same lineups as over here) share in those moments and experiences and recreate exactly what I feel when I hear that music course through every individual part of my body.
ben
hargreaves
UK & Europe contributor and photographer
cale
hackfath
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I got into the EDM scene during high school after watching the 2011 and 2012 Tomorrowland after movies. From here I was hooked exploring different artists such as Hardwell, Showtek and Axwell. I decided that I wanted my first festival to be Tomorrowland so I tried to save enough to go in 2014 but could not do it. That year I attended my first EDM show when Hardwell came to Brisbane, which made me want to go to Tomorrowland even more. For the next year and a half, I saved my money and in 2016 I finally got to attend Tomorrowland and this ended up being a life-changing experience! For the next 4 years, I would travel to Europe to attend the festival that I love the most. In 2017 I did a festival tour that took me across America and Europe attending a total of 6 festival in 7 weekends which included Spring Awakening, EDC Las Vegas, Defqon, Electric Love, Ultra Europe and Tomorrowland! After attending so many festivals I began to discover so many different artists and genres but Hardstyle has come out on top. I spend the majority of my time listening to Hardstyle and I believe that it is quickly becoming one of the biggest and best genres in the world. When Gene asked around for help writing articles I was in 100%. It has been a great experience being able to document and reflect on the festivals I attend! I also had the amazing opportunity of being a media representative for Behind the Decks at Electric love 2019. This was an incredible experience as I got to go behind the scenes of a big festival and interview some awesome artists! I’m looking forward to the future of BTD and growing the EDM scene in Australia and the world!
hardstyle contrubitor
kylie
vesey
Kylie has been around music and the industry for many years as growing up her dad who was and still is in bands is a Bass player and a singer. Being around all types of music has been a something she has loved from a young age. As a kid and teenager, she would be at gigs, jam nights or backstage at many rock events and festivals this is where it all started for her. Kylie loves to travel around the world attending music festivals having attended Future Music Malaysia, Ultra Music Festival Miami, Tomorrowworld Atlanta, Tomorrowland Belgium and many local EDM festivals and events. On her weekends you will find her at many local nightclubs where she loves to get to know the local talent and review venues. Kylie’s love for music goes beyond just listening to a song and she can always find meaning in what an artist has made, she feels it deeply and loves nothing more than watching a DJ work the decks with pure skill and passion. Kylie is currently a Process Analyst in a very corporate office environment so when she gets the chance to jump into all thing’s music, she loves it.