The LocALe – Andrew McDonnell

Electronic music is on absolute fire in Toronto. This summer’s crazy flood of festivals definitely has the disco ball hangin bright over the Tdot right now. After a small lull in the action, it’s pretty awesome to hear our scene back on the rise.

The new-found industry cred for the DJ trade surely has a lot to do with clubbers’ recent run of good fortune worldwide.  DJ tools are finally being respected as proper instruments in the mainstream, making electronic dance the only growing community in music today.

But EDM is far from new to Toronto. This city’s always been on the pulse of what the scene’s all about.  Huge raves of the 90’s and the club explosion of the early millennium saw Toronto venues saturated with dance beats almost every night of the week, every week of the year.  We’ve been a marquee destination for EDM for a long time; it’s no surprise we’re seeing parties swell once again.

Some locals making it big on the world’s stage are most assuredly attracting new people to what we do. Luke Fair’s been carrying the torch for our underground for over a decade.  deadmau5 has broken right through in the commercial world. Art Department has taken off with the party people and there’s no hotter name in techno than Carlo Lio.

Each one of these artists has done it their own way, taking very unique paths to success.  But they all have one thing in common: they’re travelling the globe; doing their thing and making our city look super cool in the process.

I truly believe we’ll have more breakthroughs because of our city’s rich and growing EDM culture. More and more Toronto artists are focusing on sharing their talents internationally through production, promos, podcasts and radio shows.  The days of just showing up at the club to play for the crowd are long over. Today, you must be an all-around contributor to the EDM world and many of Toronto’s LocALe are leading the way.

Andrew McDonnell is one of the new breed strutting his stuff toward the door of big-time success.  At a time where progressively mixed house (see below)  is making its way back into the cycle, Andrew’s positioned perfectly for the boom that’s inevitably right around the corner.

Andrew’s slick progressive DJ style is showcased every second Thursday of the month at 9am EST on his Proton radio show ‘Groove Control’.  He’s been selectively gigging in Toronto for the better part of a decade, and as a qualified audio engineer, he’s constantly in studio producing tight grooves for the underground.

Industry legend Hernan Cattaneo has charted two of Andrew’s productions; Jim Bob Duggar (Apollo) at #16 and @am_dj (Bellarine) at #6.  Hernan’s also included them in the mix on his ‘Resident’ radio show.  Andrew has two-track EPs forthcoming on Baires Records (Buenos Aires) and Asymmetric Recordings (Tel-Aviv), and a single on the second edition Whose Haus’ Ibiza sampler titled “Whose Ibiza Haus?”

Andrew’s certainly one of the good guys.  When he’s not working on music, you can find him in support on the dance floor.  He appreciates a good vibe and you can tell in just a couple minutes chat, Andrew has a genuine love for this music….

The term ‘progressive’ has been virtually shunned by the EDM community, as many confuse it as a genre and not a style, as the term is meant to infer.  It’s an adjective, not a noun.  If you’re not following me, listen to Andrew’s promo.  It’s a picture-perfect example of what progressive really means.

Andrew blends many different genres, in a progressive manner, to compile an unexpected journey of mood and emotion; the exact result desired by anyone embracing the progressive label.   The undertone is deep and methodical, but the selections vary from tech to house to digital trance.  It’s serious and euphoric, dark and dreamy…

Are you beginning to understand me?  Progressive (this mix) is everything but the obvious.