Global Sound Masters has done it again for the FIFTH time. Both, Music Conference ASIA and its larger than life after party, GLOBAL SOUND SYSTEM music festival was deemed a success with big support and attendance coming from both true blue music enthusiasts and party goers alike. 5,000 over dance music fans made their way to the Welcome Centre at Sepang International Circuit to catch a variety of sounds meshed into one night.
“We couldn’t be happier with this year’s festivities. Having legendary acts like Judge Jules, BT and Felix Da Housecat was a surreal experience for us. This is the first time we’ve added international house music DJ’s into our line-up and with the response we’ve received, I think we could possibly try this formula again at the next event,” said Global Sound Master’s Luqman Hakim.
Saturday’s festivities began with the annual Music Conference ASIA held at The Auditorium in Sama-Sama Hotel adjacent to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Free for registered ticket buyers to the festival, the conference proved to be a comfortable intimate session between participants and speakers. The conference kicked off with the Ableton Master Class presented by Reuben Samuel, Certified Ableton Trainer of Mile High Sounds. Reuben showcased Ableton’s Live unique Session View that makes it easy to improvise with musical ideas.
The conference continued with another session with another Ableton Certified Trainer, Tom Cosm. Tom successfully got his audience engaged with a run down of the new Push controller, followed by a show case of Max for Live, Ableton's secret weapon for those who like playing with the inner workings of things.
The highlight of the afternoon was the half an hour Keynote interview session with the incomparable global sensation, Judge Jules. The former BBC Radio 1 DJ told the crowd how he rose to prominence after teaming up with Norman Jay - the creator of the legendary Good Times Sound System. He also mentioned that the best nicknames are the ones given by friends and it was also Jay who coined the ‘Judge’ nickname - a reference to Jules' days as a law student before he swapped books for beats. Conference participants were treated to a great surprise when BT made an appearance at the Auditorium for an impromptu session that included his illustrious career and an in depth look into several different production methods.
Moving on to the next venue, the Welcome Centre of Sepang International Circuit, party punters had already started making their way to Global Sound System as soon as the doors opened at 5pm. They got their engines revved up by opening sets by Malaysia’s finest house heads Mr Nasty & GuruGuru followed by house/techno hero Terence C. These lads enthralled the crowd up to the Maghrib prayers time before the party went for a short break.
Refreshing the crowd’s energy after the break was none other than Italo-dance DJ, producer, and remixer, Alex Kenji. Alex’s debut in Malaysia was very well received by the audience as he proved why he is one of house music’s hottest properties at the moment. Needless to say, the talented deck genius’ set included his hit with Nadia Ali and The Starkillers, ‘Pressure’.
The hot house vibe continued with the presence of one of the most iconic names in the scene, Felix Da Housecat. The legendary DJ did not disappoint as he spewed an incredibly extensive list of tunes that ranged from house to a lot of techno bangers.
Continuing the line up of legends was Music Conf. ASIA’s guest speaker, Judge Jules. Proving that he still possessed the ability of entertaining the crowd without being genre centric, his set with a wide array of genre was presented with pure class and experience.
The festival’s latest addition, Shogun had no problem continuing where Judge Jules left off. Slamming the decks with absolutely tantalizing trance tunes, American born Taiwanese DJ and producer, Andrew Chen aka Shogun, is the first Asian DJ and producer to be signed to Armin van Buuren’s Armada label and showed the Malaysian crowd what he was made off.
Finally, after successfully resolving a technical issue with his equipment, BT took over deck duties to close the night. The highly reputable Grammy-nominated music producer, platinum-selling artist, film composer and technologist Brian Transeau wasted no time to get the crowd moving. His ever-entertaining closing set also included his collaborative effort with Arty and Nadia Ali called, ‘This Must Be The Love’. The Global Sound System soiree was indeed a league of its own as they featured special guest, MC Stretch to get the crowd going from the beginning until the end.
