Electric Daisy Carnival 2012 Interview: Manufactured Superstars

Just like myself, the Denver-based duo Manufactured Superstars traveled from coast to coast between both Electic Daisy Carnival locations in New York and Las Vegas. Having the opportunity to catch both sets, it became evident to me as to why they are called “Superstars”. Throwing down a super high energy and overall fun track list on both occasions, the crowd was mesmerized as the pair opened up their NYC set with the Bruno Mars & Wiz Khalifa hit, Young Wild & Free into a powerful explosive bass drop of Bingo Players’ hit L’Amour. Besides their fine genre-blending skills, Sunday’s kineticFIELD was jumping to the beat of the Manufactured Superstars hit single and EP title, Freak on You. Their set crossed EDM boundaries with hints of pop, hip hop, electro house, and even a dash of dubstep. However, one of the most chill enducing moments of their set is when we heard the vocals of Alicia Keys’ New York mixed in with the Nicky Romero banger, Toulouse. So many more epic moments throughout their New York set, and that doesn’t even include Vegas!

For Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, the boys threw down even harder for the monumental festival celebrating it’s 2nd year in the state of Nevada. The guys gave us “Big Fucking House” dropping that track from Angger Dimas and Tommy Trash while they would “Keep Pushing” us to dance with the Starkillers & Dmitry KO hit. Masters of special edits and remixes, the two EDC track lists each had their own special gems. Having seen the Manufactured Superstars in both festival and nightclub settings, I was lucky enough to sit down with Brad Roulier, one half of the Manufactured Superstars after their spectacular EDC New York performance to chat about the electronic dance music movement in North America and the presence of Electric Daisy Carnival in New York City, err, well New Jersey.

After the craziness in Las Vegas has subsided and EDC week is officially over for 2012, the boys are returning to New York City this Sunday for a special mid day performance to take us into the sunset with an abundance of beats. Space is limited so make sure no to miss out on the festivities over at 420 Park Avenue South!

EDM Insider 1. How do you prepare differently for festival sets as opposed to a traditional nightclub setting?

Roulier: It’s a lot different because we typically play an earlier set. There’s a lot of DJs and producers out there and we want to make sure we play a little bit different. We have to dig a lot harder and listen to what people are playing a couple weeks before. If there’s something that a lot of artists are playing that we want to play, we make sure to do an edit of it and then we play a lot more of our own music. At festivals we DJ for an hour, most places in Vegas usually we play about 3 or 4 hours so we have to get all of the stuff consolidated really fast and you want to make sure you’re not going to play a song that’s going to be played about 5 or 6 times at another stage. You have to prepare a little more We’re always preparing and making new songs but with festival types are pretty specific.

EDM Insider 2. How are you inspired by right now in the industry? Who would you like to work with in the near future that you haven’t collaborated with just yet?

Roulier: We’re more on the pop/house tip. We love pop music and hip hop so maybe on the hip hop side, Lupe Fiasco or somebody like that. On the pop side, this may sound a little cheesy but I love Katy Perry. I’d love to make a track for her. I think her song writing is amazing. I’d love to make a beat for her, maybe something a little bit more housey.

EDM Insider 3. At the end of last year, you released the Freak on You EP. What’s next for the Manufactured Superstars? Will you both be releasing more tracks off of Freak on You or do you have some new tracks in the works for fans?

Roulier: We’re working on all new stuff! Well we have five new tracks in the works right now for the summer. They’ll probably come out one new track per month so we have most of our productions for the year. So now when our schedule is really busy during the summer DJing, we can’t spend as much time in the studio so our next 5 releases are all going to come out on Big Beat Atlantic in the USA and BlackHole Recordings and Magik Musik in Europe so our schedule is pretty set until September. Obviously there will be collaborations and remix that will happen between then. But original stuff, we have some ideas but we’ll probably go back to that in October or so and release 3 or 4 new songs.

EDM Insider 4. This year was the first ever EDC in New York and it is bigger than ever in Las Vegas. How do you feel about the way Americans have been responding more to the electronic dance music scene right now?

Roulier: Pasquale has been one of my dear friends for many years, the owner of Insomniac and I’ve known the Pacha guys for almost just as long. So, I knew they weren’t going to do it unless it was going to be absolutely crazy! New York is one of the birth places of EDM in America so you know it was what I expect. The crowd was amazing. You can play stuff they don’t recognize and they’re very receptive of it. New York is a little bit more beat driven than in other cities, so you have to make sure you bring the beats here. Fantastic crowds as expected. Amazing times.

Listen to the full Manufactured Superstars EDC New York Set here:

Stay tuned for more exclusive chats with Manufactured Superstars on EDM Insider after their Gansevoort Park Rooftop party this Sunday!

About the Author

Angela Samartano Angela has been dancing since before she could walk. As a technically trained dancer for the past 20 years, Angela has always had an affinity for bass heavy beats and uplifting trance melodies. Holding a Bachelors of Science in Advertising and Marketing Communications from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, she has an extensive online journalism background and is current Editor in Chief of EDM Insider. Besides her personal twitter, she is the face behind the @EDMinsider Twitter account.