Unsung Heroes 010: Mike Saint-Jules’s 3 Hour Mix At Pacha NYC 12/21/12

Here at Unsung Heroes, our job is to look far and wide in order to find some of the rarest and exemplary tracks and artists that our scene offers today. But while some may argue that music is what drives the scene, ultimately it is a symbiosis between the music and the person who shows them to us, the listeners. In short, the DJ. Hours and hours of time are devoted towards crowd reading, track selection, track diversification and getting the know how on the technological power of the mixer and the turntables. A true DJ learns all of those different skill sets and somehow combines them into a spontaneous and creative fashion that spans throughout the entire set.

With that in mind, we look at Northeast native and Trance producer, Mike Saint-Jules. Mike is one of the leading factions of Trance in North America (with artists such as Eco and Tom Colontonio) and has been an ‘Unsung Hero‘ in his own right. While creating impressive tracks and rubbing shoulders with artists/vocalists such as Basil O’Glue and Amba Shepard, he has aptly proved himself to be a ferociously talented man behind the decks. Many DJ’s only know how to play peak time, high energy sets that is aptly suited in their comfort zone. Their job is to entertain and they can accomplish this by not taking too many risks. However, Mike Saint-Jules has shown that he is an artist that is against the norm, who is willing to jump into the unknown if it means a more enhanced set for his listeners.

His job at PachaNYC was to create a warm up set for the main act, which happened to be Cosmic Gate that night. In case you didn’t know, a warm up DJ often has just as, if not harder, feat to accomplish than the main headliner. They have to make sure that their tracklisting does not outshine the main act, while still ‘warming up’ the crowd to give potential energy to the audience that the headliner can work off of. On top of that, they have to utilize regular track selection, flow of energy, reading the crowd and be creative in the mix. However, this was not a problem for Saint-Jules. Armed with three hours behind the decks (and a wildly diverse track selection/genres), Mike decided to gradually showcase his abilities and mold the crowd’s energy and ears towards a three hour ride of self discovery and musical appreciation from the ground up, creating on of the most creative and interesting sets that we here love at Your EDM.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/73390302″ iframe=”true” /]

Starting off experimental with Jazz, (a first time in our recent memories), he starts with some calming ambient tunes while continuously building from influences in Deep House, pseudo-Ambiant Downtempo Dubstep, Progressive and even Deeper Progressive (within only the first half hour). During the first hour, he shines with some seriously impressive mixing skills (33:00-34:00 is wicked). In the second hour, he deviates yet again, and presents some Tech House from artists such as Stefano Noferini and Ant Brooks before plunging into some dark Techno with producers like Adam Beyer and John Digweed. Meanwhile, Saint-Jules still flits around genres and coolly maintains his ever building energy with the crowd.

Finally, only in the last hour of his set does he start to play Trance. He pulls the energy up with KhoMa‘s Vapor and keeps it up with peak time tracks such as Bart Claessen‘s King Of Kongs and Leon Bolier‘s Club Mix of Trumpets. His overall track selection throughout his three hours is superb and his attention of energy is intricate and very well thought out. Showcasing a slew of unknown artists and genres shows that he has the ability to give a musical journey with the spark of Armin van Buuren, or Sasha. This is seriously one of the best examples of a true warm-up set that is nearly flawless in design. Definitely one to listen from start to finish.

Keep the music alive. -Q

Mike Saint-Jules also has an ASOT600 NY campaign going on and he is more than deserving of throwing down with the big leagues. Join this page (https://www.facebook.com/events/463985963636454/?ref=ts&fref=ts), or comment on Twitter with #ASOT600 and spread the word!

Tracklist

01. Airwave Feat R1 – Big City Spleen
02. Essáy & CoMa – Deceptive
03. Exoplanet – Flight of the Outcast
04. Elon & Lauren Ritter – Juntos (Original Mix)
05. Chris James Feat. Ria Moran – Song For Her (Audiojack’s Dub For Ra)
06. Henry Saiz – Uncharted (Original Mix)
07. Layo Bushwacka – The Big Dream (Original Mix)
08. Stimming & David August – Sexy Biest (Gui Boratto Remix)
09. Guy J – Fixation (Original Mix)
10. Martin Roth – Beautiful Life (Original Mix)
11. Robert Nickson Pres. RNX – Vestfold (Nick Stoynoff Remix)
12. Kevin Yost – Persistence (Guy J Remix)
13. Danic – Rej (Stefano Noferini Mix)
14. Ant Brooks – Inari (Original Club Mix)
15. Adam Beyer & Ida Engberg – Lovecraft
16. Pig & Dan – Natives (Dosem Remix)
17. Remy Unger – Walk The Dog (Original Mix)
18. Adam Beyer – Dot (Original Mix))
19. Metodi Hristov – Quake (Original Mix)
20. John Digweed & Nick Muir – Raise (Electric Rescue Purple Remix)
21. Vinayak A – Sometimes It Just Turns Into Reality (Michael Cassette Remix)
22. Gill Norris – Forme (Guy J PM Mix)
23. Wellenrausch – Echoes In The Night (Gai Barone Demode Remix)
24. Guy J & Henry Saiz – Meridian (Pryda Remix)
25. KhoMha – Vapor (Original Mix)
26. ID – ID
27. Sied Van Riel Feat. Temper Heart – Carved By Your Hands (Wezz Devall Remilf)
28. Leon Bolier & Alex Kenji – Trumpets (Leon Bolier Club Mix)
29. Bart Claessen – King Of Kongs (Original Mix)
30. D-Mad – Must Be Together (Original Mix)
31. Perry O’Neil – Wave Force (Mike Saint-Jules Remix) (Markus Schulz Edit)
32. Above & Beyond Feat. Zoe Johnston – Alchemy (Myon & Shane 54 Redemption Mix)
33. Mehmet Gulec – The Same (Airsoul Remix)

Unsung Heroes is a weekly segment where we take a look back at an amazing production and bring it back into the light for older and newer fans alike. These tracks were often overlooked, overshadowed by a huge release or are just not that well known to the public here in America. Here, you can find all the hidden gems in many genres and find a new favorite track (or another tool/weapon for aspiring DJ’s).