I am a firm believer in that life is there to be enjoyed and savoured, which is why I had never been to Thailand before last month when the W Bangkok and W Resort Koh Samui invited me to join them in their fair country for DJLab 2013. What is DJLab you ask?
The combined brain child of W Hotels Worldwide and Burn (the Coca Cola Company’s energy drink – not available in Australia yet), DJLab is their global online search for emerging talent in the DJ/Music Production world.
“We’re thrilled to once again partner with burn to further develop dynamic music programming that showcases emerging talent around the world,” said Paul James, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels, St. Regis and The Luxury Collection. “Evolving the DJ Lab to use digital technology to seek out artists from across cultures and musical genres allows us to continue to bring what’s new and next in music to both our guests and locals on a truly global scale.”
With over 1,400 entries, the mentors had a tough time when they went through all the entries. W Hotels Global Music Director Michaelangelo L’Acqua returned as executive producer and lead mentor, the mentor panel also included DJ White Shadow, two-time Grammy nominated producer, composer, and instrumentalist for Lady Gaga; James Lavelle, A&R label boss, recording artist and DJ; and Andy Caldwell, two-time Grammy nominated DJ producer. It was a line up we weren’t familiar with until we spent a few hours wearing down the soles of our shoes on the dance floor. But more on that later.
The six winners who got a week long mentor session were:
- Parvenu (Damian Boylan & Jonathan Daltrey), Hong Kong (UK Origin)
- Share (Adam Share), Los Angeles, CA
- Sezer Uysal (Sezer Uysal), Bursa, Turkey
- T.A.T. (Tatiana de Leon), Mexico City, Mexico
- Vonda7 (Sylwia Kubicka), Berlin, Germany (Polish Origin)
- Wendy Bailey (Wendy Bailey), Seoul, Republic of Korea
Stay tuned for what we learnt from spending time with some world class and emerging DJ/Producers – and of course a spa review or two. We couldn’t possibly go to a luxury resort and NOT try their spa right?
Helen Lee was a guest of The W Hotels. All thoughts and comments are her own.
