Praia Urbana Houston 2012 Season Opening Party

Mar 10, 2012 | 2:00 pm - 11:00 pm

FEATURING ATFC & DJ SPEN

PURCHASE PRAIA URBANA HERE: http://bit.ly/praia_aura

Time to create some more magical moments out in the sand and on our MASSIVE Urbana street stage. The world traveling DJs we’ve booked will definitely give this show the international flavor Praia Urbana is known for…

Praia Urbana begins at 2pm and goes until 11pm. The talent line-up consists of some of Texas’ finest local DJs alongside international DJs and producers. The Last Concert Cafe, has a full service restaurant and large patio complete with sand and palm trees, creating an outdoor oasis perfect for a great all day outdoor event. There will also be plenty of frozen drinks and food being served.

Remember, the best time to be at the party is during the day, so be sure to get there early to enjoy all the DJs and all the fun in the sun.

Once again this will be a Block Party with the improved Urbana street stage.

This time we are bringing the Biggest International talent we have booked to date!

FEATURING:

ATFC – UNITED KINGDOM

ATFC – aka Aydin Hasirci – is one of the dance music industry’s shining lights. With three UK top 40 hits and a string of other critically- acclaimed productions and remixes under his belt, two labels – Onephatdeeva and Onephatdeepa – A testament to one man’s ability to both devastate dance-floors with his explosive, peak-time sets and deliver sickeningly slick productions at an awe-inspiring rate. ATFC is one of the House music world’s most exciting and consistent artists.

This heavyweight of House was born to Anglo-Turkish parents who immediately named him Aydin Hasirci; Ottoman Turkish for “He who blends 2 records skilfully, is a purveyor of slammin’ yet soulful house music whilst simultaneously being a master at whipping up a delicious Spaghetti Carbonara”. Longwinded yes, aspirational most certainly but also quite a burden to lay on a newborn baby. Happily though the young Aydin blossomed into exactly what his parents had prophesised and now occupies a unique position within the occasionally rich and often beautiful world of dance music.

In 2007, with a bi-monthly residency at Pacha London beckoning, a three single deal in the pipeline with MN2S, collaborations with Funkagenda, Mark Knight, Peyton and Allister Whitehead forthcoming and cuts about to drop on Apollo/Universal and Toolroom Records, the man DJ Magazine dubbed ‘one of the top three producers in the world of straight-down-the-line, mainroom house music’ is firmly on track to enjoy his most successful year to date.

2006 only reaffirmed ATFC’s staying power; his touring last year took him to some of the world’s finest clubs including Gatecrasher in both Sheffield and Leeds, Egg in London, Godskitchen in Birmingham, Tank in Sydney, Seven in Melbourne, Supperclub in Bangkok, Attica in Singapore, Shindig in Newcastle, The Apartment in Dubai and Pulp in Casablanca, in addition to several appearances for MN2S in Brighton, Eastbourne and Ibiza! Production wise, ATFC has lost none of his lustre and time and again proves his nomination in the Best Remix category for his mix of Inaya Day’s ‘Keep Pushing’ at the inaugural House Music Awards was anything but a fluke.

Following on from 2005’s celebrated ‘Hip Joints’ album and previous remix work for the likes of All Saints, Agent Sumo, Dina Carroll, Phillip Bailey, Samantha Mumba, The Lightening Seeds, Safri Duo and Junior Jack, ATFC’s most recent remixes have showcased a versatile, adventurous producer who is really pushing the boundaries and loving every minute of it. The ATFC touch on P Diddy’s ‘Come To Me’, Missy Elliot’s ‘Teary Eyed’, Harris & Swain’s ‘Changed Down’ on SR2 and The Freemasons’ ‘Love On My Mind’ and Fat Boy Slim’s ‘The Joker’ – both on Skint Records – were all well-received in 2006, being hammered by the best of the best!

On the original production tip, ATFC’s ‘Spread Love’, released in March 2006 on Onephatdeeva, and ‘Carino’ – released four months later on sister label Onephatdeepa – were two of the year’s biggest underground tunes and were just two of a number of influential cuts to drop from the two labels including tracks by Noir and Allister Whitehead and Michele Chiavarini. Elsewhere, the beautiful ‘Dreaming About You’ EP was yet another success for Aydin The Funky Chile.

Despite his long-term success in the studio ATFC is first and foremost a DJ with over 15 years experience rocking crowds. With his roots grounded in hip-hop, jazz, soul and funk, the young Aydin started organising his own block parties when he was just 16, which led to gigs at London venues like the Rock Garden and Crazy Larry’s.

In 1997 while spinning as resident of Bump’n’Hustle and The Gardening Club in Bournemouth, Aydin joined Uptown Records, suddenly finding himself at the heart of London’s dance community. During this time Aydin produced his first UK hit for Defected records under his OnePhatDeeva guise. ‘In And Out of My Life’ brilliantly fused together Norman Cook’s string-laden ‘Right Here Right Now’ with the vocals of Adeva to bring about a hugely uplifting disco track that was to define the style of OnePhatDeeva. Aydin’s follow-up single, ‘Bad Habit’, was given the honour of being played four times during The Magic Sessions event at Miami’s Winter Music Conference.

Tony Humphries and Ted Patterson both played the infectious track, with Louie Vega playing it twice in succession. Championed by punters, DJs and singers alike, ‘Bad Habit’ gave Aydin his second top 20 UK hit and was followed up by a collaboration with Warren Clarke under the duo’s Lab Rats pseudonym. ‘Music is my Life’ was signed to Soulfuric Recordings, giving the Lab Rats the distinction of becoming the first non-US producers to be signed to the label. ‘SleepTalk’ featuring Lisa Millett – the third OnePhatDeeva single – made it three hits in a row for Aydin; the single went into the charts at 33 after spending 8 months in DJ Magazine’s Hype chart and ever since ATFC has remained one of the world’s most in-demand and acclaimed DJ-producers.

Maintaining a visible presence both in and out of clubs, ATFC is regularly invited by The Academy of Contemporary Music (Europe’s leading school for Rock & Pop Musicians) to lead music production seminars as a guest tutor and he is also a House music reviewer for M8 magazine. In 2007 this prodigious and down-to-earth talent will no doubt continue to lead from the front!

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DJ SPEN

DJ Spen began his career at the age of 13, producing mix shows for WEBB AM in Baltimore. Even at that young age, Spen founded one of the area’s first hip hop production groups, the Numarx. In 1986 they wrote and recorded a track called ‘Girl You Know It’s True’ which was later covered and made famous by Milli Vanilli.

Spen’s radio career continued to grow and lead him to a radio career working at various FM radio stations in the Baltimore and Washington areas. In 1992, Spen developed a mixshow on 95.9 FM in Baltimore called the Flashback Saturday Night Dance Party. Though Spen eventually moved on from radio, the show is still a hit today, with Spen’s close friend KW Griff at the helm.

Spen’s production talents lead him to Basement Boys Records in 1989. With the formation of The Basement Boys record label in 1994, Spen formed Jasper Street Company, and released his first full production, ‘A Feelin’. With the Basement Boys and Jasper Street, Spen gained consistent commercial and dancefloor success, and became an in-demand remix producer. He has created remixes for some of clubland’s biggest names, such as Diana Ross, Everything but the Girl, Ann Nesby, and Shaun Escoffery. While at Basement Boys, Spen partnered with Teddy Douglas, Thommy Davis and Karizma to create works that are still considered house anthems.

Having reached his full potential with Basement Boys, Spen stepped out on his own and partnered with Gary Deane at Code Red Recordings in January 2004. He hasn’t stopped moving since! Spen is still producing and making records that are sure to become legend. He has formed a new group called the MuthaFunkaz whose first release, ‘The Best I Can’ shows a new side of Spen. Spen’s new venture has found him back with former partners Thommy Davis and Karizma creating the successful ‘Voodoo Ray’ and ’4 the Love’ respectively. His new Spiritually Sound label will be sure to give Spen fans more of the gospel and inspirational house music Spen has become famous for.

With a career span of more than 20 years and his famous studio and production work, Spen has become one of the most sought-after DJs in the U.S. Today, Spen can be found jetting off to gigs at some of the premier clubs around the world while juggling his demanding studio work and time with his new baby . He plays regularly in the UK, as well as France, Italy, Japan, and Australia.

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ANDREI MORANT – SCOPE RECORDINGS, CAPITAL TECHNO

TODDY B – AUSTIN – PRAIA URBANA AUSTIN

BRAD SLACK – THA PURRIN LION, FRENZI

ALEX CLAVIJO – KING STREET SOUNDS, BUSH, UNIFORM, NIGHTSHADE MUSIC

BOBBY BLYSS – PRAIA URBANA, HUDSON FRIDAYS

ESTEBAN TORRES – PRAIA URBANA, SOULAR GROOVES KPFT 90.1FM, SOUL AWAKENING

SEISMYC – H3LIUM, DJSEISMYC.COM

JC VANEGAS – LOWLIFE

VANCE LAWRENCE – VIBE LEBANON, CROSSWORLD, PROTOXIC, MOLACACHO RECORDS

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LIVE PERFORMANCE BY:

MANO GRILLO – PERCUSSION

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SOUND, LIGHTING, VIDEO, & STAGING PROVIDED BY:

AURA SYSTEMS

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