With thousands of attendants flooding to events like the Ultra Music Festival and Tomorrowland, it’s easy to see that producers of electronic dance music (EDM) have some of the largest and most loyal fan bases.

But while EDM icons like Tiësto and Armin van Buuren may rack up millions of followers, they had to work their way up the ranks just like everyone else.

With that in mind, and the goal to create a presence for local artists, student producers in the Bandier Program created Electro Cuse, a series of mix tapes featuring the work of Syracuse University DJs.

EDM has successfully made a home for itself on the hill. With the fourth mixtape of student work set to be released in November, Electro Cuse has proven itself effective in drawing listeners to the work of Syracuse’s own rising stars, as its artists have begun gaining hundreds of followers on SoundCloud. Plus, it’s a free way for the community to support the work of fellow students.

“EDM is huge here on the Syracuse campus,” said Jeff Cucinell, a senior television, radio and film major who handles public relations and merchandising for Marshall Street Records.

The compilations created by Electro Cuse are released through the Marshall Street Records label, which began in 1996 as the brainchild of David Rezak, the current director of the Bandier Program. Today, the record label is primarily managed and operated by SU students who are enrolled in the Bandier Program as well as students in the music industry program within the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

While the label signs musicians from multiple genres, Electro Cuse caters primarily to electronic music creators. All student producers of EDM are welcome to send in their music for a chance to be on the tape, but Cucinell said the label looks to sign student DJs sooner rather than later into their college careers.

“We try to sign artists during their freshman year,” Cucinell said. “That way we have four years to develop them on the label.”

According to the Marshall Street Records website, Electro Cuse promotes electronic artists to strengthen the EDM scene on campus. Despite being developed only a few years ago, there have already been three Electro Cuse volumes, each one slightly different from the last.

“As semesters have gone by, the styles of music have changed according to different influences,” said Annette House, Marshall Street Records’ general manager and senior music industry major.

Students who attended last year’s Mayfest might recall a DJ duo known as The Chainsmokers who performed in Walnut Park. The group consisted of SU alumnus Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, who were previously featured on an Electro Cuse sampler and have gone on to perform alongside famed electronic artists like Avicii and Calvin Harris. Chemicals of Creation is another successful duo from SU consisting of Devon Stewart and John Kunz, who have shared the stage with producers like Zed’s Dead and Skrillex.

To those involved in the production of the compilations, the explosion of interest in EDM is no surprise, as it is so easy to share the free mix tapes on SoundCloud.

“People have so much access to the creation and sharing of electronic music,” House said.

Sarah Shelton and Robert Lezama, both juniors in the Bandier Program, are responsible for compiling SU’s best student producers into Electro Cuse volumes. When it comes to finally deciding who gets put on the mix, Shelton said the criteria are actually quite simple.

“We choose what sounds good,” she said.

However, Shelton added that the best songs are the ones professionally produced and that show how much work the artists have put into them.

Between Vol. 1 and Vol. 3, there have been some clear changes in the style of electronic music being produced in Syracuse. For instance, Vol. 2 showcases artists like N8 ST9, which provides an easy paced mix of pronounced wobbles, delicate vocals and background synthesizers. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Sultan + Ned Shepard, feat. Quila led an echoed vocal piece into a powerful four-on-the floor beat that resembles a style used commonly by DJs like Zedd.

“The first couple of mixes had more big house songs, but now there are more songs with garage-band influences and slower tempos,” Shelton said.

These variations in style show the transition from the standard bangers to more relaxed songs. And the continuation of the Electro Cuse mix tapes show EDM’s increasing popularity. Shelton said Vol. 4 will be out before Thanksgiving break.

Published on October 1, 2013 at 1:53 am

Contact Tim: tjkowals@syr.edu