Five Vh1 Supersonic Artistes Who Peaked At Supersonic Speeds

The Sherp takes you through moments in the lives of five artistes on the line-up whose commitment and unique sounds have been the driving force behind their ‘Supersonic’ rise to fame

What’s the true recipe to success in life? Relentless effort? Intelligence? A touch of luck? Or a combination of them all? Finding the right mixture of a variety of factors can turn your life around in an instant. Vh1 Supersonic, Goa’s electronic music showcase, will feature some of the names that have stamped their authority over the industry with their hard work and brilliant sounds, and The Sherp thinks there’s a need to know a little more about the moments that lead to their meteoric rise to fame. Each name in this line-up is a force to reckon with and The Sherp has handpicked five headliners whose stories deserve to be told. Here’s a time lapse through the lives of Mark Knight, Mat Zo, Dillon Francis, Above & Beyond and The Chainsmokers, that have directly contributed towards making them household names:

1. Mark Knight 

(Image Courtesy: Mixmag)

In 2003, Toolroom label boss Mark Knight got his first official break in the UK as a resident DJ at the Ministry of Sound, and since then, he has just been moving forward and upward.  Having worked with some of the best in house music, his work was honoured with a Grammy nomination in 2010, for his contribution to the Platinum selling Black Eyed Peas album – The E.N.D.  His music is wonderful, and back in 2009, his Toolroom imprint had developed into an uncontrollable beast, possessing a genre- busting sound, and celebrated success as the biggest selling label on Beatport. Quite simply put, if the house music world had to vote for president, Mark Knight’s competitors barely stood a chance.

2. Mat Zo

(Image Courtesy: White Raver Rafting)

At the tender age of 16, Matan Zohar aka Mat Zo signed his first track, but it was after he won the Baroque Remix Competition with Lustral’s ‘In my life’ that many world-class DJs and producers began to notice this young producer’s great talents. Born into a family of musicians, Mat was raised in an environment tailor-made for musical creativity.  Widely considered as the face of Anjunabeats, his supporters include the likes of fellow Vh1 Supersonic headliners Above and Beyond, as well as Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Andy Moor and others. After exploring the styles of trance, drum and bass and house, Mat Zo’s has developed a unique sound and his impeccable taste in music makes his performances worth the listen.

3. The Chainsmokers

(Image Courtesy: timedotcom)

Racking up a total of more than 60 million views on YouTube to date, the official music video for The Chainsmokers’ ‘#Selfie’ has taken on a life of its own. The duo have been ranked as the most viral act on YouTube, both in terms of plays and new subscribers, over the past year. The virality matched that of the Harlem Shake, and their fan following has just gone upwards as they performed at TomorrowWorld, and also had the honour of opening Ultra Music Festival, Miami, 2014, replacing the legendary Laidback Luke. They’ve already blasted shows in India this past week, so the crowd knows what they’re in for this December.

4. Dillon Francis

(Image Courtesy: dancemusicnw.com)

Renowned for his social media antics and jolly character, Dillon’s first break arrived when he asked his manager to send Diplo a link to his Soundcloud track ‘Masta blasta’, and the Mad Decent boss gladly welcomed him on board. He has, since then, released tracks on multiple labels including Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak and Skrillex’ OWSLA.  Another collaboration with French trap star DJ SNAKE called Get Low contributed towards the rise of trap music as a whole, so much so, that it’s being featured in upcoming Hollywood blockbuster – Fast & Furious 7. His debut album was released last month and 2014 has been a huge year for the American, who will cast his spell in the sands of Goa next month.

5. Above & Beyond

(Image Courtesy: wikipedia)

Widely considered as one of the UK’s finest musical exports, Above & Beyond, were not always a three membered crew. Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki met in their university and started producing tracks under the alias Anjunabeats. But it was only when they met the then Marketing Director & Manager of Warner Music Group, Tony McGuinness, that they collectively came to be known as Above & Beyond.  Tony assigned Jono and Paavo to complete a remix that he was commissioned to complete, and their first break arrived when Pete Tong played a remix of this track on his BBC Radio 1 show several times, thus leading this track to hit the pinnacle of the UK club charts. Since then, the trio have grown (and continue to grow) into a force to reckon with, and their wide range of anthem-ic sounds combined with beautiful vocals has firmly placed them in musical folklore.

With so much hype surrounding the festival in Goa, the second edition of Vh1 Supersonic is an invitation for all to relax and unwind; a sanctuary to explore and connect with artistes across the entire spectrum of electronic music, whilst also offering a diverse array of unparalleled immersive experiences for all to enjoy.

Buy your tickets for the festival HERE.

(Cover Image Courtesy: Vh1 Supersonic Facebook)