As a new producer/DJ to the EDM scene, I feel that I should clarify that I’ve been a fan of EDM long before I decided I wanted to produce EDM music. My earliest memories of listening and enjoying EDM date back to high school for me with Skillrex and Flux Pavillion, and my enjoyment of EDM Music and my understanding of it took off during my college years. Often times, music such as EDM and Hip-Hop/Rap, served as background music for getting motivated for matches and races during my time as a high school and college athlete. While I plan on writing a seperate article for my hip-hop/rap influences, this article will provide analysis and focus onto my favorite EDM Artists and their backgrounds. I should also note that these artists are my personal favorites, and I plan on judging them solely based on their music and how I feel about their music. These analysis will focus more on their background and music as artists, and not as much on their contributions outside of music. My goal is to provide a clear and accurate explination of why I enjoy the music of these artists, and how it has influence my own music experience. I, lastly, will also mention that the artists are listed one through ten, but there is no real order on the influence these artists have on me. Without further explination, here is the list of my top ten favorite EDM Artists.
1. Martin Garrix
Martin Garrix, a Dutch Dance DJ/Producer, is one of the main reasons I started exploring EDM in the first place. Blown away by his songs “Animals”, “Tremor” and “In the Name of Love” early on in my EDM fandom, Garrix’s progressive house style and catchy melodies caught my attention to the diversity of EDM Music. I feel on a personal level that I can relate to Garrix’s music, as he and I are close in age in our mid 20’s , and his songs captlize on themes of love, heartbreak, lonliness and ultimately hope that all tie into my personal experiences in my 20’s. My personal song favorites are “In the Name of Love”, “Used to Love”, “Mistaken”, and “Don’t Look Down”, but what makes Garrix great in my opinion is that he has a vast library that can appeal to people of different musical backrounds. I would highly recommend checking out Garrix if you enjoy house music and strong EDM songwriting.
2. Avicii
Avicii, a Swedish DJ/producer, is an example to me of taking advantage of creating music while you have the time to do so. Despite his passing at the age of 28, his music and djing ability are nothing short of incredible. His songs “Hey brother” and “Wake Me Up” , were the first song tshat introduced me to him, and his song “Levels” is a catchy, bumping banger that ultimately makes me love what Avicii contributed to the EDM scene. Avicii’s deep lyrical presence in his songs, followed by powerful melodies and strong chord structure, are a big part of why his songs are as popular as they are. I also enjoy the songs “Lonely Together” and ” Without You”, that also have solid deep base chords, solid melodies, and great lyrical composition. Following his unfortunate death, several songs that were originally unreleased were released on several platforms to honor Avicii, and some of my favorites from this collection are “SOS”, “Heaven”, and “Heart Upon My Sleeve”. The song “Heaven” , featuring Chris Martin, is a song really about the fragility of human life and how we never really know if and when we will be in heaven. The song also really is a posthumuns ode to Avicii in alot of ways due to his untimely death as well. I would highly recommend checking out Avciii if your looking for meaningful,soul-depth lyrics compined with progressive house style flair.
3. Tiesto
Even though Tiesto is an long-time EDM artist that started his musical journey well before I even knew what EDM was, Tiesto is someone whose contribution to modern-day EDM is something that cannot be ignored. The fact that Martin Garrix is mentored by Tiesto and Tiesto was one of his most influential artists, is also a big reason why I started following Tiesto in the first place. Tiesto’s songs such as “Wasted” and “Red Lights” are just seen as EDM classics. Even though “Adagio for Strings” is what made him big, I am always impressed by his djing ability where he does pretty much all of his performances live. I was very fortunated to see Tiesto during a concert at the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota this past fall, and he was nothing short of electric. Everything from his stage preseance to his djing performance was phenomenal, and I personally enjoyed that he included some Garrix songs into his set. I admire Tiesto greatly all around, and the fact that he is considered ” The Godfather of EDM” by several sources, shows how his music appeals to multiple generations. Highly recommend checking out Tiesto if your looking at getting into EDM and enjoy house music.
4. Flux Pavillion
This artists brings me back to my earliest days of listing to EDM, which frankly is not that long ago since I am in my mid 20’s. His song “I Can’t Stop” is an intense, hard-hitting trap song that I’d listen to before wresting matches to hype myself up. I remember I found that song absolutley mind-blowing despite the fact I was more of a rap fan and less of an EDM fan at the time. I remember listening to Skillrex and Dubstep before I found Flux Pavillion, but I attribute Flux Pavillion for motivating me in my high school days to really look more into EDM as a genre. His songs such as “Savage” and “Catch Me” were also favorites from me in college, and its really his intensity to EDM production that inspires me to be intense in mine. Highly recommend Flux Pavillion for unique, base-droppers and electronic vibes.
5. ILLENIUM
Illenium is an artist that I did not really get into until my later years of college and years following college, but once I started to tune in , I never looked back. One thing Illenium does that always impresses me is how he mixes guitar/rock elements into EDM songs, I see this guitar mixture into the song “Good Things Fall Apart” and “It’s All on U”, and his ability to incorporate intense drops with epic melodies. I was unfortunate enough to have the opportunity to see Illenium live, but miss my chance when he came to the Armory in Minneapolis this past Fall due to personal medical reasons. I also really enjoy the songs “Where Did You Go” and “Crawl Out of Love” from the “Awake” Album. I recomment \ checking out Illenium if you are interested in listening to electric-guitar/rock infused vibes morphed into thrilling, EDM bass drops.
6. SLANDER
If this isn’t clear by now, alot of the artists you’ve seen me put up here are known for intense base-drops combined with Melodic Melodies. Slander is no expection in this instance. The first track that made me fall in love with Slander was “Love is gone”, and its crazy “false-drop” to its execptional real drop with exceptional lyrics from Dylan Matthews . Listening to that song is almost like reading an thriller novel, the action just pilles all the way up to the big drop, and just fades away in the background as the song ends. I also really enjoy the acoustic version of “Love Is Gone” as well, and it is fair to say this song is on my list of my favorite EDM tracks. I also enjoy “All You Need to Know” with Gryffin and Slander collaborating together, along with “Potions” featuring Said the Sky. I would also recommend checking out Slander’s “Heaven Sent” album and collaborations, as we see Slander promote and collaborate with different EDM artists. Slander is a phenomenal artists, and would recommend checking out Slander for colorful trap music with exceptional lyrical mixing involving power melodies and chords.
7. Kygo
Kygo, being know for bright, colorful, more-pop like house music, is an exception to my list of artists who are often known for heavy bass drops While I love it when EDM artists throw down a big drop, Kygo reminds me that artistry and sound design make a world of a difference in EDM. Kygo may not be known for huge bass drops, but Kygo reminds me that bass drops are far from everything in the EDM Spectrum. While I love a great bass drop, His song “Lose Sombody” with One Republic had a deep emotional appeal to me, as I discovered the song after the passing of a close family member. The idea of losing somebody as a reminder that you cared about that person and that person was important to you , is shuch a meaningful message to convey in any song of any genre. His song “Carry on” feature Rita Ora and featured in “POkemon Detective Pickachu”) is a colorful, tropical house mix of pop and EDM elements that is on my list of favorite EDM songs. Check out Kygo for colorful, more tropical house music, and certaintly check out his pop collaborations with a variety of different artists.
8. Said The Sky
Said the Sky is another artist I discovered after I graduated college, whose music I’ve enjoy immensly. His album “Wide-eyed” features several EDM songs on my personal EDM playlist, including songs “Show and Tell” and “Over Getting Over You” featuring Matthew Koma. I enjoy Said the Sky’s use of guitar in melodies and buildups in a similar way to Illenium, and Illenium and Said the Sky have collaborated on several songs. I also enjoy the lyrical componets of Said The Sky, which is something incredibly important. As a producer, I can attest it is certainly a great skill to have when you can mix powerful, moving lyrics into an EDM track with all the other elements that are featured, and is hard to do well. Said The Sky also does a great job with EDM techniques such as side-changing and creating powerful basslines, which is something greatly. Overall, if you like Slander, Illenium, and Seven Lions(who I talk about next), you’ll love the depth and musical skill of Said The Sky.
9. Seven Lions
Seven Lions reminds me of what I enjoy in EDM Music, which are powerful lyrics, compelling transitions, and compelling drops. To me, Seven Lion is an EDM equivalent of a rock power ballad in terms of just heavy bass line and heavy drops. Songs i enjoy that are either by Seven Lions or feature Seven Lions. includes “Strangers” featuring Tove Love, Myon, and Shane 54, “Dont’ Leave” featuring Ellie Goulding, and a song that mixes Illenium, Seven Lions, Said The Sky and Haliene in “Rush over Me”. Seven Lions also includes plenty of unique melodies and diversity in their tracks that include some more house-based songs . Highly recommend listining to Seven Lions if your looking for that EDM equivalent of a rock power ballad, not to mention more solid collaboration work with other EDM artists and singers.
10. William Black
Another artist I’ve enjoyed that is relatively new to the fray in terms of releasing music is William Black. His album “William Black Universe” has great collaborations and features in songs such as “Take Me” with Matte and RUNN and “Wasted On You” featuring Sara Skinner. His EDM drops are intense, hard-bass driven melodies, particular the one in “Wasted On You”, that are very well executed. Frankly, I haven’t listened to William Black for a long time, but I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve heard thus far. I also happen to enjoy his collaboration with Slander on “Back to You” and Illenium and Alna with “Superhero” on ILLENIUM’s Fallen Embers album. I would highly recommend William Black if you enjoy the artisits above, as his combination of powerful lyrics, creative melodies, and heavy basslines are effective and well executed like many of the artists above.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to make it clear that these EDM producers are all phenomenal artists that you should check out regardlessly. Whether you use Spotify or Apple Music, all of these artists in my opinion are must listen-to’s. If these artists perform live, I’d also recommend checking them out, as many of them are also phenomenal performers on top of being great producers. I hope this list of my favorite artists and my analysis gives you a perspective on my view of EDM and the artists that make it up.