Denver Trance Fam and Dark Space Productions present
DARUDE (SLEEPING GIANT MUSIC)
KRISTINA SKY (SLEEPING GIANT MUSIC)
with support by
DONN13
Darude of Sleeping Giant Music
To date, Darude remains one of dance music’s most influential stars. At the age of 24 and at the height of the trance boom of the early ’00s Finnish DJ / artist/producer Ville Virtanen created the milestone single ‘Sandstorm’ under his pseudonym Darude. The track went on to become one of the biggest selling dance singles in the history of electronic dance music with global sales of over 10 million units and to date featured on hundreds of compilations worldwide.
His resume of accolades is a testament to the exponential growth of his profile as an international artist. Over the years, he’s appeared on TV networks such as BBC, NBC, CNN and MTV, as well as having won a number of prestigious awards that include 2 x German Dance Awards, Dance Star Award, USA Golden Turntable DJ Award and is a 3 x Finnish Grammy Award winner. His name has also appeared in numerous public-voted polls with previous entries in the Top 100 DJs Poll and Americas Favourite DJ.
Hailed by the likes of DJ Magazine as “Finland’s biggest musical export”, Darude has gone on to perform in front of audiences up to 100,000 people strong, sweeping across continents and rocking clubs the world over. From appearing at prestigious festivals and events such as Tomorrowland, LA Music Festival, Radio 1’s One Big Sunday, Groove Cruise, Weekend Festival Baltic and Future Music Festival, to headlining some of the world’s best clubs including Ministry of Sound, Exchange LA, Home and Government, and Rain. One of the proudest DJ highlights has to be his New Year’s Eve countdown set in Helsinki where Darude ushered in 2017 with a performance in front of 100,000 people as part of the celebrations of 100 years of Finnish independence.
Adding to his stellar discography and remaining as fresh and exciting as ever with releases including ‘Singularity’ and a remix of Max Millian’s huge ‘You Are The One’, Darude continues to excite in 2018 unleashing one of his biggest tracks in recent years ‘Surrender’ with Ashley Wallbridge on Gareth Emery’s Garuda imprint. Premiered on Armin van Buuren’s ASOT and holding 2 weeks at #1 in the Beatport Trance charts, ‘Surrender’ marked a momentous start to 2018 for the multi-platinum star, and more recently Darude released ‘Timeless’ on Garuda, supporting the single with a tour across the US, New Zealand, Australia and beyond.
Darude was announced as Finland’s entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2019, the world’s biggest live music event uniting nearly 200 million people every May. Working with frontman from The Giant Leap, Sebastian Rejman, Darude will feature at Eurovision with the nation selected song ‘Look Away’. The song chosen out of three possible options, with the other songs being ‘Release Me’ and ‘Superman’, will now carry Darude, and Sebastian, all the way to Tel Aviv in May.
Kristina Sky of Sleeping Giant Music
The spirit of trance in the United States has long been amplified and embodied by DJ/producer Kristina Sky. From the early days of the genre, she was first integral in bringing the music’s top DJs to the West Coast masses, often for the first time, then ultimately stepping behind the booth herself in 2002. “KSky,” as she’s known to one of the most loyal and passionate fanbases in the biz, has been tapped to play all the top festivals around the world, from Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance, sharing the stage at Coachella with Daft Punk and Madonna, multiple sets at Electric Daisy Carnival, as well as the trance-focused Dreamstate and many more top one-off events. Kristina Sky has also held many coveted residencies including America’s first weekly trance event at Arena called “Heaven,” Spundae at Circus, Insomniac Events’ “Awakening” at Exchange LA, as well as the mighty Avalon Hollywood since 2010. It was in these rooms she honed her distinct sound.
Kristina Sky is revered for her unique style of high energy, melodic trance combined with her signature blend of progressive house. Hailed as “one of the best progressive DJs in America,” by scene superstar John O’Callaghan, the top DJ/producers in the trance world are more than happy to sing her praises. “Kristina is living and breathing dance music,” says Dash Berlin. “Having finally met her in person on the Groove Cruise a few years ago proved to me that besides having a big heart for electronic music, she is an amazing and caring human being as well,” he says. “Kris has been there from the start, standing her ground firmly in a male-dominated industry, as where in the future she can be of great importance not only musically, but also on stage and in guiding new talent.”
Kristina Sky created and runs the successful United We Groove/United We Trance brand, a 6-year-running annual rooftop party in Miami during MMW, reaching capacity the past 4 years, with huge lineups across the trance & progressive spectrum including acts like The Thrillseekers, Kyau & Albert, JES, Roger Shah, MIKE Push, Paul Thomas, Fatum, & many more. Commonly known to have big artists drop by to support like Ferry Corsten, Emma Hewitt, Aly & Fila, Thomas Gold and more.