A New Column for the Whyd Blog: Home Tech, starting with Aumi, The Smart Nightlight!

If you’ve been following us in the recent months you know that we’ve announced interesting things to come from Whyd. We are passionate about connected design, IoT, and everything that makes home living not only easier, but more aesthetic and emotional. In our research we stumble upon tons of interesting projects launching on crowd-funding sites around the world. They are created by brilliant minds who need as much support as possible to make their dreams into reality. It would be a crime not to share them with our trendy community of creative music lovers, since we have a hunch that you are into technology as much as we are. It’s part of the modern lifestyle. 

Crowd-funding has changed the paradigm of the way products are created. In this new column of the Whyd Blog, we will be presenting you with the coolest products we can find that combine technology and the home in an aesthetic way – exploring things like new interfaces, increased autonomy, and more functionalities – always with an eye for design. 

If you find any gems yourself, please send them to us! 

- Never stop jamming! 

Let’s start off with a simple idea that was maximized to its full potential. Introducing Aumi, a smart, blue-tooth connected nightlight that you can control either with an app or directly on the device through a unique touch interface. You can select from millions of different colors, control intensity, and set timers. A built-in battery keeps it on when the power goes out, and it doesn’t block a second plug! 

What we like: The combination of touch control and app. It’s not always easy to find your phone, type in your code, and open an app (which is hidden in a folder four home screens away), especially when it’s something as simple as turning the brightness down or up. Being able to control the Aumi on the device is a big plus. 

Bonus points: The design. It’s simple, elegant, and minimal. The rounded design invites you to touch it, and gives you a very intuitive way to do that, but the familiar dial function. 

There are already almost 1000 backers, and it has surpassed its goal already! The early bird specials are already sold out, but you can still get one Aumi if you back $35 on Kickstarter. 

Your Weekly High Five: 5 Quality Tracks Per Week [Donnemencinq Interview]

Bonjour! When did you create Donnemencinq (Give me five)? Where did the concept come from? Do you give a lot of high fives? 

Hello! Donnemencinq was born in October of last year. I had wanted to launch a cultural project for a long time and instead of launching something too complicated, I prefered to start off with a simple and attractive start: each Monday one playlist with quality musical discoveries. 

The idea comes from two big motivations: my desire to share and my love for music and new sounds. 

Have you ever noticed that you always feel better after a high five? For me, every Monday I give myself a big high five and that guarantees me a successful week! 

You suggest playlist with five tracks each week. Where do you find these tracks? Why only five? 

I follow a lot of artists and labels on Soundcloud and on other social networks. Since I started to use Whyd I also discover more and more tracks thanks to other users’ playlists. 

Only five tracks for a question of quality. If we succeed in publishing five tracks that really make an impression on our visitors then we are already really happy. At the beginning it was a question of selecting one track per work day (from Monday to Friday) and finally we said that it would be even nicer to have a full list from the first day of work. 

Who should listen to your playlists? Tell us about your style of music, is it the same overall or does it change from week to week? 

Our playlists are made for the widest audience possible. Our goal is to make people discover tracks that haven’t been listened to a lot but deserve to be. We also like to bring back a few classics that have been forgotten. It’s important to remain accessible, it has to be a moment of pleasure! 

On the style side, even if we like electro, we pay attention to bringing diversity in our selections. We can go from one style to another very rapidly but we try to keep a certain progression to the flow of the playlist. 

We can we look forward to you in 2015? Do you have plans for world domination?

The project is still very young but we already have a lot of ideas. The next steps are: 

- Go to meet artists that have impressed us and interview them

- Create artwork for each playlist from talented photographers and graphic designers

- Present the latest news from artists that we really appreciate

With that, we might not dominate the world, but I’m sure that the simplicity and quality of our site will have a nice place in it! 

So Whyd, give me five! 

Follow Georges from Donnemencinq on Whyd, Like them on Facebook, and check back weekly for their latest playlists!

Cocktails, Parties, Concerts: Interview with Lyon CityCrunch

Hello! Can you introduce yourselves? Who are the people on the Lyon CityCrunch team? 

Hi! First of all, many thanks for giving us the opportunity to introduce ourselves! Lyon CityCrunch is a group of 10 dynamic and hedonistic bloggers who love their hometown and have shared its best features for quite a while - 8 years to be precise. Everyday at 5 PM, a brand new idea is published on our website: restaurants, bars, gigs, exhibitions, shops, etc. Although we are all genuine music lovers, we are specialized in trendy burger restaurants and cocktail bars! 

Keep reading

NHM - Distributing Unbelievable Hispanic Tunes That Break All Clichés

Calling All Music People: Looking For Interesting Projects To Interview

Yes, after almost two years of hard work, featuring awesome people and serving as a platform for souls to share their stories upon, our blog will soon be getting a much-needed facelift, and so will the content that is shared here too. We will be pushing towards more dynamic formats, like podcasts, vines, and GIFS; and most importantly, video. 

So we need your help: if you know someone who is doing something truly amazing, but is almost completely unknown, send us a tip! If you yourself are trying to do something never done before, shattering musical genres, inventing new business models for music, or designing awesome cover art for different groups, and you want to be interviewed, please, hit us up and make yourself known! 

All tips should be sent to tony[AT]whyd[DOT]com

Can’t wait to take this thing to the next level!

The Very First In-Page Whyd Button: Check Out Museekly

Some of you might know Thomas Vimare from the heavy beats that he drops on the Whyd community. Others might know him from the slick design he uses on his Whyd page. But you might not yet know about his project Museekly, which just launched this week, as a new way to bring forward the art and design of music, while sharing the cool favorites that he finds across the web. Take one look and you will be hooked. 

But the coolest part (for us definitely) is the sharing options that he has programmed into the site. Alongside each track is the Facebook, Twitter, and now Whyd button for people to share the music from Museekly directly to their Whyd page. 

It is an amazing development that we are very excited about and look forward to seeing more in the future!

Make sure you follow Museekly on Twitter, Like it on Facebook, and of course subscribe to Museekly on Whyd

Track of the Weekend #60: Tycho - “Awake”

Well, it’s been a crazy, crazy ride here at Whyd, and we are at another little milestone, the 60th Track of the Weekend. It’s as good a reason as any to pause, smile, and look back at the all of the great music that has been featured for the Tracks of the Weekend. There is a lot of it, so take your time and enjoy. 

This week it’s the instrumental sounds of Tycho’s latest single “Awake," with their guitar storytelling, smooth melodies, and perfect beat that just sounds like music you should be listening to no matter what you are doing: be it driving across the desert of Arizona at daybreak; sweeping spiderwebs out of your attic; or standing in awe at the magnitude of the Great Wall of China… Either way, this track could serve as the soundtrack to that moment. 

Special thanks to Monsieur Thomas Vimare for getting it on Whyd. Make sure you check out his new project "Museekly” which takes the coolest tracks from new music platforms (Whyd included) and sends it to your inbox every week. You can check it out here: http://www.museekly.com.

Rock en Seine: Recap [PHOTOS]

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: MAGALI GAUDRON

This past weekend is always one of the coolest times to be in Paris, when the world of music descends for three days on the banks of the Seine to rock out across four stages. The Rock en Seine Music Festival is one of the biggest congregations of music lovers in Europe, and for once we don’t have to travel that far to get to it (even if the journey home at the end of the night might feel like it…).

But the festival is about a lot more than music. There is original artwork inspired by the bands on display, and cool chilling areas, activities, and games put on by fashion, food, and tech brands. It makes for an eclectic and exciting atmosphere where you might fall in love with every new thing you see, touch, or taste. 

Speaking of tasting, the festival is loaded with almost every type of food in the world. From trendy food trucks serving up organic, classic french fare to an entire area dedicated to international food from Thailand, Mexico, Senegal, Ethiopia, Israel, and more. We had to try the camembert and honey with homemade fries. 

And of course save a little cash by sneaking in some booze…

But obviously, the music is what matters in the scheme of things. And fortunately, it was the best part. 

The first major discovery was In The Valley Below, whose track “Peaches” has shot up the Hot Tracks. Their catchy sound is highlighted by the contrasting male and female vocals which constructively reverberate through choruses and across melodies. 

Another surprise was Laura Mvula, an English singer whose track “Green Garden” you might have heard. And finally a folky reggae singer from Germany called Patrice, who kept the audience dancing nonstop for a full hour with rising beats, humor, and a ton of energy. 

The headliner on Saturday was French favorites Phoenix, for whom no introduction is needed. They did not disappoint. Merely a few kilometers from their home town of Versailles, Phoenix rocked the festival until the heavens poured, but that didn’t stop singer Thomas Mars from running to the back of the massive audience, and crowd-surfing his way back to the stage. 

Already looking forward to next year! 

Here We Go, Let’s Take The Train and Celebrate Summer at Eurocks!

BY: LAURÈNE STURM
@laurenesturm

Have you ever heard of Les Eurocks? And why not? Les Eurockéennes de Belfort is the largest festival in the east of France, and it’s probably older than you are, because this year they will be blowing out 25 candles! 


C2C in 2012

The Pixies, Muse, The Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, Metallica, Vitalix, Paul Kalkbrenner, Asian Dumb Foundation, M, Daft Punk, C2C, Justice, Yuksek just to name a few of the names that will grace the four stages on Malsaucy Lake.

Four stages, four days, 35,000 people, 74 concerts, 20 pints of beer, a remarkable acoustic, a nice community, and weather that every year adds a bit of spice. Laughs, mud, dust, slams, slips, sun burns, beach: all of the festival goers keep a special place in their hearts for Les Eurocks. And that’s totally normal, it is THE festival of the summer and the rendezvous point for music lovers like Marie, Jean Paul Tarte, and me, who haven’t missed a year since 2004.

Anyway, we invited you to join us, and to wet your appetite, here is a little playlist featuring this year’s line up. I couldn’t resist, I added some headliners, but I tried to mix it up. Because for music lovers, you already know the character of a festival, it’s to come for the groups that we love, and then stay glued to the stage in front of a guy that up until this point was unknown, but not anymore. 

You’ll see that the famous, colorful line up carries the essence of the festival, rock, but it also gives space to electro, metal, and touches on pop and rap. So, come, we’ll go drink a bucket at the bar on the beach between July 4 and 7. 

For all of the information and the complete line up, click here

Interview with Callia: Debut EP out now!

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1. Can you tell us about yourself? What are the different sides to your personality and how do they show up in your music?

I’m a 20 year old musician, pianist, performance artist, creative director, dancer, screenwriter, songwriter.  I’m incredibly passionate, so anything I compose and write is really visceral.  The dance records are intense, their layers rise and fall and build.  I’m also a young blood, old soul kind of girl, and the slower songs are sadcore - they meditate on the experiences I’ve had.  Finally, I’m an alpha type personality, extremely ambitious, tenacious - I’ve got thick skin, which is how I know I’m in the right business.  All that comes through in my work in that I write, compose, produce, design absolutely all of it.  I also have a wonderful team of friends and artists around me who are instrumental in bringing my visions to life, to the screen and to sound.  You can find our work on my facebook page - and all over the internet.

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2. When did you start singing and was there a specific moment that you remember when you thought “I was born to do this?”

I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember.  I never had a eureka moment - instead, one day I realized that being a star - performing, making music and leaving my mark on the artistic realm - was really the one dream that kept on coming back.  I have a real affinity for show business, too, and that played a major role in my development.  I watched film, old and new, and studied great artists and works.

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3. Where does your inspiration come from, other musicians? Any non-musical sources?

Inspiration really does come in all forms for me.  In terms of songwriting, I write and compose my best work spontaneously, when that uncanny wave washes over me and I just have to write and play.  In under 10 minutes, I’ll have a fully structured song, and those are the best - the ones that come to you as if out of thin air.  I’m inspired by film, fashion, photography, art, history - I’m an avid student of culture, and I study everything from classic lit to runway shows to photos on tumblr.

Studying past performers is also incredibly important for videos, photo shoots and my live stage shows.  I’ve always been both musician and performance artist, and so my goal for every show and every piece I release is to push boundaries, to challenge the audience, to excite them, to give them a vicarious experience.  Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Dita Von Teese, Lucille Ball, Janis Joplin, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Gene Kelly, Marlon Brando - they’re all performers I revere and absolutely adore.

You can find many records that inspired me on the “My Loves” playlist on my Whyd profile!  The Doors, Elvis, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Duke Ellington, Azari & III, Sinatra, Jack White, Daft Punk and more.  xxx  

4. What should we look forward too in the near future from you?

*My official music video for #TheOne is dropping JULY 1

*In the meantime, BEHIND THE SCENES featurettes of the making of #TheOne can be found on my CALLIA CAM YouTube playlist:

*The debut EP “CALLIA BARA” is available for purchase on 

iTunes <> Bandcamp <> Soundcloud 

*The second EP, HOLLYWOOD BABYLON, is out in September and will feature singles #Hollywood, #Shotgun, #SlaveToTheAirwaves

*The music video for #Hollywood will drop in August

Can’t wait to see it! Thanks Callia, make sure to Like her Facebook page, follow her on Twitter, and as always, subscribe to her on Whyd