Massive Event 5 Year Anniversary Interview
This Thanksgiving has got the shows, especially one in particular. For those of us who love trance, Massive Event (NYC) is throwing their 5-year anniversary event with headliners Roger Shah, Simon Patterson, tyDi and Brad Miller on Friday November 25th. It’s time to dance off that Thanksgiving dinner at the Highline Ballroom with the best of the genre until the early hours of the morning.
We caught up with Matthew Felner with Massive Event to give us a little insight on their company and the much anticipated party.
So you’re celebrating your 5th year anniversary, can you give me a little background into why you started this company?
So pretty much how we met was when I was 18 I started to work at Crobar in their marketing department, learning what was going on behind the scenes. After about a year I met with now the owner of Massive Michael Brand at Crobars last time hosting Ferry Corsten back in Oct of ’06 through a mutual friend. We had the same ambitions and dreams and we felt that the NYC trance scene was looking for something other then the top guys like the Tiestos, Armins, and Ferrys. So we started looking at the guys who we felt that were going to be the future. Fast forward five years and here we are giving some of the past and present top 100 djs their debut not only in NYC but in some cases North America as well.
Your events favor trance artists, what made you decide to stick with that direction?
The reason for sticking with Trance is that when we started, we wanted to go off into a market that no one was really thinking about. Which was the future guys at the time, like Simon Patterson, Sean Tyas, Kyau and Albert, Ronski Speed and so on. Once we started booking them we saw people come out of the woodwork, some of the popular message boards start talking about what we were doing and our parties started to grow. So me and Michael looked at each other and used that old saying with what we use still till this day ” if it aint broke don’t fix it.” 
What has been your most challenging or complex show to throw so far? Which one has been the biggest in scale? And which one has been the most memorable?
I think our biggest show and complex show we have done thus far was Tytanium Sessions 100. Not only was it a stacked filled lineup but also a lot of production work that went into it and without the Webster Hall crew we couldn’t of done it without them that’s for sure. Most memorable in my opinion were the shows we use to do at Love. Man that was a lot of fun bringing in some of the best djs around the planet into an intimate setting, with a banging sound system was just icing and a cherry on top of the cake. I remember asking a couple of the djs what they thought of it and having them say that it reminded them of the old turnmills in London with not only the club setup but also the vibe and crowd was truly an amazing thing to hear.
How did you guys go about choosing which DJs to come for your special Anniversary event?
Pretty much the djs we choose not only the international but the local djs as well is to see how they separate them selves from everyone else in the scene. I’m not gonna lie, I look at the DJ Mag to see who people voted for but I will say it isn’t my list of who to book and who not to book otherwise we’d be bankrupt! We also are on the message boards like everyone else looking at the tracklists of the djs shows and see who’s tracks are getting played and seeing their popularity rise or fall. One year you could be on fire and the most talked about person on the block and the next your name is rarely mentioned.
Honestly, DJ’s that me and Michael Brand book are ones that have played with us and to keep what our values are about. Someone new to make his debut in NYC is tyDi, a young talented star, who is just simply on fire at the moment.
Personally, who are your favorite Djs to listen to?
As far as DJ’s I listen to its all over the place, I could be in the mood one night to go to a Basic NYC party to hear Tom Middleton, or go to a Brooklyn Warehouse party that Blk Marketmembership is throwing, or even head to Pacha or District 36 to see some house or tech house guy I have never seen before. I’m all over the place when it comes to music I like so depends what day you catch me on 
Your big party is post Thanksgiving, what are you guys going to be doing Thanksgiving Eve? Any special EDM parties?
I will probably spending time with my family and friends since I don’t get to see them that much and preparing for our five year anniversary
Lastly, If you could change one thing about the New York EDM scene, what would it be?
Change? There’s nothing to change even though we aren’t the biggest market in America we are still one of the most desirable markets to play in as it is very difficult to make your mark here in the big apple because of so much healthy competition. I think Frank Sinatra put it best “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!” •
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Speaking of tyDi – definitely one of my favorite in the trance genre. He’s only 24 from Australia but he’s an up and comer to lookout for. Last year, Paul Oakenfold dropped his track Vanilla (Ben Gold Remix) on his tour which would just drive the crowd wild with vocals and hard beats. When out looking for new trance, I always keep a lookout for his name, knowing his touch on tracks always has a perfect balance of vocals and uplifting melodies with a punctuating bass just at the right moments. Never go back with Brianna Holden has been racking up quite the play count on my iphone right now.
tyDi feat. Tania Zygar – Vanilla ( Ben Gold remix)
tyDi Feat Tania Zygar – Half Light (Original Mix)
TyDi feat. Brianna Holan- Never Go Back (Original Mix Edit) wex.myip.hu
Roger Shah and Simon Patterson are the more seasoned veterans on the scene. Countless of Roger Shah’s tracks can be found on Armin’s A State of Trance. Trance simply runs in that family, because Roger Shah and his brother Pedro del Mar both are trance DJs. Simon Patterson hails from London and has been producing since 2000. He used to be a part of the trance project called Dogzilla.
Roger Shah pres. Sunlounger feat. Lorilee – Life (Original Mix)
Simon Patterson – Taxi
Dj Brad Miller is a New York rising DJ having worked with quite the repertoire of Trance artists such as Ferry Corsten, BT, Cosmic Gate, and Markus Schossow.
Event Details:
Massive 5 Year Anniversary Event
w/ Roger Shah, Simon Patterson, tyDi and Brad Miller
November 25th (Friday)
Doors open at 10 event until 5am/ 19+
Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th Street New York, NY 10011
Purchase tickets here:
Massive Event 5 Year Anniversary on Wantickets.com
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