| Gabriel & Dresden | |
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Gabriel & Dresden at Coachella Festival, Indio, California. April 30, 2006. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Genres | Progressive trance Electronica House |
| Occupations | DJ, Producer, Remixer |
| Years active | 2001–2008, 2011-present |
| Labels | Organized Nature Armada Music |
| Associated acts | Bigtop, Motorcycle |
| Members | |
| Josh Gabriel Dave Dresden |
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| Past members | |
| [ | |
| Notable instruments | |
| iMac G5, Logic Pro[1] | |
Gabriel & Dresden is the project name of the DJs and producers Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden from San Francisco. Their popularity and activities were centered in the United States. They won the WMC award as Best American DJ twice in 2007 and 2008, the same day the group split-up. The pair reunited in early 2011 and proceeded on a reunion tour, which began in San Francisco, CA on March 4, 2011.
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Dave Dresden's musical ability was developed during 15 years inside a deejay booth, while Josh Gabriel has an undergraduate college degree in music composition from the California Institute for the Arts. Dave's love for music was influenced by a local nightclub located in Banksville, NY then called Krypton's. DJ Ralphie, the club's longtime resident DJ (1980-1994) played an electic mixture of new wave, and early industrial music that drew crowds to this backroad rural popular night spot. The club was located only minuets away from Dave's childhood home in North Stamford, CT, where he grew up only a few houses away from pop icon Cyndi Lauper. One night while dancing at Krypton's to Anne Clark's Wallies, Dave had a revelation that would change his life forever.
Dave's first gig was at another legendary nightclub located in New Rochelle, NY named Marty & Lenny's where the owners of the then predominantly freestyle music venue promoted a new music night. This became a trend in the outlying suburbs of NYC in the late 1980's with the resurgence of groups such as Erasure, Depeche Mode and New Order bursting back onto the scene. The night was promoted by Long Island's 92.7 WDRE, and Dave's eponymous DJ name "Dave the wave" started to earn him recognition amongst fans of new wave, and progressive dance music. From there, he landed a long standing residency at BAR in New Haven, CT which lasted for over ten years. Dave established a progressive music night on Wednesday's in downtown New Haven, and attracted crowds from as far south as Westchester County cites longtime friend DJ Lenny Venice. The night was built on sheer word of mouth with virtually no promotion done by the owners. Dave spent countless, tireless hours visiting record labels to get his hands on the latest tracks, and eventually landed a spot as a billboard reporter, a highly touted, and difficult title to earn amongst DJ's in the United States with only 95 Billboard reporters at the time nationwide. Dave utilized every resource that was available to him, and often listened to Dave Kendall's Planet Traxx every Sunday night on New York's Hot 97 WQHT to keep up with the progressive house scene. Dave always had an incredible ear for music, and could spot a number one hit after hearing a track only once or twice says longtime friend Lenny Venice.
Josh started experimenting with synthesizers and computers in the early 1980s and attended music school in Holland and Los Angeles. He founded the music creation tool Mixman in the 1990s which was one of the first programs to make music using loops of digital audio.
At the same time, Dave was a club deejay in a suburb of New York City as well as a renowned US dance music journalist. He became the Music Director of grooveradio.com.
Dave met Pete Tong at a party being hosted by grooveradio.com at the Miami Winter Music Conference in March 2001. Pete asked him to help find music for his radio show Essential Selection.[2] Dave gave Pete a record called "Wave 3", which Josh had given to Leon Alexander. Pete played it on the Essential Selection and also used it for his compilation that same year. Pete Tong then gave Dave the opportunity to do a spec mix of New Order and Dave asked Josh to work on it with him.
Dave and Josh joined forces in 2001 and made a name for themselves by creating numerous remixes. In 2002 Gabriel & Dresden released "Lament" (Saw Recordings) in the United States, their first single. The first Gabriel & Dresden gig was Arc in New York City.[3]
In 2004 they released their first Mix-CD Bloom. They entered the prestigious DJ Magazine Top 100 DJ's poll in 2003 at #43. After having their seventh #1 Billboard Dance Chart Hit with the Madonna & Britney Spears collaboration "Me Against the Music" they worked on their own group Motorcycle with singer and songwriter Jes Brieden, with their track "As The Rush Comes" in 2004. They have steadily climbed the chart every year since then, placing at 40 in 2004, 22 in 2005, and 33 in 2006. In 2005 the single "Arcadia" was released although it was also the first track on Bloom. At the end of the same year the track "Without You Near" was released at Coldharbour Recordings. This track was produced in cooperation with Markus Schulz and Departure.
"We make music with lyrics and choruses, music that is emotive with melodies and meaning."
- says Josh Gabriel.[4] "We make songs that make you feel good about feeling bad."
- says Dave Dresden.[5]
In 2005 they created the Gabriel & Dresden logo, known for its keyboard shape was designed by Bruno Silva. The logo features the pianos key notes with dots on the keys for the notes G and D.[6] It includes the name of the group, Gabriel above and Dresden below. They launched their record label Organized Nature that serves primarily to release their own music. Gabriel & Dresden produced the track "Zocalo" with Armin van Buuren which was released on his album/LP Shivers.
They presented "Gabriel & Dresden bring you Organized Nature", on March 24 during the WMC. The Winter Music Conference, Realivze Tribe Productions, and Polka Dot present the Official Record Label Launch of Organized Nature. The event lasted for five hours, Live PA From Motorcycle and BORIS MD of Departure; Appears on Without You Near by Markus Schulz on the track were Gabriel & Dresden has left a mark as well as Zocalo by Armin Van Buuren. Gabriel & Dresden were lauded as "America's Best DJs" at the Miami Winter Music Conference's International Dance Music Awards.
They also took home an award for Best Alternative / Dance Single for their hit "Dangerous Power" featuring the voice of Jan Burton. This is not the first time they have been cited for their DJing, winning the Best New DJ award at the 2005 Dancestar awards and performing on the show as Motorcycle with Jes Brieden. They have also worked with Pete Houser, a friend from the California Bay Area which created the Alias Bigtop. They released ORG004 also known as Sub & Tidal, with Sub appearing on their DJ Mix Compilation "Bloom". Dave Dresden has appeared as Summit with Peter Lorimer. The self-titled Gabriel & Dresden was released in 2007 bringing them a great year as America's #1 DJ's, the same year saw the releases of "Tracking Treasure Down" and "Dangerous Power". They had a Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number one hit in July 2006 with the song "Tracking Treasure Down", written by Molly Bancroft, who was also the vocalist on the track. Bancroft also wrote and sang on their hit "Let Go." After the success of the album, the duo decided to tour around the globe to emphasize their support for electronic dance music which is still considered an underground genre.
The duo finished their last tour with two appearances at the WMC in Miami. They played a 5+ hour set at the Pawn Shop on March 28, 2008 and a closing 1 hour set at the Beatport/Remix Hotel Pool Party at the National Hotel on March 30, 2008 (with visuals provided by VJ Psyberpixie). The Andain project will be completed and released in 2008. Josh Gabriel will now be touring solo and focusing more on his solo album due out later in 2008.
| “ | Yes, the rumor is true. Gabriel & Dresden have parted ways for the time being. Over the past year, Josh and I have been moving apart as artists and we decided rather than milk it and be moderately happy together that we separate and examine ourselves as individual artists for a while. Our final date was the beatport pool party in Miami on March 30. For those who were there, I want to thank each and every one of you for showing Josh and I the love and support that you did. A lot of the set was songs that we have individually been working on interspersed with a few fan favorites. I will remember that hour and fifteen minutes forever because I certainly felt the love with all the hands in the air and the well-wishes.
After WMC I went into the hospital to have shoulder surgery. I had a torn rotator cuff and after years of constant dislocations to my shoulder, I wanted to get that out of the way so that I can be 100% when I hit the road in mid-may as a solo artist.[7] |
” |
In December 2008 Dave Dresden teamed up with long time friend and Mephisto Odyssey founder Mikael Johnston to remix Lily Allen's The Fear under the new moniker Dresden and Johnston.[8] The new production Duo went on to remix a number of artists including Nadia Ali's Love Story and Enrique Iglesias's Tonight, all of which hit the #1 position in Billboard (Magazine)'s Hot Club Play Dance Chart. Dresden and Johnston's first original single called Keep Faith Featuring Mezo Riccio followed in early 2010 and went to #10 in Billboard (Magazine)'s Hot Club Play Dance Chart and top 5 on dance radio's BPM (Sirius XM) and Club Phusion.[9] The single featured remixes by fellow producers Morgan Page and Harry Romero. A forthcoming full length album by the duo featuring guest vocalists Nadia Ali, Jan Burton and Skylar Grey is yet to be released.
Throughout the careers of Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden, they have been a big influence on electronic dance music. Unlike other deejay groupings/bands such as Above & Beyond who are dedicated to trance based composition, Gabriel & Dresden mixed club and house music like Deep Dish, another duo that created many #1 charting songs and remixes.
Gabriel & Dresden were both influenced by Alexander Coe, musically known Sasha, who inspired them to write a more minimal tone of tracks. This influence can be heard in their only self-titled studio album, Gabriel & Dresden (album) with tracks like uplifting "Eleven" with Scarlett Etienne, "Enemy" with Jan Burton and the repetitive "Mass Repeat". They also have rock-based influences which make some songs sound indie. Josh Gabriel was influenced by the producer James Holden as well as Depeche Mode and The Cure. Dave Dresden was also inspired by Jonathan Peters.[10]
Gabriel & Dresden have been a great influence on various artists like Christopher Norman, Blake Jarell, Tim Grube, Chephren Blake, and Brian Martinelli. In 2006 a compilation of Gabriel & Dresden remixes was created by Geyser & Massa and released in Russia on the Music1st label.[11]
Christopher Norman, who mixes under his own name and the alias Retrobyte, works as part of Organized Nature. Due to the breakup of Gabriel & Dresden, the expected full length Retrobyte album was delayed to an unknown date in 2008 or 2009. Gabriel & Dresden named Christopher Norman as the breakthrough DJ of 2008 in the 2007 DJMag awards.[12]
Even though they took separate tracks, on October 29 when the results of the DJ Mag Top 100 DJ's of 2008 were announced, Gabriel & Dresden came in at the 65th position.
On December 31, 2010, Gabriel & Dresden reunited for special one off New Years Eve celebration alongside ATB, Dresden and Johnston (Dave Dresden's new project), and Francis Preve.[13]
Shortly afterward, the duo was booked on Anjunabeats, Miami as a special guest. Since this event, Gabriel & Dresden have officially announced themselves as reunited.
This list contains singles by Gabriel & Dresden, Aliases and Co-Productions.
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| Year | Category | Issuer | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Top 100 DJs | DJMag | 42nd [14] |
| 2004 | Top 100 DJs | DJMag | 41st [15] |
| Best Producers | IDMA | Won | |
| Best Progressive / Trance Track for "As The Rush Comes" by Motorcycle | IDMA | Won | |
| Best Underground Dance Track for "As The Rush Comes" by Motorcycle | IDMA | Nominated | |
| 2005 | Top 100 DJs | DJMag | 29th [16] |
| Best Remixers | IDMA | Nominated | |
| 2006 | Top 100 DJs | DJMag | 20th [17] |
| Best Remixers | IDMA | Won | |
| Best Progressive House/Trance Track for "Without You Near" by Markus Schulz, Gabriel & Dresden & Departure | IDMA | Nominated | |
| Ortofon Best American DJ Award | IDMA | Nominated | |
| Best Producers | IDMA | Nominated | |
| 2007 | |||
| Top 100 DJs | DJMag | 23rd [18] | |
| Best Progressive House/Trance Track for "Tracking Treasure Down" | IDMA | Nominated | |
| Best Producers | IDMA | Nominated | |
| Best Alternative/Rock Dance Track for "Dangerous Power" | IDMA | Won | |
| Best Ortofon American DJ | IDMA | Won | |
| 2008 | |||
| Best Progressive House/Trance Track for "Dangerous Power" | IDMA | Nominated | |
| Best American DJs | IDMA | Won | |
| Best Global DJs | IDMA | Nominated | |
| Best Dance Artist (Group) | IDMA | Nominated | |
| Post-break-up | |||
| Top 100 DJs | DJMag | 65th | |
| Best International DJs for an event at X2 club in Jakarta, Indonesia | REDMA | Won [19] | |
| 2009 | Best American DJs | IDMA | Nominated |