Carl Cox News
Alessio Cristiano Delivers Two-Track Minds EP On VTOPIΛ!
Neapolitan, London-based producer Alessio Cristiano has been on a rapid rise over the past few years, making a massive impact with his futuristic and progressive sensibilities. Landing on VTOPIΛ with his ‘Minds’ EP, the long-awaited two-track offering is out now.
Entering the depths of his sonic realm, the title track is composed of a diversity of sounds that captivate the listener from the very first beat. Supported by some of the scene’s most prominent artists, ‘Minds’ has received spins from the likes of Agents Of Time, Fideles, Kevin de Vries, and Yubik. The B-side cut ‘Genesis’ continues Alessio’s sonic exploration, reaching a lofty dimension with spacey synths, rumbling bass and alluring vocal samples. Demonstrating his undeniable ability to encapsulate the essence of the dancefloor, his creations continue to strike a chord with audiences all around the planet.
Igniting his passion for music at the age of seven, Alessio Cristiano began playing the electric guitar, thanks to his father who collected Fender and Gibson guitars from a young age. Exploring different instruments, he also played the drums in a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band. Turning eighteen, he was drawn towards the world of electronic music and decided to buy his first console. Performing around his hometown, it wasn’t long before he began receiving requests to play at clubs and exclusive venues. Within four years he had had shared decks with the likes of Solomun, &ME, The Blessed Madonna, Adriatique and Lehar to name a few. Enrolling at the EMPRO Production school, by 2018, Alessio released an array of tracks on techno imprints, including Senso Sounds, Octopus Recordings, Octopus Black Label, Parquet Recordings and Hydrozoa Records. His most-streamed track ‘Atlante’ was released on Oliver Huntemann’s Senso Sounds in 2017 and was supported by a long list of acts including Carl Cox, Marco Carola and Popof. Moving to London in 2019, Alessio spread his wings to follow his musical path and has since collaborated with techno titans Moonwalk for their stunning ‘Butterfly’ EP on Purified Records. With every release, Alessio reaches new heights, developing into one of the genre’s most impressive talents.
Rising spanish star Crusy steps in to deliver steamy dance floor edit of ‘Baila Conmigo’ by STBAN out via Flamenca Records.
Pulsating with sultry Latin heat and perfectly primed for summertime dance floors, rising Spanish star Crusy delivers a steamy edit of label boss STBAN’s original single ‘Baila Conmigo’, out August 1st on FLAMENCA Records via Toolroom.
The Madrid-based producer shows natural restraint with his edit, resisting any urge to go for obvious drops, instead building the tension slowly but surely. Allowing the original topline to drift in and out of the production, Crusy gradually adds an almost intimate level of energy, layering warm guitars, undulating keyboard chords and chugging percussion. The result is a track that begs the body to move, designed to bring music fans onto the dance floor to groove together. It’s a remix perfectly in step with STBAN’s vision to bring Flamenco and Latin House to the masses.
“I’ve fallen in love with Flamenco,” Crusy said, “its hypnotic Spanish voice and purely Spanish chords stir something deep in my soul. It’s not just music; it’s emotion in its rawest, most beautiful form. Being able to remix it and put my own touch there was a challenge but I am very proud of the reaction every time I play it in a day time event.”
Supported by the likes of Carl Cox, Dom Dolla, Nic Fanciulli, Louie Vega, James Hype, Fatboy Slim, Adam Beyer and John Summit, Crusy has more than made a name for himself in an extremely small space of time. Releasing standout tracks on Toolroom, including ‘Karma’, ‘El Baso’, ‘Attracted’ and ‘Unknown’, as well as singles on Defected, Hot Since 82’s Knee Deep In Sound, Franky Wah’s Shen, Hugel’s Make The Girls Dance and Dombreski’s Process, he now joins the FLAMENCA Records family, adding the ‘Baila Conmigo’ remix as the latest chapter in his growing story.
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EDM Festivals in August 2025 are keeping the summer alive with a number of massive events happening around the world.
From the massive 10 year anniversary of UNTOLD to the legacy that is Creamfields, here’s your guide to the top EDM festivals you won’t want to miss this August.
UNTOLD Festival
Dates: August 7–10
Location: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Romania’s premier electronic music festival turns 10 this year with a massive celebration across Cluj Arena and downtown spaces. Expect extended sets from Tiësto, plus Martin Garrix, Black Coffee, Don Diablo, Post Malone, and more. UNTOLD is known for its epic production, long hours, and magical vibes from dusk till dawn.
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Creamfields
Dates: August 21–24
Location: Daresbury Estate, Cheshire, UK
One of the UK’s most iconic dance music festivals, Creamfields delivers another year of powerhouse headliners. 2025 brings David Guetta, Anyma, Amelie Lens, Chase & Status, Carl Cox, and more across massive stages like ARC, Steel Yard, and Horizon.
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Sziget Festival
Dates: August 6–11
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Set on Óbuda Island, Sziget is a multi-genre mega-festival that blends EDM with pop, rock, world music, and arts. With a scenic riverside setting, cultural programming, and past performers like Calvin Harris and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, it’s one of Europe’s most diverse and vibrant summer fests.
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Hard Summer
Dates: August 2–3
Location: Southern California, USA
Returning for its second year at Hollywood Park, HARD Summer is back bigger, bolder, and bass-heavier than ever. This year’s edition leans hard into techno, with sets from 999999999, Deborah De Luca, I Hate Models, and more, while also staying true to its genre-mixing roots. Expect reggaetón, drum & bass, house, and hip-hop from artists like Kaytranada, Dom Dolla, Sean Paul, and FEID.
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ÎLESONIQ
Dates: August 9-19
Location: Montreal, Canada
Held in Parc Jean-Drapeau, ÎLESONIQ is Quebec’s largest electronic music festival. It blends international stars with immersive visuals and a passionate Canadian crowd. Notable stars taking to the stage are Alesso, D.O.D, John Summit, Oliver Heldens, and more.
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VELD Music Festival
Dates: August 1-3
Location: Toronto, Canada
Toronto’s biggest EDM festival lights up Downsview Park with a massive set of artists that make any dance music fan excited. Previous years have featured big artists and this year is no different with deadmau5, Dom Dolla, Tiesto, Third Party, and more set to take the stage.
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Weekend Festival
Dates: August 1–2
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Returning to Espoo with over 60 artists, Weekend Festival 2025 delivers two days of high-energy performances, cutting-edge visuals, and massive production. Headliners include Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Robin Schulz, and Fisher. Known for its towering custom-built main stage and immersive light shows, the festival blends sound and spectacle like no other in Finland.
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Mysteryland
Dates: August 30–31
Location: Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands
The Netherlands’ longest-running dance music festival blends house, techno, trance, and hardstyle across colorful, immersive stages. Known for its art installations, spiritual elements, and top-tier curation, Mysteryland remains a staple for true festival heads.
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Dance Valley
Dates: August 10 (TBC)
Location: Spaarnwoude, Netherlands
Dance Valley turns 30 in 2025, and it’s going all out for its anniversary edition. Set in the iconic hills of Spaarnwoude, this one-day Dutch mega-rave spans 8 stages and 70+ artists across dance, techno, hardstyle, trance, and house. The lineup is stacked with legends: Tiësto, Martin Garrix, Boris Brejcha, Ferry Corsten presents Gouryella (25 Years), Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo, Nervo, Chris Liebing, and Radical Redemption.
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Les Plages Électroniques
Dates: August 08-10
Location: Cannes, France
Set on the sun-drenched beaches of the French Riviera, Les Plages Électroniques returns with one of its most diverse and stacked lineups yet. Headliners include Tiësto, Charlotte de Witte, Peggy Gou, Eric Prydz, Mochakk, and Booba, alongside a wave of rising talent and local French stars. With beach stages, boat parties, and after-parties extending late into the night, the festival blends deep house, techno, afro house, and reggaeton into a three-day oceanside escape.
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August may be the final stretch of summer, but the party is far from over.
With iconic brands, oceanside escapes, and late-night energy, these festivals are ready to make your summer go out in style.
Prior to hitting the stage at Airbeat One in Germany, we had the pleasure of talking with the marvellous Lucas & Steve.
They recently announced their ‘Making Melodies’ EP which we got some further insights into as well as hearing more about their production process. They also dropped some hints as to future projects which you can find out about below…
Q: You were last at Airbeat One in 2023, how does it feel to get to come back again?
A: Steve – Very good actually it’s one of the biggest festivals in Germany. I think we’ve played there…this is our sixth or seventh time already, so we’ve been there a lot. We know the place, we know the crowd so it’s always good to be back and they are just very very excited to party the whole weekend. They have amazing stages, they have an amazing lineup. It’s one of those festivals which is one of the highlights of our summer always so it’s very good to be back.
Q: Recently on your Instagram you talked about how you’re celebrating 15 years now of doing music and touring all about. How does it feel to still be doing this and still growing all these years on from where you started?
A: Lucas – For us it’s the strangest thing. It doesn’t really feel like we are DJing for 15 years already. I think we’ve been on tour for about 10 years now but also then like we just remember everything so vividly from the past years. It’s cliché but things go really really quick, really fast as long as you’re having fun and we still are, we are very lucky that we are still having fun and still having the opportunity to play all those stages, all those huge stages and making music for a living. That just feels like a huge privilege still and when you look back so many years ago a lot of things changed in touring, in music and it’s also things that you know keep on challenging you in making music, new technologies and everything so…I’m sounding like a grandad when I say it like this but I think that’s just the case you know? It just keeps on being interesting and evolving so yeah. Still totally in love with it.
Q: Last year you got to work with someone who’s been doing it even longer in Tiesto. Obviously, he’s been doing it for about 30 years or so. What was it like to get to work with him?
A: Lucas – I think this is the third record that we just did last year with him. That last one is called ‘Free Your Mind’ and the other one we did with him last year was ‘Zenless.’ Every time we work with him it’s a very educative process I have to say. He knows exactly what music should sound like. He always is ahead of the trends so if you’re making music with him, he’s giving a lot of direction on what sounds are interesting enough, how should the record build, how can you tweak the record so that it’s interesting for everybody to play it you know? And that’s a very interesting process. It’s almost like mentorship in a way if that makes any sense? It’s a strange thing like often when you’re making music with people of course you always learn from each other, but with Tiesto he just really gives very good direction and it’s incredible after all those years how he knows how to do the right thing all the time.
Q: You’ve now released the first track for your ‘Making Melodies’ EP ‘Retro’ which I know myself and everyone has just been loving having waited about 4 years for it. What inspired you to make this EP with melodies being the focus for it?
A: Steve – We get a lot of questions on our social media. We’re very diverse producers. When we’re in the studio we like to make every type of music whether it’s pop music or dance music or melodic music or like the very clubby songs like ‘Free Your Mind’ with Tiesto. We just like everything combined in the studio and the start we made as Lucas & Steve was very melodic so we still play it a lot in our sets especially at the end of our set we always try to make it a little bit more euphoric so that people leave the stage or leave the festival with a very euphoric, happy, energetic positive feeling. The start of our set is quite heavy with ‘Free Your Mind’ and ‘Zenless’ and that kind of stuff. So, we wanted to make a nice present for our fans because we didn’t do that much of the melodic songs the last 2 or 3 years. We were just focussing more on the club stuff that we did. We still really like it.
We will always make melodic stuff, and we were thinking about doing something special as in an EP releasing 4 songs, 1 each week and that was ‘Making Melodies’ and the first one came out ‘Retro’ and we were blown away because everybody was waiting for that record already for I don’t know, 4 or 5 years. We played it for the very first time during Kings Day in The Netherlands at a Radio 538 show so people were asking about melodic music, and we still had so many things that were unfinished. So, we put everything in our studios together and we created this EP with 4 songs. We’re getting so many positive reactions that we’re probably going to do a volume 2 and a volume 3 every year.
Q: When you do more pop esque songs you end up doing club mixes which are always just really cool. Do you ever go into making a more pop oriented song which the thought of it already becoming a club mix or is that something that comes later in the process?
A: Lucas – Sometimes when you’re doing the original mix you already know what the club mix is going to be like. While producing the original stuff you get ideas that you cannot do in a radio friendly, Spotify friendly pop song. You need to keep things a little more quiet and tuck it in in the mix more, and you cannot have those harsh sounds that just stand out too much. Like the more dance sounds will usually not work that well in a pop mix. You get all these ideas and it’s like ‘ahhhh’ I can’t use it right now so just save it for the club mix so actually the process for the original and the club mix go hand in hand.
Q: With having 2 DJs behind the decks when you perform what’s that sort of process like trying to decide who does what and when? Do you plan it beforehand or is it more in the moment?
A: Steve – Lucas does all the work and I just drink
Lucas – Yeah that’s actually try. I donated my liver to Steve for this
Steve – We’ve been doing this for almost 15 years together as DJs, we’re touring the world for 10 years already. We just know what to do, we have our own CDJs, I’m always standing on the left side because it’s like the name Lucas & Steve it’s easier for the crowd to remember. Lucas is on the right, he has his 2 decks, I have my decks on the left side, and the mixers in between. Usually, Lucas tries to hype the crowd with his microphone and dancing. He’s very good at that and I just know what to do while he’s walking around the stage and trying to hype the crowd. It sounds a bit cliché but we’re almost a married couple.
Steve – DJs, colleagues, partners, but also lovers
Lucas – Hahaha
Q: This year we’ve seen a lot of big back 2 back sets. Are there any artists out there that you really want to do a back 2 back set with?
A: Steve – We did a small back 2 back with Tiesto which was sick. I would love to do that for 90 minutes or something. Maybe with Martin Garrix would be nice because he’s always very energetic. He knows how to get the crowd going. Love his shows. Also, something would be nice with a legend like Carl Cox or something that would be sick like very housey, techno, tech house set would be sick.
Lucas – And just play entirely different stuff, could all be interesting.
Keep an eye on Lucas & Steve’s socials for the release of the rest of ‘Making Melodies’:
You can check out our other articles on Lucas & Steve through the link below:
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