While it can be easy to watch an hour-long set and assume the ones playing the music have the most straightforward job, the truth couldn’t be further from the case. For every hour I DJ is spinning music for a crowd, they likely spend five times that amount of daylight collecting fantastic music to share with the world.
And as the progressive house genre has become increasingly popular over the past few years, there has never been more music to sift through. Nobody knows this better than Tokyo-based producer and DJ Shingo Nakamura, whose latest release on Monstercat Silk is a masterful work of melodic genius.
So to celebrate the release of his new single, “Come Closer,” we invited the label veteran on to share his five favorite places for crate-digging whenever he’s looking for new music to play in his live sets, streams, and mixes.
“I hope you enjoy the combination of the soft piano melody and the track. I had received many such requests from fans who had been listening to my music since around 2011.” – Shingo Nakamura
1001Tracklists
This site is beneficial because it has many tracklists of DJ mixes, both live and radio shows.
For example, if I want to find new Progressive House tracks best for warming up, I look for songs played early in the Trance DJ’s radio show. Information about who and when the tracks were played is one of the best ways to find what I’m looking for.
Spotify
When I encounter an unknown artist or label on 1001Tracklists, I always search on Spotify. Many of them have their playlists of favorite songs and label releases. By the way, I have my playlist as well. And my home label, Monstercat, also has a Progressive House playlist.
The Club
One of the best ways is going to clubs. It doesn’t need to be a Progressive House event. Even at House and Techno parties, there are many opportunities for Progressive House being played.
It’s also good to see local or club’s resident DJs rather than well-known artists. I discover new things, such as popular songs and when Progressive House is played. If I find my favorite tracks, I don’t know; I look up the song on Shazam.
My Fans
Often, listeners know more about the songs than the genres’ DJs or producers. I always ask listeners who like the same genre for recommendations or to see their Twitter and Instagram posts.
I come across many amazing new songs this way.
The Ground Sound
This is a specific way introduced in this article. They introduce songs specializing in a subgenre called “Melodic Progressive House.” Sometimes this subgenre can be difficult to find my favorite songs using the above methods. But I can always find great songs on this site.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
