RAC [Artist Profile]

On Tuesday night I went to see one of the best (in my opinion) remixers/musicians/producers around, RAC. He has remixed just about everyone (seriously, get out his Soundcloud page), and has one of the most unique sounds out there. If you don't know who RAC is or have ever listened to his music before, you need to change that immediately.

There, now you've heard of him. In lieu of that show, I decided to talk a bit about him and post some of my favourite tracks of his. If someone were to ask to describe his sound in one word, I would say happy. I know it is a very vague and generic word, but the truth is that every single song of his makes me feel happier than I was before listening to it.

The first remix I heard of his was of Two Door Cinema Club's "Something Good Can Work" a couple years back. Anyone who has heard the original of that song knows that it is already an upbeat song with a solid beat and guitar riffs that get people moving. When RAC got a hold of the song, he replaced the drums with a more electronic beat, replaced the guitar with a piano, let the vocals take the lead, and turned a rock song into disco. I loved every second of it.

RAC's strengths are, at their core, a result of his weaknesses. I was reading this interview earlier in which he describes how his start to remixes was the result of his inability to sing. The vocals in his remixes are always the focal point and highlighted, with everything else built up around them. This becomes the most apparent when he takes a song that would otherwise be considered "dark" (like Lana Del Rey's "Blue Jeans") and transforms it into a song that not only puts people into a better mood, but actually gets them dancing

When I heard that RAC was going to start making original material, I was excited to say the least. If his remixes were great, how could a song where he has complete control over every aspect not be an absolute pleasure to listen to? When he released "Hollywood" last year, I found my answer: it was one of my favourite songs of the year. It was less electronic than usual, with the synthesizers replaced with guitars and drums, yet you could  immediately recognize it as one of his.

With this tour he was going to be a live band along with him. I knew I would have a good time but I wasn't sure how much use a live band would be when he only has 4 original songs to his name. They played all of his original songs but also played a 'best of' of his remixes with live instruments. I was floored. His shows are always a lot of fun, With lots of fun, but when you boil down those shows they were really just like listening to an RAC playlist at a big party (on a related note, if you ever need to make a great party playlist just populate it with RAC mixes).

He got everyone (and I mean everyone) dancing and for anyone who has gone to a show in Vancouver before you will know that is one hell of a feat. For whatever reason, Vancouverites just do not like dancing at concerts, but here we had RAC getting a room full of people to forget that they don't like to dance and just go for it. I had a huge smile on my face the entire night and was not out of place with the rest of the room. He gets people laughing, smiling, dancing. He makes people feel great, and we love him for it.