February 2012
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January 2012
2 posts
Rant: D.C. Tweeps 2011
I don’t like to step on a soapbox too often. I used to do that when I lived in California and it didn’t help my image. But something recently happened that irked me and now I feel like I need to speak out. No, I’m not offering to occupy a Starbucks or topple some newspaper bins. I just need to get something off my chest. This past December, I was honored to learn I had been...
December 2011
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WatchThis my latest video, renowned house music icon from Miami, Oscar G. at TEKA.
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BALLS!!!!
It’s a little sad to say, but the play on words surrounding the new Meatballs establishment in Penn Quarter is probably it’s best quality. I mean, who doesn’t love saying the word “balls?” Eating the food at this new restaurant in my downtown hood is a different story. There isn’t a lot of love being shared between diners and the staff. Meatballs opened up a...
November 2011
2 posts
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Confessions of a Lindy Hopper
Well here we go again. My usual once-per-year rant about Lindy Hop, the partner dance I am still (reluctantly) in love with. The truth is, most of you don’t know me as a dancer. I was talked into learning this type of swing dancing while living in California. I continued to learn it when I moved to DC because it was something to do and an easy way to meet people. I got better. I started to...
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Quick Stew Review: Sou'wester
I’ve had an opportunity to visit some pretty awesome restaurants over the last few months and figured there has to be a way to voice my opinion. Sure, I can Yelp it up and tweet you all photos from my meal. But Urban Marinade isn’t just about dance music. We’re about the urban experience that goes along with dance music. And what do you always see world-class dance music artist...
October 2011
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Exclusive Interview with Tritonal
By Robert Fairbairn Tritonal, the Austin, TX-based duo of Chad Cisneros and Dave Reed has thundered onto the EDM scene in a fashion worthy of their explosive namesake. Starting with a series of highly-regarded remixes and solid originals, the pair launched their own label, Air Up There recordings. Highlighting that effort came the release of their first artist album, Piercing the Quiet, back in...
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September 2011
5 posts
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RIP DJ Mehdi
Our thoughts and prayers go out to friends, family and anyone else who had the pleasure of coming in contact with DJ Mehdi. His talents are immeasurable and will be sorely missed. RIP Mehdi Favéris-Essadi…
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Interview with Umek
By Robert Fairbairn As part of our coverage of Electric Zoo, Urban Marinade had planned to interview techno mainstay and standout producer Umek. As a result of illness Umek was unable to attend the event, but our own Robert Fairbairn caught up with him remotely and asked him a few questions. A native of Slovenia, Umek has been a major player in the techno world for going on twenty years....
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Electric Zoo Content Is Coming
Oh, we’ve got lots of stuff to share with you. We’ve got photos. We’ve got interviews. We’ve got video. In other words, you’ll feel like you were there. And you’ll be sure not to miss it next year. =) For now, enjoy this little photo montage of our boy Rusko.
August 2011
5 posts
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Electric Zoo Returns to NYC
It was about a year ago that I found myself riding an Amtrak train up to New York City very early on a Saturday morning. I arrived in the city around 6 a.m., went straight to my friend’s condo and proceeded to take a nap in preparation for Electric Zoo, my first big-time dance music festival. Two days later I returned to DC with hundreds of amazing photos and a dance music buzz that...
AM Only: Electric Zoo Ticket Giveaway →
Urban Marinade wanted to reblog this post from AM Only because it’s a sweet giveaway and we’ll be there at Electric Zoo covering the agency’s fantastic artists. Our guy Robert Fairbairn will be live blogging and tweeting from the media tent while photographer Doug Van Sant will be working back stage for Sara Cooper PR. Electric Zoo is going to set the bar for dance music...
Beautiful View
I don’t expect you all to look at the above photo and see something beautiful. Frankly I wouldn’t either if I didn’t know where this was taken. It’s actually quite a depressing site of snow, industrial refuse and thick haze above an aging city. The shot was taken just south of Youngstown, Ohio. I remember the first time I saw this view of the city shortly after moving...
July 2011
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More EDC Madness
What is the world coming to? I go to Mexico on vacation and come back to more crapola news about EDC. Can this event and promoters Insomniac ever catch a break? Let’s try to give a quick recap. Insomniac throws a kick-ass dance music festival in LA. Sadly, one kid dies after an overdose. Ignoring all the deaths that occur at music festivals all over the world, the media and city of Los...
June 2011
2 posts
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Tragedy at EDC Dallas
I’m not really sure what went down at EDC Dallas. I didn’t attend, so I can’t even begin to give you a fair account of the event, the crowds, the heat, the drug use and the unfortunate death of Andrew Graf, a 19-year old Texas A&M sophomore. But what I can do is point out the clear bias our news media continue to have with dance music related events. Just like my previous...
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Old School Media Fails with Armin Coverage
Okay, I’m taking a break from my post-Miami Music Week reviews to get us back into the swing of covering newer events and explaining the method behind my photography madness. So I’ll start by writing about a subject that’s been on my mind for a few weeks that was just begging to be exposed. We’ll call it “Old School Media Fails.” Or you could just say...
May 2011
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MMW2011: Anjunabeats
After spending pretty much the entire afternoon at the W Hotel, Rob and I decided it was time to get some dinner and relax. We did, afterall, have the massive Anjunabeats party with Above & Beyond and presented by Made Event to attend later Thursday evening. And since I’ve been trying to connect with Made to photograph Electric Zoo for them on an official basis, we wanted plenty of...
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MMW2011: Belve Music Lounge - Thursday
As we continue to look back at Miami Music Week, we move to Thursday. It was at this point you could really sense the energy in South Beach building. Of course there were a ton of people in town on Wednesday. But it was almost like a switch was flipped Thursday morning. Suddenly every single hotel, every restaurant, every damn cab, had dance music blaring from the speakers. The streets were...
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MMW2011: Gareth Emery at Dream
We continue our look at Miami Music Week by closing out our Wednesday in South Beach back at Dream Nightclub. This time we were the guests of Gareth Emery and Garuda Records at Gareth’s Northern Lights Re-Lit Album Release party. I want to throw a hugh thank you out there to Sophie with Garuda who not only took care of us but was such a delight to meet and hang out with throughout the...
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MMW2011: Beatport Beach Party
We continue our Miami Music Week coverage with a look at our Wednesday in South Beach. This was the one day that Rob and I didn’t have 5 different parties to attend, so we spent the morning shopping, enjoying cocktails and renting scooters. Yes kids, we rented scooters (see image below after the break). But once the afternoon hit, we wandered over to the massive Beatport Beach Party at the...
April 2011
4 posts
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New Gear Opens Up the Night
So the above photo isn’t really one of my best shots at night. Hell, it’s just another building in DC. And it’s the view I see every day from my balcony. But over the past two weeks, I decided it was time to invest some real money on my photography and the gear I work with. And so the above images is a reflection of that investment. The shot was taken using my new Nikkor...
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Miami Music Week: The Adventure
You’ve probably noticed a lack of content coming from the ole’ Urban Marinade production shop. That’s partially because I’ve had more photos to process and post on dougvansant.com and various social media sites than ever before. (Roughly 2000 shots came home with me from Miami Music Week.) I’ve also been trying to figure out how best to present all the media Robert...
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Tons of Miami Music Week Content...
I can only say, get ready for a visual and audio assault on your senses, direct from Miami. It’s been just over a week since we returned from Miami Music Week and Ultra Music Festival and we’ve got tons of content to share. Photos from every party we attended. Video from almost every DJ we saw perform. Oh, and about 400 images from Ultra, the mother of all dance music festivals. Get...
March 2011
6 posts
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Are You Jealous Yet?
As Robert Fairbairn and I get set to board our flight to Miami, I thought I would share the local forecast through the weekend. Sorry… =)
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Miami Music Week Countdown
If you happen to follow any of my various social media outlets, you’ll already know myself and Robert Fairbairn plan to be in Miami next week for what is being called “Miami Music Week.” This consists of hundreds of parties and DJ shows that lead up to the massive Ultra Music Festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For my non-dance music friends, this is essentially Super...
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Photo Review: Sander Van Doorn at Glow
Whoa, I just realized I haven’t updated you guys with any photo reviews since Ferry Corsten killed it with Club Glow January 1st. As my friends would say…”that’s bollocks!” So why don’t we go ahead and start with this set from Sander Van Doorn’s visit on February 5th. Sure, I posted galleries of Morgan Page, Avicii, Glenn Morrison and Cosmic Gate - all...
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February 2011
2 posts
Dougvansant.com Gets A New Look
A few weeks ago I started looking at my photography site and though…damn, this site needs a new look. Generally speaking, Dougvansant.com has gone through several different designs. The first few versions were more news oriented and designed to show friends and family what I was up to. But the past two designs shifted to a more photography based look. This latest is a continuation of my...
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Blast from the Past: Minneapolis-St. Paul
Well here we go again. I decided to dig into my photo archives and uncover yet another collection of shots that never got produced. These come from an October 2008 trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul for the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown. This was right around the time I started traveling extensively for dancing, so I made a point to photograph these random cities I would visit. I can remember this...
January 2011
10 posts
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Ask Sander van Doorn
One thing is certain, Urban Marinade and Doug Van Sant Photography will be at FUR with Club Glow on Saturday night for the #12 DJ in the world, Sander van Doorn. We’re also pretty sure we’ll be spending some time with Sander asking him questions about his latest music, tour and his fancy iPad giveaway. But we don’t want to have all the fun alone. We want you, his fans, to have...
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Put on the Gloves
Last week I had a fantastic opportunity to photograph a fashion show at Town Danceboutique benefiting a great cause. The event was titled “Put on the Gloves” and featured works from local and national designers and included a special performance by Grammy Award-winning artist and DC native Mya. All of this was to benefit The Trevor Project and Capitol Queer Prom. As a photographer...
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Once Upon A Night With Ferry Corsten
After spending 10 days in Seattle over the holidays, we made a point to get back to DC for a proper New Years Eve celebration. An added treat was knowing No. 9 DJ in the world, Ferry Corsten, would be performing at Glow January 1st. An added bonus was knowing I’d photograph the show for Club Glow as well as catch up with old friends who were on tour with Ferry. It was about as perfect as...
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Fairbairn Set to Take Over Muse
As the weekend draws near, it’s time to think about what to do. You honestly can’t go wrong coming into the city and hitting up any of our major clubs. But there is a party going down in Chinatown that deserves some attention. DJ Robert Fairbairn is spinning a set at Muse Nightclub for the first time ever. It will be one of his first sets in DC that is not directly tied to last...
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December 2010
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Save The Trees People
As the holidays approach us, I wanted to share some light-hearted images of what a car looks like after the owner parks near any of our wonderful nightclubs here in the District. It’s especially bad if the owner parks near a cluster of nightclubs, such as K and 14th Streets in this case. As Rob F. and I left Lima this past Thursday night, we noticed what looked like an entire tree worth...