Miami has become an annual hot spot for dance music fans playing host to the Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music both, reputable parties for industry and alike.

Over the last decade there have been some defining moments that have resonated around the world, some of which were captured by dance music producer Henrix who’s releases have spawned from Cr2 and Laidback Lukes Mixmash label.

In it are stories of major festival players, infamous trio Swedish House Mafia and even exclusive contracts.

1. Ultra moves from South Beach to Bayfront Park

 

“The first 2 years of Ultra Music Festival in 1999 & 2000 it was on Collins Park on South Beach and it coincided with the end up WMC. The festival in 99 did 10,000 people and the year 2000 did even more! So after 2 great years Ultra out grew Collins Park and relocated to Bayfront Park. I think that was the first crucial moment in WMC history and thats when people realized that this could be something big”

2. Swedish House Mafia play their first show at Ultra as ‘SHM”

 

“I think it was 2009 when Swedish House Mafia first played at Ultra together as “SHM” officially. That performance will go down as one of the most memorable performances I’ve ever seen. They had just released Leave The World Behind with Laidback Luke and the hype around that track was insane, I remember they released it right before WMC started.

As memorable as the Ultra performance was, the after party at Mansion Miami was even bigger. Everyone showed up to that party including any DJ that mattered. They all played their own parties and ended going there after wards and SHM played a 3 hour set. I think that was a big turning point to when you noticed EDM was becoming more mainstream”

3. Ultra Musical Festival making headline artists sign exclusivity contracts

 

“I believe it was 2010 when Ultra decided that they were going to make an exclusivity contract with the headliners. The headliners that were billed on the Ultra lineup weren’t allowed to play or have their own after parties at clubs. Set a change in power as you can clearly see Ultra was becoming the power behind WMC. A Lot of artists still had their parties but weren’t allowed to put their names, the flyers had.. ”and special guest appearance”, but people knew who was showing up haha.”

 

4. WMC Splits from Ultra Music Festival

 

“In 2011 Winter Music Conference decided to host their events in the beginning of March and not the end. Everyone of course thought that Ultra Music Festival would follow them in this move but they didn’t, they decided they were going to keep the festival in the end of March when Spring Break was happening, causing to have 2 split weeks of events and then of course the beginning of what we now call Miami Music Week (MMW).

At this point everyone knew who was King as most of the DJs opted out of WMC and decided to come for MMW when the festival was happening. Eventually they came back together but at this point everyone knew who ran the festivities in Miami”

5. Swedish House Mafia plays their final show

 

“In 2012 SHM announced they would be splitting up and they were going on their final tour together and ending it with their last show at Ultra Music Festival in 2013, where they had first started in 2009. That night was a memorable one. Everyone came out to see the ending of an era that lasted only a few years. The production was insane and there was a lot of emotions that went through that show. Saw a lot of people crying in the crowd as no one could ever think SHM would break. When the night ended, I feel like people left with not believing this could be their last show. There were still a lot of unanswered questions that people didn’t seem to have the answer to.”

Check out Henrix’s latest “Warrior Perv” with Swedish duo Mason’s Rave as well as upcoming tour dates.

06 Mar 2015 – Mixx at Borgata – Atlantic City/USA
11 Mar 2015 – The Light Vegas – Las Vegas/USA
21 Mar 2015 – Club 50 at Viceroy – Miami/USA