Enamour Will Bring the Heat and Cool Breezes During His Rose Avenue Set

What was once a week anchored by Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Art Week has mutated into something akin to March's Miami Music Week in December. Nightclubs are packed and festivals pop up all over the city, attracting partygoers hungry for more than just the art hanging on gallery walls.

Enamour (AKA Michael Gold) is one of many DJs playing with week, with the D.C.-native, Los Angeles-based producer bringing his unfettered blend of melodic-meets-progressive house to Hialeah's Factory Town on Thursday, December 7, where he will be spinning at Rüfüs Du Sol's Rose Avenue showcase.

"I'm hoping to test a bunch of my upcoming releases, some of my hits from this past year, and some recent favorites to get everyone in the party mood while still building anticipation for the many hours ahead," Gold tells New Times via Zoom.

Gold's résumé includes releases on Last Night on Earth, Get Physical, Factory93, Rose Avenue, and Anjunadeep, with remixes for Hayden James and Above & Beyond. He sets himself apart from the pack with a distinctive DJ set accompanied by tools that allow some improvisation.

"I enjoy spicing up my DJ sets with effects pedals and loops and such," Gold explains. "I'm slowly working on an album, and a lot of those songs fit that description, so [branching into a live set] may be something I explore soon. I'm just a little underwhelmed with a lot of live sets that are cropping up. It seems like more of a marketing tactic than a true live performance — and I'm not interested in going down that path for the sake of it."

Rüfüs Du Sol's imprint Rose Avenue has cultivated a specific sound with emotional sonic landscapes that aim to form an emotional connection with the listener.

"I suppose that it could be the distinct emotional quality of progressive house and melodic house and techno that separates it from other dance genres as well as connects it to nature," Gold says. "A lot of these songs also have epic characteristics to them — similar to gazing out onto a landscape, for example — so the awe-inspiring, scenic visual aspect during DJ sets seems appropriate for those genres."

Gold's year included nonstop touring and stops at nightclubs like Miami Beach's Treehouse, which hastily closed earlier this year. "The first time I ever went was for a Nick Warren and Hernan Cattaneo B2B during Miami Music Week many years ago, and it was such an incredible and intimate set," Gold says of his first visit to South Florida. "Super packed and sweaty, but everyone locked in for the long haul."
This year also saw Gold pushing forward his production, including a passion project: remixing Cristobal Tapia de Veer's theme song for HBO's hit series White Lotus, which quickly became a dance-floor favorite.

"I think remixing stuff for fun to include in your sets is great if done tastefully — it gives fans a nice surprise, almost an Easter egg for those who share similar interests," he adds.

He is closing out 2023 with one last remix: Felix Raphel and Fabian Sprungk's "Close."

"'Close' stood out because it had such a dark and brooding vocal that I thought could work well over a heavier instrumental," Gold says. "At the time, I was writing darker, peak-time music, and after just the first listen to the original, my mind jumped to making the breakdown more epic with a big payoff in the drop. I suppose it's grittier than my usual work, though you can find a similar thread in certain releases over the past three to four years."

He aims to keep touring and producing next year, teasing that a new EP will be out on Anjunadeep in 2024.

"I've got the Anjunadeep EP out in January and then a two-track EP with Paraleven on Rose Avenue," he adds. "This Anjunadeep EP has been a long time coming. It includes 'Brush the Dust Off Your Soul,' which was featured on their annual compilation earlier this year, as well as one of my sought-after IDs, 'Crystallized' with a vocal from Run Rivers, and the dreamier B-side 'The Quieter You Are,' which I actually started writing at the beginning of COVID lockdowns."

But before next year's flurry of releases, Gold's set during Thursday's Rose Avenue showcase at Factory Town promises to be a nonstop, sweat-induced affair.

"A big lesson [learned this year] is the importance of balance. This year was my busiest yet, and I had to balance my touring schedule with personal downtime as well as my creative impulses against the practicalities of finishing and releasing music," Gold says. "This year taught me that maintaining this equilibrium is not just about time management, but also energy management."

Rose Avenue. With Rüfüs Du Sol, WhoMadeWho, Cassian, Chloé Caillet, Enamour, and others. 7 p.m. Thursday, December 7, at Factory Town, 4800 NW 37th Ave., Hialeah; factorytown.com. Tickets cost $63.20 to $286 via dice.fm.