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WHEN JESSE WAITS looked out over the pool area at his nightclub XS, he was proud of the kind of guests that the EDM wave had attracted to Las Vegas.

當(dāng)Jesse Waits眺望他的夜總會XS的泳池區(qū)域，他為EDM浪潮吸引來到拉斯維加斯的客人感到自豪。

Four years after opening, XS grossed around $80 million a year, which was the highest sum for a nightclub in the entire United States. The place had become the prime hub for a mixed bag of fashion models, sports stars, gamblers and financiers from Silicon Valley. This was largely due to the fact that Waits had managed to attract almost every headliner in house music. When the two founders of Instagram sold their company to Facebook, it was here they went to take a selfie with Avicii and Deadmau5. Star actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy were among the regulars, British Prince Harry had started taking DJ lessons and came here to party.

開業(yè)四年后，XS每年的總收入達(dá)到了約8000萬美元，在全美夜總會中排名第一。這里已經(jīng)成為時尚模特、體育明星、賭徒和來自硅谷的金融家們的主要聚集地。這主要?dú)w功于Waits成功地吸引了幾乎所有浩室音樂界的大牌藝人。當(dāng)Instagram的兩位創(chuàng)始人把公司賣給Facebook時，他們就是在這里與Avicii和Deadmau5一起自拍的。像Leonardo DiCaprio和Tom Hardy這樣的明星常來這里，英國的Harry王子也開始學(xué)習(xí)DJ課程并來這里聚會。

But in the spring of 2013, Jesse Waits was beginning to face competition.

但是在2013年春季，Jesse Waits開始面臨競爭。

He had already sensed trouble when the contracts for the spring season were to be written and the agent who represented the majority of the biggest artists had stopped answering his calls. In the end, it was the Scotsman Calvin Harris who had whispered that there would soon be a new challenger in the city.

當(dāng)春季演出季的合同即將簽訂時，他已經(jīng)預(yù)感到了麻煩，因?yàn)榇泶蠖鄶?shù)大牌藝人的經(jīng)紀(jì)人已經(jīng)不再接聽他的電話了。最后，蘇格蘭人Calvin Harris悄悄告訴他，這座城市很快就會出現(xiàn)新的挑戰(zhàn)者。

With a pounding heart, Jesse Waits had driven to his boss Steve Wynn’s house and told him about the rumours: the casino hotel MGM Grand would apparently start a competing club.

Jesse Waits心急如焚，他開車趕到老板Steve Wynn家中，把謠言告訴了他：賭場酒店MGM Grand顯然要開設(shè)一家與他們競爭的俱樂部。

The really worrying thing was that in the background there seemed to be capital on a whole new level. Jesse didn’t know much, but rumours were that a sultan or prince was involved. His boss made a few calls and they soon realised that behind the investment in the MGM Grand was a fund in the United Arab Emirates run by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of the Crown Prince of the wealthy oil kingdom. Five years earlier, the same royal had been behind the purchase of the British football club Manchester City, and with new top players for hundreds of millions, the club had just won the English league for the first time in over forty years.

真正令人擔(dān)憂的是，他們幕后的資本似乎達(dá)到了一個全新的高度。Jesse知道的不多，但有傳言稱一位蘇丹或王子參與其中。他的老板打了幾個電話，很快他們就意識到，MGM Grand的投資背后是阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國的Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan運(yùn)營管理的的基金會，他是這個富裕石油王國的王儲的兄弟。五年前，同樣是這位王室成員以數(shù)億美元收購了英國足球俱樂部曼城，并以新的頂級球員為俱樂部贏得了四十多年來的首次英格蘭聯(lián)賽冠軍。

Now the sheikhs clearly wanted to enter the house music scene. Several of the biggest artists were rumoured to have been offered around $300,000 a night to play at MGM Grand’s new club Hakkasan.

現(xiàn)在，沙特王子們顯然想要進(jìn)入浩室音樂領(lǐng)域。有傳言稱，幾位大牌藝人已獲得每晚約30萬美元的報價，在MGM Grand的新俱樂部Hakkasan演出。

‘I see,’ Jesse’s boss said when he hung up. ‘Look, these guys don’t give a fuck about money. They have enough not to care. It’s all about ego, they just wanna win.’

“我知道了?！盝esse的老板掛斷電話后說道?！奥犞@些家伙根本不在乎錢。他們有的是錢。這完全是出于自尊心，他們只想贏?！?/span>

More sharks had begun circling in the water. Billboard Magazine, the prime publication for the music industry in the United States, had recently graced its cover with an elderly man in a leather jacket and white moustache. Robert Sillerman was unknown to most fans, but this was a man who had fundamentally changed the music industry.

水中開始聚集了更多的鯊魚?！禕illboard》雜志是美國音樂行業(yè)的一流出版物，最近在封面上刊登了一位穿著皮夾克、留著白色胡須的老人。Robert Sillerman對大多數(shù)歌迷來說是個陌生人，但他從根本上改變了音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)。

In the 1980s, he had bought over a hundred local radio stations in the United States before venturing into concert venues and booking companies with a similar strategy: take over, merge, refine and corporatise. By the turn of the millennium, he had resold his empire for almost $4.5 billion. The company was named Live Nation and became the world’s largest concert organiser.

在20世紀(jì)80年代，他先在美國收購了一百多家地方廣播電臺，然后采用類似的策略進(jìn)軍音樂會場館和預(yù)訂公司：收購、合并、優(yōu)化和企業(yè)化。到了千禧年之交，他已經(jīng)以近45億美元的價格轉(zhuǎn)售了自己的帝國。該公司名為Live Nation，成為了世界上最大的音樂會組織方。

Now Sillerman said that he had around a billion dollars that he intended to invest in dance music.

現(xiàn)在，Sillerman說他有大約十億美元打算投資于舞曲音樂。

‘I know nothing about EDM,’ the sixty-year-old said in the article, even though he had already sent out proposals to eighteen companies stating that he had an interest in buying them. ‘But I sit in the meetings. I meet the people whose places we’re buying. And I haven’t a fucking clue what they do or what they’re talking about. Not a clue. And I love it.’

“我對EDM一無所知?！边@位60歲的人在一篇文章中說道，盡管他已經(jīng)向十八家公司發(fā)出提議，表示他有興趣收購它們?！暗覅⒓恿艘恍h，我見過我們要收購的公司的人。但我根本不知道他們是做什么的，也不知道他們在說什么。毫無頭緒，我就是喜歡這樣?！?/span>

It shocked the industry that someone was so casually flaunting his ignorance about what he intended to invest billions in.

有人如此輕率地炫耀自己對他打算投資數(shù)十億美元的項(xiàng)目一無所知，這令整個業(yè)界震驚不已。

Tim Bergling had mixed feelings about the rapid development.

Tim Bergling對快速發(fā)展有著復(fù)雜的感受。

Older men in suits competing to be the first to package a new youth movement was of course a sign of the influence of house music.

西裝革履的年長者爭先恐后地包裝一場新的青年運(yùn)動，這當(dāng)然是浩室音樂影響力的表現(xiàn)。

At the same time, the development affected the perception of him. The prejudice that a DJ was not a real musician lived on to a very high degree, not least in Sweden where the rock tradition still cast long shadows. In David Guetta or Ti?sto or Avicii, critics saw driven businessmen without artistic ambitions. Beats created on speculation. Tim always dismissed that notion. He argued that he made exactly the kind of music he had fallen in love with in his bedroom – it was the financial interests that had come to him and the house scene, not the other way around.

與此同時，音樂發(fā)展也影響了人們對他的看法。認(rèn)為DJ不是真正的音樂家的偏見仍然普遍存在，特別是在瑞典，搖滾樂的傳統(tǒng)仍然投下了長長的陰影。在David Guetta、Ti?sto或Avicii身上，評論家們看到的是沒有藝術(shù)抱負(fù)的商人。音樂是為了賺錢而創(chuàng)作的。Tim一直否認(rèn)這種觀點(diǎn)。他認(rèn)為他制作的正是他在臥室里愛上的那種音樂——是經(jīng)濟(jì)利益主動靠近他和浩室音樂圈子，而不是相反。

But seen in that light, the gigs in Las Vegas could feel vulgar and tasteless. Nowhere was the shameless blurring between business and art more clearly expressed than at XS, where many of the visitors sought a social context rather than music. The price tag on the bottle was more important to some guests than who was in the booth.

但從這個角度來看，拉斯維加斯的演出可能會讓人覺得庸俗且缺乏品味。在XS，商業(yè)和藝術(shù)之間的無恥模糊表現(xiàn)得最為明顯，許多客人追求的是社交而非音樂。對一些客人來說，酒瓶上的價格標(biāo)簽比碟機(jī)后面的人更重要。

At the same time, Tim appreciated his friendship with Jesse Waits, and it could not be denied that it was easy money. Before the 2013 season – while the new club Hakkasan attracted several other performers – Tim signed a contract with XS: during the spring he would play in Las Vegas every Friday for around $325,000 per gig.

同時，Tim非常珍視他和Jesse Waits的友誼，不可否認(rèn)的是這也是輕松的賺錢機(jī)會。在2013年的演出季開始前，當(dāng)新俱樂部Hakkasan吸引了許多其他表演者的時候，Tim與XS簽訂了合同：春季期間，他將于每周五在拉斯維加斯演出，每場表演的報酬約為32.5萬美元。

It was during such a weekend that Tim got a glimpse of his new girlfriend.

就在這樣一個周末，Tim瞥見了他的新女友。

Racquel Bettencourt had flown in with a friend from Los Angeles, where she had moved a couple of years earlier to study interior design.

Racquel Bettencourt和一位朋友從洛杉磯飛來，她幾年前搬到那里學(xué)習(xí)室內(nèi)設(shè)計。

Racquel and her friend loved the new music from Sweden – Swedish House Mafia, Alesso and Avicii – and then there was no better place to party than Las Vegas.

Racquel和她的朋友喜歡來自瑞典的新音樂——瑞典浩室黑手黨、Alesso和Avicii——沒有比拉斯維加斯更好的聚會場所了。

For several years Bettencourt had worked as a bartender in her hometown of Toronto, and through her work at nightclubs she had got to know Jesse Waits. The two girlfriends therefore moved comfortably and relaxed in the Las Vegas nightlife, where female beauty was hard currency and girls entered the clubs for free or at a reduced fee. The newly rich men in the bar would never spend tens of thousands of dollars if there were no women to impress.

Bettencourt在家鄉(xiāng)多倫多做了幾年的酒保，通過在夜店工作，她認(rèn)識了Jesse Waits。因此，這兩個女孩在拉斯維加斯的夜生活中感到自在和放松，女性美貌在那里是硬通貨，女孩可以免費(fèi)或減價進(jìn)入俱樂部。如果沒有女人可以打動，那些新富豪們就不會花費(fèi)數(shù)萬美元。

Around the stage at XS was a VIP area surrounded by ropes. There, the celebrities could party by themselves, while their presence made the regular guests feel that they were in the company of stars.

XS舞臺周圍有一塊被繩子圍起來的貴賓區(qū)。名人們可以在那里獨(dú)自聚會，而他們的出席讓普通客人感覺自己被明星圍繞。

As David Guetta was playing upstairs, Tim’s and Racquel’s eyes met for a moment. It was just a brief glance, but Tim’s interest was piqued.

當(dāng)David Guetta在樓上演奏時，Tim和Racquel的目光在瞬間相遇了。雖然只是短暫的一瞥，但Tim對她很有興趣。

The weekend before, he had ended up in a big quarrel with Emily, one of those when all the unspoken grudges came to the surface all at once. Emily felt that Tim took all his stress and frustration out on her and Tim felt that Emily didn’t understand that the job with the album required his full attention.

上一個周末，他和Emily大吵了一架，所有說不出口的怨氣一下子都涌上了心頭。Emily覺得Tim把所有的壓力和挫折都發(fā)泄到她身上，而Tim則覺得Emily不理解專輯的工作需要他全神貫注。

Tim was hungry for a fresh start. But he did not dare to approach this stranger and say hi; he had always been too nervous for such things. Instead, it was one of Jesse Waits’ colleagues who had to facilitate the connection, after which Tim and Racquel tentatively began to text each other.

Tim渴望一個新的開始。但他不敢走上前與這個陌生人并打招呼；他總是對這樣的事情過于緊張。最后，還是Jesse Waits的一位同事幫他牽線搭橋，Tim和Racquel才開始試探性地互發(fā)短信。

When they were both back in Los Angeles, they began to see each other in a late-night restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard, just below the house Tim rented. Most of the time, it was already midnight when Tim finished in the studio, and as the traffic began to lighten outside the window, Racquel talked about her family back home in Toronto. She had previously been an elite gymnast, but in recent years had become interested in interior design. The courses at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising were her dream education.

回到洛杉磯后，他們開始在圣莫尼卡大道上的一家深夜餐廳里見面，這家餐廳就在Tim租的房子下面。大多數(shù)情況下，Tim結(jié)束工作室的工作時已經(jīng)是午夜時分，當(dāng)窗外的車流開始減少時，Racquel聊起了她在多倫多老家的家人。她以前是一名優(yōu)秀的體操運(yùn)動員，但近年來對室內(nèi)設(shè)計產(chǎn)生了興趣。時裝設(shè)計與營銷學(xué)院的課程是她夢寐以求的教育。

In the early hours of the morning, they would take an Uber up to the house in the mountains where they popped popcorn and watched reruns of Jerry Springer’s talk show.

凌晨時分，他們會叫一輛優(yōu)步去山上的房子，邊吃爆米花邊看Jerry Springer的脫口秀的重播。

Racquel was glad that Tim seemed to be living such a sensible life. A few years earlier she had been partying a lot – far too much, she now felt. She was looking for something quieter and to her great surprise seemed to have found it in a DJ.

Racquel樂于看見Tim過著如此理智的生活。幾年前，她一直在參加聚會——現(xiàn)在她覺得自己太過分了。她一直在尋找一種更平靜的生活方式，出乎意料的是，她在一位DJ那里找到了它。

Tim, in turn, was amazed at how quickly he felt safe with Racquel. That she was three years older was noticeable with some small things – sometimes he could laugh to himself at how bad she was at choosing the right emojis, for example, but maybe that’s how it was when you were twenty-six years old?

反過來，Tim也很驚訝，和Racquel在一起，他很快就有了安全感。她比他大三歲，這一點(diǎn)在一些小事上很明顯——比如說她有時候會選錯表情符號，Tim會在心里笑一下，但或許當(dāng)你已經(jīng)二十六歲時就是這樣吧？

The advantage of the age difference was that Racquel seemed to be done with her worst party years and was now looking for something else.

年齡差的好處在于，Racquel似乎已經(jīng)度過了她最糟糕的派對歲月，現(xiàn)在正在尋找其他東西。

‘She is great for me,’ Tim wrote to Jesse Waits. ‘Rly is.’

“她對我很好，”Tim發(fā)消息給Jesse Waits，“真的很好?！?/span>