DJ MAG's Lauren Martin and Portugal's DJ Vibe (Underground Sound of Lisbon) discuss “So Get Up” - for the Red Bull Music Academy lecture series 2019

In September of 2019, world-renowned electronic music journalist and editor Lauren Martin interviewed DJ Vibe (António Pereira), the iconic Portuguese DJ, for the Red Bull Music Academy lecture series. During the course of the one-hour long conversation the two spoke five full minutes specifically about the song “So Get Up” which undoubtedly transformed DJ Vibe’s personal career and in fact the entire electronic music economy of Portugal in the 1990’s.

When asked about the recording and the distribution of the song “So Get Up” and how it ‘changed everything’, Vibe spoke at length about now-deceased Kaos Records label owner/promotor António Cunha, co-member of Underground Sound of Lisbon, Rui da Silva and Rob Di Stefano manager of Tribal U.S.A. records which distributed the initial international release of “So Get Up” selling 80,000 copies).

He also speaks of DJ Junior Vasquez who had the recorded exclusively for a full year at the NY’s Sound Factory and created a buzz around the recording, but Dj Vibe fails to even mention the lyricist/vocalist, Greek-Californian Ithaka (Ithaka Darin Pappas), whose rerecording of his 1992 English-language vocal poem, So Get Up, The End Of The Earth Is Upon Us for Underground Sound Of Lisbon, certainly aided in the globalization of Underground Sound of Lisbon, Kaos Records, DJ Vibe, Rui da Silva and Portuguese electronic music in general.

Ithaka had originally written and recorded “So Get Up” on December 13th 1992 for Rádio Comercial – Lisbon, then in Februrary of 1993 recorded an electro version in Manchester for demo of his album project, So Get Up & The Lost Acapellas which was not immediately released.

Underground Sound of lisbon’s “So Get Up” enjoyed wide international success (#83 on the U.K. pop charts in 1994). But apparently, for marketing reasons, So Get Up was presented as a 100% Portuguese creation – even though the lyricist and vocalist was a Californian, briefly living in Portugal, and the song was written and recorded in English.

Ithaka Darin Pappas was largely not credited with his contribution on the new version of his own song.

Furthermore, both Underground Sound Of Lisbon’s label, (Kaos Records, Portugal) and their international distributor Tribal USA (EMI), headed by Rob Di Stefano, released several acapellas of Ithaka’s voice and lyrics without a visible credit, causing a snowball of anonymous bootleg versions and remixes.

In 1997, Stretch n Vern released “Get Up! Go Insane!”, principally using the hook lines of Ithaka’s “So Get Up”, becoming a #17 pop hit in the United Kingdom. “Get Up! Go Insane!”, was also used in a highly-visible Samsung printer commercial in Korea starring movie actress Jun Ji-Hyun. According to all of her biographic accounts, the commercial turned her into a “popular sensation”. The dancing around to “Get Up! Go Insane!” and the attitude expressed in the commercial’s footage made her into an icon for Koreans in their late teens and early twenties.

In 2013, German trance super stars Cosmic Gate, licensed Ithaka’s entire So Get Up vocal for their track coincidentally entitled “So Get Up” (again without a featured lyric/vocal credit to Ithaka). So Get Up became known as one of their best tracks, a ‘stadium banger’ as it was called by DJ MAG. They even manufactured a line of shirts with Ithaka’s lyrics printed on them, with no mention of the author.

By 2020, there have possibly been more than one-thousand remixes of Ithaka’s 1993 vocal acapella recording of So Get Up, becoming one of the most remixed acapellas in musical history. It appears under many alternative titles such as “Get Up”, “Insane”, “Get Up, Go Insane!”, “Next Life”, “See You In The Next Life” “The End Of The Earth”, “Hardventure”, “Headcharge”, “Belther”, “Last Resurrection”, “PPF (Past Present Future)”, “Intensity”, “Forget The Past”, “Trance Line”, “Viginti Etduo”, “Have A Blast”, “Turn To Dust”, “Alien Life Forms, Goodbye My Friends”, “Jet Airplane”, “Speed O.J.”, “Zombie”, etc..

“So Get Up” remix artists include: Armin Van Buuren, Fatboy Slim, Danny Tenaglia, Junior Vasquez, Dj Vibe, Oxia, Peter Bailey, Orion’s Voice, JJ Mullor, Dani Sbert, Lexington Avenue, Dylan, Derek Marin, Public Domain, K-Traxx, Technoboy, Bob Ray & Van Dyuk, Ben Gold, Pelari, Miss Kittin, Dave Seaman, Dade (ITA), Carlos Walker, Alien Project, Second Nature, Pomella, John Neiland, Br1an, DJ Healer, Traumprinz, Joseph LP, Rab-Beat , Pirro, Matheu, Neanderthal Phonogram, Omar Lopez, Liquid Viking, MotivBreaks, Chaka & Marty, Jay Dahbi, Hu Bee, Frankyeffe, Township Rebellion, Rui Flip, Dani Villa, Rodri Vegas, Dr. Funk, ZRG, Swing Kings, Acti, Antolini, DANTEE, Alternative Journey, Nell Silva, Geometric Dark, Pepo, Pacho, Club Atlas, Branko, Buraka Som Sistema, Alex Di Stefano, TNT, Zatox, Marc Hartman, Meat Katie, DJ Dũng Tí , Future Plays, Manu Kenton, Dejay D, Ozy & Ash, Derk Marin, Marcel, Doppeldosen, Maik Ibane, Cubik, Checo Zak, Fuelo Ruedo, Paradigm X, Samir Kuliev, Lee Burridge, Razat, Alex Page, DJ Kryst-Off, Breaker, Micromakine, Gu’Brian, Trolley Snatcha, Mr. Argenis, Let’s Try, Audio Noir, Peace Maker, Ninja, Cab Thomas, Loose Effects, JJ Mullor, Dani Sbert, Atmozfears, Igor Carmo, Pelari, Ben Gold, Koozah, Slow Panpot, Furio Levant, Bob Ray, Van Dyuk, Morgana DJ, Damien Blaze, Audio Noir, Hardwell, Agustin Servente, Matias Chavez, HeatBeat, Danny Garlick, Hakan Sarugil, Cassien Jean, Marco Calanni, Bageera, Black Force, Horizon, DJ Pibert, Outworld, Plusculaar, Mike Steventon & Tone, Bart Skils, Peace Maker, Philippe Rochard, Andrea Doria & Dino Lenny, 2 DJs In A Room, Steve Hill & Technikal, Seikos, Dantime, Maziano, Lochness DJ Team, DJ Zorneus, Phunk Investigation, Sharp & Smooth, Mowree, Lexicon Avenue, Architect, Committee, Low End Specialists, Dan Robbins, King-Size, Eric Kupper, Mert Yucel, Dylan, K-Traxx, High Voltage, K-Traxx, PCP, Ce Ce Lee, Atlantis ITA, Pathfinder, Jason “Jinx” Zambito, Tecmania Rebel, Patrick van der Hart, Public Domain, Sarasite, etc.

Ithaka Darin Pappas - vocalist/lyricist of all versions of the song, "So Get Up"