Sonic Bloom 2012 Line Up (phase 1)

Tipper
Bonobo (DJ set)
Emancipator
Ott
Eskmo
VibeSquaD
Random Rab
Karsh Kale & Jamie Janover
Papadosio
ZILLA
Minnesota
Ana Sia
GRiZ
Octopus Nebula
Heyoka
ill-esha
Govinda
Stephan Jacobs
Phutureprimitive
Adham Shaikh
Gladkill
Kaminanda
Bird of Prey
SuperVision
Filastine
Sugarpill
Jantsen
Paul Basic
Russ Liquid
Dov
Thriftworks
Akara Project
Lotus Drops

Lightning in a Bottle 2012 Lineup!

Lucidity Festival, on April 13th-15th, looks to be one of the most spiritually transformative gatherings of 2012. Nestled in Live Oak Camp in the hills outside of Santa Barbara, its location is prime; imagine listening to unparalleled groovy beats while wandering in a forest with family new and old. The experience, however, will not only be pleasing to your eardrums. It will likely cause all-sensory gratification – visual, mental, aromatic, tactic, even your taste buds may do a little dance once or twice. It’s all about connections; all are welcome and participants will transcend any mental boundaries they may have had coming into the festival. Everyone is encouraged to get involved in their respective villages to create a mutually contributive and interwoven community. There are six archetypal villages at the festival: Renegade Outpost, Warrior’s Way, Healing Sanctuary, Family Garden, Lovers Nest, and Lunatic Fringe; each represent what each person may identify with or seek to fulfill in coming to Lucidity. The aim is to co-create something beautiful that will never be forgotten… and surely that will happen.

The music lineup for Lucidity Festival is extraordinary. The focus seems to be on relatively chill, downtempo electronic vibes that will resonate throughout the forest. Including some of the world’s most talented live DJs among the likes of Random Rab, Love & Light, Govinda, William & The Earth Harp (the longest stringed instrument in the world), Heyoka, Thriftworks, Phutureprimitive, Bird of Prey, Nicoluminous, and Russ Liquid, the bill is stacked and sure to please. There will be plenty of other unique and quality sounds surrounding you, including elements of dub, IDM, shamanistic, percussion, ambient, beatboxing, wind instruments, strings, lyricists… the list goes on. I really think that each of the musical acts will be stunning, thought-provoking, and the flowing lifeblood of the festival.

Another awe-inspiring aspect of Lucidity Festival will be the live art and art installations. Everywhere you look there will be artists at work in tune with the rhythm of the gathering, as well as intricate yet vast installations open to interaction and interpretation. I am particularly excited to see what Bamboo DNA brings to the plate as I saw some of their remarkable structures at Lightning in a Bottle 2011 and they seem to be boundless in their creations. Walkabout Woods looks to be intriguing as well – it’s a large three-part interactive installation for exploring.

I am looking more and more forward to Lucidity Festival each day. I know it will be life-changing in more than one way and am excited to open my senses to new possibilities!

Check out the Lucidity Festival website for more details and to purchase tickets, and get ready to drink some delicious liquid sunshine in the woods with us!

This Friday, February 10th, Raindance and An-Ten-Nae are throwing an event of EPIC proportions in San Francisco. Of course, I am most looking forward to the top-notch music lineup that will bless our eardrums all night long. We’ve got a solo ediT set; this in itself is enough to make me want to go. If anyone, this guy is THE pioneer of bass. Perhaps overshadowed by his fellow Glitch Mobbers, the extremely talented Ed sometimes goes underrated. What a privilege to get to see him solo – can’t wait for that one! Another set I just can’t wait for is Nasty Ways, comprised of EPROM and Boreta from The Glitch Mob. These are two of the most talented producers/DJs joining forces… yes please! I experienced their live debut at a SnowGlobe afterparty and it was mind-blowing – definitely the highlight of the weekend for me. The rest of the bill is just as exciting, featuring four rooms of first-rate DJs including Loefah, Govinda, JPOD (also caught him live recently and was amazed), Lowriderz, Ana Sia, Wick-It, Mochipet, David Satori, NANDA (killed it in the wee morning hours of Freaker’s Ball), Little John, & El Papa Chango. Not only are they bringing in an insane lineup, but they’re also providing entertainment in the form of a parade, dragon dance, stilt circus, dancers, dragon mask making, instillations, tea, and rad visuals. I can’t wait to see 1015 Folsom transformed into an eclectic environment with some of the most marvelous talent! Anyone who can make it should get their ass to Raindance & An-Ten-Nae’s Chinese New Year Celebration!

I’ve been working on a new project for 2012 and it’s about time I share it with you all! The past few months I’ve become a bit more critical than usual. Bass music hasn’t been doing what it use to do for me. My relocation back home to Miami has changed a lot of things especially my life style. When I lived in Texas I was always out with friends, partying, DJing, traveling, etc… Now I spend most of my time relaxing enjoying the ocean breeze on my balcony. My nights consist of digging for more music and that peaceful state of mind. I’ve grown up and feel like an adult. Music now plays a different role for me now.

It’s not that I’m disappearing now but expect much of my focus to go in this new direction. Lounge Temple is ultimately Afro Monk 2.0 with its primary genres being downtempo, trip-hop, and future bass. It’s a lot more laid back and lounge like.

Not only will the site be something new i’ll be exploring but also have a supporting weekly lounge night here in Miami. I’ve been offered an industry night at The Stage here in Miami. It offers a great environment as well as chance to start something entirely different from your typical club rave night. Gooddroid and I will be playing lounge music ever Sunday night! Chilled Out Sundays starts up February 19th, 2012!

For more information and your chilled out needs go to:
Lounge Temple: Downtempo, Trip-hop, & Future Bass Blog

Looks like South Lake Tahoe, CA is most definitely THE place to be for New Years weekend. And what a place to bring in 2012! The masterminds behind Colorado’s SnowBall, along with some friends of mine who became close homies through Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Snow Club, bring you SnowGlobe: a three-day outdoor festival situated in the stunning mountains of Tahoe. I attended six festivals this year and am confident that this festival will be incomparable (I mean – it’s in the fucking snow!). Make sure you bundle up, and as always, dancing like a crazy person is not a bad idea. There will be a main outdoor stage as well as two tented and heated stages, legit sound and lighting, live art, food and merchandise vendors, afterparties, and shuttles around South Tahoe. Not only will attendees have their eardrums blessed by some of the most talented DJs in the states and catch some of the best artists in the world, but they also get to ride or ski during the day. While Heavenly is the closest resort, if you get the chance to get up to the North side there are a lot of superior mountains to shred up – Alpine Meadows / Squaw Valley being your best option in my opinion.

So check out this ridonkulous lineup; it’s the best that I have seen in a loooong time. They aren’t messin’ around here!
Headliners: Bassnectar. Pretty Lights. The Glitch Mob. Thievery Corporation.
If that’s not enough… other artists I am so psyched about include TIPPER, Emancipator, Big Gigantic, NastyNasty, Paper Diamond, Eliot Lipp, ill-esha, Robotic Pirate Monkey, Samples, B. Bravo, Mux Mool, R-D, Stephan Jacobs, Russ Liquid, and Phutureprimitive.

Another very notable New Years Eve party is just on the other side of the lake at The Cal Neva at stateline in Crystal Bay: 5th Annual Black and White Superball put on by Tahoe/Reno’s biggest bass supplier Fresh Bakin’. I honestly can’t decide if I will be at this or at SnowGlobe for NYE night because I know firsthand that Fresh Bakin’ knows how to throw a top-notch party. This lineup is also astounding: GRiZ, Minnesota, DJ Laura, Pumpkin, Fort Knox Five, and more. GRiZ and Minnesota are in my top five favorite producers right now, so I would have a hard time missing this one!

The last NYE celebration I will mention is the 12th Annual Sea of Dreams at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. If you’re in the city don’t miss this, even if solely for Amon Tobin ISAM – this is a spectacle I have been dying to see. The bill also includes Beats Antique Live, Santigold, and An-ten-nae. Definitely worth hitting up (but I still stand strong by the shows in Lake Tahoe)!

All you West Coasters have no excuse not to be in front of a speaker gettin’ down when the clock strikes midnight on NYE! No matter where you are I hope you bring in the New Year in a memorable and enjoyable way.

Halloween is upon us, and you know what that means. Time to party on down and be that crazy-ass animal/inanimate object/celebrity/monster/profession/freak of nature that we hope to come back as in our second life. There’s gonna be insane parties all over the world- so how to decide where to do some ass shakin?

One of the best events that I attended last year was Freaker’s Ball at Public Works in San Francisco… it’s thrown by Raindance Presents, who obviously knows what they’re doing. If you can make it happen I would highly recommend attending this year! The lineup is stacked both Friday and Saturday; check it: UK’s dubstep pioneer GINZ, Eliot Lipp, Sub Swara, Heyoka, R/D, Ill.Gates, Love & Light, David Starfire, Little John, Bounce Brigade (Russ Liquid & Lafa Taylor), & Stephan Jacobs, to name a few. Worth attending? I’d say so. Check out the Raindance Presents website for more information.

That being established, the set that I probably look forward to the most is Eliot Lipp’s. His recent album with Jasia 10, “How We Do: Moves Made”, is phenomenal and blends mellow jazz with effervescent bouncy bass. You can tell that each piece was well thought out to provide easy listening at its finest. However don’t let the soothing sensations of this release fool you into thinking that Lipp can’t get a crowd moving. I recently had the pleasure of seeing him at a show, and he had a brilliant live set. He’s definitely one to catch if you can make it to Freaker’s Ball.

If you can’t make it to Freaker’s Ball, fret not – there will be lots of wild weekend parties across the nation worth attending. To name a few:
GRiZ, Project Aspect, Slim Thugz, & more in Denver, CO
EOTO, NastyNasty, Bass Science, & More in Spokane, WA
Freaknight in Seattle, WA
Moogfest w/ STS9, Amon Tobin ISAM, Flying Lotus, Beats Antique, SBTRKT, Emancipator, Baths, & more @ Asheville, NC
Bassnectar afterparty w/ Tipper, Govinda, Psymbionic in Austin, TX

Whatever you do, just make sure you get down to some beats and enjoy yourself – in costume! Happy Halloween!

Lightning in a Bottle took place this year from May 27th-30th in Silverado, California. This was the second year where it was held at Oak Canyon Ranch. The layout of the festival was improved dramatically to allow campers easy access to the three immense stages. Last year one of the biggest issues was going up and down the mountain to reach the main camp area and stages. This year it seemed like The Do Lab figured out all the little kinks out and made for one of the greatest events I’ve ever attended.

Right when you drive into the venue an incredible force and vibe takes you. The community unites for this giant gathering of music, art, workshops, and more. People from all over the world unites and creates a small city made up of tents, RVs, renegade sound, shaded areas, grills, and beautiful people. There are three main stage areas that host some of the biggest and rising stars of underground music.

The Wookie stage is one of the first stages you see as you enter the festival looking for camp ground. It was an incredible sight to see. I heard the stage was rocking a FunktionOne sound system but to be honest I stayed clear of that stage. The Wookie stage is generally known for playing House music and too be honest I’m not a huge fan and there was way too much going on to even step onto that dance floor but it definitely was going off every time I came back to camp.

The Lightning stage is where the a lot of the big boys played. The area was massive with an enormous amount of room. This clearly was the main stage area. The production value on this stage was incredible with stunning pyrotechnics during Kraddy’s set. They also brought in giant LED screens for big acts like Pretty Lights and Mimosa. The vibe during the day was more of relaxed journey. I had great memories listening to Invisible Allies during the day on Sunday. I will say many of the opening bands were quite disappointing such as Metal Mother which almost made me wonder what was going on or if this all was just a sound check. The biggest crowd I saw was during Pretty Lights. The place was slammed and had to resort to going backstage to catch his set. Despite Pretty Lights set crashing and having dead air for about 2 minutes kids were still ready to party. Mimosa surprised me with his set as he is known for raging out and playing heavy popular brostep he kept it quite tame and one of the best sets I’ve seen from Tigran. It’s always a surprise though to see such a talented producer not play all originals or even more than 4-5 for hour and half set.

The Bamboo stage is practically where I lived. All my favorites and close friends were playing in this area. The first act I caught at LIB 2011 was Sex Pixels. They won the slot for the mixtape contest and wanted to see who these guys were considering I couldn’t find anything about them on the internet. Turns out they are a duo act and played mainly house music which I thought was odd they were placed on the Bamboo stage vs the Wookie stage considering the style of music they played. Going back to my initial shock of openers were Pussy Monster. I almost felt embarrassed for them as it was one of the worst sets I’ve seen on a major stage. Granted I don’t expect to love everyone but I was just shocked to see such a booking for the opening slot. The rest of the week-end everything I caught on the Bamboo stage was absolutely breath taking for the most part. The vibe and feel of the music being played in this area was clearly geared to more of my style and taste. Friday night NastyNasty stole the show for me. There was nothing that was going to top his set. Having a full 90 minute journey by Jasper was heaven. The way he flowed and broke his set into 30min pieces from dubstep to slow jams to 808 hiphop beats made his set my personal favorite of the entire week-end. A few of my friends also played on the Bamboo stage such as: Stephan Jacobs, Goldrush, Gladkill, ill-esha, Love & Light, Mimi Page, and Joey Mousepad. All of them did such an incredible job up there! Other notable acts were Emancipator, Phutureprimitive, Lynx, and Paper Diamond (which I only heard about and upset I missed Alex’s set).

Lightning in a Bottle doesn’t only cater to the people who are interested in the music but many other things. Many of the workshops I heard were incredible. The art and live painting going on all around the festivals created a real unique experience. Thousands of people dancing, hoola hooping, spinning fire, and sharing each others presence makes this festival one of the better communities to be around. All the vendors and food was excellent. I couldn’t get over how tasty the pizza was. Everything was done with thought and consideration. I never ventured up the mountain this year as it was something I didn’t need to relive. I heard it was gorgeous up there this year but I decided to pass and stay close to camp and others things going on.

Lightning in a Bottle truly encompasses everything you’d want in a festival. It changed my life for the better going last year and this year was nothing short of amazing. The community and people make this festival. The line up may change every year but what doesn’t change is the passion, love, and dedication put into everyone who is involved including you.

Sonic Bloom 2011 takes places on June 24th through the 26th in Georgetown, Colorado! This is the 6th time this event will be held and boy does it have great history behind it. This year will be no different with another legendary line up. The true nature of this event is focused on the art of music. Shadow Ranch the gorgeous location where this will be taking place is one hour outside of Denver.

This year I’m thrilled to be attending as a trip to Colorado has been way over due. A big majority of the readers of this site come from Colorado and can’t wait to visit all the homies out there. It’ll be great to finally feel the magic of the state in a breathe taking venue and incredible festival. I’m looking forward to also seeing some of the locals play some music on their home turf where a huge part of the bass family lives. As of now most of the line up has been posted and wow it’s going to be sexy. I’ve gone ahead and bolded out the ones I’m looking forward to see. This doesn’t mean that some of these guys don’t deserve credit but I feel the ones bolded are the ones that are unique to the festival and are not as common to experience during this years festival line ups. Lets get real most of these artist are worth being bolded but these are my personal favorites.

Line Up

EOTO
TIPPER SOUND EXPERIENCE
MALA (Digital Mystikz)
VibeSquaD
Random Rab
ZILLA
MartyParty
Heyoka
An-ten-nae
David Starfire
LYNX
Break Science
Janover
SPL
Gramatik
NastyNasty
Signal Path
Michal Menert
Octopus Nebula
Future Simple Project
Archnemesis
Juno What!?
Djunya
Love & Light
Nadis Warriors
Jantsen
Fresh2Death
Spankalicious
Somasphere
Project Aspect
The Floozies
DubSkin
Tatanka
Samples
Zobomaze
J.WAIL ft/ Chuck [Lotus]
Rumblejunkie
Seied
Mikey Thunder
Miss Murray
Eminence Ensemble
Vinnie Maniscalco
Papa Skunk
Prophet Massive
S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
Miraja
Unlimited Gravity
Frequent-C
Fisk
DJ Synergy
& more TBA.

Besides an incredible  musical line up the event will showcase many other arts besides music. There will be tons of workshops, yoga classes, exotic food, vendors, and more! Fire dancers, jugglers, live painters, and more will be in full force to set the mood for the experience. Come and experience one of the most well known festivals in the States as we embark on a lovely journey to the Rookies for a few glorious nights of life.

If the sold out Manifestation Celebration in Dallas was just the pre-party where I had to chance to play a set. I can’t imagine how much energy will be present at this event. If that was just a small glimpse of the main event this will be another life changing event that will go down in history. There are still two other pre-parties that will be going on in San Francisco on Friday, May 20th at 103 Folsom and another in New York City on June 11th. Be sure to say hello if you seem me out there. I’ll be hanging and camping with close friend Ethan aka SubSynthesis.

BUY: Sonic Bloom Tickets

More Information:
SONIC BLOOM
Shadows Ranch
1259 Alvarado Road, (County Road 306)
Georgetown, CO 80444

Emissions 2011

Camp Questions Mark & Irie Cartel present EMISSIONS! It’s not very often I post about events on the site but ohh man this ONE is truly worth covering. Emissions is on it’s 3rd year and wow this years line up is mind blowing. This festival is approximately two hours outside of San Francisco. There will be camping at the beautiful location for all three days.

Now lets get straight to the punch, MUSIC! The line up for this festival is one of the diverse line ups I have seen compared to all the major festivals. Diversity doesn’t mean that there’s only some medium grade level headliners mixed in with some local talent. This truly means that some of the biggest names in all spectrum’s of bass music. It is still taking me back how I will be playing at this event as well. This will be the first time I’ll be in San Francisco and couldn’t have asked to play a better event for my first visit. I think the best part of this festival as well is the unity that will take place at this event. There are so many names on the line up that I’ve worked with directly, have booked myself, communicated on regular online, and/or close friends with already. This past year at SXSW it was a dream to be part of the crew that we were rolling around with and I feel this will be no different. At the end of the day we all are here to share the music but what makes this community so special is how closely networked and friendly everyone is. There so many people on here that are playing that I haven’t met in person and looking forward to finally giving a good amount of people some big hugs.  Can’t wait to kick it with all the homies out in Cali!

Now let’s list the two rounds of artist announced. I have bolded some of my recommendations for this. To be fair it’ll probably be quite bias to my personal taste and close friends of mine. Hey I was honest at least right?! Got to support the homies!

Line Up

ill Gates
Vaski
J Rabbit
SPL
Machinedrum
NastyNasty
The Widdler
The Flying Skulls
Ben Samples
Jantsen
Seied
Abstract Rude
Zeno
Bokator
Carrier fmly NTRLD
Minnesota ft. PRFMR
Psymbionic
Blackheart
Skulltrane
Rastatronics
BOGL
The Pirate of DubPirates
Smasheltooth and Thee Bad Bitch Brigade
Johnny 5
Nebakaneza
Ro Knew
El Diablo
Mycho Pan Cocoa
Zombie J
Octopod
Bad/Media
Fresh Young Minds
Roommate
Love & Light
Gladkill
Goldrush
Siren
Willy Whompa
Ribotto
Adsum (Porkchop & Mikey Fisher)
Megalodon
Ultraviolet
Afro Monk
Free Crush (Konekta & Devi)
Carly D
Dr. Knobz
K Theory
Fire Lieber
Dr. Dylon
The Glitch Report
Hypha
Energy Alchemist
Genie
Erin Jale
Du3
Grizzly J
Christafari
RA SO
Supreme
Digital Bill
Mose
INI
Antibiotik
Pushreset
Rich DDT
Jai Solei
Mr. Kitt
Foobz
Ananda G
John Holiday
My Pet Monster
Caidance
Swaggersaurus Rex
& More!

Please shoot me a message if you’ll be attending this event! I’m always interested in meeting new people. It’s such a blessing to be able to share the music to you all. I hope you all could make it! Be sure to grab your tickets now! Apparently there might be a limited amount of tickets. The price you’re paying for this line up is an insane deal! Not to mention there are still more artist to be announced! WHAT?! Yeah I know right…

More Info

2 Full Stages, 3 Day Camping, Chill/Alt. Area, Massive Sound, Gorgeous NEW Venue (w/water, tree shade, level campgrounds & easy paved entry road), Unique Lineup (new fresh music not @ every other festie…yet) , Art Installations, Artist Walk, Daytime Workshops, & so much more!

Limited Pre-Sale – $95. (Limited 200 available or until May 10th)
Pre-Sale – $110. ( available until May 10/Last Chance to Guarantee Entry))
At the Gate – $130.
*Special Limited Family Packs*-10 for $75.each (LIMITED/get asap if interested)*
RV & BUS Parking Pass – $40.

BUY TICKETS!

18+/ Please No Dogs/ Leave No Trace/ No Bad Attitudes

Sound: By the Wobble Factory & more
Art Deco: Jeremiah Allen Welch
Flyer Design/Image: By Sparkuhl
Stage Deco: RageStageDesign
Fire-safety by Fire University
Fire-breathing by Aries