COVER STORY13

WEEKLY | 06.15.17

12WEEKLY | 06.15.17COVER STORY

I M P A C TPLUS: AT HO ME WI TH I NSO MNI AC F O UND ER PASQUALE ROTELLA

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E L E C T R I C

ELECTRIC DAISY

CARNIVAL June 16-18, 7 p.m.-5:30 a.m.,

$355-$699. Las Vegas Motor Speedway, lasvegas. electricdaisycarnival.com.

Free live stream at redbull.tv/festivals.

GEAR upGoing beyond (banned) LED gloves to keep things moving

If you went to EDC prior to 2011, you’ve been witness to “gloving.” The decade-old art form grew out of raves and electronic dance events, but LED light gloves—white Mick-ey Mouse-style gloves with lights in the fingertips—have been banned by Insomniac events for the past six years due to their perceived associ-ation with drug culture. Other large-scale EDM festivals have followed in EDC’s footsteps in recent years.

But don’t worry. There are still plenty of LED and high-tech products on the market that are welcomed at EDC, from poi (tethered weights originally used in the tradition-al Maori dance) to kaleido-scope and diffraction goggles.

LED shoes were spotted all over festival grounds last year, and we anticipate seeing them again for 2017. Websites like electricstyles.com don’t just stop at shoes—they’ve got LED light-up crop tops, blacklight bow ties, snap backs, hoodies and more.

Plan on dancing all night? Head to emazinglights.com—the trusted brand that made gloving so huge in the first place—for affordable poi sets with different color and reac-tive motion light combinations.

Moodhoops.com has a vast assortment of LED hula hoops (yes, those are still permit-ted), including the Future Hoop. At $300 a pop, the Future Hoop creates dif-ferent color combinations and geometric patterns for memorable, face-melting performances.

Sites like goodtoglow.com, raveready.com and fest worthy.com also sell a number of cool accessories, from LED halters and leg wraps to hydra-tion packs, goggles and more.

Whatever rave swag you plan to sport, just remember to check EDC’s list of accept-able items before you make your final PLUR-chase. –Leslie Ventura

How DoES EDC TAkE oVER VEGAS? LET uS CouNT THE wAYS

When Electric Daisy Carnival moved to Las Vegas from LA in 2011, Insomniac Events founder Pasquale Rotella

figured, and hoped, he had found a good fit. “Mayor [Oscar] Goodman had his martini in hand [at a press event], and we were getting questions, like, ‘Can Vegas handle this many peo-ple?” Rotella recalls. “And he said, ‘We handle this amount all the time, and we’re actually going to show the rest of the world how to do it.’ It made me feel like the support was going to be unique from any of the other festivals I do around the world.”

Las Vegas’ entertainment and hospitality framework has provided an ideal foundation for EDC to grow and thrive upon, but neither Goodman nor Rotella could have envi-sioned all the ways the annual dance music festival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway would provide a boost for Vegas.

EDC Week takes over the Strip’s day- and nightclubs with EDM stars in virtually every venue, and the EDC Week Charity Auction (launched in 2015) has raised more than $355,000 for local nonprofit organizations. But the impact is as much cul-tural as economic; EDC has become one of the most attended events on the annual Vegas calendar.

The 2015 and 2016 festivals each boasted attendance of more than 405,000 over three days, translating to at least 130,000 people dancing each night at the speedway. Some are local, but the hotel occupancy rate for EDC weekend (97.6 percent in 2016) is among the highest throughout the year. EDC also compares well with non-entertainment events—the largest conventions held in Las Vegas (like CES and SEMA) typically hover around 150,000 attendees. With big numbers like that and its party-ready crowd, EDC has become like a second, slightly smaller Memorial Day holiday weekend here. –Brock Radke

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Chayce/TNG Models | Photograph by Christopher DeVargasMakeup by Tai Shane/Makeup Now USAHair by Antonio Simpson/Makeup Now USA

Staying Safe uNDER THE ELECTRIC SkYElectric Daisy Carnival aficionados will tell you there’s a right way and a wrong way to EDC. We talked to some pros about the best ways to stay safe and healthy all weekend long, especially if it’s your first time or you haven’t been in a while. Don’t forget, it’s a desert out there.

1SAVE YouR mEDICAL INfoRmATIoN. If you have an iPhone, set up your medical ID through the Health app. By saving

important information, paramedics and first responders can act faster in the case of an emergency and access your details without needing a passcode.

2DowNLoAD THE EDC App. Familiarize yourself with the layout using the EDC map. Once you’re there, walk

the festival grounds and locate the bath-rooms, first-aid stations and emergency exits. Designate a common meeting spot with your friends.

3BRING A SpARE CAR kEY. Give the spare to a friend or stow it in a safe place that you’ll remember later.

4STAY HYDRATED. Drink plenty of H20 (and coconut water!) before you even get to the festival. Bring an

empty EDC-branded water bottle you can keep with you at the festival. Heat stroke is no joke.

5 pACk A CooLER IN THE CAR. It isn’t un-common to get stuck in the Speed-way parking lot when the event is

over. In case traffic is terrible, make sure you have water and snacks for the ride home. –Leslie Ventura

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WEEKLY | 06.15.17

14WEEKLY | 06.15.17COVER STORY

FIRSTTIMERSRÜFÜS DU SOL Fresh off a headlining show at Red Rocks with Chromeo, the trio is definitely on an upward swing: Its second record, Bloom, hit No. 1 in its native Australia on the strength of sleek, soul-tinted house and electro. This EDC appearance will be a live set—Rüfüs’ first in Las Vegas.

REiD SpEED It’s hard to believe Reid Speed hasn’t played EDC Vegas before. Then again, the influential bass music/drum ’n’ bass DJ is certainly keeping busy, between her record labels, gig schedule and her discovery-laden Speed of Sound podcast.

Mija She rose to prominence after collaborating with Skrillex, but the Phoenix-raised DJ/producer is an eclectic Re-naissance woman with plenty of tricks (and styles) up her sleeve. Her latest track, “Se-crets,” is an amalgamation of frenetic drum ’n’ bass and punkish house, while other tracks amplify her dislike of genre pigeonholes.

RUbEn DE ROnDE Dutch trance DJ/producer Ruben De Ronde keeps good company; among oth-er things, he has toured with Armin Van Buuren. The pair are well-matched, however: De Ronde’s measured sets boast European progres-sive house flair and the kind of measured dramatic arc that’s not easy to perfect.

bOOMbOx CaRtEL Mad Decent-signed upstart Boombox Cartel (aka Jorge Medina and Americo Garcia) is probably best known for 2015’s “B2U,” a light-on-its-feet trap house swerve. The duo’s other output—including this year’s Cartel EP—is equal parts party-starting electro riot, gnarled house hybrid and hazy comedown.

REzz Upstart Canadian DJ/pro-ducer Rezz has released music on Deadmau5’s label, Mau5trap. Although her ink-black approach to techno and house is far more sinister and downtempo than that of her label head, two recent EPs, The Silence Is Deafening and Something Wrong Here, reveal a similarly iconoclastic heart.

nUCLEya Nucleya—whose recent Bass Yatra tour saw him do 30 shows in 18 cities for 200,000 people—special-izes in a wildly experimental, high-energy fusion of Indian dance music, bass and dub-step. Crank up the dizzying, palpitation-inducing “Lights” from 2016’s Raja Baja EP.

GRiz It’s not every day you find an artist boasting about his saxophone and computer skills. Then again, Detroit-based GRiZ (aka Grant Kwiecinski) is the kind of genre-blind, forward-thinking DJ/producer that’s becoming more common these days. Last year’s Good Will Prevail is a funk- and soul-leaning LP with a panoramic electro foundation.

CUt SnakE The Australian-born Cut Snake—comprised of ex-pro surfers Sedz and Fish—fa-vors no-frills tech and deep house that’s suitable for marathon dance sessions. Now based in LA and signed to Warner Bros., the feel-good duo recently released the impeccable “Stomp,” a slab of insistent, watery house ecstasy.

bLaCk tiGER SEx MaChinE The masked Montreal trio comes from the MSTRKRFT school of electro: zipper-like synths, corrugated beats and abstract, blurting vocals. The group’s seedy sound is tough to pin down, however: 2016’s Welcome to Our Church also incorpo-rates hip-hop, reggae and early-’90s house influences.

ExPLORINg THE ARTISTS MAkINg THEIR FESTIvAL DEbUTS

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B r i n g i n g h i p - h o p t o t h e e D M p a r t yIf you’ve stepped foot into a nightclub, listened to the radio or taken a glance at social

media over the past two years, you’ve probably heard a song produced by Metro Boomin or DJ Khaled. ¶The former—a 23 year-old St. Louis native—is the brains behind chart-top-

ping hip-hop hits like Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” and Big Sean’s “Bounce Back”; the latter is a Snapchat sensation whose superior networking skills have allowed him to collaborate

with Drake, Beyoncé and Justin Bieber. And the two hip-hop stalwarts are moving the boomin’ bass and skittering hi-hats from the big rooms, radio waves and laptop speak-ers to the most major of festivals—Electric Daisy Carnival 2017. ¶ Sonically, they’re very

different: Metro Boomin’s textured compositions tend to stay on the darker side, with minor keys and ominous melodies, while DJ Khaled aims for the four-chord anthems that

blur the lines between pop and rap. Though it might seem strange to bring either to EDC, their influence is undeniable, with big-name Vegas residents from Tiësto to The Chain-

smokers looping their tunes into sets on a nightly basis. It’s a testament to the role hip-hop and trap now play in Vegas nightlife’s ever-evolving landscape. –Ian Caramanzana

Left: Black Tiger Sex Machine (Courtesy). Below: Metro Boomin (Photograph by

Jon Estrada/Special to Weekly)

By Annie ZAleski

16WEEKLY | 06.15.17COVER STORY

In February 2016, Paul Van Dyk suffered a brain injury

and spinal damage falling off the stage at Utrecht’s State of Trance festival. A year-plus removed from the accident, he’s getting back to what he does best. He’s confirmed as a 2017 resident DJ at Cream—the longest-running residency in Ibiza—and is deep into a new album due this year. We caught up to chat about EDC, new music and his recovery.

How did your recent U.S. tour go? It was really good, amazing. The crowd that came out was so dedicated and so passionate.

Were there any songs in particular that created a huge reaction? The tour was catered around me and my music, so whenever I played one of my own tracks, people went especially crazy. Like “Touched by Heaven,” which was a track we released together with the tour, almost like a tour anthem.

How and when did that song come together for you? I wrote it in Los Angeles. That was actually the week after EDC last year, the very first time I played after my accident. I felt so relieved that I was still able to play. Until that point, I wasn’t sure if my creativ-ity was still there, if I still know how everything works. That track has very special meaning to me.

What do you recall about performing at EDC last year? We chose the show specifically to be the first one [back], because the whole Insomniac [team] are good friends. I knew I was in good hands. It felt very safe for me. There was more than one moment where the goose bumps

actually changed into tears of happiness and gratefulness.

How are you feeling now? I’m much better than I was one year ago, but the injuries from the accident are rather severe, so it is going to take a long time until I fully recover. Although I’m able to walk and talk seemingly very eas-ily again, there are non-apparent side effects that will hinder me for the next several years. The projection of my doctors is that it’ll take up to five years to make a full recovery. It comes with a level of pain, and I’m exhausted far faster. I almost don’t have any, let’s say, spare battery with me. And when I do something like performing, it drains me quite a lot. But at the same time, I’m the happiest person and the luckiest person, to still be alive, and also to be able to do what I love.

Has what happened changed your musical approach in any way? Life in general is always my biggest inspiration. And all the music was created, and is still in the process of being created, under the influence of what hap-pened ... I wouldn’t say a deeper approach, because I always made my music with that. It feels closer to me somehow. It’s difficult to describe.

Do you have any rituals or go-to places that you like to visit when you’re in Las Vegas? I haven’t been in Vegas for quite some time for a proper club show. Everything developed more into table and bottle-ser-vice kind of shows, and that’s not necessarily my audience ... I’m just going there, I’m enjoying the vibe and enjoying the city, and I’m looking forward to the show.

ART CAR STAROrange is the new black’s taryn Manning spins at EDC

Fans fresh off binge-watching the new season of Orange Is the New Black on Netflix might be surprised to see a familiar face behind the decks on EDC’s Kalliope Art Car Sunday night from 3 to 4 a.m.Taryn Manning, who plays Tif-fany “Pennsatucky” Doggett on the show, has also been moonlighting in the music industry for years, first with her brother as Boomkat and now as a DJ.

You’ve been DJing for a long time and went to the Scratch DJ Academy a decade ago. Where did your love of DJing come from? It started with a love of music. A lot of my influences were turntablists or hip-hop [artists], and it turned into a love of dance music. ... It [also] started with my brother Kellin; he’s a breakdancer, too. [When] I went [to Scratch DJ Acad-emy] I already had turntables, but I wanted to be respectful to the craft. They don’t use Serato or anything; they go from the roots with vinyl, and you’re marking the vinyl and counting in the beats and all that stuff. It was really cool.

What genres will you be working into your EDC set? I’m going to play a lot of stuff that’s mine and a lot of stuff from all the DJs I respect the sh*t out of, and all the bangers. I mean future bass, trap, dubstep, a lot of house and deep house, just every-thing that’s cool and works together. I’m not genre- specific, I’m more open format in the sense of wanting to please the crowd. They’re there for dance music, but we all know how people love to hear hip-hop, too.

Do you have any new tracks people should listen for in your set? I just put out a song called “GLTCHLFE” on May 5, and that’s also going to be on the compilation for EDC. It’s a dance song, and there’s about 25 differ-ent remixes of it for every format… I also have a track with Sultan & Shepard, “Send Me Your Love,” that went to No. 1 on the Bill-board Dance charts a few years ago. –Deanna Rilling

B R I N KB A C K F R O M

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PAUL vAN Dyk RETURNS TO EDC WITH NEW ENERgy AND NEW MUSIC By Annie ZAleski (P

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