Sam Kalchbrenner As everybody is well aware of by now, we are in the midst of an exceptional time period. Covid-19 has brought life as we know it to a grinding halt. Unfortunately for us, that includes live music events, shows and festivals. It is now April 16th and I personally haven’t seen music performed live since March 11th when I caught Blunts and Blondes on his Hot Box tour. With no opportunities for attending a show in sight, I feel like a real-life representation of the GIF of crackhead Dave Chappelle scratching his neck. The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on all aspects of life, and the music industry is no exception. We have witnessed an almost-complete disappearance of 2020 festival season. I feel I speak on behalf of everybody in the scene when I say that summer festivals were powering me through school and work. For a while, there was a small sliver of hope for Insomniac festivals such as EDC: Las Vegas and Electric Forest, the two who held out on postponing the longest. The likelihood of EDC:LV happening on its original dates seemed like a pipedream, as it was originally scheduled for May 15-17 which is fairly early in regards to festival season. Forest seemed slightly more realistic, as they had until June 25th for the pandemic to subside. For many, the postponement of these two festival giants was a soul-crushing blow. With festivals falling victim left and right: Ultra, BUKU, Coachella, SXSW, Bonnaroo, Beyond Wonderland, Deja Voom, Lightning in a Bottle, Movement, Ubbi Dubbi, and more, the best case scenario is that we have a late-August & September that are jam packed with every festival that was postponed from earlier in the summer. However, the seemingly unfortunate reality is that it’s beginning to look bleak that we may get any festivals at all in 2020. Despite all this, the powers-that-be in the industry are doing a great job making the best of a shitty situation. The people of the scene have been provided with several opportunities to see virtual concerts by some of the biggest names in the genre. Proximity and Brownies & Lemonade teamed up to provide us with Digital Mirage, an entire virtual rave (via YouTube) with what was, quite frankly, a stacked fucking lineup. Some of the names included were Louis the Child, Ekali, Ghastly, G Jones, Medasin, Chet Porter, Alison Wonderland, and many others – all of whom recorded sets from different locations, in true quarantine spirit. Insomniac CEO, Pasquale Rotella, announced Escape Halloween: Virtual Rave a Thon for this upcoming weekend, which will host AC Slater, Slushii, Dillon Nathaniel, Tsuruda, Yultron, and others for our viewing pleasure. Additionally, numerous artists haven taken it upon themselves to stream sets on various platforms individually. Although it isn’t quite the real thing, it’s a great way to keep spirits high in these bleak times and offer a sense of comradery among fans.
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Holly Metcalf If you’re familiar with the Bloomington music scene, you may have heard the name CHARBROIL floating around. And no, we’re not talking about the grill - although this DJ and producer, otherwise known as Wyatt Harmon, did take on his alias when the absence of a table to set his equipment on at a party he was booked to play led him to use a charbroil grill instead. Since then, the Bloomington basslord has racked up over 10,000 plays on Soundcloud, played Breakaway Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio, and earned resident DJ status at Kilroy’s on Kirkwood as well as Stacks. His tracks range from filthy bass to upbeat house mixes to trap, meaning his catalog has something for everyone. He recently played Sets 004, an event hosted in the Atrium of Kilroy’s Sports featuring eight back to back sets where local DJs showcased their talent and their mindblowing mixes. Harmon’s set, which he played to a crowd of over one thousand people (and which can also be found on the first episode of Acid House Radio), features a collection of bass-heavy bangers and - wait for it - an appearance by Indiana’s own John Mellencamp. You read that right. Somehow, “Hurts So Good” feels even more patriotic when layered over a dirty bassline. And Sets 004 is only the first of many stepping stones in gaining CHARBROIL the recognition he deserves as a rising artist. His remix of RL Grime’s “In Your Head” edit x Subtronics’ “Glitch Fight” was featured in an Adventure Club set for a packed Ubbi Dubbi crowd. As if that isn’t dope enough, a clip of the track was then posted on Twitter and greeted with positive acclaim by Subtronics himself. Between playing sold-out shows and gaining exposure from some of EDM’s most popular acts, Wyatt Harmon is making waves in the electronic music scene. Keep a look out for a CHARBROIL set near you and follow him on social media - @charbroilmusic on Twitter and Instagram - to make sure you don’t miss out on any upcoming shows. Be sure to check out his Soundcloud as well for all the wubs and wonks your soul desires. Headbanging likely to ensue. Support CHARBROIL in opening for Crankdat March 27, click the link here. Sam Kalchbrenner As a reader of this type of content I’m going to assume that, like me, you enjoy listening to electronic music. If you enjoy electronic music, I’m also going to assume that you’ve been to a rave/festival or two (or 100). One of the core ingredients of an EDM show is loud music. Like, REALLY fucking loud music. It’s one of the aspects of shows that everybody loves, the bass blasting you in the face, reverberating throughout your body. This is all well and good, but it can take a toll on your ears. Imagine this. You and your rave fam are going to see your favorite bass artist, lets say: Excision. You get there early enough so that you can catch all the openers and secure your spots firmly on the rail, front and center stage. You enjoy the distinguished set of each opener before finally, the dubstep don comes out. You headbang away with your friends all night long as the bass knocks in the venue. Afterwards, you and your group head back to your headquarters, excitedly rambling on and on about the events that just transpired. You notice a faint yet definite ringing in your ears that’s just loud enough to be audible, yet not loud enough to be bothersome. You ignore it. Eventually, you decide to call it and go to sleep for the night. You wake up the next morning and it’s gone. Although it may have only been mildly bothersome for a short period of time, that sound you heard is actually a sign of noise-induced damage that was done to your ears. That sound is called tinnitus. It may seem like a standard part of raving, but I will tell you – it’s not. Having that type of damage sustained to your ears on a regular basis does irreversible harm to nerve cells in your ear. Irreversible as in, it does not heal. Sooner or later, if you continue to neglect ear protection, there will come a time where the short period of ringing after a show will become longer and longer, until it becomes permanent. I will tell you as someone who lives with tinnitus every single day that it is simply not worth it. Earplugs are such a simple way to protect yourself, yet the vast majority of ravers still opt not to wear them. Perhaps they feel as if they wouldn’t look cool, or it would detract from the impact of the music. I would ask these people, what’s more important to you? Looking cool at the rave? Or being able to hear at age 35? In my opinion, earplugs make the experience more enjoyable. The music is still entirely audible and you can still hear everything without being at risk of nerve damage. Additionally, I’ve found that earplugs actually reduce the crowd noise which I appreciate, as it makes the music clearer. Earplugs can be purchased online and will usually run $10-$30, depending on quality. Excision himself even sells them on his website, and includes them free in a Lost Lands ticket purchase. Protect your hearing now so you can enjoy the music for a long time. Rave safe, everybody. |
Acid House Content Contributor HighlightArchivesCategories"There's still button-pushers getting paid half a million. And not to say I'm not a button-pusher. I'm just pushing a lot more buttons"
- DEADMAU5 |