Beyond the mainstage, Ultra Music Festival has a history of curating forward-thinking house and techno lineups that rival any of the downtown and South Beach antics during Miami Music Week. Returning to Bayfront Park Friday, March 24 - Sunday, March 26, Ultra's Resistance will host two stages of heart-stopping techno and groove-inducing house.




Most are fully aware of the iconic Megastructure with its hulking framework, astounding LED bars that rise and fall from the ceiling, and next-generation artistic design. However, Resistance Cove is where you want to be for outdoor intimacy, perfectly positioned for Miami's beautiful tropical weather. Isolated to the side of Bayfront Park Resistance Cove was designed to bring a tiny slice of the memorable Resistance Island concept to Bayfront Park. Set amidst a grove of palm trees, it offers storytelling views of Miami's skyline and Biscayne Bay.




The weekend features three full-day stage takeovers from some of the most respected brands in underground dance.




On Friday, Nicole Moudaber takes on an unexpected yet exciting new location bringing her Mood label family to the intimate side of Resistance. She'll light up the night with a jaw-dropping B2B with techno legend and CLR boss Chris Liebing. UK-born Maya Jane Coles and Swedish star Ida Engberg will bring their powerful female techno-magic to the stage. Luigi Madonna will perform alongside fellow Italian techno don Roberto Capuano reviving the intensity of their 2020 Drumcode collaboration Mad World. And rounding out the intense opening day is Aussie-born, London-based Juliet Fox, who will keep the energy high and fire off some tasteful tracks.

On Saturday, Joris Voorn will unleash his Spectrum project. Started to encompass his divergent duo of record labels in 2005, Spectrum has grown into a force of its own, encompassing a record label, events series, and radio show.




Voorn tells Gray Area, "This is an exciting moment for Spectrum. Hosting the Cove stage at Ultra in Miami with such an all-star lineup - it's going to be an amazing day." And we agree. Joris will continue a weekend of massive talent at The Cove. Heading things up with him are Iranian maestro Dubfire doing a b2b with Danish native Kölsch. Afterlife regulars Mind Against will bring their emotionally drenched melodic sounds to the stage. Fideles, known for their transcendental dreamscapes, will craft a caringly curated musical journey. And Franky Wah, who recently launched his new label SHÈN, is a must-see act as he always delivers and serves his crowd with an unworldly blend of euphoric breakbeat, techno, and house.

On Sunday, Dirtybird heads tap in! The dad West Coast house and leader of Dirtybird Records, Claude VonStroke, is pulling up with his wonky and fresh, out-of-the-box tech-house tunes. VonStroke tells Gray Area that the Dirtybird crew is "kicking off a new year of Dirtybird Players shows and festival appearances. This is our full-label tour in about four years, so everyone is excited about it."




Claude is bringing the finest members of the birdhouse to close out the festival: Rules Don't Apply founders and owners Walker & Royce, modular synth demon Lubelski, everyone's favorite sour and sweet tech house titan VNSSA, Basement Leak founder and producer of one of Dirtybird's most defining hits "OKAY" Shiba San, rising twin duo RaeCola, and Kyle Kinch who has recently begun to dominate the international circuit.

Everyone leaves Ultra with the sense that the Megastructure is one of the festival's crowning achievements. However, with a lineup like this, you'd be kicking yourself if you didn't spend a good amount of time at Resistance's small but mighty little sister. The Cove may be a smaller stage, but the acts are massive, and the music will be next-level.



























Resistance Cove is The Move for Underground House and Techno at Ultra Miami

Claude Von Stroke’s trailblazing label, Dirtybird, has become synonymous with innovative music punctuated by left-field elements. Some tracks got groove, some have power, but all are guaranteed to be delightfully weird. “Ice Cream Cone,” by Claude Von Stroke, Lubelski, and Life On Planets is a certified bop with a shuffle-ready beat and enticing production, but the tune recently received a mind-numbing remix that pushes it to the highest echelons of avant-garde.





Exploring the bounds of dance music isn’t for everyone. It takes a strange mind to concoct something fit for the Dirtybird library. But no artist is better suited for the challenge than legendary producer, Skream. Not only did he undeniably impact the development of the dubstep genre in the early 2000s, he is also one of few artists to successfully pivot from dubstep to house. Recently, we’ve seen the multi-label head stoke the old flames of his first love while playing a prominent role in the greater dance music landscape. This mastery of the light and the low end comes to a head in Skream’s four-minute Modular Remix of “Ice Cream Cone.”



Push play and listen to what might be the most alluring industrial glitch around. A steady bounce into sense-tingling hypnosis seems unavoidable as a minimal percussion kit sets a hollow but steadfast tether to reality. Distorted vocals cast a peculiarly tempting spell while mechanical ticks ring out into space, shamelessly suspending listeners in a state of guarded seduction.




Saying this track is off-the-wall would be an understatement, and that’s exactly why we love it. If true art sparks feeling and conversation, consider us set ablaze.

Skream Gives Lubelski’s ‘Ice Cream Cone’ a Hectic Modular Remix

LP Giobbi, Mary Droppinz, Rinzen, Lubelski, Andreas Henneberg & More Share How The San Diego Crew Has Positively Impacted Their Lives & Boosted Their Careers







Not long after I moved to San Francisco in 2013, a friend played me Mikey Lion’s set from the first Desert Hearts Festival the year prior. I was instantly hooked and listened to the mix and my favorite deep and sultry cut from it, Elektrochemie’s "Pleasure Seeker," countless times. Then and there, I became a fan of deep house, Mikey Lion, and Desert Hearts. Consequently, my dance music journey veered into more underground sounds and scenes. My friend told us tales of the infamously snowy and intimate first festival and took us to the very chilly and fun fall 2014 DH Fest, where I felt at home amongst the friendly weirdos reliably found on the dance floor.

On May 4, Desert Hearts Festival returns with their 11th(!) edition at their newer home at Lake Perris with a stacked lineup featuring Catz’ N Dogz, Claude VonStroke, DJ Holographic, Derrick Carter B2B Mark Farina, Skream, Atish, DJ Seinfeld, Dusky, Tiga, Lubelksi, Mary Droppinz, Rinzen, and many more. They'll also be bringing their lively parties across the country again, including in New York and Detroit in March. What magical memories await you under the Desert Hearts disco ball?

It’s been amazing to see Desert Hearts continue to grow and expand while still feeling like a big, wacky family. And the growth hasn’t only positively impacted its four pillars (Mikey, Porky, Marbs, and Lee Reynolds), it’s had a profound impact on many of the fellow artists they’ve shared the spotlight with via their label, festival, and global events. Their positive reach has spread beyond the stage to countless fans who’ve had life-changing moments on their dance floors. Inspired by a Facebook comment from piano house queen LP Giobbi about DH’s powerful impact on her DJ career, we reached out to her and other DJs and fans for their stories on how the House Techno Love crew has positively impacted their lives.

LP Giobbi, Mary Droppinz, Rinzen, Lubelski, and Andreas Henneberg shared that working with Desert Hearts has dramatically affected their careers.



For LP, getting asked by Mikey to play a Desert Hearts livestream early in the 2020 lockdown was pivotal in lifting her mood and keeping her in the game. Without any gigs, she considered looking for an alternate career to stay afloat. At the time, she was DJing on her own channel, and her friends and regular collaborators SOFI TUKKER would “raid” their viewers over to her after their daily stream. Later, Insomniac would tap her for regular streams, but before that, when her following was still small, DH noticed her and reached out, and everything changed.

“I had an extremely modest social following at the time and right after the [DH] stream I checked my IG and saw that my count went up a couple hundred, which was insane for me then! And people were tagging me in their stories sending me kind messages. I had no idea just how badly I needed that boost on an emotional level,” LP says.

“One of the greatest gifts anyone can be given is belief in themselves and this community did just that. As a DJ, you get fueled by the energy of a dance floor and I was obviously deeply missing that during the pandemic. I was really surprised to feel a similar sense of belonging and energy and joy through the DH Twitch chat, which is a testament to how positive that community is.”

Partly inspired by Burning Man, Desert Hearts borrows the principles of radical self-expression and radical inclusion as a core part of their community. They champion eclectic sounds and trippy art on the label and at the festival, never limited to one sound or aesthetic. They continue to celebrate artists that join their family for the long haul, but are also seek to celebrate new talent and seasoned champs. And with their ever-growing fanbase, everyone is welcome and encouraged to dress to express, and let their freak flag fly.

Los Angeles-based Mary Droppinz also officially connected with DH as a DJ through livestreams. However, she’d been regularly attending their festival since 2015 and worked on their marketing team before she quit to focus full-time on DJing. Both as a fan, former coworker, and guest DJ, she’s felt supported by DH.

“Being a Desert Hearts DJ is honestly my greatest achievement. I personally had that as my goal when I started following this dream; to play DH was my first DJ dream. I didn’t even plan that an opportunity would present itself for me to work with them and build a relationship with them like it did. I noticed a growth and depth in my community 100 percent since going to DH Festivals since 2015 and then DJing for them [in 2020],” Droppinz tells us.



“They were always so supportive of me as an artist, keeping up-to-date on my latest and encouraging me… [When] the pandemic hit, Mikey, Tim, Phil, and I started collaborating on the Twitch livestreams I’d host on DHTV. It was honestly so dope to go through it together like that and see how massive the whole scene got on Twitch. I feel we all went through some crazy dimensional time warp and we just kept the vibes and beats strong over the interwebs. We will never let anything stop us from spreading the love through music! It really is awesome to see how much the streams impacted people.”

LA’s cinematic techno technician Rinzen joined the crew in 2019 to help Marbs, and Evan Casey launch the Desert Hearts Black sublabel, a home for darker sounds echoing the mood of late nights and early mornings, with their collaborative Torus EP. He made his debut at the fest that year with a sunrise set, and has remained a core part of DH Black.




“I’ve always thought that Desert Hearts attracts one of the most loving, fun, and music-savvy crowds in the US (if not the world), and it’s been a huge privilege to both perform and release music for this community. As my own career evolves, Desert Hearts have continued to give me some very incredible opportunities. As a producer, I’ve released seven tracks with them now (with more on the way). As a DJ, they’ve consistently put me on the road for their Desert Hearts Black showcases,” Rinzen explains. “Beyond that, I’ve grown especially close to Marbs and am proud to call him a good friend. I would describe the impact they’ve had on my career as a fortuitous blessing (is that redundant?) and something I’m continually grateful for. The biggest thing I’ve learned from Desert Hearts (and specifically Marbs) is actually a DJ perspective: it’s the power and importance of keeping a steady, relentless groove in a set. To choose my breakdown moments wisely, and to otherwise keep things moving along.”

For LA tech house champ and Percomaniacs head Lubelski, DH played a significant role in supporting his rise and inspiring him to really “go there” with his sound.

“It’s obviously had a big impact on my early growth under my Lubelski moniker. With DH Records, Mikey gave me a platform to thrust my weird house tunes into the world. And with the festivals and parties, the DH crew let me show how deep my crates could go. It all set the tone for how much I could push the envelope with my sets and releases,” Lubelski writes.

“Getting to know Mikey, Porky, Lee, and Marbs, as well as all the other wonderful weirdos by proxy has been an absolute pleasure. Going to my first DH Festival really opened my mind to the possibilities of expression in music and life in this sort of uncompromising, unadulterated fashion. Having their trust to push my vision of music on their label and parties fills me with gratitude. Obviously, meeting the attendees and making new fans at the shows has been amazing. The dance floor at Desert Hearts Festival is one of my favorite places on earth.”

And for their overseas brethren, Berlin rave mainstay Andreas Henneberg, DH’s continued support helped him finally break into the US market. (If you want to catch him in SoCal, he’ll bring his Cascandy alias to the festival again this year.)

“The Desert Hearts family had and still has a massive impact on my US career. Before I became a part of the crew in 2015/2016, I just had a few US bookings every now and then, mostly East Coast, NY, and Miami. The market is huge and completely different from the European scene. It’s difficult to get a foothold without any connections. My releases on the Desert Hearts label, the festivals, and the countless City Hearts raves had a huge impact.



The Desert Hearts fans, or as they say, their family, also feels very special. They welcomed me with open arms right from the beginning and showered me with love. Rather than being DJs and fans, it is kind of a big group of friends that get together, and you make great connections every time,” Henneberg reflects.

“I think one of the big differences to the rest of the world is that Americans tell you when they really like something. Positive feedback can be pretty rare nowadays. The kindness and positive vibes everybody contributes blew my mind right from the first time I went to the festival site. That’s not to be taken for granted.

Also, the friendships we developed over the years mean a lot to me. There is a lot of hugging going on every time we see each other. I sit here in Berlin, watching the whole thing grow. It’s fascinating how a little party in the dirt, some impartial dreams, and a lil’ bit of love can explode to what it is now.”


The messages from fans who reached out to us echoed the powerful connection on the DH dance floor and within their community.

Naomi from Washington DC discovered DH almost accidentally but instantly knew she was at home, amongst the colorful revelers in the often-dark-color-donning town. “The first time I walked into a Desert Hearts party was 2016 at Flash in DC Everyone was dressed in beautiful bright colors and the vibe was incredibly friendly, I knew I was at home. I had never heard of the label or party but after that night I was hooked. I’ve been to so many DH parties since then, [had] chats with Mikey, and felt the best feeling ever when you get gifted a DH necklace. I’ve never felt out of place.”

For Phoenix DJ Kody Black, DH has continued to inspire him and his sound. “I have been DJing for around eight years and I have been a fan of Desert Hearts since I first heard a mix from their label on SoundCloud back in 2016. My fandom really kicked in when I first saw them at Gem & Jam Festival in 2017. I’ll never forget walking into the late-night stage and Lee Reynolds was playing an insane house remix of ‘Low Rider.’ The energy all four of them had, and the vibe of all the fans in the audience was palpable. Over the years, they have become the biggest influence in my sound. Meeting them at their events and seeing how down-to-earth they are confirmed what I’ve felt in their music the whole time.”







For @charnizard from Denver, Desert Hearts is the best birthday party she could ask for. “Desert Hearts Festival is on my birthday every year and I’ve met some of my favorite people in the world there. Kevin Knapp and I had met in Berlin and reunited our friendship at the festival. I also brought an incredible girl named Lucy who was able to capture the sheer love and vibrancy of the festival as an incredible videographer.”

Hailing from San Diego, DH’s home, Zaquari’s birthday also falls during the festival. DH was his introduction to house, and he’s been hooked ever since. “DH has had a monumental impact on my life not only as an artist but in a spiritually healing way as well. My first house music event ever was my first DH event… [And] my first DH festival in 2017 was a pivotal shift in my life’s journey. Being submerged for three straight days in that lovingly chaotic and unique festival experience was truly soul-fulfilling. DH has created a safe, loving, and supportive community, where individuals can feel free and comfortable to express themselves fully.

As a dance music lover, you dream of being a part of something so special… The work those boys have put in have inspired so many new DJs and collectives/festivals to adopt that same ethos of House, Techno, and Love!”

If you’re ready to get a healthy helping of house techno love, snag your Desert Hearts Festival 2023 tickets, which go on sale this Friday, February 3, at 10 a.m. PST. 

Artists & Fans Share the Positive Impact of Desert Hearts 

When Mikey Lion, Marbs, Lee Reynolds, and Porky started throwing parties with a few dozen friends in the desert, even they couldn’t have imagined their ragtag dust-covered crew would grow to become the powerhouse of west coast house and techno music that it is today. More than ten years later, Desert Hearts Records and Desert Hearts Black musically represent two sides of the same stylish coin. Their music ranges from fun-loving, trippy, daytime house to weird, dark, and sometimes even malevolent techno. Like Enid Sinclair and Wednesday Addams, the differences between the two are night and day, but together they represent something exceptional.






Apart from sold-out tours, bookings in more than 20 different countries, a wildly successful music festival, an infectiously fashionable merch line, and an entourage of more than 30 music producers in tow, Desert Hearts is far from a flash in the pan. Emblematic anthems in their catalog, like Mikey Lion’s “Above the Clouds” and “For The Love,” flex bouncy, sunny songs. At the same time, tracks like “Helix” and “Torus” from Marbs induce a moonlit shuffling, face-melting bliss that is so irresistibly addictive that it may as well be drugs.




Whether you’re a Desert Hearts die-hard or you just want to hear what all the fuss is about, sit down next to a speaker, pump the tracks below into your ears, and join us on a journey that showcases the duality of house and techno as much as it distinguishes DH from their peers in the genre.








1. Andres Hennenberg, Mikey Lion - The Tortilla Rap

Uptempo grooves and reverberating vocals gel in this potent mix from Andres Hennenberg and Mikey Lion. The lyrics sum up the end result, saying, “I made a song about a tortilla. It actually was a wrap.” If you’re a sucker for synthy crescendos and soft highs, this one may as well be your anthem.




2. Marbs - Needed Time

Off-beat and heavy-hearted, Marbs doesn’t hold back – ever. Like his infamously creative visual designs, his decorative soundscapes will have you time-traveling back to the early warehouse days of modern techno. His magnetic seven-minute banger, “Needed Time,” is a token example.




3. Lee Reynolds - People Like You

Like a fine wine, Lee Reynolds’ music will get you lit. With braps and bloops that could only originate from the far end of known space, his club-thumping track “People Like You” is as much a journey to experience as it is a lure to the dancefloor.




4. Porky, Mitch Dodge - Chameleon

When it comes to getting weird, nobody does it like Porky. In 2020 he teamed up with Dirtybird regular Mitch Dodge for “Chameleon.” Today, the boisterously beated track, which is known for blending island drums and stripped-down hip-hop hooks, is a fixture in his sets on the road.




5. Mikey Lion, Lubelski, Jackson Englund - When I’m With You

The low-fi keys and jazz guitar that adorn the colorful builds in Mikey Lion’s hit piano house track “When I’m With You” is like a day by the pool for your earholes. Englund’s silky RÜFÜS-like vocals and Lubelski’s technical prowess take the song to a whole new level too.






6. RYBO, Lubelski - Favela Funk

If maracas were contagious, it would be easier to break down the many reasons why RYBO’s undulating track “Favela Funk” is so sick. The hest of this gritty ‘City Hearts’ styled serenade is reminiscent of Spring time block parties, but with an extra kick.







7. Rinzen, Marbs, Evan Casey - Ark

Rinzen’s cinematic repertoire shines through in the shimmery track “Ark.” Co-starring Evan Casey and Marbs, it’s a definitive Desert Hearts Black sound, shrouded in mystery with a prepossessive flair.




8. Beth Lydi - Jump the Couch

Tribal percussion, steady shifts, and raining highs distinguish Beth Lydi’s “Jump the Couch” as a walloping paean. In addition to a sweltering rhythm that intensifies through the life of the song, her sound is a colorful addition to the Desert Hearts label. It’s at home as much in the club as on “the Playa.”




9. Popof - Rubber (SHADED Thicc Body Remix)

Somehow futuristic and nostalgic at the same time, Popof’s tech house heater “Rubber” offers 8-bits with a lot of oomph. With beefed-up sways courtesy of SHADED, it’s one of the defining tracks on the artist’s 2021 EP, Hybrid.




10. Joyce Muniz, G.rizo, Lubelski - Deeper the Soul (Lubelski Remix) 

Kaleidoscopic vocals and rhythmic verses bridge the world of soul-hop with tech house in Joyce Muniz’s orgastic track “Deeper the Soul.” G.rizo’s charm throughout the track is palpable, while Lubelski’s pyrophoric touch puts a mad science-flavored spin on the song.




11. Tini Gessler - Acid

Basslines and upbeat allures may as well be signatures in Tini Gessler’s persona behind the decks. The flailing harmonies of her captivating track “Acid” serve as a reminder that she’s a powerhouse who adds something unique to the Desert Hearts family, while standing strong just fine on her own.




12. Kevin Knapp, Baby Luck, RYBO - Cute (RYBO Remix)

RYBO’s booty-shaking spin on Kevin Knapp’s club catalyzer “Cute” puts the song in third gear, making it perfect for club listening. With Baby Luck’s playful vocals laid on thick, it’s also a brilliant summer anthem with attitude to spare.







The Essential Desert Hearts Playlist

How a lifelong passion for electronic music and community building for Dirtybird Records head honcho Claude VonStroke helped establish Dirtybird as one of the preeminent brands in American electronic music.






In the early 2000s, long before he was Claude VonStroke, Barclay Crenshaw independently produced and directed the documentary Intellect: Techno House Progressive. Some regard Intellect as one of the most comprehensive films ever made about DJs and underground electronic music culture.



Intellect features a staggering amount of interviews from pioneering DJs and electronic music producers—Juan Atkins, Miguel Migs, Orbital, Paul Van Dyk, Deep Dish, Sandra Collins, Steve Lawler — the list goes on. Justin Martin, the first cornerstone producer on Dirtybird Records, also made much of the original music for Intellect rendering the catalyst for the foundation of Dirtybird Records.




“Derrick Carter and I were in New York on 9/11. I was completely broke. And I still had to finish my movie,” recalls VonStroke. Despite the tragic events, the desperate director did what had to save his fledgling documentary.




“I went and begged [Carter] to do his interview. He didn’t want to do it. No one wanted to do anything [after 9/11]!” said VonStroke, speaking to Gray Area at Dirtybird Campout. “But he came down out of his room at the W Hotel and did the best interview of the whole [documentary]. Last night, we were chatting about [Carter’s Intellect interview] for the first time since it happened,” reminisces VonStroke.




“Full circle. That’s 21 years later,” VonStroke says, a look of awe quickly spreading across his face.




Roots run deep at Dirtybird Campout.




CHICAGO HOUSE

“It’s so good!” barks DJ Sneak in response to a query from fellow DJ Mark Farina as two Chicago house legends join ringleader Derrick Carter in the Thursday night Bass Lodge booth.




Being onstage like that at Campout “is like cooking with your best friends in somebody’s kitchen that we know,” says Sneak.




“The funny part is that we don’t even speak about what we’re gonna play. We just show up and play. That’s always been our formula, we just freestyle. We’re so seasoned, we each have a style. When we come together — it’s magic.”




Deron Delgado, Dirtybird Records label manager, explains Campout’s booking of the three living Chicago house legends to open the festival.




“Sneak and Carter and Farina — we literally grew up listening to [them] before any of us were DJs,” says Delgado. “Personally, they’re three of my biggest influences growing up as a wee raver.”




Sneak says that “Derrick has always been our lead — I’m from Chicago too, Mark’s from Chicago. But Derrick has always been that lead and that light. He’s like the libra mama, you know? We follow his lead. His best is fucking incredible.”




“I’ve been in the business for 30 years. The last 15 years for me was really strange because the whole EDM thing switched demographics,” Sneak continues. “It wasn’t real talented DJs. It was talented performers, entertainers of some sort. But not DJs,” says Sneak.

Sneak might be right. The musical vapidity of EDM is likely not culturally sustainable. But it’s still a giant slice of the worldwide electronic music pie. But according to Sneak, a generational sea change might be at play.




“What’s happening now is there was two generations after EDM and now there’s this,” says Sneak. “They’re starting to be like, ‘we want authentic, we want underground. We want the real stuff — we want to know what it is that Derrick Carter and DJ Sneak and Mark Farina are known for.’”




As for his relationship with Dirtybird, Sneak says that “Claude’s around my age, we’re in the same circles. It’s great that there’s a new way, a new platform to expose these kids to real underground music.”







THE GANJA GARDEN

“I stopped smoking a couple of months ago and ironically booked the Ganja Garden,” Delgado, the label manager for Dirtybird Records, says before his Friday morning set at the Ganja Garden — the newest stage presented by Dirtybird in partnership with the People’s Remedy dispensary.




Explaining the thought process behind booking artists for Campout, Delgado says, “There’s the Birdhouse and the Bass Lodge. The Birdhouse is obviously the fun house, tech house stuff like that and then Bass Lodge where we can get totally weird and do whatever we want with it. We put out a lot of house and techno records but we’re all big fans of bass and drum and bass.”




The actual process behind the booking strategy?




“It’s a constant jigsaw puzzle,” concedes Delgado.




There’s also the ever-present question of how the label and events have created Dirtybird’s ongoing sound.




“We have our own sound, and I think that sound has a very big dynamic range,” analyzes Delgado. “Maybe when we first started 17 years ago it was more narrow but now the Dirtybird sound both at the label and at our events, is much wider.”




For VonStroke, the record label was created at lead partly as a rejection of the house music status quo.




“The record label was started because we didn’t really like what was going on in house [music] that much. It was cool, but… it’s actually the same stuff that’s getting popular right now,” says VonStroke. “This really glossy, vocal house that’s way too well produced. It doesn’t sound organic anymore. Like a pop producer is making it.”




VonStroke says he seeks something more from the electronic music he purveys to wide audiences.




“I wanted to add elements of hip hop and drum and bass and more gritty sounds into house. I mean, it totally worked [for Dirtybird]. But now, everyone’s cloned it five times over. So we’re always pushing the next thing.”




Pushed to articulate Dirtybird’s constantly evolving central sound, VonStroke responds with a chuckle. “We’re just doing everything that’s not bro house! Anything where you drink beer out of a shoe, we’re not releasing. And it’s kind of our fault that even happened. So — we’re sorry!”




What happens when everything is self-referential all the time? What has meaning then? Will Dirtybird swallow its tail feathers until it eventually blinks out of existence? Or does Dirtybird rise above the cultural fray to become an inter-generational dance music powerhouse? Only time will tell.




The future sound of Dirtybird for VonStroke?




“I don’t have any idea,” VonStroke says earnestly.







AN AUSTRIAN HOUSEHEAD IN AMERICA

Back on the scorching blacktop path near the entrance to the festival grounds, Regina walks sluggishly in the afternoon sun, her face obscured under a full-head tan-colored camping visor.




Originally from Austria but now located near Wilmington, North Carolina, she says there isn’t anything similar to Dirtybird Campout on the east coast where she lives.




“A different mindset,” she croaks in a heavy Viennese accent, voice already obliterated by 3:00 pm on day two.




Regina has strong feelings about house music and her conception of bass music.




“House music takes you on a journey to a new world. I dance with my eyes closed,” she reminiscences, her voice barely a whisper. “You want the people around you to create the energy.”




When asked about her thoughts about the different styles of bass music at Dirtybird Campout, she smirks in a quickly spiteful turn.




“I hate bass music!” she sputters.




It’s not a surprising opinion coming from a European house head like her. She’s immovable from her position that bass music cannot inspire the same feelings as house music.




Her perspective makes sense, though, when referring to Plump Record founder Kevin Knapp’s unique perspective on the physical and cultural divides between bass music in general and house and techno — a gap that spans both musical genres and the Atlantic Ocean.




“I’ve just spent nine years in Berlin. My partner and I just moved back [to America] in January,” says Knapp. “The scene in America and the scene in Europe are a bit more distant now than I think they were in the past. So I don’t know what Europe often considers ‘bass music’ is that influential for them right now from a cultural perspective.”




Perhaps this is where Dirtybird might be able to make its biggest cultural impact — by connecting artists, sounds, and aesthetics across genres and physical space itself.




PINK FUZZY GOLF CART

Back-back stage at the Birdhouse, Mary Droppinz winces in pain as she climbs into the passenger seat of the pink fuzzy upholstered luxury golf cart.




She’d just sprained her ankle in a personal training session before Campout began. Try to see if you can notice even a hint of that injury during her bouncy stage performance and other appearances in the various booths at Dirtybird Campout over the weekend.




Concerning the often disparate sounds that play at Campout, she says, “they totally coexist. I love house myself. I have a house side to me and I play that, but there’s also the bass side,” observes Droppinz.




“Dirtybird is a place where people that have really great tastes can come and just enjoy and frolic. That’s what’s cool — if you like bass and house the you just know there’s seasoned electronic listeners, and I like that”, says Droppinz.




“That’s what’s special about it here.”







A PERCOMANIAC AMONG DIRTYBIRDS

“I think my sound is pretty eclectic, a bit psychedelic, and probably a little disorienting at times,” says Dirtybird resident Lubelski. “My good friend [and Percomanics label mate] Wyatt Marshall loves to say that my sets are like getting beaten down by drums and synths.”




That’s a fair way to describe Lubelski’s unique, dynamically searching sound.




Regarding Dirtybird’s unique crowd, Lubelski says, “I think the Dirtybird crowd really loves their booty-shaking beats, but they are also very receptive to new sounds given the lineup that Claude has curated.”




And on the mixture of subgenres for the fan base at Campout and the friction between fans of different subgenres, Lubelski says at Campout, “there isn’t any sense of elitism or snobbery. All good vibes. It shows how Dirtybird places their priorities on fun, music, and community.”




Those who may wonder where Dirtybird’s future sound lies would be wise to pay attention to forward-thinking artists currently in Dirtybird’s orbit — artists like Lubelski, Droppinz, Nala, Ardalan, and Walker & Royce. These artists, who actively explore across genres and aren’t beholden to any hard and fast rule about electronic music, are those to pay attention to moving forward. They’ll set the future Dirtybird sound through their creative decisions in their upcoming releases — likely in unexpected ways.




Maybe that’s why VonStroke sounds so honest when he claims he has “no idea” where the sound of Dirtybird is going next.
























Dirtybird Residents on What Makes Campout Unique

Each passing year represents a shift in the music industry. The evolution of sound, how listeners consume music, rehashing old tropes. In 2021 we learned that there could be new ways to consume music even in a crowded streaming market. Twitch and Audius blossomed as two new platforms for dance music fans to get that house music fix. We also witnessed 90s nostalgia in full swing, whether we liked it or not.

2021 had a bit of everything. As we enter 2022, we can reflect on one thing 2021 has taught us: nothing is promised. The pandemic put a halt to live music and concert tours, and artists had to get creative in how they continued to reach their fans and put out new music. 

The slowdown of the music business in 2021 has forever changed the shape of the industry. Yet it produced some groundbreaking trends that we hope are here to stay. 




Social Media Livestreams


Livestreams became popular, with venues in flux in 2020 and 2021. Social media platforms with video streaming and sharing capabilities such as Twitch and Facebook Live have provided musicians and their fans the opportunity to connect through streams. They gave us a forum to enjoy our favorite artists and explore new tunes in real-time while interacting with fellow house heads.   

Whether the streaming media included short, raw performances hinting at future music or full-fledged online music festival. These performances allowed giants like Paxhau, Dirtybird, and Desert Hearts to move forward with doing what they do best, entertaining the masses.   

And for emerging artists, they provided limitless opportunities to advance their careers. By the time live shows returned, artists like Mary Droppinz and Nala had established new and growing fan bases that helped make them enticing to festival promoters. While artists like LP Giobbi and Sofi Tukker, while already fan favorites, streamed their way into superstar status because of their daily presence on Twitch.





Festivals such as Electric Daisy Carnival, Awakenings, Ultra, and Tomorrowland continue to maintain live streams, making festivals more attainable to the masses—further propelling house music artists to household names.  




Music Video Comeback

The days of MTV being an actual music network that played actual music video are long gone. Music videos used to be a must for any hit song. However, social media sites and YouTube have reintroduced them as a necessary promotional tool. And yet another way for artists to creatively express their vision.   

Music videos add a sheen to a song. They eliminate the uncertainty of understanding what an artist is trying to covey. They elevate the artist's vision and often add an additional layer of nuance to the message. There is power in creating curated and compelling visual narratives for the music. Artists like Will Clarke have mastered the medium, creating solid, visually stunning music videos.

Cross-Genre Collaboration

Collaborations allow artists to tiptoe the line between genres and maybe do something that lies slightly outside of their comfort zone. While they aren't new to dance music, cross-genre collaborations exploded in 2021 due to the pandemic. Artists were in discovery mode. They had time to experiment with music and the ability to collaborate across vast distances via Zoom, Dropbox, Splice, and any number of collaborative platforms.

The door was wide open in 2021 for performers to pair up with their favorite artists of any genre. And the collaborations were nothing short of magical. With critically acclaimed partnerships in-house music with pop, rock, and hip-hop artists alike, we've seen dance music explode into the mainstream in unprecedented ways. The underground is becoming truly massive.



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DJs Ditching the Decks

When a DJ drops the decks and plays live, it's a thrilling way to experience their work in a new way. Watching them actively create or remix their music is a kind of magic generally reserved for production studios. 







Over the past couple of years, we have started seeing a spike in Live Sets. Groups like Bob Moses, Wajatta, Rufus Du Sol, and WhoMadeWho are no strangers to the festival circuit. But seeing artists like this on more lineups only proves the value of "playing live." 

The immense creativity and emotional weight that artists like Georgia Anjuli, Hannes Bieger, KiNK, and Motez, have created in performing their music live are indisputable—and seeing someone working multiple machines to create soundscapes before our eyes create an immensely meaningful dance floor experience that is difficult to match. 

Here are some other producers taking the house music to new heights as live acts: Jacques Green, Rodriguez Jr, Rybo, and Jamie Jones with Kate Simko as Opus 1.




Rise of the Indie Artists 


The internet and its many devices have allowed independent artists to find inventive ways to get in front of broader audiences in 2021. With touring out of the question for almost half the year, younger artists stepped out front as they took control of platforms like Tik Tok, Twitch, and Instagram and created new opportunities for growth outside of live shows.

They've allowed people the advantage of keeping their music constantly at their fingertips with personally curated playlists, creative content, unique livestreams, and insider videos. They were masters at manipulating the algorithms. As a result, the ever-growing ability to find underground artists across a changing digital landscape is more powerful than ever.

2021 was a treasure chest of indie artists starting to shine. Niles Shepard, Sammy Legs, Arnold & Lane, Nick Siarom, and Lubelski harnessed their powers and are fast becoming names to watch. The future continues to be bright for the underground.   

5 Trends in House Music we Loved in 2021

One of the most fascinating aspects of music is the relationship between artists and their chosen apparatus of creation. Jimi Hendrix didn’t simply play his guitars; he had a relationship with them. Every time he stepped into the studio or onto the stage, he further explored that relationship, and listeners continue to marvel at that exploration to this day.

Lubelski, the ascending LA-based producer, DJ, and label boss of Percomaniacs, has a studio full of different apparatuses of creation. And his latest LP, Happy Accidents, out now on Dirtybird Records, explores his relationship with modular synthesizers.

Where traditional, non-modular synthesizers retain a particular sound pallet, some of which have become unmistakable throughout decades of electronic music (the low-end womp of the Roland TR-808, for example), modular synthesizers allow the artist to create sounds that have never existed before. 

Every different knob and cable on a modular rig alters the sound in its own way. There are infinite configurations and settings, and that level of creative control opens the door to pure improvisation. 

Lubelski, real name Jake Lubell, crafted Happy Accidents through improvisation, and the title of the album refers to the basis of all 12 tracks.

“A happy accident is a found sound,” says Lubell over a recent Zoom call. “I’m letting the music itself be found in my modular jams. It’s not anything that’s pre-conceived. It’s finding the music as opposed to sculpting it.”

During Summer 2021, Lubell broadcast a series of modular jams on his own Twitch channel, under the same name: Happy Accidents. Every track on the album resulted from these jams in some way or another.

“I was able to go back into those individual recordings and nitpick what I wanted to use,” Lubell says. “Maybe I liked the drum idea and I would use that, or maybe I just like one little lead and I would start a new song based on it.”

Every time Lubell started a new stream, he searched for something he didn’t know that he wanted to find, a relationship with his modular rig that he likens to a conversation.

“It’s a conversation between me and the synthesizer,” Lubell says. “I might say for it to do something, and then it tells me something back that I didn’t expect.”

This relationship with modular persisted long before Lubell even started the Lubelski project. While attending UC Santa Cruz, he took an electronic sound synthesis course, and the school housed an extensive modular rig that students used for assignments.





One key aspect of modular synthesizers is they can grow to immense sizes. A single modular synthesizer holds a series of different modules. There is no limit to the total number of modules a synth can include, and each provides a unique quality to the music. 

Lubell used roughly 20 different modules in his setup for a Happy Accidents jam. Artists like deadmau5 and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails have synthesizers composed of hundreds of individual modules.

Each module furthers its relationship with the hardware, refining its ability to make music that sounds unequivocally singular.

“It’s like the LEGOs for adults,” says Lubell with a laugh.

Lubell applies jargon comparable in its esotericism to constitutional law or nuclear physics in discussing modular synthesis. Using terms like “ring modulation attenuation” as casually as most people use words like “the,” which expands further as he describes techniques he applied during the Happy Accidents jams.

“One thing I really love doing is throwing a pitch sequence on a filter cutoff with a high resonance on a filter. You can get these really interesting tones that you can’t get just by sequencing the pitch of an oscillator,” Lubell says. “The pitch comes from the resonance of the frequency as opposed to the actual pitch of the thing making the sound. If that makes sense.”

Most people would have lost him at pitch sequence. However, Lubell has been fostering his relationship with modular for years. It also makes sense to someone like DJ, producer, and head of Dirtybird, Claude VonStroke, who has his own decades-long relationship with synthesizers and electronic production.

Lubell and VonStroke, real name Barclay Crenshaw, had been in close proximity long before Lubell began producing Happy Accidents. 

Lubell put out his debut EP on Dirtybird, Impulse Response, in November of 2019, with a second EP, Lost My Senses, landing in September of 2020, as well as several offerings on different Dirtybird compilations.

As a seasoned Dirtybird Player, Crenshaw asked Lubell to contribute to Dirtybird Live, Dirtybird’s Twitch channel, over quarantine. Most of the programming centered around DJ sets, but Lubell had something different in mind.

“I didn’t want to be another DJ doing a DJ thing on Twitch. Everyone was doing that,” Lubell says. “I felt like I could really take the opportunity to dive into the live modular stuff.”

And so Lubell started Patchwork Sessions, a weekly live modular session very similar to Happy Accidents. The primary difference between the two shows is Patchwork Sessions wasn’t building towards a specific outcome. 

Crenshaw was aware of Lubell’s relationship with modular. Yet, after witnessing Lubell captivate audiences during Patchwork Sessions, Crenshaw asked Lubell for an LP’s worth of material based on modular sessions, a humbling and contemplative moment for Lubell.

“I’ll be totally honest I was a bit reluctant at first,” Lubell says of releasing an album on Dirtybird. “I have a very big vision for what my music should be, and I didn’t want to relinquish creative control of an album to somebody else, but luckily Barclay trusted me. He said ‘This album is about you. I want you to do your thing.’ So it felt really great to have someone I’ve looked up to for years ask me to do something like that.”

Following Lubell’s agreement, he migrated to his own Twitch and launched Happy Accidents. Crenshaw gave a strict deadline for the album, so Lubell spent six weeks streaming jams and then another three weeks dissecting and reworking the recordings into the final versions for the record.

The album took nine weeks from conception to completion. The result of the expedited process is 12 heavily technical tracks balanced by a sense of raggedy humanity. 

The improvisation in the jams provided an authentic quality to the foundation of each track while the quick turnaround left limited time to scrutinize the minor tweaks. These tweaks exist as little reminders of how despite house music’s metronomic underpinnings, there is room for some soul, some mortality, an idea advanced by Lubell’s relationship with production.

“I know myself, and if I keep working on something it will be a totally different song,” Lubell says. “I would rather call it, be done with it, and move on to the next project.”

Perhaps the only track on the album that received meticulous attention to detail was “Ice Cream Cone,” the co-production between Crenshaw and Lubell with Life On Planets contributing vocals. 

“[Crenshaw] is way more of a perfectionist than I am,” Lubell says. “He really knows his production and how he wants things to sound. He’s like ‘If it’s not perfect, I’m not putting it out.’ He’s sort of like the Gordon Ramsey of dance music. If it doesn’t taste good it’s not going on the plate.”

Lubell finalized the bulk of Happy Accidents in three weeks. Crenshaw spent over two weeks on “Ice Cream Cone,” by itself. Yet despite their completely inverse relationships with their creative apparatuses, they explored those relationships together. It’s truly fascinating, and the listeners get to marvel at the results.






Lubelski's 'Happy Accidents' LP Explores Improvisation and Modular Synthesis

Part multi-instrumentalist, part electrical engineer, Lubelski knows how to strike a chord to create sounds that he calls “happy accidents”. Born Jake Lubell, the Southern California native emerged on the scene in 2016 with his debut single, “That’s My Kinda Night”. Exposed to a diverse and eclectic corner of California, he is a next generation artist who is carrying West Coast rave culture into the next era of electronic dance music. His knack for creating percussive, eclectic beats puts him on the verge of becoming one of North America’s most promising forces.

Lubelski’s production style is explorative and creative at the core; he goes into the studio with no preconceived plans and lets his natural ability and sea of analog gear do the talking. As a self-proclaimed gearhead, the artist has a studio full of intricate modular synths at his fingertips. He really honed his skills with musical gadgets and gizmos when he began streaming live performances on Claude VonStroke’s label Twitch channel. During these weekly marathon stretches, Lubelski got lost in the bleeps and bloops of his synth oddities, further earning the respect of Claude. Eventually he was offered his debut DIRTYBIRD album, “Happy Accidents”. His catalog doesn’t stop there, it stretches across esteemed labels like Nervous, Sweat It Out!, Anabatic, Room Temp, and Popgang, under various aliases.

Though he prefers to be in the studio vs. DJing, Lubelski rocks the stage with his effortlessly cool vibe and musical selections. He offers fans a diverse range of sounds that exist somewhere between the realms of rave, disco, world, and psychedelia. His keen understanding of crowd control has earned him key billings at Desert Hearts Festival, CRSSD, Decibel Festival, Elrow NYC, Dolab, and Elements while also dominating sets at San Francisco’s Midway, Miami’s SPACE, Los Angeles’ Sound Nightclub, and Chicago’s SPYBAR. Whether he’s in the studio, behind the decks, or on Twitch, he continues to push forward and create a style all his own.

Lubelski

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