El Paso’s Techno Scene Thrives With its First Boiler Room Showcase
Function, an emerging underground warehouse in El Paso, Texas, welcomes its first Boiler Room showcase in the region on August 27th. Earlier this week, Boiler Room announced their latest collaborative US showcase, sharing a seven-date tour including debut locations in major cities like Dallas, Nashville, Baltimore, Orlando, Tucson, and DC, with the border city listed as one of the first shows to take place.
Boiler Room released their carefully curated, co-produced programming for the breakout show, announcing a lineup consisting of UK headlining act Ø [Phase], Stephen Disario, When We Vanish, Gusso b2b Sydney, and Bleaker.
Even before the lineup was released, the excitement for a debut Boiler Room in El Paso was thick. The show sold out within hours of its initial announcement.
Function was founded in June 2019 by Israel Morales, Sydney Contreras, Gustavo Soto, Christopher Ksiazak, Jorge Moya, and Gabriel Estrada. With a vision of expanding the boundaries of El Paso’s underground music scene and educating the ravers in the region, they sought the perfect space for their ‘HUMVNS’ warehouse series.
The Function brand expanded and, in 2021, officially opened the warehouse doors. The sold-out crowd enjoyed wall-pounding sets from Brennen Gray, Stephen Disario, and Anakim.
The space has been vital in reviving the border city’s underground techno scene and has hosted some of the most prestigious underground names in underground techno, including Sara Landry, Matador, Ilario Alicante, Jay Lumen, and 9x9.
“We have the opportunity to book artists that not only we personally like but are also hitting hard overseas,” co-founder Israel Morales explains. “And we want to give people the chance to see artists in El Paso that they thought they’d only ever see in Europe or major US cities like LA or NYC. I don’t think many people have realized that a lot of artists we are currently snagging are touring the US and are only making stops in LA, NYC, Boston, Phoenix, Miami, and El Paso. We think that’s really f*cking cool!”
Boiler Room began in London in 2010 and has since hosted some of the most iconic and popular parties globally. They’ve been steadfast in their ethos of supporting emerging artists and connecting local dance floors to the global community. Boiler Room El Paso further exemplifies the expansion of underground dance music’s stranglehold on US dance floors. And soon, others can see what El Paso and the city’s underground culture offer.
