TOBY ANDREWS
GM, Astralwerks
We’re seeing additional opportunities in
the streaming and radio space for more
styles of electronic music than ever
before. Where it used to be only pop
crossover records, now there’s growth in
house and other genres.
STEVE GORDON
Co-head of electronic music, UTA
We are going to see the emergence
of more singularly focused one-stage
festivals that target a specific audience.
YANN PISSENEM
Founder/CEO, Night League Ibiza
Virtual reality. Technology will be the base
of everything that will be possible in the
next 10 years. We will have new tools to
create, produce and manage even better
event concepts and experiences, while
advanced marketing capabilities will
enable us to deliver more targeted and
personalized communications.
GARY RICHARDS
President of North America, LiveStyle
Currently, there are too many people
trying to make money off electronic music
without the passion or dedication. In the
next decade, things are going to go back
underground. More real artists will emerge
and shake up the music world. —K.B.
FANTASTIC BEATS AND WHERE
TO FIND THEM
Sounds born at DIY warehouse parties are already fueling big-ticket
events in dance music’s capitals. But these smaller cities are the underground’s
next big scenes, launching inventive artists, DJs and new sounds
BY JACK TREGONING
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Techno mainstays
like Robert Hood
and Magda draw
diverse crowds to
Kremwerk, which also
stages the multiday
Kremfest. Q Nightclub’s
Thursday Field Trip pulls
in house and bass fans.
The notoriously rainy
city that helped launch
grunge now inspires
indie electronic acts.
Clubs close early (2 a.m.),
but the night’s no
less packed — it
just gets started
earlier.
Capitol Hill Block
Party fills its namesake
neighborhood each
summer — past
headliners include RL
Grime, Cashmere Cat
and hometown heroes
ODESZA.
Come for the cocktails,
stay for the midweek
shows from cult
acts like Telefon
Tel Aviv and
Squarepusher
at Neumos and
its basement
offshoot, Barboza.
Seattle institution
Re-bar hosts the
country’s longest-
running drum-and-bass
weekly, DNB Tuesdays,
which after 21 years still
breaks new talent.
Synth artist Raica and
DJ-producers CCL and
Flora FM.
SEATTLE
Cumbia and heavy metal
rule here, but the nascent
dance scene now draws
clued-in U.S. clubbers
on direct flights from
New York, Los
Angeles
and
Miami.
Queer
club kids
flock to
Video Club
for house, techno and
regional South American
sounds. Menos 1 Micro-
club focuses on niche
Latin DJ-producers.
Trailblazing club Baum
closed this year under
threat from real estate
developers, but its legacy
lives on at the smartly
curated Baum Festival
each May.
Espacio KB — a gallery,
bar, record store and
radio station in the San
Felipe arts district — is
“basically a house party”
for the city’s DJs and club
staff, says Video Club
booker Enrique Leon.
Newcomer Kaputt Club
showcases Colombia’s
emerging artists and
labels. “It’s a special
room, and the crowded
dancefloor is always
pushing you,” says
local DJ-producer
Julio Victoria.
Genre-crossing
producers and live
performers Junn and
Lunate.
BOGOTÁ,
COLOMBIA
In America’s capital of
both legal marijuana
and dubstep, the
underground thrives
in pretension-free
warehouses and
basement clubs.
Bar Standard and neigh-
bor Club Vinyl host the
likes of TOKiMONSTA
and Seth Troxler; under-
ground, The Black Box
keeps the bass heavy
and the lights low.
Red Rocks Am-
phitheatre hosts
artist-curated
minifests, including
REZZ’s two-day REZZ
Rocks and Colorado
natives Big Gigantic’s
Rowdytown, against a
dramatic backdrop.
Enjoy live music and DJ
sets with sophisticated
nibbles at Ophelia’s
Electric Soapbox, set in
a former bordello. “It’s
got the best vibe I’ve
seen in decades,” says
Live Nation Colorado
president Eric Pirritt.
The Sub.mission crew’s
Electronic Tuesdays at
The Black Box is a dub-
step incubator. “We’ve
watched artists go
from our stage to
international tours,”
says club CEO
Nicole Cacciavillano.
Colorado-repping bass
producers kLL sMTH,
Bricksquash and DMVU.
DENVER
It’s historically a rock
town, but over the
past decade, a network
of underground
promoters has created
a house and techno
scene emphasizing
inclusive spaces.
Hot Mass is an intimate
after-hours spot beneath
a gay bathhouse. “It’s
queer at its core and
handled with care,” says
resident DJ Lau-
ren Goshinksi,
aka Boo
Lean.
Honcho
Campout,
the Pittsburgh-
based Honcho
collective’s queer
techno gathering in the
Pennsylvania woods,
turns six this year.
Buzzy izakaya Umami
serves sushi and skew-
ers until 2 a.m.
on weekends.
On Sunday
nights, locals
repair to
vegan hang-
out Apteka.
The monthly gFx resi-
dency at the hip Ace Ho-
tel showcases nonbinary
and women artists,
while also
offering free
electronic-
production
workshops.
Footwork producer 0h85,
house upstart Davis
Galvin and experimental
artist W00dy.
PITTSBURGH
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