If you’re like us, you’re tripping out on the fact that EDC Las Vegas is just a touch over a week away! As always happens when we start to close in on our annual pilgrimage to the bassPOD, we keep reviewing the lineup to get a sense of just how heavy our experience is bound to be.
With an entirely redesigned bassPOD and a diverse range of bass acts that span the breadth and width of the genre, we can’t wait to cut loose and let everything from deep and deadly halftime beats to neck-snapping dubstep and straight-up in-your-face drum and bass to pound away all the demons in ritualistic ecstasy.
Speaking of ecstatic states, the luminous spirit known as Yheti is due to touch down at the bassPOD alongside Toadface for what is shaping to be an intergalactic, chakra-aligning, psychedelic experience. Leaning on genre boundaries and diving deep into creative sound-craft, the shaman-like sound that Yheti has become known for is sure to transform your understanding of space and time itself.
To give you and the squad a taste of the alternate reality you’re about to step into, we thought we’d touch down with Yheti for an in-depth conversation as well as a heavyweight pre-EDC mix that Yheti just dropped on the Insomniac fam.
Introduce yourself to the Bassrush masses and let ‘em know what they should be expecting when you and Toadface step on deck at EDC Las Vegas next weekend.
Ayo-ayo Bassrush masses, I’ve been crafting music weekly for over 10 years as well as studying the psychology/sociology of art/party culture and all the different rabbit holes that entails. My musical art as Yheti is an auditory reductionist reflection of years of experiences absorbing art and spending time with artists across the world via internet and 3D reality. The vibe you should expect from the Yheti and Toadface b2b is an experimental, playful, bass heavy trip through many worlds of musical edits and interesting sounds, all flowing in an ever-changing dancing pulse where you forget time and see the reality around you more present.
How do you think fans out there are describing your sound to their friends who haven’t had a Yheti experience yet?
Each track of mine is an experiment in combining popular musical archetypes in a playful dissolving interesting way. As such even I have a hard time describing my music with words because it is created out of the frustration of being limited by language. If you need help describing it to your friends, tell them to imagine someone from the hood starting to go to festivals. One year later this gangster takes an eighth of psychedelic mushrooms and gets lost in the forest. He never finds his way out of the forest and as he is slowly dying from starvation, the hallucinations he is having are like my music.
Introduce us to your homie Toadface. If we close our eyes while you guys are playing your b2b session will we be able to tell where you end and he begins? How is his taste/vibe/DNA different than yours?
So actually our DNA is very similar cause we are biological brothers. I’m really proud of him and his art. We’ve been making music together for a long time. His sound is definitely different than mine, though. I grew up playing instruments so my music can be more melodic where as Toadface is really into video games so his music can be more rapid-fire sound design combo type business. He’s actually one of the only people I would play b2b sets with though because his sound flows so well with my work.
From the beginning, you’ve been crafting your own blend of surreal, psychedelic, genre-bending creations that feel almost spiritual in nature. Do you see what you do as being philosophically different than what a more mainstream bass or dubstep producer is doing?
My approach to music is a fairly dynamic one. From the beginning, it was always about creating a unique signal that would attract like-minded people and sort of repel wack people from the party. In time, it’s sort of transformed into a signal to resonate with the core fundamental center of party people’s beings. There’s a really fun effect that happens in the human brain when people are exposed to music that’s new but they also like at the same time. Extended periods of dancing can create a meditative effect for people that can clear perception and be really healthy psychologically.
Is that related to what you see your role as when you’re DJing and/or performing?
I feel like my role as a DJ is to befriend the crowd by playing universally champion tunes, then once I build trust, expose the brain ears to more experimental rhythms and vibes in order to create a new refreshing perceptual experience.
I feel like my role as a DJ is to befriend the crowd by playing universally champion tunes, then once I build trust, expose the brain ears to more experimental rhythms and vibes in order to create a new refreshing perceptual experience.
Speaking of live, you just dropped this ill EDC mix on us ahead of the festivities. Is your approach to crafting an online mix that’s most likely to be heard in headphones or in the car, different than what you deliver live? How important is setting to the Yheti experience?
When I make music I often reference it on nice studio speakers, computer speakers, laptop speakers and headphones, mixing and editing on each to make my music sound interesting in all the frequency projectors. I think my music is best experienced in a party setting with many subwoofers, preferably in the forest around 75 degrees at 3 in the morning surrounded by empathetic dancing humans.
What kind of journey you taking us on with the mix?
I’m really happy with how this mix developed. I decided to do a mix of all Yheti and Toadface tracks, some of my biggest tunes as well as a slew of Toadface’s new work, which to me is really magical fun music. Every track has heavy sub bass and contrasting lazery sound design stuff. It’ll probably either tickle your soul or feel overwhelming depending on your threshold.
Before we go, we have to ask: is there any chance of Yeti Master making an appearance at the Basspod?
I started making music as Yeti Master in 2008. I used to throw house parties in Dayton and blast experimental music in my basement. My parties got pretty big and I got invited to move to San Francisco in 2010. When I got there, I was introduced into a whole new level of party culture and I decided to refine my sound a bit and start releasing as Yheti. I’ll most likely only be playing Yheti tracks at EDC because I have so little time to play and will want to drop all my new stuff.
We can’t wait to see you and Toadface in Vegas!
I just want to say big ups to Bassrush for believing in our music and special shout out to Liquid Stranger’s label Wakaan for being good friends and creating a supportive structure for so many of my hardworking friends. I’m really happy to share music and experiences with all the people out there this year into infinity. The vibes are real.