Nine Non-Headliners You Need To See At Moonrise Festival

–Words and list by Kevin Madert

Moonrise Festival is less than a week away, and we’re getting pretty damn excited about it. We’ve already picked out our top three outfits, made enough Kandi to choke a team of glovers, and are putting the finishing touches on our sign (“KASKADE: If u can read this, check out our boobs!”).

Jokes aside, we’ve been waiting for this weekend since the unfortunate cancellation of last year’s event, and now that we have the single day lineups we can make more concrete plans – and start imparting our musical tastes upon our readers. We know you’ll be banging your head at Bassnectar and crying your eyes out at Kaskade, but here are nine can’t-miss below-the-fold acts you should familiarize yourself with so you get the most out of that ticket price.

Snails

The Montreal-based bass baron is coming to America for the first time, and Moonrise is one of his first stops. Boasting one of the most unique, face-contorting sounds in recent memory and bridging the gap between hard-hitting dubstep and future-trap, Snails has rightfully begun to gain traction in the scene. His most recent tune with Antiserum – the appropriately titled “Wild” – has appeared in sets all over the country this summer; if an hour of just as crunchy tunes sounds up your alley than I’ll see you front and center Saturday at Moonrise.

Tchami

Choosing to concoct a deep house remix of A Tribe Called Quest is a solid indicator of an artist’s good taste in music. When that remix is dark and funky and bouncy all at the same time, that’s a solid indicator that said artist has some serious skills. When the rest of their music is comparable in style and quality and their sets are funking up festival stages the world over, that’s a solid indicator that skills and music taste can combine to create a formidable force in dance music. Tchami is that force; don’t miss him at Moonrise.

Robert Delong

I could sit here for a long time and try to describe Robert Delong’s sound to you. It’s bassy, it’s glitchy, it’s trancey, it’s industrialy(?); point is, there’s a ton of stuff coming together to make his music some of the most interesting of 2014. The stop-start cadence and the piling on of melodies and effects without ever becoming overwhelming makes “Opn Yr I’s” one of those tracks I just can’t explain – or stop listening to.

Moon Boots

It’s impossible to do anything but grin like a fool while listening to “Whatever You Need,” the most recent single from the French Express regular. The rest of his catalog is crafted in such a way as to elicit similar reactions – chilled out but groovy, with that ever-present disco-house backbeat carrying throughout. If you want to start off a set tapping your foot and end it dancing like a ball of pure happy, plan on catching Moon Boots.

Mitis

Seven Lions opened the door for many a producer with his take on trancestep – melding the melodies and soaring synths of trance with the halftime breakdowns of dubstep to great effect. Now that he seems to have moved on to more standard trance and house fare, there’s space for producers with similar aspirations to flex their sonic muscles. With a background in classical piano and a blend of dubstep, house, and trance elements overtop a plethora of beats – “Breezes,” for example, is a beaming drum ‘n’ bass number that would make Camo & Krooked blush – Mitis is doing just that.

RJD2

RJD2 the producer creates lushly layered instrumental hip-hop. RJD2 the live musician and performer creates a full-fledged, often improvised immersive experience. Expect to see four turntables, custom midi-controllers, a keyboard, multiple guitars – and that’s not including his backing band. Watching him run around the stage like a madman trying to line everything up just right and succeeding every time, is a boggling sight; you won’t see a more technically involved set at Moonrise. Bonus: custom-designed astronaut suits are badass.

Sound Remedy

If you’re a fan of Adventure Club, file Sound Remedy under “will probably also enjoy.” Similarly upbeat synths and emotive use of vocals are fueled by an ear for tone and melody that’s uniquely his. One listen to his remix of “Medicine” is all you should need to understand what I mean. He’s delved into trap recently – a move I’m not so sure about but that seems to have plenty of people excited – so you can expect a genre-eclectic set at Moonrise.

Z-Trip

A Z-Trip set is like a Bigfoot sighting – rare to the point it’s hard to believe people who say they’ve seen him at all. The vinyl wizardry you’ll witness isn’t something I can describe without resorting to cliché hyperbole, so you should just take my word on this and catch a master at work.

Figure

Drumstep has only one champion, and his name is Josh Gard. An obsession with all things horror and sci-fi combined with a no-holds barred approach in crafting his pummeling productions sets Figure apart from many über-heavy bass artists out there; his sets are highly immersive and comprised almost entirely of original tracks. Those afraid of werewolves, Michael Myers, or super mega death rays need not apply.

Hear tunes from all these artists below, grab tickets to Moonrise Festival here and we’ll see you at Pimlico August 9th and 10th!