SATURDAY JULY 14 // PIER 3 // SAN FRANCISCO
On his full-length debut West of the West, L.A.-based songwriter/producer Goldroom bends the boundaries of electronic music to build a sleekly composed but soulful update of the quintessential California sound. “I left where I grew up and came to California with all these romantic ideas of what L.A. would be like,” says Josh Legg, a Massachusetts-born multi-instrumentalist who’s made music as Goldroom since 2011. “Over the years I’ve fallen completely in love with everything about it, even all the grit and grime, and with this album I wanted to pay homage to L.A. and how it still feels so romantic to me.”
Though it takes its title from a Theodore Roosevelt bon mot—“When I am in California, I am not in the West, I am west of the West”—the follow-up to Goldroom’s acclaimed 2015 EP It’s Like You Never Went Away mines much inspiration from Legg’s love for the sea. “For me, ‘west of the West’ can mean the Pacific, which has become an important place for me over the last decade,” he says. A longtime sailor, Legg also notes that “a lot of my childhood memories are of me and my dad on this little tiny boat, cruising around the New England coast. I spent countless hours just sailing and listening to music, and the feeling of that experience has stayed with me really heavily over the years.” Throughout the album, Goldroom reveals his deep-rooted affinity with the ocean by sculpting expansive arrangements and instilling each song with a serene yet kinetic energy.
Gigamesh is the stage name of Matt Masurka, an American multi-platinum selling music producer and DJ. His numerous remixes and two EPs have earned him a swiftly building reputation as one of the most versatile and consistent names in indie-dance music.
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, it's no surprise Gigamesh has developed a keen taste for funk, disco and pop. The sound is immediately recognizable in much of his music, however he maintains a flexible aesthetic. Gigamesh is an ardent fan of minimalist concert music, film scores, classic rock, italo disco, French house, Miami bass, and genre-bending electronic music. These elements have all combined to forge his all-inclusive approach to music appreciation and creation.
Luxxury makes dance music for adults. Raw, funky bass-lines plucked with grown-man finesse. A mastery of keyboard and synth native only to those who lived through the late '70s/early '80s. Dust in the glitter that vibrates in the space between string stabs, bongo slaps, and guitar jabs—even while the steady pulse and astral effects feel beamed in from a more cybernetic future Los Angeles. That's where the nu-disco wizard born Blake Robin dwells, of course. That is, when he isn't on the road opening for Giorgio Moroder or the Juan MacLean; leading his dapper band on late-night TV; remixing live at DJ sets in Mexico City, New York and Berlin; or seeding his Dublab radio show/Spotify playlist Good Morning, Disco! with gems that span four decades of groove-first music. In fact, you might've first felt his deft touch via the controversial Luxxury Edits—where he uses the multi-tracks (stems) of classic hits to create dubby slow-disco versions—but his original music is no less arresting. After two LPs of way-finding, Luxxury has come into his own with a sound that reflects not only a newfound earnestness of expression but a lifelong love for the craft of disco.
MANICS is an indie dance live act comprised of Jordan Deherrera and Chris Sanders and based in San Francisco. Their performances are a medley of indie pop vocals, live bass & synth work, percussion and modulation; accompanied by matching lights and visuals. Since its inception in 2012, the project has developed into a dynamic performance of technology and raw emotion with their music being supported by Odessa, Poolside, Steve Aoki & others around the world.
