10 Magical Music Moments at Symbiosis 2015
“It looks like a Havasu trip for hippies,” read a half-serious text from a friend, in response to a couple of Snaps I uploaded during Symbiosis. While this shortsighted assessment of the transformational festival might hold weight in some uninitiated circles, for the nearly 15,000 conscious heads in attendance, it’s worlds away from reality.
Celebrating 10 years of transcendental awesomeness, the burner- and hippie-cultured gathering went down this past weekend at the Woodward Reservoir in NorCal. Its patrons, many still sheathed in playa dust after coming in straight from the Burn, were free to explore workshops on permaculture, more art pieces than I could count, yoga seshes up the yin-yang, artboats (think artcars, but on water) and an eclectic-as-they-come collection of music—six stages’ worth, to be exact, each sitting on finger-like projections of a picturesque peninsula. Since being omnipresent wasn’t really an option, I had to pick and choose my battles wisely.
Here are 10 supremely special moments of music I am happy to say I saw.
Getting My Gong on at the Shrine: Empire of Love
Upon my arrival and after haphazardly choosing the Sagittarius campground to call my own, I proceeded to pitch a tent with my eyes practically closed (note to self: don’t bury your only headlamp in your luggage if having to set up after sundown). With a few libations in my belly, I decided to take a victory lap and attempt to get the lay of the land.
The Empire of Love installation was a sight for sore eyes, consisting of a family of shrines made from recycled and reclaimed materials. Sitting at the heart of this semi-circle of structures was a gang of gongs, about a dozen or so, fully programmed to play themselves. Underneath the starlit sky, the tones were soothing to the soul. I overheard the musician behind the magic say he would wake up early the next morning to conduct a responsive composition, basing the sequencing off the intention of the space. Instead of a DJ reacting to the crowd, this man was taking feedback from the energy of the area and its occupants. I need not say more.
A Brain-Battering Mix of Psy Sounds From Raja Ram
Swimbiosis was the spot to be at if you were looking to catch some rays, take a dip in the waist-high waters and jam out to a mixed bag of music. It was here that I officially got a feel for what this festival was all about, as the event picked up speed with the inimitable Raja Ram manning the decks. Playing on behalf of Sphongle, he zipped open my psyche via tripped-out transitions between psytrance, downtempo and ambient.
I ran into our intern David, and he looked more than ready to get his transformational feet wet. Raja took the honors of giving him the welcome home hug.
The dirtybird Takeover
Yes, all of them. On Saturday, the dirtybird camp was repping the all-things-booty sound they’ve been chiseling into perfection over the years. After wiping my lens clean of societal constructs through slam poetry waxed by Saul Williams at the Hub, I jetted over to Swimbiosis to get groovy with the high-ranking house officer, Justin Martin. He had the whole place shaking their tail feathers both on the floor and atop the many flotation devices that were piling up in the lake. Following nightfall, the aural action hopped stages to Juke Town, where Christian Martin, J.Phlip and newcomer Ardalan carried the booty-tech torch. One after another, they filled the dilapidated ghost town with low-end life.
Finding Zen With the Dub Kirtan AllStars
Bass and yoga are fundamental facets of the transformational community, and the Dub Kirtan AllStars have married these two elements into one spiritually awakened family. While my coworker and Symbi P-I-C Katie was lassoed into an Om-my-god massage, I parked my behind in prime real estate to stare off into the lightly lapping waves of the lake. Heavy hits of sub-rubbing bass and live chanting made for the perfection concoction to sneak in some meditation.
Minnesota and G Jones Putting Trap Arms to Work
I was itching to flail my limbs after witnessing the liquid movements executed by the Lucent Dossier troupe. And the scratch came just in time with some bass-heavy b2b action between Minnesota and G Jones. Standing side-by-side on the Big Island, they tore through a whopping number of turnt trap tunes that left my arms sore from so many reps of invisible pull-ups.
Thugfucker Owns the F out of Their Sunset Set
As the burning star started to get swallowed up by the horizon, the deep house duo showed us why they deserved the coveted set time. The orange and pinkish glow was breathtaking, and many could say the same about the cuts Thugfucker was putting down. For the last remaining seconds of light, they rinsed Sasha’s remix of “Hey Now,” and I felt like I was floating on a desert breeze in the middle of nowhere. It was swoon-worthy and then some.
Sabo Deals the Deep Like It’s No One’s Business
Tucked behind the extremely popular tea lounge was the Silk Road, a marketplace where in-demand tunes were traded for footwork. Sabo used his earthy, tribal tones to convince revelers that trying to get rest during the wee hours of the morning didn’t add up. The red tent above obstructed our view of the break of dawn, putting the urgency of sleep furthest from the front of our thoughts. A merchant of vibes, the dude was dealing out deep, techy grooves that kept the place moving like the network of routes the stage was named after.
Four Tet Become the Talk of the Town
My temporal lobe didn’t know what it was getting into when I stumbled over to Grotto to catch the tail-end of Max Cooper’s cerebral techno selections. He was the optimal segue into the Four Tet set, which—from what I gathered during my eavesdropping throughout the day—would surely be the talk of the town. The long, enduring buildups of tunes like “Digital Arpeggios” under his Percussions alias and his remix of “Leave a Trace” kept me hanging by a thread as the UK producer masterfully stitched together a story riddled with tension and release. I don’t think a single person walked away not wanting to hear more.
Emancipator Ensemble Fuses Organic and Electronic Like a Boss
Electronic music gets a lot of flak from advocates who throw shade at the nontraditional format. But Emancipator fought fire with frequencies that proved the organic and electronic can live in perfect harmony. The four-piece band—composed of a drummer, bassist, violinist, and the Portland producer at the MIDI controls himself—slid into the Big Island with soul-soothers from Emancipator’s catalog. Together they sprinkled in some straight-from-the-studio material off the new Seven Seas opus, serving a breath of fresh air for the future of synthesized sounds.
Tipper Surprises the Shit out of Everyone With His Sunrise Set
No need to call me out; I’m well aware this wasn’t an out-of-the-blue set. But since Dave Tipper’s name originally appeared on the bill and not the sched, the word “surprise” is rightfully warranted here.
I’ll admit I shook my fist at the organizers at first for omitting his set time from the bunch, but in all honesty, it played out for the best. Putting on my detective hat, I was forced to corroborate with friendly strangers to trade whispers of where and when we heard it might pop off. The process felt wildly reminiscent of trying to triangulate underground raves, where word-of-mouth was typically the sole source of finding the big fun.
All clues pointed to Re:Union Palace, which was quiet up until the Funktion-Ones were stealthily stacked right under our noses. Tipper exercised his strengths at rearranging brain waves with a slew of the glitchiest noises to find their way inside my ear canals. His set pulled the largest headcount all weekend, and it’s stored in my memory bank as one of the best soundtracks to the rising sun I have ever borne witness to.
