Awesome People We Met at Beyond SoCal 2016

Name: Roberto, Travis
Age: 25 (Roberto), 21 (Travis)
Hometown: Florida—currently Fresno, CA (Roberto), Fresno, CA (Travis)
How many Beyonds have you been to? First time for both.
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Roberto: I’ve been to other music festivals, but not an “EDM” one. Well, I went to one small event in Fresno, but that’s really it, so I’m not sure what I’ll have to say about Beyond, since I pretty much just got here. It’s really pretty.
Travis: Same as Roberto—it’s my first time, but I think it’s pretty. One of my high school teachers actually told me about Beyond. He was a pyrotechnic person on the side and worked at Beyond Wonderland one year and told how unreal the event was, and how crazy the crowds were, and just how fantastic it was all around. It’s always been a dream for me to come here.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Travis: The music is fantastic, and most everyone I have met have been amazing people. I love the sense of camaraderie, almost like family. I don’t know any of these people, but I could probably walk up to any one of them and have a full-blown conversation with them.

Name: Michael, JD
Age: 20 (Michael), 20 (JD)
Hometown: Simi Valley, CA (Michael), Thousand Oaks, CA (JD)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 1st time for both
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Michael: It’s pretty overwhelming at first, but there are a lot of good vibes going on. The music is great… I’m really looking forward to seeing Myon & Shane 54 today—it’ll be the first time.
JD: If you’ve never been to an Insomniac event like this, it’s a lot to take in. This venue is amazing.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Michael: The people you meet, all the friends you make.
JD: Yes, I love the vibe you feel coming to these events.

Name: Victor (they call me “Pocket Chocolate”—it’s a Burning Man thing), Laura
Age: 47 (Victor), 31 (Laura)
Hometown: Ventura, CA (both)
How many Beyonds have you been to?
Victor: First time at Beyond, but have been to other Insomniac shows like EDC, Escape.
Laura: First time.
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Victor: Wow, it’s kind of hard to describe. So far it’s a bit overwhelming with all the stages, the sound coming at you from all directions, so many awesome people here that just want to have a good time and let you in on their PLUR.
Laura: It feels like a huge melting pot of people, all the different personalities and nationalities.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Victor: It would definitely have to be the whole PLUR attitude. I was into the hip-hop and rock ‘n’ roll scene when I was younger, before EDM, and it’s a totally different vibe over there. Good times, but not the same at all.
Laura: That I can be who I am. That everyone is free to be whoever they want to be without judgment.

Name: Tweedle Dee
Age: 19
Hometown: Apple Valley, CA
How many Beyonds have you been to? My first one.
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here? It feels like a dream. I like the layout of this show, compared to others that have been here. It’s a little smaller, but that just makes everyone a little closer while they have the best time of their lives tonight.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene? That everyone is family… I’ve met some cool people already today, and I just got here.

Name: Steve, Patrick, Amanda
Age: 32 (Steve), 29 (Patrick), 25 (Amanda)
Hometown: Cleveland, OH—currently Las Vegas (Steve), New York, NY—currently Las Vegas (Patrick), Las Vegas, NV (Amanda)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 2 (Steve), 1 (Patrick), 4—Beyond Bay twice, this is my second one here (Amanda)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Steve: It’s basically everything you can ever imagine in all of your dreams combined. I feel like a big kid in a big kid’s playground.
Patrick: I don’t think anything I can say right now would do this justice—I’d just tell people that they need to come see and experience this for themselves.
Amanda: I like this layout more than last year’s—it feels more intimate.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Steve: The people. You can meet amazing people all day, every day. That’s why I rave. I’ve been doing this for like 16 years. EDC Las Vegas last year was probably my biggest highlight since going to these events.
Patrick: I’ll keep it simple: the lights.
Amanda: The people. I love that this is a non-judgmental place and everyone can just be themselves. People are here to have a good time, and you can tell.

Name: Dee, Justin
Age: 24 (Dee), 27 (Justin)
Hometown: Riverside, CA (both)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 1 (Dee), 4 (Justin)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here? This is a pretty magical place—all the positive vibes—the whole environment is amazing. It’s pretty lit.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Dee: The music feels.
Justin: I’ve been going to parties for 10 years… It’s hard to put into words. It’s a beautiful thing. It feels good to escape for a little while from regular life.

Name: Andre and Gabby
Age: 23 (both)
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA (both)
How many Beyonds have you been to? Andre (2), Gabby (4)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Andre: It’s awesome; I feel everyone should go to a rave at some time in his or her lives. You can be yourself around everyone else that’s just doing what they want to do, and you’re not being judged. It’s pretty dope.
Gabby: I feel like everyone tries to help you out. Everyone is really kind and promote being good to one another.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Andre: I just like dancing. I just like that it makes me feel like I want to rip my shirt off and go all out.
Gabby: I really love to dance. Everyone is here to have a good time. No one is here to judge you or think anything bad of you. Everyone is here to have fun and be together and be weird.

Name: Stevie and Anthony
Age: 24 (both)
Hometown: San Bernardino, CA (Stevie), NorCal (Anthony)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 5 (Stevie), 4 (Anthony)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Stevie: Literally, it’s a Wonderland. Anything you want? It is here.
Anthony: The love, the respect, the vibes are good—everything about it. We’re down.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Stevie: Just the people, really. Everyone is super chill and down to have a good time. That’s what I love.

Name: Kira, Eva
Age: 20 (both)
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA (both)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 2 (Kira), 1 (Eva)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Kira: It’s magical—a place from Wonderland.
Eva: Just a good vibe overall, with all the people and lots of happiness.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Kira: The bass! It makes me want to shake my ass.
Eva: Same! We’re head-banging bass-heads.

Name: Nevan, Rachel
Age: 23 (Nevan), 29 (Rachel)
Hometown: Washington
How many Beyonds have you been to? 1 (both)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Rachel: Like the best, most amazing camping trip of your life with all of your best friends, and best friends you never even knew you had.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Nevan: The emotion and the raw goodness that people bring out from each other. You can feel the energy with everyone together. The music and people mesh together very well, and it’s like, something that is hard to describe. I feel like my best self, and I’m at 100 percent when I’m around these people.
Rachel: I’ve been in the scene for 13 years now, and there is nothing like it. You go to a rap concert or any other type of event, and you’ll never have this type of family vibe. You’ll never have people that you don’t know that’ll come up to you and be like, “I don’t know you, but do you want a hug?” You don’t get that anywhere else. The sense of community and PLUR is so evident at these events. There’s nothing like it in the world.

Name: Jessie, Brian
Age: 22 (Jessie), 25 (Brian)
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA (both)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 1 (Jessie), 2 (Brian)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Jessie: I love it so far—it’s really mind-blowing. I can’t wait.
Brian: Good vibes, really good vibes.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Jessie: That you can be yourself. You don’t have to worry about anyone judging you. You can go out and dress however you want, listen to whatever you want.

Name: Juliette, Autumn, Angel, Cassandra
Age: 19 (Juliette), 20 (Autumn), 18 (Angel), 19 (Cassandra)
Hometown: Anaheim, CA (Juliette), San Diego, CA (Autumn, Angel, Cassandra)
How many Beyonds have you been to? We’re almost all first timers!
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Angel: There are so many family vibes. As different as you may seem to others, you belong to a family here. Be friendly, be open, and you will find your family.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
All: The bass, for sure the bass. We’re all united by a common love for bass and music.

Name: Dani
Age: 19
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
How many Beyonds have you been to? First time!
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here? Magical! I’d say Wonderland, but it’s in the name.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene? It takes a special kind of heart or soul to hear that it’s music rather than just noise.

Name: Brice and Britney
Age: 21 (both)
Hometown: San Diego, CA (Brice), Los Angeles, CA (Britney)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 2 (Brice), 2 (Britney)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Brice: It’s a place you go to and you get to go make a bunch of friends, and you get to dance the night away, don’t worry about anything and just have a good time.
Britney: Taking a look on the mainstage; it’s magic.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Brice: How friendly the people are, and how good you feel when you go to the events to meet people.
Britney: Definitely good energy, for sure.

Name: Josh, Joanna, and Benjamin
Age: 32, I’ve been doing this a long time (Josh), 31 (Joanna), 22 (Benjamin)
Hometown: Seattle originally, now Phoenix (Josh and Joanna), Phoenix (Benjamin)
How many Beyonds have you been to? Never to Beyond before. We’ve done things like EDC, TomorrowWorld, Tomorrowland, but we were here at Nocturnal just a couple months ago.
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Josh: First of all, they put you through an awesome little tunnel when you get here; it makes you feel very welcome. It is a little smaller than Nocturnal, but right when you walk in, you just know it’s gonna be fucking live. It’s gonna be amazing.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Josh: When I was younger, I used to go to heavy metal shows and all sorts of stuff. I’ll still go to that, but there’s a different kind of vibe here. People help each other out—generally just awesome people. You have your incidents, but it’s few and far between. It’s just good vibes all the way around.

Name: Alex and Xiao
Age: 24 (both)
Hometown: SF Bay Area (Alex), Petaluma, CA (Xiao)
How many Beyonds have you been to?
Alex: I think once. I might mix it up with Escape or Nocturnal, but I’ve been at least once.
Xiao: First Beyond and, like, seventh Wonderland.
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Alex: It’s a pretty magical experience. The people are what make it. Everyone is super sweet and caring, and everyone looks out for each other.
Xiao: It’s like an escape from reality.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Alex: The people and the music, of course—the combination of the two.
Xiao: I second that: just what it brings out of all the people around you.

Name: Tracy, Jose, Fernanda
Age: 33 (Tracy), 20 (Jose), 27 (Fernanda)
Hometown: Colton, CA (Tracy and Jose), Mexico City (Fernanda)
How many Beyonds have you been to? 3 (Tracy), 1 (Fernanda), 4 (Jose)
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Tracy: Magical, enlightening, and a lifetime experience!
Jose: Positive vibes everywhere. Everyone’s encouraging each other, high-fiving each other, and everything and everyone is just so welcoming.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Jose: The scene is just so accepting. Everyone accepts everyone else, and you can be exactly who you want to be. Nobody will point at you, laugh at you, or anything; they will join you.
Fernanda: That we’re all one!

Name: Jackie and Sylvana
Age: Tucson, AZ
Hometown: 21 (Jackie), 20 (Sylvana)
How many Beyonds have you been to? First time for both.
How would you describe Beyond Wonderland to someone who’s never been here?
Jackie: It’s incredible! I’ve always wanted to actually be inside Alice’s world, and this is just like it.
What do you love most about the electronic music scene?
Jackie: The way it makes me feel, and all the good vibes. [It makes me feel] really happy. It’s so calm, and you forget about everything bad in the world. I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone.

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