Bass Camp is back at North Shore Saturday, Jan. 24 with some young guns in the dance music world.
Crystal Bay Club’s Crown Room will be hosting the party with headliner HeRobust along with support from Haywyre and former Tahoe local and Infected Mushroom drummer Cary White a.k.a. Drums On Acid.
Now I say young guns because these cats are fresh in the game. The HeRobust project of Hayden Kramer has only been on the scene for three years and has received support for his hip-hop influenced bass music from such acts as Flux Pavilion, Dillon Francis and Kill The Noise.
Get familiar with his newest release “Party McFly” https://soundcloud.com/herobust/party-mcfly1
The next young gun on this bill has been trained in classical piano his the age of 6. Martin Vogt (otherwise known as Haywyre) has some incredible fingers and will perform his live set with his 88 key midi controller. Just take at look at this video and tell me this kid doesn’t have a future in the biz.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLXS0EGwCZg
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted by Nick Rogers for Tahoe Onstage.
Many Tahoans may know the name Cary White, but haven’t heard the name Drums On Acid yet. Now chasing the dream of a career in electronic dance music in L.A., Cary gave me a chance to ask him a few things about coming back to Tahoe and playing the solo act of Drums on Acid plus where he sees the scene going in Tahoe and electronic music in general.
Nick: What was the music scene like when you were in Tahoe growing up? Where was the place to go see live music?
Cary: Well, for me personally the scene was different. Musically I was in a different place. Tahoe was in a different place. The electronic/DJ movement hadn’t taken over and rock music and in Tahoe particularly, jam music was king. I was working super hard with a band my friends and I started called Waiting For T.I.M. We had some amazing times playing at places like the Tahoe Underground, Opal, the American Legion, the first ever Jam Cruise and in fact lots of places that didn’t even host music offered us gigs because at that time we had a pretty big local following so most venues knew if they brought us in for a night, we’d bring a pretty substantial crowd and it would be worth their while.
Nick: What was the transition like going from that scene into what you are currently producing and working on? How are you keeping to your roots?
Cary: It’s tough to compare the two scenes. I feel like I’ve almost had a rebirth musically. I definitely leaned more toward rock and metal growing up as a drummer and instrumentalist, yet always had a love for dance music that was only pushed further by me joining up, and playing drums for Infected Mushroom. The scene from then to now is completely different and in a lot of ways, at least for me, has evolved out of necessity. Kind of a blessing in disguise I suppose. And by that I mean, when I first left Tahoe in 2008, I was getting calls playing and touring with some pretty big and well established rock bands. But sometime in 2011, right around the time you started hearing names like Skrillex and Deadmau5, the EDM movement took over and the gigs I was vying for seemed to be harder and harder to come by. I had to be creative and take my skill set and apply it to what was current and what I also had a love for which was electronic music, live performance, and songwriting. So that’s when Drums On Acid was born. It was a different medium so to speak but all the elements that make me so passionate about music were still there.
Nick: What is the best word to describe the feeling you get when you get to come back and play in your home town? What do you look forward to the most coming back up to the lake?
Cary: I just love coming back. I have traveled all over the world many times over and honestly I can say that there is not one place I’ve ever been that I’d compare it to (not to say there aren’t some amazing places out there). But just the energy that emanates from the mountains, the lake, the sky, and probably most of all the people are what make it so beautiful. I have so many friends still there and so many people who have supported me over the years and continue to do so. It’s just a rad place and I really will always consider Lake Tahoe my true home.
Nick: What are some goals for 2015? Do you see more Tahoe shows featuring DOA in 2015?
Cary: Currently we’ve been planning the summer tour season trying to get on some major festivals. Working on some international stuff as well. I always keep dates open for Tahoe shows (laughs). I’d play up there every week if I could. But at the very least a couple shows starting with the first of hopefully many shows at the Crystal Bay Club on Jan. 24.
Nick: Where do you see the scene going in Tahoe? Any predictions of the style moving in a certain way?
Cary: It’s so hard to say what the next big style will be or what the scene will evolve to. And honestly wherever it does go, it won’t last long. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over my relatively limited amount of time producing music and being in the electronic dance music world: tthings are constantly changing. People’s attention spans are short and especially in EDM (which is now apparently a bad word) things move at such a rapid rate. What’s cool today won’t be cool tomorrow in the eyes of some people. So all I can say to that is just stick to what you do. Like what you like, and be unapologetic about it.
HeRobust with Haywyre and Drums on Acid (Cary White)
When: 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24
Where: Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room
Tickets: $15 in advance, purchase www.basscampfest.com
