Safe in Sound Festival: A Whole Different Level Of Music [Review + Interview]

Having gained a stout foothold in the realm of electronic dance music, bass music has one objective, and one objective only: bring hoards of people to their knees with the immense power of  booming low frequency sound waves. Synergy Global Entertainment, the creators of Identity Music Festival, have given birth an oasis for all those who call themselves bass-heads with the, Safe in Sound Festival. The 20 stop festival tour took North America by storm, packing heat with some of the biggest names in electronic music, and creating a unique and heart-pounding experience at each stop. Cities across the continent were razed by a various combination of Adventure Club, Zeds Dead, Destroid, Flux Pavillion, UZ, Caked Up, Downlink, and Terravita. Now, with one successful year in the history books, we’d like to take a moment and recap the majesty of the Safe in Sound Festival tour.

The Music

Let’s get down to brass tacks. One of the major appeals of this unique festival tour was the powerhouse line-up, and as an attendee at the Albany, New York stop on the tour, I can confidently say the experience lived up to its hype. The opening combination of renowned crowd-smashers, Terravita, and mysterious trap lord, UZ, had no trouble turning up the crowd, giving the headliners more than a warm welcome.

With the average heart-rates in the crowd exceeding 180 BPM, Destroid stepped up to the stage and proceeded to melt faces with an assortment of classics ranging from ‘Annihilate’ to ‘X-Rated.’ After the trio of live DnB performers had their fill, it was up to the Canadian superduo, Zeds Dead, to keep the richter scale tipped. Dropping fan favorites like their interpretation of ‘Rude Boy’ and a few tunes off their newest EP ‘Somewhere Else’, let’s just say the crowd was DEFINITELY #SomewhereElse.

Finally, the final handoff of the baton was to dubstep pioneer, Flux Pavillion. While he did indeed bring the crowd to their knees with the likes of ‘Bass Cannon’ and ‘I Can’t Stop’, the highlight of Flux’s epic set was undoubtedly the unveiling of his remix of the Star Wars ‘Rebel Theme’. I am almost positive there was chunks of human brain strewn across the Armory floor.

The System

Besides the earth-shaking lineup that Safe in Sound boasted, the festival tour also wielded arguably one of the most powerful sound systems on tour. Packing heat with over 150,000 watts of sound, there was no better way to enjoy the cacophony of bass sounds than with the PK Sound System. As an attendee, I can attest to the sheer power of the system, as there was not a single moment when the ground was not shaking, and bodies were not vibrating. Just imagine hearing your favorite bass tunes on a system of this proportion; awesome right? With my ears still buzzing the day after, I can safely say PK Sound is no joke.

The Experience

Although I only attended one stop on the festival tour, believe me when I say, Safe in Sound has the exhilarating bass experience down to a tee. Like any other  bass-head, there are a few places I would rather be than a sultry venue filled to the brim with my fellow sweaty, head-banging ravers, engulfed in beautiful sound. Along with the sound, the visual accompaniment and near-seizure-inducing lighting were flawless, and created a thrilling audio-visual experience for everyone in attendance. To wrap up, my experience at Safe in Sound was extremely positive, and I would venture to say the festival tour as a whole was a booming success. I look forward to seeing the bass festival’s continued success in the coming years.

EDMTunes Interview: Flux Pavillion

I also had the privilege of picking the brain of dub-star Flux Pavillion on topics ranging from his growth as a producer to his stance on some hot button issues. Check out the interview below:

Looking at your growth from your early works, Cheap Crisps (2008) and the Boom EP with Datsik/Excision, to your present day tracks, how would you describe the evolution of your sound, and where do you weigh in on the trending issue of sound homogenization amongst artists?

I think for an artist to write one sound for the entirety of his career can be counter productive. I love everything I write but you have to keep it interesting for yourself otherwise your music sounds like you are bored. The best way to describe Flux Pavilion is epic.

You’ve experimented quite a bit with moombahcore, what draws you to that particular sound and do you see yourself diving deeper into it moving forward?

I can say that I intend to make more music that captures the energy of my previous stuff. I want to write music that makes people lose themselves and become a part of the moment they are experiencing. Music that makes you feel awesome. 

Hearing your Star Wars Rebels Theme Remix live was one of the wildest musical displays I’ve ever seen, can you explain how you got involved with the newest Lucas films and Disney animated series?

I’m a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy, so to have an opportunity to get involved with one of the greats was something I couldn’t help but jump at. I was stuck with a small catch 22 though. I worked out that whatever I did was gonna piss someone off, so I decided to make the most outrageous and unashamedly ridiculous thing I could, I figure, why try and make the remix everyone wants me to make, I wanna make the remix that no one would expect, the one that I would wanna hear. I jumped around lots whilst writing it. Fun fact: I made the kick drum out of a filtered 808 and a lightsaber swoop.

A hot topic amongst the electronic dance music community has been the homogenization of sound. Where do you weigh in on this issue? We saw that you took to Facebook last week to address the ‘haters’ who chooses to blab about a track without even giving it a chance or listening to it.

Some people are always gonna make the same old crap. Has there been a time where this hasn’t happened? As long as I continue to try out some new ideas then everything is gonna be cool. With my new record I’m kinda trying to write feelings rather than sounds. I’m trying to translate how my favourite music makes me feel rather than copy how it sounds. It’s coming together pretty well.