Not long ago, Big Dub Festival took over Artemas, PA for four days of dancing, fun, and adventures. Over the course of those four days we saw some of the best bass acts in the industry perform. All the way from GTA to Downlink, the bass acts came out in full force. Although each act may have thrown down their own version of bass, it produced the same affect on the crowd. Head banging and grooving could be seen at every stage that populated the Big Dub woods. Thursday night of Big Dub would see a nighttime performance by none other than bass kings themselves, Terravita. Playing a mix of gritty hard bass tracks as well as new releases off their EP, Terravita’s performance was one to watch.
Although Terravita is known for the bass they bring and the rap bars they spit out, there’s another fact about them that fans are generally unaware of. They are the organizers of the well known Safe In Sound festival. However, Safe in Sound is not a one day festival in one location. Safe In Sound tours around the country performing at different venues with some of the biggest bass acts out there. Just yesterday, Safe In Sound announced their official lineup and tour locations for 2016. With acts like Borgore, NGHTMRE, Slander, Brillz, and Ookay; this Safe In Sound tour is something you need to see. Before Terravita’s performance at Big Dub, RaverRafting had the opportunity to sit down and talk with them about Safe In Sound, bass music, and their latest EP. Be sure to check out Safe In Sound’s official Lineup below and our interview with Terravita!
How’s it been working with the Buygore label?
Terravita: Coming up we actually have an album thats tentatively slated for Buygore for February 3rd, 8-10 tracks. John just got back from Montreal, we’re doing a collaboration with Adventure Club that will be on their new album.
In relation to your Safe In Sound festival, how do you go about choosing its artists?
Terravita: Artists don’t necessarily have to be from a certain talent agency or anything like that to be on Safe In Sound. It’s interesting because Safe In Sound started in the year that there was the most chatter about how dubstep is dead. Now it’s back for its third year and everyone is like “bass music is back!” All these bass acts playing MainStage now, and now the new breed like Ookay, NGHTMRE, Slander, Jauz, and even Marshmello who is basically bass music.
Do you think people go through phases with genres of electronic music?
Terravita: Well, when people used to say “dubstep is dead”, I knew bass music was never dead, it was just a perception they had. We’re doing three to seven thousand people shows in the middle of them claiming it’s dead. Then trap became big, and now you’ve got the trap guys making dubstep or meshing it with trap. Everyone is playing whatever they want, bass music is just this one big thing. That’s the most exciting thing, if you go to see an electro house set or a progressive house set, it’s all relatively the same. It could be melodic or could be heavy.
It’s almost like genres are sort of coming down at this point.
Terravita: It’s almost like the artists can really be the artists, it’s not about genres or trends.
You can produce what you want, not have to cater to anyone.
Terravita: That’s what we tried to do on our latest EP and new stuff. The way you can have your own originality is just by going outside the box. In the latest EP, you heard how the two that were dubstep, we tried to make new out of the box sounds. Most people liked it, but some people didn’t like it. We just tried to make stuff that didn’t sound original.
Is there currently a go to Terravita sound?
Terravita: I don’t think there’s a go to sound, but you can definitely tell when it’s us. On this EP we wanted to do stuff that was ahead of forward thinking and contained a real blend of genres. That’s why on this one there is a lot of hybrid sounding stuff. The dubstep ones are melodic, but have weird melodies and a kind of creepy vocal.
Do you like Billboard being more involved in the EDM scene now?
Terravita: How would someone not like it? You can’t not because now you’ve got Flume on the radio, Calvin Harris on the radio, Chainsmokers on the radio; EDM is pop music. That’s literally the MainStage artists now, it’s pop music. Half of their sets are contained of worldwide pop bands.
You almost wonder if fans realize it, you are listening to the new pop music.
Terravita: Well Netsky has a remix of Rio coming out with Macklemore on it; even Kaskade does crossover songs with all these big pop artists now. Everyone is doing it.
Is there a lot of rap on your new album?
Terravita: John raps on a lot of it, but there are currently no new rappers, but who’s to say I’m not done writing it though.
What does the future of bass music hold?
Terravita: You’re looking at someone like Excision who just sold out his whole tour. He sold out like 4,000 tickets in Milwaukee two nights in a row. So now bass music artists can be worth up to 8,000 tickets just like that. Slander & NGHTMRE sold out the Palladium two nights in a row in 15 minutes. Marshmello is like the bass music Deadmau5 without all the bull shit. Where is bass music going? Up. It’s essentially seeding in and taking over everywhere. Tiesto dropping a Lukas track at MainStage EDC. Tiesto is dropping hybrid tracks.
RaverRafting would like to thank Terravita for taking the time to sit-down and talk with us. Be sure to check out their Safe In Sound tour which may be coming to a city near you soon! Tickets are available and can be purchased here.
9/15 – Houston TX – Stereo Live
9/16 – El Paso TX – Buchanan’s
9/17 – Dallas TX – Stereo Live
9/22 – Indianapolis IN – Pavilion
9/24 – Minneapolis MN – Farmers Market
9/29 – Buffalo NY – Buffalo Riverworks
9/30 – Chicago IL – Aragon Ballroom
10/1 – Detroit MI – Elektricity
10/2 – Columbus OH – Bluestone
10/7 – New York City NY – Playstation Theater
10/9 – Boston MA – House of Blues
10/12 – Knoxville TN – The International
10/14 – Fort Lauderdale – Revolution Live
10/19 – Boise ID – Revolution
10/21 – San Jose Ca – City National Civic
10/28 – Milwaukee WI – The Rave
10/29 – Salt Lake City – Get Freaky
11/4 – Broomfield CO – 1st Bank Center
11/18 – Pittsburgh PA – TBA
11/25 – Sacramento CA – Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
11/26 – Berkeley, CA – UC Theater
Connect with Safe In Sound:
https://www.facebook.com/safeinsoundfest
https://twitter.com/SafeInSoundFest
http://www.safeinsoundfest.com/splash
Connect with Terravita:
https://www.facebook.com/terravitabass
https://twitter.com/Terravitabass
https://www.instagram.com/terravita
https://soundcloud.com/terravita
http://terravitabass.com
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