Getting a full crowd on Friday or Saturday night for the clubs or halls is hard. Getting a full crowd on Wednesday night is even harder.
But for the likes of Sound Remedy, Phutureprimitive, and Wyatt Agard, it was not that hard of a feat at all. The first floor of the Majestic Theater in Madison, as packed as it was for a Wednesday night, still felt like an intimate space rife with floor-smashing bangers and bass-blowing anthems.
Beginning the set, like hundreds, if not, thousands of DJ sets in this humble little town of Madison, was Wyatt Agard. Agard, a resident of bars such as Jolly Bob's and The Cardinal and probably too many more to list, can be seen opening up for the top touring electronic acts in just about every country. A proud alum of Madison West High School, he was bred and raised in a very artistic family, and as such, it was only natural he grew up to become a producer and DJ. While the later acts certainly used more “bass” to their advantage, Wyatt's set still put pressure on your chest. Playing super funky, yet deep and bassy tech house, he got the crowd started right.
Soon enough, Phutureprimitive went on. Formerly going under the alias Rain, Phutureprimitve's sounds soulful, yet hard and aggressive. Phutureprimitive's first album “Subconscious” was released on Waveform Records back in 2004 and is still selling quite well, even reaching cult status among his fans. He started his own record label called Native Harmonix, and then released the EP “Luminous” in 2010. Undulating synth and a palpable haunting texture throughout, much of the EP explored the use of vocals, provided by singer Alyssa Palmer. Soon, his second album “Kinetik” dropped, both highly successful and critically acclaimed, it explored new territories in emotional electronic dance music. While the heavier bass and dubstep sound added raw energy to the meticulously detailed artistic tracks.
Starting his set with many of his own tracks, the crowd got moving and grooving in no time. His soulful trip hop and laidback dubstep sounds melodic and peaceful, yet is also very powerful, putting weight on your chest. He even interacted with the crowd directly by giving away sole stickers. Audience members wrote their woes on the stickers, slapped them across the bottom of their shoes, and danced their troubles away. And speaking of dancing, Phutureprimitve even had a live dancer on stage.
The climax of his performance, which really got the crowd swaying side to side was when he dropped a bootleg of Massive Attack's “Teardrop”, an already legendary song made even more famous by being the theme song for the hit TV show House. The song, nowhere to be found on the web is a testament to live electronic shows.
After a soulful and uplifting ending by Phutureprimitive, it was Sound Remedy's turn. Originally from Chicago, but now based in Los Angeles, Sound Remedy has been producing music since high school. As both of his parents graduated from Juillard and are fulltime members of the Chicago Symphony, it was only natural that Sound Remedy, born and raised on music, would produce his own. Having tracks and remixes on hit labels such as EMI UK and Polydor France, and even some of his tracks as background music for commercials, it is clear that this man is on the rise.
Not too many DJs these days diverge from one genre or a small range of tempo and speed when they perform live. Sound Remedy did the exact opposite, playing classic trap anthems, dance floor friendly variations of top 40 rap, and hip hop loops. Before long though, he got into his signature sound: aggressive- abrasive-passionate and emotional dubstep, playing hit tracks like Flux Pavillion's “I Can't Stop.” Towards the end, he decided it was time for some house, and finished the night strong.
Very proud to be from the Midwest and grateful of everything around him, Sound Remedy is testament that if you follow your dreams, everything else will follow suit and only good things will happen.
-Shane Zhou
