Almost Familiar

Get familiar with highlights of the 2022 festival season and beyond. Wes and Elizabeth share their own highlights and also conducted a community census to get a sense of what stood out between festivals, events, musicians, mixes, albums, and personal milestones. Trending submissions include Submersion Festival, Daily Bread's latest Bread & Breakfast mix and Mishawaka shows, and newly on some radars are Piri and Tommy, Cool Customer, and Eliptek, along with unwavering hope for a Pretty Lights return. We’re so grateful to the community members who participated in our inaugural Almost Familiar Unwrapped, and we hope to see you on the dance floor in 2023. 

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Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

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Email us: [email protected]

Music Featured in this Episode: 

Almost Familiar - Pretty Lights 

Brokenzzz - Potions

Just a Little Loving - Daily Bread

Soft Spot - Piri and Tommy

Black Rockin' Beats - The Chemical Brothers

Next Level Style - Daily Bread & Artifakts 

Where I'm Trying to Go - Pretty Lights

2022 Unwrapped Playlists: 

Spotify

Soundcloud

Get familiar with ZONE Drums aka Aaron Harel, whom you have likely seen on the drums bringing abstract electronic music to life with the 5AM Trio, Thought Process, CloZee, Daily Bread, and more. Aaron has a knack for recognizing potential in both music and materials - from cutting his teeth by promoting dubstep shows in a church to upcycling drum kits to making diffusion panels that “bridge the world of art, music, and fabrication.” Inspired in part by Envision Festival’s infrastructure, Aaron’s passion for sustainability extends far beyond his panels and into a general lifestyle that inspires Wes and Elizabeth to consider pragmatic ways to integrate sustainability into theirs.

Follow ZONE Drums on Social Media: 

Instagram: @zonedrums

Facebook: ZONE Drums

Follow Almost Familiar on Social Media: 

Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

Facebook: Almost Familiar

Email us: [email protected]

Music Featured in this Episode: 

Almost Familiar - Pretty Lights 

5AM Trio: Orange Sunshine

Skrillex - Kyoto

Get Familiar with Wessanders, a Connecticut- based producer and staple member of The Rust, whose music is as eclectic as his life experiences. A traveler and student of the world, Wessanders has immersed himself in many cultures outside of the US and imbeds them into his ever-evolving sound including his recently released EP, El Gringo Hace Cumbia (The white boy makes Cumbia). 

Wessanders sharpened his skills at Berklee College of Music allowing him to merge his influences in the creation of a truly distinct, and highly refined brand of bass music. His live shows are energetic, diverse, and guaranteed to get you moving to the global rhythms he commands.

Follow Wessanders on Social Media: 

Instagram: @wessanderssays

Twitter: @wessanders

Follow Almost Familiar on Social Media: 

Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

Facebook: Almost Familiar

Email us: [email protected]

Music Featured in this Episode: 

Almost Familiar - Pretty Lights 

Hard Times - Griz

Jungle Theater - Wessanders

ID (First Track) - Black Coffee: 2nd May Mix 

Keep Swimming - Wessanders

How We Do - Pretty Lights

Get familiar with Cnopes, a producer whose electronic music style is influenced heavily by jazz, blues, hip hop and soul, creating sensational soundscapes that have caught the attention of lineup curators for festivals like Sonic Bloom and Sound Haven. Connor shares how he shifted his approach depending on the time slot and stage to match the vibe and what it means for smaller artists to be able to perform on stages with such high quality production. 

While his exposure to music culture and community started with his father’s love of The Grateful Dead, Connor’s gateway drug into electronic music’s neo-hippie subculture was Pretty Lights. We also talk about where artists can draw inspiration from outside of music and why electronic music will continue to be prevalent due to its constantly evolving nature, especially if its lot culture can evolve to be on par with the jam scene.

Music featured in this episode: 

Almost Familiar - Pretty Lights

Golden Gate - STS9

Cnopes - Seeker

Daughter - Medicine (Sound Remedy Remix)

How We Do - Pretty Lights

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Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

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Email us: [email protected]

Get familiar with how the pandemic has impacted the experiences and infrastructure of two of the scene’s most beloved and influential festivals: Lightning in a Bottle and Sonic Bloom. After allowing some time for the dust to settle (and there was lots of dust), Wes and Elizabeth reflect on the highs and lows of returning to their favorite long-standing festivals after a two year hiatus.

Music featured in this episode: 
Almost Familiar - Pretty Lights 

Emerge in the Feeling - Yheti 

Supersonic (VIP) - Noisia & Skrillex 

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Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

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Email us: [email protected]

Get familiar with pheel., a Denver-based producer and co-founder of the increasingly popular All:Lo record label who specializes in all things low end. Known for his signature Morning Coffee series in collaboration with Parkbreezy, Phil shares how these mixes evolved from beats to drink coffee to as requested by The Black Box’s talent buyer to opening up for Tipper himself at the most recent Tipper and Friends. 

Almost Familiar kicks off Gemini and festival season through pheel.’s upcoming lineup of festivals that he’ll be performing at and attending for the first time, along with Elizabeth and Wes’ anticipation of their familiar favorites Lightning in a Bottle and Sonic Bloom. 

Interview starts at 16:30

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Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

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Get familiar with Jack Hurley, better known as  Anti Alias, whose career as a multimedia designer has taken him from working a corporate job to collaborating with Tipper at his most recent return to Red Rocks in 2021. Jack talks about his experience collaborating with Datagram Visuals for the second night of the run, appropriately titled Bangers Night.   Jack reflects on how the emphasis on VJ culture has evolved since he was first hooked at Basslights, and the challenge of crafting a narrative given the abstract and experimental nature of the music it represents. We explore the future of shows in the VR space, the extent to which Jack’s work is improvisational and how this work fits into the emerging NFT world.

Interview starts at 26:25

Follow Almost Familiar on Social Media: 

Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

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Email us: [email protected]

Get familiar with Phyphyr, whose project is as much of a product of Nick’s experiences with the scene as our podcast. After being inspired by the hybrid electronic/instrumental acts he witnessed at Hulaween,  Nick began his journey in creating music which has transplanted him from North Carolina to Denver’s hub of creativity and collaboration. Nick shares how he drew inspiration from artists not only with regards to music, but also building an authentic brand. We reflect on the evolution and success of the intimate “family” fanbases and mission statements of artists like Griz and Daily Bread as Phyphr seeks to cultivate his own with the mission of “doing love for a living.”

Phyphr shares our love of getting to know musicians outside of their project to give more context to their sound as a platform of true self expression. We’re looking forward to sharing more of these authentic conversations with artists from the community as our version of doing love for a living.

Interview starts at 20:26

Follow Almost Familiar on Social Media: 

Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

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Welcome back to season two of Almost Familiar! Sharing space with harmony, rhythm and eternity, Wes and Elizabeth had the opportunity to record in-person for the first time after attending their first concert together since the last Pretty Lights performance at Red Rocks in 2018. Sound Tribe, San Francisco, and Sex & the City. Need we say more? 

Heard in this episode: 

This is Us, New Dawn, New Day (Intro Mashup) from 2021.10.09 :: West of the Moon :: Napa, CA by STS9

Presence of Light > Modular from 2021.10.09 :: West of the Moon :: Napa, CA by STS9

Totem from 2021.10.08 :: West of the Moon :: Napa, CA by STS9

Walk to the Light from 2021.10.08 :: West of the Moon :: Napa, CA by STS9

Spending Time from 2021.10.08 :: West of the Moon :: Napa, CA by STS9

Camino de Flores by El Buho

Get familiar with The Rust Music, a collective that curates some of our favorite gatherings on the East Coast. From the events, to the artists they represent, to their blog, the crew at The Rust Music does everything with the intent of authenticity to push the boundaries of how we experience electronic music. We chatted with Talent Buyer/Manager/Event Curator Jezze Boya and Editor of The Rust publication, Pasquale Zinna. We get into the origins of The Rust, how they curated a community defined by collaboration in New York’s capricious nightlife scene, and how their intention and dedication evolved into throwing events at Manhattan’s legendary PlayStation Theater with artists like Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Mickman, and 5AM.

Interview starts at 19:45

Follow Almost Familiar on Social Media: 

Instagram: @almostfamiliarpod

Facebook: Almost Familiar

Email us: [email protected]