Electronic music artist and DJ Minnesota performed an ear-drum rattling show at the Catalyst this past Saturday, April 29th. Born in Minneapolis, the producer earned his moniker when he moved to Santa Cruz to attend UCSC, and his friends called him by the state of his birth.
Supporting headliner Bleep Bloop rocked the crowd with his glitchy and industrial style, creating stark and aggressive soundscapes. His music is generally slower, on the lower side of 110 bpm. His own description of his music is strikingly accurate: “Bass dipped in liquid question marks and rolled in lazers.” The crowd was mostly absorbing the music during his performance, rather than creating movement on the floor.
When Minnesota stepped on stage, the mood changed. His music is faster than that of his glitchy counterpart, and incorporates more synths and colorful sounds. Early in his career, he said, “My goal is to make bass heavy dubstep/glitch-hop music that’ll get you dancing…I try to focus more on the melodic side of dubstep, and hopefully, make quality songwriting a more relevant factor in the genre.” And get us dancing it did: shirtless, energetic fans and long-haired head bangers took over the floor, letting the music control their dancing bodies. Minnesota played much of his own music, and also many songs by fellow artists in the world of electronic music, including a few by prominent west-coast bass artist Bassnectar. The songs ranged from the melodic dubstep of his own music, to funky synth-incorporated bass, to the grimy trap of Getter. One of his most popular songs, Stardust Redux, bombarded the crowd with its rich and powerful chords, creating a surreal atmosphere we wished would never end. Minnesota knows how to get a crowd moving, and we were kept on our feet for the entire set.
By the end of the night, the concert-goers were out of breath and extremely satisfied. I know I can speak for most of the audience when I say that I was thoroughly impressed.
Killian Fay
KZSC intern and Mentee