Bassnectar recently met with Insomniac’s Katie Bain for an interview, discussing everything from his past to the current state of EDM. Lorin has always been open and candid about his views, and this time around is no exception.
Growing up, Lorin always found himself attracted to the outlier. This translated into his music taste: “I was always gravitating toward what was left of center and what was the road less taken.” His production has always been markedly unique, even within the bass music scene. While this may be the case, there was a time when he worried that bass music would suffer from becoming too mainstream. More recently, in his eyes, EDM has taken a different direction.
At this point I think the dust has settled, and we’re back into where I think of EDM as basically house and trance. To me, it’s really that mainstream sound with the cheesy, schmaltzy guy who sings some barbaric pop lyrics at the chorus; and I feel grateful that that’s what’s blowing up, because it allows bass music to creep off into the side stages when necessary.
Along these lines, Bassnectar went on to contradict the feelings of deadmau5, defending Insomniac and their festival-before-artist mentality. He expresses his distaste for the fame that comes with the territory of success:
The more faceless that these DJ’s can be, the better – myself included – because we’re just playing music that we love. We may be innovating and doing it really well, and that’s great for what we do, but it’s so silly to me to have 30,000 people facing and worshipping this one dorky human who’s lucky enough to be playing music for everyone else.
Lorin’s eagerness to be vocal on the things he feels passionate about has led to the cultivation of a diehard fan base. His success has inevitably made him a role model for an entirely new generation. When asked about his stance on drug use in this scene, he was honest about his experiences. While he has partaken in the past, Bassnectar has discovered that sobriety is his favorite high:
I decided I wanted to be as clear and sober as I could be and how fun that could be. I’d go 10 hours a night dancing and going to raves at the beaches and have just as much fun without getting high, more so because I could really participate in each experience, and I could remember my experiences and process on a deeper level.
Keep an eye on Bassnectar below, and check out the full interview here!