Valentine’s Day weekend next year in Tucson, Arizona marks the tenth anniversary for local music and arts festival Gem & Jam. Alongside a plethora of mineral and crystal vendors, three stages will be constructed in the desert to host a unique roster of diverse and exciting acts. From Tycho and Beats Antique to Minnesota and The Polish Ambassador, those in attendance will enjoy a multitude of performances, workshops, classes, art installations and more.
Today, we are also happy to announce Gem & Jam’s addition of an exclusive Soulection stage, hosted by the Los Angeles record label/collective and populated by some of its most acclaimed artists. On Februrary 13th, Sango, Esta, Joe Kay, Insightful and The Whooligan will help to curate one of the label’s first festival residencies.
For a closer look at the collective making it all happen, read the excerpt below (taken from a post of mine on 3/6):
In the electronic music world, very few record labels try to step outside of the box and foster a completely new sound, and even fewer actually succeed. In order to truly create something new in the music industry, many stars must align. Timing is everything. Listeners must first crave a divergence from the norm: something different to explore and form opinions on, to escape what they already understand and move forward into uncharted territory. If this is the case, and talented, fresh artists are willing to take the wheel, incredible things can arise.
Soulection: an LA-based label with one of the hottest, most diverse rosters of the current era. Artists such as Mr. Carmack, Ta-ku, Abjo, Sango, and Esta have begun to disregard the harsh genre barriers in the electronic scene and make a return to “music as music”. Although their backbone may be made of hip-hop, their influences point in all directions and culminate in a completely immersive and abstract sound, always plated with a healthy portion of soul. Because of their rapid growth in the last couple of years, the Soulection team has had the opportunity to reach out to a vast and varied audience on a wide array of platforms. Their live shows look to be some of the most energetic, passionate, and all-inclusive music experiences out there right now, popping up all over the country, as well as Europe and even Africa. The weekly Soulection Radio Show, recently passing its 200th installment, features mixes and interviews with the artists and special guests, giving listeners a full taste of what Soulection is all about even if they can’t make it out to the venues.
What separates this label from the rest, though, is its overall mission as both a creative and consuming music entity. Soulection is after far more than just a profit, and was founded on values that have become all too scarce in the electronic scene: “creativity, hard work, and vision.” This team truly has heart, and through their giddy experimentations around genres they maintain a genuine and personal connection to music-lovers from all backgrounds. Fans, listeners, and up-and-coming producers like us are encouraged and praised for our diversity. Instead of forcing our musical tastes and styles into boxes, Soulection has created an environment where experimentation and defied expectations are the norm. They have begun a movement of collaboration between artist and listener, realizing that the two were never meant to be separate. Only when they operate in harmony can the “Sound of Tomorrow” be discovered.