There is nothing better than seeing up-and-coming artists perform before they make it big. Well, except for maybe cheap tickets and intimate venues. Thanks to the Program Council, music lovers were given the opportunity Saturday night to see three local artists at Club 156 in the UMC.
DJ Kief at Club 156 Saturday. (CU Independent/Jacob Spetzler)
Two artists opened for the headlining DJ and dubstep producer Kief on Sept. 15. The first was Myriad, a local DJ who makes aggressive, hard-hitting yet catchy beats that are hard to resist wildly dancing to. One of his songs was a mixture of jazz and dubstep, an unorthodox combination that was surprisingly effective and entertaining. Myriad’s strongest point was stage presence. In the world of Electronic Dance Music (EDM), where music is made with computers and synthesizers, performing can sometimes consist of nothing but a guy standing around, pushing buttons and turning knobs. With Myraid, this was not the case. He had a lot of energy, dancing around while he worked his synth board. It was obvious that Myriad had a deep passion about making and performing his music. Unfortunately for Myriad, he began playing early in the night when the crowd was sparse, so only a few lucky people were able to enjoy his performance.
Next up was the local FiveNDime, known to his friends as Jason Phillips. His sound had a swaying, groovy feel to it but was still aggressive and raw. He specializes in remixes of popular rap and dubstep songs, including LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” and Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.” His remixes took the original songs to a more intense and heavy level. FiveNDime was using brand-new equipment for this show, and unfortunately this led to a few technical difficulties during his set. When he’s not busy making heavy, grooving beats, Phillips is working towards his masters in music at CU Boulder. You can find his music at soundcloud.com/fivendime.
DJ Kief works the synth board at Club 156 Saturday. (CU Independent/Jacob Spetzler)
Finally it was time for Kief’s set. The local producer reeled in a bigger crowd than the two previous acts, as it was his second time performing at Club 156. Kief’s sound was more chilled out but still heavy and driving. One might compare his sound to bigger artists such as Bassnectar. Kief’s performance was the best that night — he had the entire club crazily dancing while he pushed the speakers’ volume limits. At one point in the show, a pair of attractive girls got up on stage and seductively danced for the audience. The heavy, throbbing bass of Keif paired well with with FiveNDime’s set, as Kief also remixed hit songs of this year, such as Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” and AWOL Nation’s “Sail.” The remixes brought a new level of intensity to the alternative rock songs, making them much more hardcore. The most well-received song of the night was a mash up of quotes from Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction“ incorporated into a heavy, aggressively fast remix of the song “Miserlou,” the theme song from the movie.
DJ Kief at Club 156 Saturday. (CU Independent/Jacob Spetzler)
Since March of 2011, Kief (real name Dylan Fliss) has been making dubstep.
“I was always the guy at the party sitting next to the iPod, and people would come up and tell me ‘you should be a DJ, man!’” Fliss said.
Fliss’ love for music was fueled by the thriving EDM scene in Colorado, which got him started making music. But there was a time when Fliss almost gave up his dreams due to the death of a close friend, Tim. Tim told him to never quit, and now Fliss honors the memory of his friend by wearing a tie around his neck for every show.
You can find Kief’s music at soundcloud.com/kiefmusic.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Lucas Fox at Lucas.fox@colorado.edu.
