Hello everyone! My name is Artham Pierre and I will be covering 2013's Coachella Music Festival for EARMILK. I'm very excited for the experience and will be live tweeting, Instagramming, and Vine-ing, on top of sharing all of my experiences with you, our wonderful and dedicated readers. I've got a Polaroid in my hand, and I'm ready to explore the festival with you all!
Before I depart for Indio, California, I wanted to share with you which acts I'm most excited to see.
Disclosure
I've talked about this before in past Earmilk posts, but I love what's going on in the UK dance scene. I'm a huge fan of UK garage and there seems to be an influx of artists out there that are influenced by that legacy. Acts like Disclosure are making huge waves and they are sure to become massive tsunamis by the end of the year. I'm excited to see them, as it will be my first time. I'm ready to dance my pants off, but only metaphorically, or maybe literally… who knows?
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/75868018" params="" width="500" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Jessie Ware
Do I need to explain this one? Besides working with Sampha and SBTRKT, she's coming out with her debut album in the US on the 15th of this month, and she is going to take over the world. She's got an amazing style and grace, and seeing her perform will set off a big bang for what is going to be her year in pop music.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/68015283" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Paul Oakenfold
Okay, so I wasn't planning on writing about big name acts, since it's rather obvious why people would want to see them, but I really think I should explain myself, for eleven year old me's sake. Back in the days when I first started venturing into electronic music, the easiest artists to find were Tiesto, ATB, and Paul Oakenfold. Or, well, that's the easiest stuff a preteen can find. My best friend and I were pretty weird for junior high students, and we were listening to this crazy stuff and people judged us for it. Little did I know that in 2013, I would be seeing the artist that started it all for me, and on top of that, living in an EDM-dominated world. My inner child is dying right now.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/61218379" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Maya Jane Coles
Any strong independent women making a mark in the male-dominated dance world deserves everyone's attention. She's got mad skills. Personal inspiration.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/63450252" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Danny Brown
A lot of people over at EARMILK already know I love this guy, but please tell me that you've watched this video.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9jUBA3xkw[/youtube]
Now tell me you aren't interested. He's got amazing rhymes and an infectious energy. It'll be my third time catching him, but he's gotten stronger every time.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHfWY0is3rE[/youtube]
Of course, I chose not to talk about bigger names such as Passion Pit, The XX, and Wu-Tang Clan because those kind of felt obvious. Honorable mentions include Major Lazer, Action Bronson, Alt-J, Aesop Rock, Baauer, Vampire Weekend (Ezra Koenig fans anyone?), and of course, 2Chainz (okay, just joking). Also, for anyone that's a little worried about my skew toward the dance and hip-hop worlds, rest assured, I will be all over the place all three days to capture as many artists as I can.
Also, for a personal reason, I'm very upset to be missing Dillon Francis and C2C and Dam Funk. (sidebar: was Dillon Francis screwed over in his time slot?)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KOaT1vdLmc[/youtube]
Although these things never go quite as planned (that's part of the fun though right?), I will be live-tweeting and taking pictures throughout. There is such a strong underground, up-and-coming scene this year, and while I've heard some friends complain about the line-up, I think it's more solid and true to its founding than it has been the past couple of years. No matter how you feel, I'm very excited to go on this adventure, and I hope you will join me this weekend, from the 12th through 14th!
Please follow me as I journey through this weekend. Check out for #EARMILK, and follow me on these social sites! See you at Coachella!
