Every Labor Day weekend since 2009, Electric Zoo — New York City’s own electronic music festival — transforms Randall’s Island Park into a new borough of bass for three magical days of dancing against the fading light of summer to a lineup that has yet to disappoint. This year, tens of thousands of dance party animals will descend upon that ravey temporary metropolis consisting of five staging hosting 100s of artists repping the entire electronic dance music spectrum both old and new school, including Deadmau5 with Eric Prydz, The Black Madonna, Galantis, REZZ, Above & Beyond, Excision, JAUZ, BIJOU, and Sasha b2b John Digweed just to name a few.
In its ninth year, the festival is paying special homage to the city so nice they named it twice with a new theme: The 6th Boro. Within that super-ravey metropolis, there are 5 separate stages, each featuring a carefully curated lineup that’s a world apart from the other stages. This temporary city on an island within the city vibe is further bolstered by several takeovers: on Friday, Dada Life is turning the Hilltop Arena into the Dada Land Compound; on Sunday, the same stage will be transformed into a Bollywood-themed party thrown by the Barcelona-born perpetually-nomadic party series known as elrow; Dutch techno brand Awakenings will occupy a stage of its own all weekend; and JAUZ’s new Off The Deep End party series will host the Riverside stage on Sunday.
The Off The Deep End takeover is sure to be a highlight of the weekend. Besides JAUZ himself, Slushii, Sub Focus, Joyryde, K?D, Saint Wknd, and BIJOU are also taking turns on the decks Off The Deep End. It’s one of the more bass-heavy, forward-thinking stage schedules of the weekend.
That’s why we’re super excited that we got a chance to chat with the G-House star known as BIJOU, nee Ben Dorman, before the festivities go down. Since bursting onto the scene in Phoenix, Arizona in 2014, Dorman has cultivated a sound of his own within the Ghetto House subgenre with an impressive number of releases on labels such as Fools Gold and Night Bass while touring pretty much nonstop. See what he has to say in advance of Electric Zoo, below, after the mix.
To add to the excitement, BIJOU is helping kick-off the final countdown to Electric Zoo: The 6th Boro with an exclusive mix that straight-up slaps. Turn it up while crafting your EZoo kandi collection, or just turn it up anyway.
https://soundcloud.com/electriczoofestival/bijou-electric-zoo-mix/s-IvFur
EARMILK: Electric Zoo is coming up! How do you plan to contribute to the overall EZoo aesthetic?
BIJOU: Well as we know EZOO is a PARTY, so im going to bring my craziest set of the summer to really set things off proper and give the fans something more.
EM: You’ll be throwing down as a part of Jauz’s curated Off The Deep End takeover. What special magic do you bring to the bass-heavy stage?
B: Yes I cant wait, Much love to the whole Jauz team for having me out. I bring a unique bass heavy sound through house music that is really starting to take off & people have begun to take notice. I like to always bring a new sound & vibe wherever I play so Im really going to focus on that for this one.
EM: You’ve been pretty much synonymous with G-House since the subgenre broke a few years back. What drew you to G-House in particular?
B: The biggest thing for me was the hip hop aspect of the genre. At first it started with sampling hip hop vocals, but as the sound has developed, hip hop influence has really played a major role in shaping G- House to where it is now.
EM: Your sound doesn’t strike me as straight-up G-House in a lot of live mixes we’ve heard though, but that could be due to the sub genre progressing with time. Describe your sound in 6 words or less:
B: Unique, cultural, heavy, dark, & diverse
EM: For many of us the summer festival season ends with EZoo. What’s next for you?
B: Coming up I have Nocturnal, groove cruise, & some other club plays as well. Keep an eye out for a big tour announcement this fall! =)
Connect with Bijou:
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