Photo by Ashtyn Ann (Sourced from artist FB)

Re:Search Wednesday turned into a bigger party than expected, although that in itself is starting to be expected. If you missed it, we won’t say we told you so, but… it was the place to be.

September is shaping up to be one of the biggest months for music in Denver, and it started with a bang on the 4th. Cervantes Other Side received its weekly blessing of Jordan Polovina’s soul food for the eardrums, giving the $10 ticket fam something to move to. sfam brought their own saucy offerings from NOLA and hit us with the heat. Michael Pearson and Jacob Hoerner are sfam, and these Mississippi boys are an absolute unit in the studio, having collaborated with the likes of Boogie T, TVBOO, DMVU, Toadface and more in the few short years of their musical career. They gave us all the goodies and we all ate it up. They’re obviously excited to be where they are, naming a lot of artists over the mic whom they’ve been able to work with. We see you, sfam!

Subdocta took the spotlight on his birthday, but instead of getting presents, he was handing them out en masse. Those asking for wobbles received them. Subdocta, or Preston Charles, drops it deep every time, especially for us: “I’m in Denver so I’ve got to get deep. Pretty sure it’s criminal to not play deep dubstep in this city.” Very true, Preston, it’s one of the few things still illegal in Denver. Collabs were another common theme for original songs, while Subdocta peppered in tracks by Tipper, Zeds Dead, and Doctor P. His own heavy-handed “West Coast Wobble” style is all about the drop and experimenting with all possible ways to make it as nasty as can be. And what’s a birthday set without friends? Subdocta invited all his buddies onstage, making a massive B2B2B with himself, Sfam, DMVU and Of the Trees. Quite a special night it turned out to be for Preston and all of us Re:Searchers.

It didn’t stop there, with Russ Liquid sitting in for a mini-set that showed off his club-vibe talents. This was a complete surprise as he wasn’t billed on the show, or even rumored about. No trumpet came out this time, but the heavier side of his dynamic sound was just as fun. You can catch much more of Russ Liquid as he headlines Blissfall Music Festival this year on September 28th, at the legendary Mishawaka Amphitheater.

AVRY closed the night out. He’s a Denver-based DJ with the popular Potent Productions and he brings his own array of deep wubs, glitches, with a cherry topping of rap samples. AVRY was also supposed to play a set at Compound Sound just a couple days later (RIP), but with all the special appearances at Re:Search, it almost made up for it.

Catch us there next week for another wild lineup including Jonny Grande, BAILO, and Casual Commander (of Sunsquabi)! And check out our exclusive interview with Jonny Grande below!

Jon Hicks, aka Jonny Grande, is a Nashville, TN based producer, and performer. He’s about to bring his dirty south dub to Denver, so I sat with him to talk about the show, how he got into music, Nashville’s EDM scene, and more.

SV: How long have you been making music?

JG: “Forever, really. My dad was a guitar player and we had synthesizers around the house, so even at two or three years old, I was playing with sound manipulation. I played the drums for about ten years, was really into hardcore and metal bands, and then one summer I went on tour filling in for an indie rock band and realized it wasn’t for me. I shifted my focus to the studio and have been producing electronic music for about 5 years now.”

SV: Do your roots in metal influence your electronic music?

JG: “For sure. It’s definitely more dirty south influenced bass music, but my drum programming and energy in general often kicks back to metal.”

SV: What’s the electronic scene like in your hometown?

JG: “Nashville’s electronic scene is booming right now! Two years ago we were in a lull - a few major tours rolling through, but the feeling of the local community within our scene had fallen away, at least to me and my friends. There were no local shows happening and nowhere to play. So we decided to throw our own! A few friends of mine and I started a local party that we called “Grande Thursdays.” It was a really sweet underground vibe that birthed a community of young producers and DJ’s. We were all just trying to figure out what the hell we were doing. Now, a lot of local parties have popped up. Bigger promoters have also come back to Nashville, which has really been reviving our scene. Nashville’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone, so that community aspect still holds strong whether its a small club, big venue, or even an arena show.”

SV: Would you ever consider moving to a city with a more burgeoning market for EDM?

JG: “There’s no telling, but I don’t see that happening any time soon. Don’t get me wrong. I love Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Denver and have considered moving to all of them. Tennessee is home though and Nashville’s EDM scene is incredibly close to my heart. Nashville is the city that made Jonny Grande, so no matter what happens I still want to be involved there.”

Photo by Ambre Rogue Photography (sourced from artist facebook)

SV: Are you working on new music?

JG: “I’m sitting on so much new music right now, it’s unreal. There are about 15-20 unreleased songs in the vault right now, some of which were leaked in the Lizzy Jane “THE XO 035” mix on Soundcloud. By the way, check out Lizzy Jane if you don’t know about her yet! I’m most excited about my new EP, as I’ve poured my heart and soul into it. But I’ve got a lot of remixes, collabs, bootlegs, and other random tracks to keep a steady stream of releases coming while we finish making our moves on the EP.”

SV: Any artists you’re dying to collaborate with?

JG: “Some dream collabs would be 6lack, Post Malone, or Frank Ocean. In the near future, I have collabs I’m working on with Inf1n1te and Slimez that I’m really excited about. I also have an unreleased collab with Sara Benyo that is a favorite of my unreleased tunes right now. There is also a long lost mega collab I made in Atlanta with Mayhem, Protohype, Slimez, and Herobust. It was made for fun from like 4-7am after a show and I doubt it will ever see the light of day, but it was a super fun time haha.”

SV: What are you most excited for in Denver?

JG: “My absolute favorite part of touring is meeting people. I’ve played shows where you land, hit the venue, and head out and it’s always forgettable. The people are what make each city and scene unique, so I’m super pumped to genuinely make friends with new homies in Denver this week!”

Come out and show Jonny how hard Denver goes at his set this Wednesday, 9/11! Tickets can be found here and the official Facebook page can be found here.

Re:Visit - Sfam, Subdocta & the birthday bash, Russ Liquid (DJ set), and AVRY (late set)