Minnesota’s Mind Machine Tour Blasts Seattle (Exclusive Interview)

It’s with little surprise that Seattle got their fix of heart-pounding bass when Minnesota’s Mind Machine tour kicked off its first leg by coming to Foundation Nightclub. The Northwest has been known to bring in great dubstep and bass artists and this was no exception. Before the night got started, we had the chance to sit down with Minnesota, snack on some gummy bears, catch part of the Giants game (he’s from Santa Cruz), and really dive deep into who he is, his grueling tour life, and what his music is all about. With both Jackal and GJones at his side, it made for one exciting night.

Being the innovative person that he is, Minnesota, AKA Christian Bauhofer, really stepped it up for this tour and wanted to give his fans the ultimate visual experience. Touring now for over four years, Minnesota has had his hands full not only with headlining tours, but being a support artist for names like Paper Diamond and Big Gigantic. Hopping from buses to planes on a consistent basis is in no doubt exhausting. Therefore, he created a tour he could truly call his own, and do it his way. So what exactly was the thought process behind the tour and how does it differ from the others? Minnesota made it very clear.

So far it’s better than everything else. With the Mind Machine tour we really just wanted to have really cool visual elements along with a really awesome support line up with Jackal and GJones.

Aside from the amazing visual production we saw at Foundation, his actual stage set up was created by Milwaukee based Video Villains . He noted that “it kind of just looks like a spaceship” which is certainly unique. We’re sure that the many stops on the rest of his tour will showcase this. There’s no doubt that Minnesota and his music are truly out of this world! We can tell he’s in it for his fans and to take them on a musical journey throughout his progression as an artist. We take notice of this especially with his EP, Astral Projection released in 2012 and his latest Voyager EP. One being very mellow and chill while the other takes on the big room beats that make us want to groove. When asked about his diversified music, he noted:

The Astral projection EP was one of the most well received releases. Problem was that those songs are kind of hard to play on the dance floor, but because it’s so popular, people always ask me to play 1-2 occasionally off of it. So I wanted to take that style and make them into more dance-able tunes and that’s exactly what Voyager was.

We certainly got a giant dose of these tunes at Foundation. Everyone  in the crowd was on their feet, enjoying the music. His sound is as unique as his name. When Christian moved from Minnesota to California after 18 years being in the mid-west, his new found friends gave him the nickname he will forever be known by.

I tried to think of a really cool DJ name and I couldn’t think of anything. As more and more time passed…I got to the point I should have switched it, but it was too late. It stuck. No matter what your name is, once people associate you with that name and your music, they just kind of forget what that word actually means.

Any fan knows that the music is always more important than the artist’s name. Minnesota stays true to that notion as he’s grown considerably as of late, gaining a huge fan base and following. It wasn’t always that way, however. Before he started making music, Minnesota had a production company, ‘Vital Events’ and hit the market with perfect timing when EDM was becoming more popular. Booking names like Benny Benassi and Skrillex, our jaws dropped when he and his manager noted that they were able to book Skrillex for no more than $500.

Talk about a steal! Of course this was also about five years ago, when all these names weren’t quite as mainstream. Booking artists can be a cutthroat world and it’s not always easy to get what you want. Thus, Minnesota opted out of promotions and planned for a more full time job in music production, with encouragement and support from his friends. It seemed nothing more than a win-win situation.

The first year I was with my booking agency they got me on tons of festivals and was able to get people to come see me, so that when I came back on tour they had seen me at a festival and [in turn]went to a show. So far, so good.

We couldn’t agree more. Minnesota is a frequenter of the Seattle area when he goes on tour and notably brings in more and more fans each time. So who said dubstep is dead?! It is certainly alive and well in the Pacific Northwest. Local bass heads would agree that his Seattle stop on the Mind Machine tour was definitely one of his best performances and sets to date. We can’t wait for an epic return and more heart pounding bass from this budding artist.