We can barely believe it, but Shambhala Music Festival patrons will be going home in just over a week. In the spirit of Shambhala, we’ve compiled this handy guide (and this awesome SoundCloud playlist) on every artist that’s gracing this year’s Shambhala stages.
The beautiful humans that curate the talent for each of the six stages always bring the biggest and baddest names in the industry. Not being ones to disappoint, they had some more exciting news to share with us. Alongside all the talent announcements, some stages are getting a complete remodel for this year’s edition. Brace yourself for a talent overload as the Shambhala organizers blow our minds once more.
A-Skillz
Photo Credit: A-Skillz
A-Skillz (Adam Mills) has been a headlining act at Shambhala for many years. His blending of many genres have captivated audiences all over the globe. So, it’s only fitting that he has a headliner spot at Shambhala. For many reasons, the list of places the Nu-Funk musician hasn’t performed is much shorter than the places he has performed at.
He’s gained recognition for his amazing productions as well. He earned the title of ‘Breakpoll’s Best DJ’ (2012 and 2013), and he also gained another award for ‘Best Track’ at Breakspoll in 2015. If there’s one thing for certain, you’ll want to be in Fractal Forest when he’s throwing down his set.
A-Trak
A-Trak is an accomplished DJ. At a tender age, he started to receive his first bout of recognition, and it would reverberate for years to come. He was the youngest person to win the DMC World Championships, and he went on to win four more awards with DMC. He’s the first DJ to have made an accomplishment that big, and it’s no wonder that big names took a liking to him.
You can hear his remix of Heads Will Roll on many tv shows, movies and more. In an interview with Forbes last November, he spoke about his process behind making it. He stated that it took him six months to produce the track. His label almost turned the track down, given how late he was with submitting it.
Abstrakt Sonance
Photo Credit: TipTop Photography
Tyler Myroon (aka Abstrakt Sonance) has come a long way in life. After almost dying of a heart attack at the age of 19, he knew he needed to make a change in his life. Myroon’s friends were more than happy to help him, even going so far as moving him to Salmon Arm to recover. Not long after, he started producing and that was when Abstrakt Sonance was born. He needed a way to transform his negative life experiences after he had reached his lowest point.
This musician takes on the good, bad and ugly life experiences he has and turns it into amazingly unique dubstep. It doesn’t feel quite right to put him into one genre slot due to his love for blending genres in the pursuit of making something new.
Adham Shaikh
Photo credit: Footwerk
Adham Shaikh became enthralled with synthesizers in the early 1980’s. So much so, that when he started experimenting with them he used every sound imaginable. Adham is a well-rounded artist, drawing from unique inspirations. Due to this, his accomplishments that came further on in his career should be no surprise to anyone.
In 2006, his album Fusion became nominated in the World Music category. Additionally, his album Universal Frequencies won Best Album at the BC Independent Music Awards. He has also scored many original soundtracks, including (but not limited to), National Geographic and Orphan Black. He’s built an amazing fan-base through his global tours and we’re glad to see him back home.
Adventure Club
Christian Srigley and Leighton James started off experimenting with music in a hardcore pop-punk band in high school. Soon after, they found that there wasn’t much versatility with the sound. After some experimentation, they found their signature sound and uploaded remixes and videos. After having a successful run at venues globally they released their debut EP Calling All Heroes in 2013. The song Wonder (feat Kite String Tangle on vocals) shot to one of the top forty spots in Canada.
An-ten-nae
San Francisco has a gem of a DJ, and he has an amazing way of mixing music in unique ways. He’s even put a name to his unique sound: Acid Crunk. An-ten-nae loved the name so much that he named some of his compilations after the genre.
Acid Crunk Vol 2 soared on Beatport in ways that no one would ever imagine. It remained in the #1 spot across three genres (dubstep, electronica and chillout), but that’s not all. All 14 tracks on the album were sailing in the top ten in their respective genres. His latest album Medicine is being released May 12, and you can pre-order it on iTunes here.
AraabMUZIK
Well before he could even crawl, Abraham Orellana (aka. AraabMuzik) started developing an ear for music. Orellana uses an MPC drum machine to create beats live, a technique that no one has seen before. It was his skill with the MPC that had Diplomat Records knocking at his door in 2006. This recognition led to him becoming affiliated with the Dipset label.
In 2010, The Diplomats released Dipset Trance Party, featuring mixtapes from Araabmuzik (among other artists). In 2011, he released his debut studio album Electronic Dream to favorable reviews. In fact, Pitchfork Media placed his album at #40 of their Top 50 Albums of 2011 list.
Armanni Reign
If you want to make a big name for yourself in the rap scene, you need to work hard at your craft to gain recognition. David Bruce aka. Armanni Reign competed in cyphas (freestyle rap competition) and rap battles. It wasn’t long before Bruce found himself on radio spots. Moreover, for three continuous months he was Philly 103.9FM’s ‘Cypha’ champion.
After all this success, he found himself needing to make a change, and then he decided to test out the waters of DnB to see how it would work out for him. Armanni Reign has been very successful in his new venture and has loaned his rap talent to many big names such as 12th Planet, Zomboy, and many more.
Austero
Austero is another artist that is making the trek back home for the 20th anniversary. Two of his releases, Counter Culture Ep and Sufi dub Remix took the #1 position right away in Yearly Downloads on Addichtech Records. He’s graced audiences at festivals all around the globe (Symbiosis Gathering, Shambhala, and Burning Man to name a few) with his signature down-tempo sound fused with electronica.
He brings a guitar to his live performances, and it’s this uniqueness that have people coming back for more. Austero has an amazing ability to produce music that not only evokes a feeling, but also tells a story about his experiences, his vision and his hope for the world.
Aztek
Mark Stiegel (aka Aztek) is a musical prodigy in his own right. He learned many instruments as a child and after a while, he dropped his musical pursuits to try new things. Stiegel wouldn’t make the return to music until later on in life, when he dropped out of film school. His ability to bring different instrument offerings to the table is breaking the mold for electronic artists around the globe.
In an early 2016 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Aztek said that his new EP Kong incorporated a lot of the sounds that he likes for instance “…rainforests and things like that. You’ll notice some of that on the EP.” It’s this eclectic taste that allows him to be himself in a world full of button-mashers.
Barisone
Barisone has been flying under the radar for quite some time. Having been DJing since the 90’s, Barisone has a penchant for bringing back tunes from that time. PRSN and Barisone have curated a monthly event in Portland called Wake the Town. That project has hosted many big names in the industry. Among them, Bass Coast Festival co-founder The Librarian. Booms and Claps said it best: “His sets are vibey, fresh, and his flow is impeccable. He’s a DJ that plays mostly music I’ve never heard before, but always want to hear more of.”
Beardyman
Much like Neon Steve, David Foreman (aka Beardyman) has a penchant for speaking in the third person. This all started when he won the UK Beatboxing Championship two years in a row. Shortly after, he took a sudden race towards experimenting with music.
Beardyman has found limits with current technology and decided he needs to take matters into his own hands. After running a successful festival circuit he unveiled The Beardytron5000mkII. It’s a machine that can make loops and layers with only the sound of his voice. He did a live demonstration of the equipment at a TED Talk titled ‘The Polyphonic Me’. If anythings for certain, Beardyman’s eclectic style and winning personality are going to please the crowds.
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