CRSSD Festival returns to the San Diego waterfront this weekend. We caught up with Chris Lorenzo, Bon Entendeur, and Hayden James for some pro tips.
What are you up to this weekend? You could do worse than heading to CRSSD Festival in San Diego, especially if you’re a fan of house and techno. And if you’re reading this on Attack already, there’s a good chance you are.
With a great mix of underground and mainstream names, plus a ton of after-dark parties, there’s something for everyone. You may not all agree on the lineup but few can complain about the weather.
Tickets are still available, and before their performances, we caught up with three artists for some quick-fire interviews.
Based at the Waterfront Park in San Diego CRSSD Festival runs over two days: Sat and Sun March 1 & 2.
Buy tickets from the CRSSD Festival website.
Chris Lorenzo
What is your all-time favourite bit of kit, and why?
It has to be my Novation Bass Station II. Usually with synths, they end up in rotation or in a storage unit, but I have always used this synth for the most part. The first record I used it on was Rhymes back In 2015, and the last thing I used it on was my Amyl & The Sniffers remix just recently.
What one production technique do you wish you’d known when you were starting up?
How to side-chain my bass to my kicks.
What one DJing technique do you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
Never listen to the audio engineer; always redline the mixer no matter what
What can we expect from your set at CRSSD Festival this year?
Lots of redlining the mixer!
Never listen to the audio engineer; always redline the mixer no matter what!
Bon Entendeur
What is your all-time favourite bit of kit, and why?
We love the Roland TR-8S. It’s a drum machine with a memory card, allowing us to load our own samples and create more complex drum loops while keeping our signature sound.
What one production technique do you wish you’d known when you were starting up?
We wish we had realized earlier how powerful parallel compression is. It adds punch and presence to drums and vocals without losing dynamics, and it has completely changed the way we mix our tracks.
What one DJing technique do you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
If I could give myself one piece of advice when starting to DJ, I would have said, “Before learning the technique, learn how to properly organize your folders and USB drive. The most important thing is to have everything as well-organized as possible to have a smooth set and be responsive to the crowd’s energy.”
What can we expect from your set at CRSSD Festival this year?
Our set will be a journey back and forth between past and present, mixing vintage house and disco with our unreleased tracks and some songs we’re working on for our next album. Of course, there will be classics from our previous albums and a few tracks we’ve never played before that we’re excited to test out.
Hayden James
What is your all-time favourite bit of kit, and why?
The Sequential Prophet-6. I own the desktop and keyboard versions. I just love how versatile it is. You don’t really have to menu dive when you’re working on sound design and it just sounds amazing. I use this synth in just about every song i’ve ever released.
What one production technique do you wish you’d known when you were starting up?
Maybe not a technique but more of an ethos…keep it simple and work on the feeling the record / the moment / the section gives you.
Don’t try to make it too complicated with all the plugs in the world. Most people listening will hear the SONG, not the tiny detail that doesn’t really add anything vibey to the record.
What one DJing technique do you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
Reverb. I love using the reverb built into the Pioneer DJ DJM-V10 to create tension and space.
What can we expect from your set at CRSSD Festival this year?
I’ve been working on new records for the last couple of months. I’m so pumped to try these out for the first time at CRSSD.
I love using the verb built into the v10 to create tension and space.
Follow CRSSD Festival on Instagram.
Based at the Waterfront Park in San Diego CRSSD Festival runs over two days: Sat and Sun March 1 & 2.
Buy tickets from the CRSSD Festival website.
