Red Bull Sound Select Presents: Esta, Joe Kay, The Whooligan (SOULECTION) curated by MADCAP ft. Eastern Bloc, Totems, and Montell2099.

$3 w/ RSVP $10 door sales. $3 ticket link - http://bit.ly/1RUGdjg

Hailing from California, Joe Kay, ESTA, The Whooligan are both crucial Soulection players. The co-founder and head of A&R, Joe Kay has taken Soulection from local college radio to the heights of Beats 1, along the way expanding it into a record label, artist collective, events brand. With second-to-none skills as a broadcaster and DJ, his drive to share the “sound of tomorrow” has helped Soulection become a globally-recognised force. His philosophy? Do what you love. 

An open-eared producer and DJ, ESTA’s borderless approach to creativity ties together a divergent range of eras and genres, drawing inspiration from the likes of Hudson Mohawke, Dilla, Cory Henry, 9th Wonder, Taylor McFerrin, M-Phases, D’Angelo, and Just Blaze along the way. The fruit of his labour is sensual dancefloor productions dripping in vibe and dimension. Since connecting with Soulection, ESTA has released several notable EPs, collaborations, remixes, and performed across the globe. 

Alongside Joe Kay and ESTA’s double headline performance, The Soulection Madcap Takeover will also mark the first Red Bull Sound Select performance from Auckland-based producer/DJ and SoundCloud star Montell2099. “The first time I met Montell2099, I was blown away by his production, performance and humility,” Middleton says. “There are a lot of guys making beats in New Zealand right now, but he seemed content with what he’s doing, quietly killing it without boasting about it. That’s the kind of artist I like to work with.”

Regularly racking up 100k plus plays on a song on SoundCloud, Montell2099’s idiosyncratic beats could be the soundtrack to a nightclub at the end of the universe. Over the last year, they’ve caught the ears of Soulection’s Mr. Carmack, Sango and Joe Kay. The result has been strong international support for a small town kid who moved to Auckland for audio engineering school and found his sound along the way. 

A smart and intuitive beatmaker and live electronic music performer, Totems has been exploring the depths and potential of bass music for several years now. With Elixir, his 2015 album release through respected post hip-hop label Cosmic Compositions, Totems reframed old school UK jungle, southern screw music and circa 2000s trap rap into a compelling and moody dancefloor sound for the 21st century. A sometimes guitarist and scream vocalist, while Totems builds his electronic live sets drum machines and keyboards, his performance energy taps into the very best aspects of punk rock.

Eastern Bloc is the duo project of longstanding Wellington DJ Marek and emerging producer/DJ Artur aka Beat Mob. Over the last two years, their original productions, bootleg remixes and fresh take on Jersey Club music has won them praise from Vic Mensa, MIXMAG Magazine, Nest HQ and the Complex and Vice media networks. In that time, they've also shared stages with Flosstradamus, Hoodboi, Flume, Danny Brown, Mr. Carmack and Lunice amongst others. Since the release of their iTunes and Apple Music charting debut EP Flamingo in November, Eastern Bloc has been busy performing at festivals across New Zealand including Splore and Rhythm and Vines (where they curated and hosted the Bloc Stage). 

$3 w/ RSVP $10 door sales. $3 ticket link - http://bit.ly/1RUGdjg