Deorro –

It's safe to say that Erick 'DEORRO' Orrosquieta (born August 29, 1991) has established himself as one of the MUST SEE acts in any festival around the world, and at a tender age of 22! Like most talented DJs, Deorro started pursuing his passion by playing gigs, in his hometown in LA County, when he just about entered his teens (14 years old to be exact)! DJing is tough on it's own; producing is a whole other game and Deorro proved that some people just have a natural knack for music by producing unique sounds by the age of 17!

Under the alias 'TONIC', Erick started posting his sounds on SoundCloud to much success, so much so that by 2011 he already garnered over 20,000 followers and over 1.5million plays on SoundCloud. And if this wasn't enough proof of his skills, Deorro even played a few sold out international events in Australia!

After signing 'Big Fat' - one of Deorro's early masterpiece - to BIP records, Deorro's talents were further exposed to the world! Safe to say many iconic DJs/Producers (Laidback Luke, Knife Party, Porter Robinson, Steve Aoki, Kaskade ~ to name a few) of the Electronic Music scene took notice, and further supported this new yet raw budding talent who was destined to 'WOW' audiences world over.

The year 2012 proved to be the pedestal on which Deorro's fame would experience a meteoric rise. Being given the opportunity to close the Main-Stage (right after Skrillex and Steve Angello mind you) in front of 30,000 fans. Deorro remained unfazed by the pressure and played, what is regarded till date, the most outstanding and unforgettable performances ever in Good Life Festival History (below: a short vid of how insane the performance was).

What sets Deorro apart from todays 'Big-Room' sound, and generic build ups and drops, is his focus on producing a mix of progressive and electro. Keen Electronic Music lovers can easily identify a Deorro track (whether original or remixed) by listening to just half of it. His unique electro drops with trumpet-esque synths and heavy bass have now become his signature style (Hear Below). And despite sticking to this style none of his tracks sound similar to one another, instead always providing a refreshing sound to our keen ears.

Having recently announced his wish to quit DJing and rather focus on producing music and expanding his PandaFunk brand, there is no doubt his electrifying shows will be missed in festivals to come! At least lovers of true hardcore electronic music can rejoice with the fact that there will be more Deorro tracks to dance to and go ape! Having said that, let's check out a few of the best Deorro tunes produced (exclusively by Deorro):

Booty In Your Face -

Five Hours -

Yee -

The Perfect Rave Buddy

The perfect Rave Buddy –

Facts show that on average an EDM festivalgoer attends festivals with an average of 5 friends (Eventbrite, 2013). Sure it’s tons of fun going with a big group for festivals as everyone is going bat-shit crazy together and bonding further as a group of close friends. But any ‘seasoned’ festgoer will know that not everytime a group that enters together stays together. Eventually, we all end up separating, either due to having different DJ preferences or due to getting plain ol lost.

When separating, always remember to be with at least one friend so you’re not alone for the fest. Not that being alone is bad – personally having raved for most of UMF Miami alone due to diff DJ preferences – since you will always meet new people who clearly share the same interests in music and such. But it is always an asset to have someone you know personally around with you in case you need any kind of help.

Having raved/raged with different sets of friends in a number of different festivals it is at Tomorrowland 2014 that I actually found ‘The Perfect Rave Buddy’. Let me start by saying: No! Your perfect rave buddy does not, and most likely will not; have to be your childhood best friend (since chances are you both will have different – albeit at the slightest – artist preferences and arguments may ensue). Your perfect rave buddy can come from the most unlikely of sources and render your festival ‘ACE’!

A group of us friends went for TL2014 together and as predicted we all parted our ways a few hours into the fest. A friend, who I had only met 3 days before Tomorrowland, and I ended up sticking together since we had quite a lot of common DJs/Artists we wanted to see. Not knowing him personally for a long enough time I have to admit I was hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be one of those Rave Buddies who have the ‘My way or highway’ kind of attitude when it comes to their musical experiences.

To summarize in points, these are the steps that we took to ensure our festival experience went about smoothly:

• Plan and chart out the DJs/Artists each of you want to see that are non-negotiable
• Plan and decide the remaining DJs/Artists you guys want to see, but are flexible to missing out on, even if just for 30 minutes of the 1.5hour long set
• If unsure about clashing DJs/Artists, make sure each of you make the other ‘Rave Buddy’ listen to the music of the artist of your choice and discuss your experience of seeing that artist. After discussing and listening to the clashing Artists’ music, come to a conclusion
• In case of 2 favourite Artists of both buddies, i.e., both of you’ll love both the Artists that are clashing yet can’t decide who to watch, ALWAYS go for the artist that at least one of you haven’t seen live (In my case it was between Aleso & Knife Party. We both had seen Alesso and my ‘Rave Buddy’ had seen Knife Party; I hadn’t. Therefore, we saw 30 minutes of Alesso and left for Knife Party just to reach on time for the beginning of their set)

These were measures taken pre-Tomorrowland. During Tomorrowland, however, there were many actions that just sort of came naturally to each ‘Rave Buddy’, which just went to make sure we both had the time of our life in perhaps the biggest EDM festival in the world.

Each of us took turns holding the backpack of rave-necessities (water, flag, costumes, snacks, rave-gear, etc.). Each of us took turns giving shoulder rides when the other Rave Buddies’ favourite song was being dropped. Each of us taking turns to recuperate when tired and not moving so the dancing buddy knows exactly where to find you. Each one taking turns to go fill water, buy food and refreshments, etc. without stressing over who paid for what, etc. (trust me, this happens waaaay too often in India than I’d like to admit). But most of all the perfect ‘Rave Buddy’ lets you dance and be in your own personal musical space without disturbing you by making small talk and the like. After all you’ve gone to enjoy the music not sit and chit-chat. Sure, we would talk and laugh in sets, but we’d talk when the situations was perfect, i.e., a funny incident happening, a sick song being played, a friend needs a cigarette, etc. but majority of the time we were in our own musical bubble while also keeping an eye on our ‘Rave Buddy’ to ensure we had each others’ back.

I have raved/raged with some of my closest and dearest friends, yet none of them seemed like a more perfect fit than this new friend I barely met 72 hours ago, who I can now easily call my perfect ‘Rave Buddy’.