#“What if they got freaky in the arena.” And it’s a 15 year old

[mariigoldzz]

Reminder that the majority of characters in the hunger games are canonically minors. Many of the cast members were minors during filming. Saying shit like “why didn’t katniss and Peeta have sex in catching fire?” Is weird af. She was 17 in that book.

[mythicallore]

Bizarre Encounters with Pale Humanoids

Of all of the unsettling denizens of the paranormal that could pop out of the darkness, one of the odder has to be the pale face of a humanoid creature beyond description, eluding all attempts to categorize it. These gaunt, hunched over specters seem to haunt the fringe of reports of the mysterious and supernatural. Yet there are countless such reports coming from people from all walks of life and from all over. Here is a selection of various reports of spectral, deathly pale beings that are humanoid to some extent, but most certainly not human, circling out past the boundaries of the truly odd.

One witness brings us the story of an anonymous Reddit poster who says he had a very spooky encounter in 2006 in rural Arkansas, in the United States. He claims that this happened when he was only 12 years old, and that he had lived in a modest house nestled on around an acre of land out in the boondocks, surrounded by dim woods and its only tendril to the outside world an unpaved dirt road meandering off through the trees. Making the whole scene even spookier is the alleged fact that there was a big old abandoned slaughterhouse somewhere back in the wooded area, as well as the remnants of some burned down house owned by anonymous parties long since gone. Whether this had anything to do with what was to come or not, the witness describes the whole area as rather “mystical and special,” as well as “odd in general,” and that his encounter would happen one evening when he went out to lie down on the outside trampoline after an argument with his parents. It was just him and that big sky with a full moon framed within it, and he says of what happened next:

So I’m laying on the trampoline, and other than the moon there isn’t any light aside from the porch light which is a ways behind me. All of the sudden I vaguely see something move. Its coming from the lot across from the dirt road, and its coming towards me. We had a Boston terrier at the time and at first I figured it was him. But as it got closer I knew that’s not what it was.

 It was sickly pale. It walked on all fours with its hands but seemed to be able to walk upright. Its kind of galloping towards me on all fours and its a little bit aways at this point but getting closer. The light bounced off of its skin and it almost seemed to look wet. Its gait and color is pretty clear to me but I don’t remember anything distinct about its face except that it just seems to be whitewashed to me. It’s happening so fast and now it is right near me still running and then I can’t see it. It’s under the trampoline. And then I feel it, I feel it PUSH up on the trampoline. I didn’t even bother to look back as I ran to the house. I don’t remember my thought process at all past that point but my mom has told me that I came in the house hollering and absolutely terrified.

 I’ve thought about this consistently over the years and as I’ve gotten older have seen stories of similar creatures. I used to describe it as looking like Gollum from the LOTR. I think of the creature kind of fondly in a way. It would never have occurred to me at the time but it almost had a playful vibe to it, and it makes me sad to think that it’s just some lonely but semi-intelligent creature. Maybe a grotesque experiment or some off-kilter evolutionary line. I don’t think that’s impossible. I guess I like to let my imagination run wild with it though. I will always be curious about this and the place in general.

It is hard to know how much stock to put into Reddit reports, but there sure are a lot along the same lines. Another poster at Reddit /r/paranormal gives his own freaky encounter, for which he even supplies photographic evidence. This supposedly happened in 2012, at an undisclosed location at a close-knit friendly barn community in a rural area of the United States, surrounded by dim woods laced with small, scenic trails. The witness says that his two horses were kept on the property, which was near his home and which he would visit ever day to care for and ride around through the peaceful scenery. One evening he had a startling experience as he rode one of the horses, of which he would say:

One evening, around 5pm, I was sitting on her, letting her stand when she started snorting and backing up. I looked up and saw this white/grey creature crawling out of the woods towards us. It had a very small round head, it’s eyes were just pits. It had a very small mouth, not much detail there. It’s arms were very long and thin, fingers also like that. Its rib cage was very pronounced and defined, and it’s legs were long and lanky.

Its movements were very jerky, not smooth and fluid. It slowly jerked out to us, when my horse turned and bolted out of the arena. She’s a dead broke, calm, well manners horse who never spooked before this. Stubborn old mare, but not spooky. She would not go back into the arena that night. I walked her around the barn yard, staying near the main barn, put her up, and ran out to peek into the arena, to find nothing except some “foot prints” where I saw the thing.

This would not be the end of the sightings of this odd creature, as the witness says it would lurk around the dark periphery of the property all through that summer, often peeking around the gate that led out into the woods. On one occasion he saw it running along the other side of the fence, keeping up with him and the horse. It was eerie to be sure, and the witness continues:

I continued seeing it, mainly in the woods, but it was always around. Summer 2013, the barn shut down when the owner died. We moved the horses to a friends place for the time being, and I didn’t see it there. Late summer/fall 2013, I found a new barn. Woods directly behind the barn and arena. This place had lights and was much newer.

About a month later, when I was getting ready to leave I heard something in the woods, I looked down the barn aisle into the woods and saw the creature running down the road into the woods. I saw it much less frequently for a while, until later in fall 2014 I began seeing it in the back pastures woods, it darted in and out of the tree line.

I saw a second one sitting in a neighbors yard, it would sit in the same spot every day and watch me ride.

Started taking pictures, which are very poor and crappy, and sent them to a friend who claimed he and some others have seen it. Kept seeing it occasionally, but from a much greater distance than at the first barn. I went with this barn owner to another farm to get some stuff, when I saw a very very large version of this creature run out from the woods, right behind a tree I was 10 feet from, while I was alone by the trailer.

Last November, I house sat for the barn owners. I went out around 2am to fill water troughs and enjoy the full moon and cool night. I was sitting in the back pasture when 3 of the creatures began coming from the woods, one came up to the trees near the trough where I was, the other two were walking along the tree line. The horses were silently munching their hay, pretty far from where the creatures were. I messaged the guy from earlier and told him what was going on. Since that incident, I haven’t really seen them. Last summer, I did see one outside my house staring into the windows. A few weeks ago, one was outside my bedroom windows tapping and making a strange faint shrieking sound.

Unfortunately the pictures don’t really seem conclusive at all, and we are left to wonder just what was going on here, if anything at all. Another Reddit poster gave his own report of a strange occurrence at a rural country house when he was 15 years old. At the time he was apparently in his bedroom on a very dark night, and was about to close the blinds to the window when he caught a glimpse of a “pure white almost glowing man/thing” glaring at him from next to a nearby pine tree. He would describe what happened as follows:

It was crouched down kind of in a spider-man pose and I believe it had larger black eyes. Not like something you see from the greys but it was a feature that stood out to me. It was very muscular, I distinctly remember seeing well defined arm muscles, it seemed just very muscular in general. It wasn’t too thin it was just strong looking. I don’t know how tall it was because it was crouched down looking up at me. I don’t remember if it’s head appeared larger than an average humans head, but I remember it was very bald.

 When I saw this creature I screamed for my mom, she came to the window and saw something that startled her too and ran downstairs to our back porch and yelled “who’s out there! Come out!” I remember standing behind my mother nervous with fear. We went back to my room and looked out the window and it was gone. I have this weird feeling that someday I’ll see it again. I’m not sure why, I just feel it.

A very similar report was posted on The National Cryptid Society, and was given by a witness in the Midwest United States. The report again concerns pale, humanoid things wandering about the dark outside of windows in the middle of nowhere, and the witness says:

When I was in 6th grade, I looked out the living room window and saw a white reflection. My mom grabbed a flashlight and looked out the window, she could see some white animal crawling around on the ground in the clearing by our house. It was approximately raccoon-sized, but white and apparently able to get 3′ up to the window. The next morning, before sunrise, I was letting my dog outside. He ran out the garage door and began barking and growling (completely out of character for him). I stepped around the door frame and saw an approximately 5′ tall pale being with two huge, glowing eyes and some form of round glowing item where a mouth or neck might be. My sixth grade self screamed, turned, and ran back inside, leaving my mother and dog out to fend for themselves.

By the time my mom figured out what happened and I calmed down enough to come back out, the thing was gone. To this day, I’m terrified of the woods surrounding their house at night. When I visit, I leave before sunset or have someone walk me to my car. It has been over 15 years. I would also like to add that I don’t believe in “aliens” or “ghosts” or anything, but I have no clue what these things were.

What are these things and what do they want? Was this a ghost, an alien, some sort of unidentified animal, or what? Our next account was provided to the site Phantoms and Monsters, and supposedly happened at Big Bear Lake, California, in 2017. The witness claims she had just checked into a Best Western motel in the area at just after midnight, and was going to her car to get her luggage when she had the fright of her life. According to the witness, it was very dark and was cold and snowy, with her just wanting to get her stuff and get in out of the cold. She says:

It had been snowing and was extremely dark, my car was facing a country road. When I hit the unlock button on my car, the parking and interior lights came on. This allowed me to see two eyes reflecting in the middle of the road, about 10-15 ft from me. At first, I thought it was a deer, I have lived in Colorado and I’m accustomed to seeing wildlife.

 I instantly stopped and remained still as I didn’t want to scare off the what I thought was a deer. As my eyes glanced downwards, I noticed it wasn’t a deer, it looked like a white, hairless naked man on all fours. It was at least four feet in height, on all fours. Probably around 15 ft if it stood up. There was a brief moment as our eyes made contact. It then, as quickly as I have ever seen any animal, turned around, ran as fast as a cheetah away from me and then, straight up a tree. I was frozen in disbelief. I said out loud to myself, “you have to be flipping kidding me”. Just as I was going to convince myself that this couldn’t possibly be happening, it leapt from tree top to tree top and I could see it’s full outline as it did so.

The speed and strength it had is like nothing I’ve ever heard of before. The creature was definitely solid, it appeared as if it was coming toward me, possibly hunting me? I don’t know what stopped it. Was it the lights that went on? It had no visible genitalia. it had a very human like qualities. None of this makes sense to me, the speed, agility of the creature and there shouldn’t be anyway that the treetops should have been able to hold the weight of the creature. It appeared to be flashing like a TV going in and out of reception as it sprinted up the tree. It also didn’t appear to disrupt the foliage as it did so.

Besides hanging out in the shadows and woods of rural properties, similar pale humanoids have been encountered on roads as well, where the lane lines come flickering out of the gloom to go racing back into the night. In a report to the July 15, 2016 episode of Coast To Coast AM, a caller named “Nate” gave his experience while driving along a desolate road in rural Illinois. He says that he is a truck driver, a profession that has numerous brushes with the paranormal, and on this night he was heading east on I-80 through Illinois. He would tell Coast to Coast:

I had stayed the night, well, the afternoon in Des Moines to get some sleep and I got a fresh eight hours of sleep and I had just got on the road. It was about dusk and the sun was just about to set and I was driving and I seen a figure just ahead of me on I-80 and it was right on the side of the road. When I say right on the side of the road, I don’t mean in the grass. Its toes were right on the white line. I slowed down a little bit to kind of see what was going on there and maybe avoid it. When I got about fifty yards from it. I got down to about 50 miles per hour and I could see it clear. I had my brights on and everything. It was a man. Well, it looked like a man about maybe 5’9 or 5’10. Couldn’t have been more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. And when I got up to him he looked at me and George I kid you not, he had no eyes, no mouth, no nostrils. There was no orifice on his face. He was pale white. No hair. No features whatsoever. There was a… It looked like a skeleton with bleached white skin. He was just kind of standing there looking right at me. I slowed down and as soon as I seen his face, he looked up at me, boy, I flipped the hammer down from Illinois all the way to Chicago. I never looked back. My blood ran cold. My hair stood up. I was one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen in my life.

Another such account was reported on Reddit by a witness who says his frightening encounter happened on Christmas Night of 2007, at a lakeside community in rural upstate New York. The festivities had worn down and at around 8 PM the witness took off in his car to a friend’s house. The place was only about a 10-minute drive away and the night was clear, so there would have been no reason to suspect that anything would happen in such a quiet and peaceful place, but things would quickly take a turn into the weird. He would say of his harrowing encounter:

As I drove, I noticed what looked like someone walking up ahead on the opposite side of the road, coming in my direction. Mind you, I was still going about 20 mph the whole time, so it was probably less than a minute by the time the “walker” came into clear view. I got a quick scan of it from my windshield before my car and it were exactly parallel.

 It was not a person. It stood on two long legs, with long arms hanging down from its shoulders. It was strong looking. Lean, muscular, but not beefy in stature. It looked thin at the same time. It stood at least 7 foot tall. It was light coloured: not sure whether it was white, tan, yellow or greyish. It didn’t appear to have fur but there was some texture to the skin- it wasn’t smooth. There appeared to be something coming down off its back. I don’t know what this was. All I can recall about it’s face is the small features it had but the mouth and jaw were notably large. And it had pointed things atop its head- 2 things going straight upward with something mingled between the two things. That’s what I got from a quick scan and from my observation of it as it neared my car and my car neared it.

 As my car became parallel to it within a split second, I went from looking out my windshield to looking at it from my drivers side window. In that moment, it’s face quickly peered down at me and all I remember was the mouth opened wide. Out came a remarkable scream that I’ll never forget. Gives me the chills just thinking about it. It consisted of a high-pitched shrill/shriek, enveloped by a deep guttural growl. Both sounds happened simultaneously in that scream.

 I kept driving all the while. This was all happening so fast that I didn’t even have a chance to be scared or shocked or anything. I continued driving and went past my friends house and drove home. Called him to tell him what happened and that I just needed to get back. I was probably running on adrenaline to get back home. Later on, I was in total shock after it sunk in. Had my drivers side window been opened fully, it would have touched me, or worse, taken me. I’m certain of it.

Another account from Phantoms and Monsters tells the story of a witness in Canada, who had at the time spent the evening laughing and talking with friends until the wee hours of the morning. At 4:45 AM he decided it was time to head home, and got into his truck to begin the 45 minute drive back to his place. In between his friend’s town and his own there was reportedly a pitch black forested area that took around 10 minutes to drive through, and after almost hitting a deer on his way in he decided to slow down and take his time getting through this tangle of trees. He would say of the series of bizarre events that would follow:

As I approached the exit of the forest there is a left curve in the road and an adjacent dirt road with a white wooden fence lining it going up a hill to what I would imagine would lead to someones property/home. As I was making the turn I seen something in my headlights (Brights) at the edge of the fence. It was a tall pale milky white creature with a bald head. It’s eyes reflected back. Clothes-less . It’s arms and legs just as white as its bald head. I seen it for a second or two as it made a move to dive behind the fence.

 I braked and backed up slowly and pointed my lights at the fence looking for any kind of movement. I was parked on the highway which was abandoned at 5 am. My heart was racing and I didn’t know why. I must have sat there for a minute before I calmed down, didn’t see any movement and decided I better not go and investigate or maybe I’d become a missing person and continued my journey home. So the only description I have of this “thing” is tall,pale, bald, and human like features, but no noticeable hair or eyebrows.

Such entities leave us wondering just what any of these people could have possibly seen. Are these ghosts, aliens, demons, or just the products of addled, tired minds? There are numerous encounters that cover a wide spectrum of such pale, humanoid beings, and as I have said I have covered such reports before, so are these related and what could we be dealing with here? Considering the very unearthly undertones of such reports, one might be inclined to think that this must surely be aliens. After all, how could something so innately bizarre as these pale, crouched monsters be anything of this world? One possible explanation for the pure outlandishness of these stories is that they are some sort of inter-dimensional entities or trickster spirits, that for whatever reasons find themselves here for unfathomable purposes and agendas. It was an idea championed by such esteemed paranormal researchers as Jacques Vallee and John Keel, and Keel himself would once say of such bizarre beings that seem to defy any conventional classification:

One basic fact should be obvious from the foregoing – these entities and things are not necessarily from some other planet. They are actually closely tied to the human race, are a part of our immediate environment in some unfathomable fashion, and to a very large extent are primarily concerned with misleading us, misinforming us, and playing games with us.

Is that what this is? Are there entities from beyond the fringe of the odd that are paying us a visit to taunt and manipulate us to inscrutable ends? How else can we explain these totally otherworldly reports and their crouched, pale denizens of our nightmares? How else can we possibly fit any of these accounts into our reality? Unless, of course, they are just pure fabrications? It is difficult to say what the case may be, as these are eyewitness accounts beyond the scope of out ability to verify or corroborate, but if they are in any sense real, then they leave a lot to question, and flitter about out in the domain of the truly strange.

[metalofmontana-blog]

Hairball’s Lead Guitarist - Happy

A Metal of Montana Interview - by Josh Richards

*LIVE at the MAC on October 7th.  (Sponsored by the Butte Depot) 

As a young 15 year old I can still remember the first concert like it was yesterday.  I had never seen nor heard the individuals responsible for the music outside of my dinky, dual cassette, and detachable speaker Sony boom box before.  Today was my real life “METAL” -  Indian in the Cupboard moment!

On March 27th, 1990 my cousins, Kim and Cheryl, convinced my mother and father to allow me to attend Aerosmith in Billings, Montana.  What I did not know was, that my favorite band at the time, and my favorite singer to date, would be opening for them.  The only words that I was able to muster were, “Sebastian (expletive) Bach”, followed by my mother’s unshocked yet stearn voice sprinkled with that questioning yet firm tone, “What?”.   To which I followed, “Holy (expletive) Mom.” And yes. “Holy (expletive) Dad!”  

*Thanks Mom and Dad for allowing that door to be opened and Kim and Cheryl for taking their little cousin to his first ever ROCK CONCERT!*

Like yesterday, I can still recall the live performance that Sebastian Bach and Skid Row put on.  The notes he was able to hit in the then MetraPark Arena and the rush it brought to my nervous system shot endorphins through my body almost instantaneously.  “Those are the emotions we look to invoke from people young and old at our shows” says Happy, the lead guitarist from, Hairball, a legendary twenty man, seventeen year running tribute band to the likes of Guns & Roses, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Kiss, Van Halen, Queen, Twisted Sister, Journey, Poison and Bon Jovi.”

“Anything worth doing is worth overdoing” – Happy, HAIRBALL Lead Guitarist.

We sat down with Happy, lead guitarist for one of the premiere, if not the premiere Tribute Bands touring the United States currently in HAIRBALL.  This bombastic two and a half hour, professionally produced show including fiery pyro, video screens, smoke machines, make-up, costumes, fire, blood and a set list to rival any will be making a stop at the historical Butte Depot on October 7th in Butte, MT to which Happy added, “we’ve been just starting to scratch the surface on the entire state of Montana.”

*Happy is a HUGE Evel Knievel Fan*

Happy, the son of a guitar player himself, took a half hour out of his day to talk with our founder, Josh Richards earlier this week about Hairball, himself, the performances and what to expect in Butte on Ocotober 7th.  

We asked Happy after receiving his first guitar, a 1950’s Gibson Holllywoood, “If he knew then, that this is what he would be doing for a living?”  Happy did not hesitate, “Ya I did.  I mean that was the dream. I think it was when I saw Kiss in like ’77. I was probably in junior high. I knew I wanted to be a part of that kind of energy.” Happy continued, “Fascinated with bands and nothing has really changed in me since then other than I have insurance and I can afford to play whatever guitars I want to play.”

At the time of the interview and article tickets are currently available at the Butte Depot and ONLINE HERE:  * https://events.ticketprinting.com/event/24998*

As we continued the interview and got to know about Hariball and whatHappy specifically is known for, which is “bringing kids into the show. A lot of time I will yank em and throw my guitar around their neck and just get in touch with my inner sixteen year old anytime we hit the stage and try to be grateful for being able to play for as many people as I get to with Hairball.”  That tone was one of a consistently humble and gracious lead guitarist loving to share the music with fans from the ages of 1 to 100!

*Hairball just paying homage to KISS!*

The biggest advantage of a show attendee at a HAIRBALL show is that “there are a lot of people out there that are like us.  They like this type of Rock and Roll done this kind of way with the over the top show. I kind of see us as the preservation society of cool rock and roll.” Which in all cases is the probably the single biggest draw to a Hariball show even to the actual performers that HAIRBALL pays tribute to, at times, joining them on stage as well!

As Happy on lead guitar and the other members of the band including Joe, Steve and Bobby as the leads, Freaky on the base, and Blake on the drums play every show and see the looks and the fun the people are having Happy knows they “doing good work that the people are together, face to face and not just sitting on their phones. They are watching real guys play real guitars, beat real drums, and scream into real microphones. That’s something that should never go out of style.”

CHECK THEM OUT!!!

 A 17 year evolution of a tribute band dedicated specifically to a bombastic celebration of Arena Rock was definitely a subject we wanted to hit on and we did!  We asked Happy specifically about that evolution and this is what he had to say. “Like many great things it started as a joke and then morphed into a career. It really started out as a night out at the bar jabbing fun, silly costumers and changing some lyrics” but what has evolved from a joke has turned into a full on production with a semi-trailer full of schwag and an official Tour Bus!

“If you don’t like Motley Crue, give it five minutes it will turn into Van Halen and if you don’t like that give it another 5 minutes and it will turn into Queen and if you don’t like that it will turn into Journey and it will turn into AC/DC, Alice Cooper”. Happy – HAIRBALL, Lead Guitarist

*Just some of the personas to expect when witnessing HAIRBALL LIVE!*

From plastic totes and garbage bags through HAIRBALL’s evolution in which they are more than a cover band, or a tribute band.  HAIRBALL does all they can to pay a respectful and true to form homage to the orginials.  Upgrading costumes, guitars, lights, pyro and smoke the show is an all out adrenaline filled night and as Happy states, “If you don’t like Motley Crue, give in five minutes it will turn into Van Halen and if you don’t like give it another 5 minutes and it will turn into Queen and if you don’t like that it will turn into Journey and it will turn into AC/DC, Alice Cooper”.

Performing live with the actual people they portray and pay homage too is one of the biggest compliments that Happy and Hairball as a collective could receive and they have received countless compliments playing with lead singers of RATT, Motley Crue, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, KISS and many more.  “Having most of the people that we actually portray in our show actually get up and perform with us for a lot of charity events and try and pay it back and do some good has just kind of shown me more why I feel good about honoring them, their music, their spirit, and their personas that they’ve created.” Happy said.

*Just one of the bands Favorite Charities. And ours too*

Be ready Butte to blow out the Butte Depot on October 7th as HAIRBALL celebrates a live homage in Arena Rock style. Do yourself a favor, listen to the interview here, http://bit.ly/2wnwObo and feel the passion, dedication, humility and most of all KICK ASS love for this music how it has always been intended to be viewed.  Straight up ALL OUT and in the famous words of Happy, “Butte, we’re coming and we can hardly wait!”

Hairball Online: Hairball

The first person to read this and share on Facebook will be entered into our ticket drawing with a total of 20 entries!  TAG and SHARE and be entered randomly in our ticket and merch pack giveaway.

[tune-collective]

Jauz Talks Meteoric Rise, Style-Hopping Sound & Songwriting

Jauz Talks Meteoric Rise, Style-Hopping Sound & Songwriting

The producer Jauz, real name Sam Vogel, has risen rapidly through the ranks behind a series of high-energy singles, dynamite remixes, and collaborations with an assortment of arena-quaking DJs — Skrillex, Tiesto, Diplo, Marshmello and more. 

But the 23-year-old’s initial dream was to entertain arenas in a different way. “I remember telling my mom, ‘I’m going to be in *NSYNC,” he says. “She’s like, ‘well, you kind of have to learn piano and all this stuff.’ I’m like, ‘fuck that, I’ll just figure it out.'” From age six, he planned “to do music in one capacity or the other.”

Vogel brought a similar hard-headed focus to his appreciation for heavy metal, which he discovered in middle school. “I got super into Metallica,” he explains, “and I started learning every single one of their songs. I would sit in my room for six hours at a time, run albums all the way through, and play everything. All of my favorite bands, I would learn their entire albums front to back.”

The rigor of his approach made it difficult to find bandmates — most wanted a more casual musical experience — but it helped push him towards learning music technology programs. “I started trying to make music in bands in high school with a bunch of kids that weren’t really that committed,” Vogel recalls. “I found Pro Tools and tried to be my own one man band. I don’t want to have to rely on other people.” He encountered Datsik and Excision’s “Swagga” in a friend’s car and found that it buzzed his system in the same way as metal records. This kicked off his slow drift towards the heavy end of the electronic music spectrum. 

Before he officially launched the Jauz project — following a stint at film school and an eye-opening enrollment in the production school Icon, which he credits with helping him “tap into the true creative side of my brain” — Vogel spent seven months preparing. He describes this time as “building the brand, building the business plan, putting together a collection of 15 or 20 tracks that were already finished.” Presidents have a list of things they want to accomplish during their first 100 days; Vogel had an eight week chunk of time planned out in advance before he released a single Jauz tune.

He encourages aspiring producers to think in the same meticulous fashion. “What’s your brand?” he queries a hypothetical youngster. “What’s your goal? How many tracks do you have finished? If you put one out and it does well, what’s your follow-up? Do you know where you’re going to put those tracks out? Do you have blogs posting about them? Or are you gonna get someone to share it from your SoundCloud?”

  Just a couple a guys lookin for some trouble somewhere in Austria @thechainsmokers –: @rorykramer

A post shared by JAUZ (@jauzofficial) on Jul 12, 2016 at 1:42pm PDT

Though many successful producers break out as masters of a single sound, Vogel wanted Jauz to be more elastic. “My goal was to be able to make music in all different areas but have it all still kind of sound like me,” he explains. “It’s not like. ‘he uses the same bass sounds’ — I don’t, I never do — it’s just the way that I make music on Ableton is different from the way that other people make it. It’s always going to kind of sound like me one way or another.” 

Though he argued with his management about the approach — his team worried it would be hard for fickle listeners to get a bead on him, so maybe they’d stop trying — Vogel persevered. “Maybe it’ll take longer for people to catch on,” he reasoned, “but those fans will be able to follow me in whatever direction I’m going to go.”

He didn’t have to wait long: the first Jauz song arrived in 2014, and his third single, “Feel the Volume,” started to get festival play the same year. “I went to Hard Summer [an electronic music fest in Los Angeles] as a fan, had no expectations,” Vogel says. “‘Feel the Volume’ had maybe come out 10 or 12 days prior. The first act I went to see was Tchami, and he played it.” “No one knew what the f–king track was,” Vogel adds, but he describes the crowd’s reaction as “a fucking eruption.”

“Feel the Volume” scoots along with ’90s house references — a ping pong synth melody, vocal samples — and the kind of machine gun-bass runs that are catnip for a festival audience. The song was picked up for release by Diplo’s Mad Decent label, but even as Vogel found success with this tune , he maintained a commitment to variety, remixing the club pop singer Kiesza, the New York rap collective A$AP Mob, and the Canadian producer Tiga. Add to that his own productions and collaborations: “Squad Out!”, an emphatic, shouty track with nods to electro, “Deeper Love,” where house tropes met with stadium rock and arena electronic fizz, and “Shark Attack,” a glitchy cut that seems like it’s all drop.  

“We had so many tracks on the back-burner, so that was the time — ride that momentum, build it and build it,” Vogel says. “For six or eight months after ‘Feel the Volume,’ we didn’t play any shows, just put out as many tracks as I could, built the the hype, built the hype. And I’ve been on the road ever since.”

  A sea of sharksquad with over 20,000 sharks. That was incredible! Thank you to each and everyone of you for joining me on this amazing journey. We’ve come so far together. (^^^) photo: @ryanhadji

A post shared by JAUZ (@jauzofficial) on Jun 19, 2016 at 6:34am PDT

That long run of live dates included marquee appearances at many of electronic music’s biggest festivals: Ultra (the flagship Miami event as well as an offshoot in Japan) and Tomorrowland, Sun City Festival and Something Wicked, EDC New York and EDC Las Vegas’ main stage. He reached nautical dancing enthusiasts via the Mad Decent Boat Party and Holy Ship!, Halloween-lovers at Chicago’s Freaky Deaky Fest, and rock-heads looking for a little extra bass in their lives at Lollapalooza.

During an on-stage anointing of sorts in February 2016, a stream of guests joined Vogel on stage in L.A.: Skrillex and Diplo, Borgore, Marshmello, and more. By the summer of 2016, he landed his own Vegas residency. And in December, he announced the Off the Deep End tour, a 12-date run “dedicated to the die-hard fans” that wraps up in Atlanta on March 11. 

With a stream of releases behind him proving his versatility, Vogel is now looking to achieve inescapability. “The vocal-driven frontier is the only one I haven’t gone down,” he says. 

“Up until this point, I’ve been writing tracks that DJs will play the drops of mashed up with some big track; they’ll take [DJ Snake and Justin Bieber’s] ‘Let Me Love You’ and mash it up with [Jauz’s] ‘Rock the Party.’ Now my goal is to start writing the records that people will use as the beginning of the mash-up, something that’s so catchy that they’ll use the intro of my track and then build it up into something else. Those are the kind of records I have to start putting out; the records that become songs, not tracks.”

“I don’t want to say I’m maturing, that sounds cliche,” he continues. “But I guess that’s the best way to put it.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duwqDAcJ5hs

Jauz is currently crisscrossing North America on his Off the Deep End tour. Tickets are available here.

Source: Billboard

http://tunecollective.com/2017/02/23/jauz-talks-meteoric-rise-style-hopping-sound-songwriting/