The Mangy Moose was packed last week for a night of funky bass house music full of captivating visuals, frenetic dancing and fake snow machines. The crowd went wild as three acts took the stage: SkiiTour, The Sponges and N2N.
KHOL was proud to present all three of the acts on Friday, Feb. 9 in Teton Village — a winter night to remember.
In the days leading up to the show, each artist came through the KHOL studios to discuss their creative process, play a bunch of their existing and exclusive tracks and to tell us what the necessary ingredients are when throwing a legendary party.
The first act, SkiiTour, is an upbeat and energetic DJ/production duo from Whistler, Canada known for their feel-good house music, vibrant retro ski aesthetic and party rocking skills.
The duo’s Tim Livingstone and Dave Rollie discussed their love for mountain town crowds, the wonder of the Shambala Music Festival and crowd surfing in ski boots.
“When it came time to perform at Shambala, we blew all the money we made DJing to get movie-grade artificial snow machines and then we wore full-on ski suits without taking out the insulation. From that moment on, everywhere we toured, people started showing up in apres ski gear. At this one show, this guy showed up in a full ski suit with an avalanche backpack. And in the middle of the party, the guy pulls the chute. He’s inflated and in ski boots, and people are holding him up as he’s dancing on the ceiling,” Livingstone said.
The Denver-based duo The Sponges also took the Mangy Moose stage. They are all about having fun through music with their funky bass house style.
Nik Eaton and Ryan Slepin, who make up the duo, hit on the influential power of Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, the contrasting music scenes of Southern Florida and Denver, Colorado, and the art of remixing one of their musical heroes, funk band Lettuce.
“[Lettuce] put out an album in 2022 called ‘Unify.’ I remember vividly, for whatever reason, driving to the airport with Nik and we were listening to it and we were talking about how cool it would be to remix something of theirs. And then we heard the song ‘Everything’s Going to Be All Right,’ which was kind of in the right ballpark as far as what we would need to make it house music,” Slepin said.
The other act, New York City-based N2N, also specializes in house and electronic. Nick Kohler, aka N2N, is a lifelong student of music known for his marathon DJ sets spanning various genres all under the umbrella of his beloved dance music.
Kohler dove into how he takes audiences on a musical journey, aims to heal deep wounds with the power of music and incorporates Stephen King’s philosophy on creative flow.
“[King] says that one of his favorite things to do to continue the creative flow and to avoid hitting that creative block is to write until he is in peak flow. He is on fire. The ideas are just flowing out. And then you force yourself to stop because you’re so excited to continue to work on it,” Kohler said.
Finally, Peter Anderson, the agent of all three acts and CEO of ETP Agency, discussed the value of a great club night, surrounding yourself with the things you love most and channeling the feeling of dancing the night away in Acapulco.
“The way that I saw to do that was to immerse myself in the genres that I love, which are largely Balearic,” Anderson said. “So like house, disco, funk, techno and, representing selectors of those genres that can really express what I think is the best experience in music, which is dancing your ass off on the beach in Acapulco at 4 a.m. at Tropical Music Festival, or going to Giorgio’s [in Los Angeles] and partying with Jay-Z at a 120-person capacity capped club. Those kinds of experiences are rare and they’re hard to find. And, they’re valuable for that reason.”
Listen above to SkiiTour, The Sponges and N2N along with their agent Peter Anderson live on KHOL 89.1 Jackson Hole Community Radio.
