Meet the artists of Lightning in a Bottle 2017: Weval
Lightning in a Bottle has become a veritable institution over the past several years. Held annually in the expanse of Bradley, CA, the annual gathering has gained a reputation as California’s premier Memorial Day Weekend festival. The eclectic billing of the Lightning stage, formidable bass of Thunder, and exceptional house and techno selection of Woogie combine to make LiB a haven for tasteful electronic music fans of all creeds. This year, Bassnectar, Richie Hawtin, and Bonobo are among the many acts which will draw a broad crowd into the festival. To take a closer look, we’ve tapped some of our favorite acts on the roster for an interview series leading up to the weekend.
Weval made waves last summer with the release of their long-awaited debut album on legendary German imprint Kompakt. The self-titled album marked a stunning debut for the Dutch duo, nestling pop-savvy songwriting into the framework of an underground dance record. With its lush synth textures, broken beat work and catchy hooks, Weval’s debut full-length cemented their name as one of the more innovative acts to emerge in the live electronic space over the past few years.
Weval’s praise-worthy studio work is of course only half the equation. Over the past year, the pair’s live performances have received just as much acclaim, if not more. Appearances from the duo are rare — and doubly so for the US. It’s therefore a special treat to see Weval performing at this year’s LiB. Their Saturday performance on the Lightning stage is not one to be missed.
Tickets for Lightning in a Bottle are still available here. Enter for a chance to win two 4-day festival passes below the interview.
What was your first label release? Would you still play it in a show?
That was Half Age EP, it came out on Atomnation in 2013. Some of the tracks we still play these days!
What has been the biggest breakthrough of your career?
It all went quite gradually, but a year after we released our first EP we started playing outside of the Netherlands and signed with Kompakt. Generally with every new release it seemed to be a step up.
What are you looking forward to most about Lightning in a Bottle?
Before the festival we have planned five studio days in LA, so hopefully we can put some new the things we make in the live set. Playing new ideas for the first time for a crowd is super exciting!
Is there anything that you think festivals and the music industry in general should be doing to help the environment on a larger scale?
Festivals reach a lot of people and have a big cultural influence. It also can function as an experiment to pioneer with new ways how to deal with waste etc. Really happy to see Lightning in a Bottle puts a lot of effort in this. The eco initiatives from cultural and private institutes are super important to change the politics regarding environment. Hopefully more festivals and the industry in general will realize this and gets more active. Music is not so political as it used to be, maybe the environment could be a good (new) cause to fight for.
If you could be another artist for a day, who would you pick?
Drake would be fun for a day. Just to do that Hotline Bling dance on a insanely big stage.
If you could recommend three artists to catch from the lineup, who would you pick?
Leon Vynhall, Kaytranada and Bob Moses.
If you were recruited to provide an Essential Mix in 2017, what’s the one song you couldn’t leave out?
I guess it would be a chapter from Simeon Ten Holt – Canto Ostinato. It’s a minimalistic / repetitive piano piece from the seventies which has some kind of ongoing feel that we are searching in electronic music as well.
Enter below to win two 4-day walk-in camping passes for Lightning in a Bottle.