#festivalseason - There are way too many amazing musical people to see at Shambhala20. Here are a few highlights to help deal with the crushing burden of choice.

in

The best thing about the legendary Shambhala Music Festival – hidden away in the Kootenay mountains, in Salmo, BC – also happens to be the worst thing about the legendary Shambhala Music Festival: There is an overstuffed cornucopia of a lineup that is completely impossible for one human person to consume. With six stages thumping bass near-endlessly , Shambhala has something for everyone in amongst the chaos. Whatever your groove is, there's something on the Farm to satisfy your bass-lust. Rather than attempt to run down the near-endless list of everything Rags Music is hoping to check out, or to randomly select things with little to no regard for scheduling, I'm going to recommend an artist (or two) per stage with the “Rags Music Home-run Guarantee,” spaced out throughout the four days (Hint: Get there for early entry on Thursday. It's worth it). This being a milestone year 20 for the Festival, I'm going to try to split the list between new faces and what could appropriately be called Shambhala Legends. I promise, if you catch even a couple of these things, your ears will be very happy.

THE AMP - MAT THE ALIEN b2b The LIBRARIAN - Thursday @ 12-1:30pm

Like I said previously, I'm getting into Shambhala Legends mode this year and this begins with planning my Day 1 festivities around a few festival cornerstones. Opening the AMP with Mat the Alien & The Librarian?! Yes, please! Mat the Alien is a DJ I'm happy to see any time I can. The veteran bass master is as versatile as anyone in the galaxy, able to shift moods and genres on a dime, and a fantastic scratcher to boot! Big, big legends vibes on this. The Librarian is someone I've been wanting to see properly for a long time. Her dark, spacey bass vibes call to me. Now is the time. I caught a very tiny portion of her set at Shambhala last year and everyone I've talked to who just returned from Bass Coast (Her home bass) said hers was the set of the weekend. I blew my chance to see them when they toured together for their Mutiny tour, but honestly, would it have been as good as seeing them team up to wreck the AMP at Shambs? Nah. This'll be better.

FRACTAL FOREST – MARTEN HØRGER – Sunday @ 1:30-2:30am

Finally! I get to see Marty fuckin' Horgs, the German bass phenom in his proper environment – the middle of an old tree, armed with a bananas powerful PK sound rig. Marten Horger has been one of my go-tos any time I need a little extra OOMPH! ZORP! BLAMO! in my breaks diet. His mixes and tracks come at your ears like a crazed monkey with a knife, but the monkey is wearing a little hat, so while it's pretty dangerous, it's also super fun! A veteran of the always reliable PUNKS label, Horger, the talent behind of some of my absolute favourite tracks like “Blood” and “Deeper Down,” I can, in the words of the immortal Vince McMahon, “GUARAN-DAM-TEE” Horger will lay down the perfect blast of hard breaks energy to fuel through the last few hours of your Sunday night. (And he's a past answerer of the 5 Questions! Extra points!) Also, Horger also just recently got into the world of drum 'n' bass – a world I still don't understand – with an uplifting gem of a track that hit me right away!

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#festivalseason - Memories of Shambhala, unearthed.

It's hard not get personal when I'm writing about Shambhala. It set off such a chain reaction in my life, in so many areas, that it's mark is just burned into me. It might even be annoying to read or hear about, but I don't really care. You're free to stop reading at any time. The really great thing about this is how other Shambhalovers brighten up and beam when you bring it up to them. I've made a point to ask a lot of the Djs and personalities I've interviewed in the years since my first visit to Salmo River Ranch about their memories of the festival and what it means to them. I've gathered up some of the best quotes to get you all either psyched up for the trip back Home, or get you dripping with jealousy that you won't be there this year.

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DJ Nu-Mark (Jurassic 5), on why he keeps coming back to Shambhala

I keep coming back because it seems as if I'm the only not playing electronic music? The first time I played, I thought I was at the wrong festival. I saw the line-up and was a bit freaked out because everyone was playing dub-step...Hey, remember that? Dub-step? Anyway, I enjoy playing a variety of genres – Soul, Funk, Reggae, Hip-Hop, Oldies, etc... They give me room to express myself and I rarely get the hippie chick yelling, “Hey! Can you play some Persian Anthem Trance?!”

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5 Questions with Rags #33 - DOUBLE BILL w/ MARTEN HØRGER & Funkanomics!

in

People often say that I’m lucky, but it’s really just a matter of trying. I’ve been trying to hook this up with Marten Horger for awhile now, and as luck would have it he’s on the road in my wonderful home country of Canada and he’s touring with another favourite of mine, the appropriately and greatly monikered Funkanomics. And because they’re both apparently very rad people, we got answers from both for this very special edition of the 5 Questions!

Both of these cats bring the funky goodness but both feed different needs in my bass diet. My nights dancing in my girlfriend’s laundry room start with the lighter, groovy Funkanomics aesthetic and when it gets late Marten Horger is there to bring that slightly more menacing Punks music aesthetic. Guy is a straight up killer. His Beats. Vol.3 Mix was one of my most played mixes of 2015 and the Funkanomics Chillax mixes rank among my most played mixes of all-time.

Go catch them on their Canadian tour if you get a chance. The good homeys in SkiiTour are also helping them out on this. If you like dancing, this is not a show to be missed.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?
Marten Horger: Yes, it was Michael Jackson – Dangerous. It was #1 in Germany at the time. That cover was so damn good and the riff of “Black or White” was just epic.

FxFarmer aka Dan of Funkanmoics: My first album was AC/DC Flick of the Switch on Vinyl, yes I still own this record and I listend to it over 1000 times!!

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5 Questions with Rags #29 - Featurecast (!!!)

in

Featurecast is best. He’s held a stop spot on my listening list since my good friend and Guide to the Cosmos introduced me to the groovy sounds of the mighty Featurecast a couple of years ago. I’ve seen him live is a goddamned clinic. Featurecast embodies everything I love about an artist, DJ or otherwise – a willingness to try new things, to bring in new elements, a lack of regard for predefined definitions of their art and most of all, the ability to keep up a consistently high quality with everything they do. Dude is a breaks champion, rocks Ghetto Funk like no one’s business, even helped me start my journey in trying to enjoy drum ‘n’ bass. I always dig his drum ‘n’ bass. And even though he’s on the other side of the Atlantic, he’s a fixture over here on the Canadian West Coast. This past summer I missed him in my homebase of Victoria (I was in Vancouver knocking other legends off my list) and just the other day was opining of how long it’s been since the last time I shook my ass to the mighty Featurecast. Luckily for me, and all other Victoria funk-lovers, he’s going to be back here on Dec.3 with other awesome acts, and other 5 Questions answerers, Timothy Wisdom and The Funkee Wadd! I managed to get a few of Mr. Cast’s minutes in between his various DJ and dad duties, to get another round of delicious answers to the 5 Questions! Big respect to Featurecast.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? What format was it? Favourite track? Do you still have it? Anything else you may remember about it.

The first album I got was actually a Christmas gift and it was Run DMC's Greatest Hits on double vinyl and I have still shrink wrapped till this day. I must have listened to it like a 1000 times! I’m still a huge fan of Run DMC and find it funny that the Run DMC t-shirt has become a fashion accessory these days in the UK. As for the first record I ever bought myself....it was the Ghostbusters theme song that I got in a toy shop when I was a kid. I'm not sure I even knew what a record even was back then but I bought it with my pocket money just because of the amazing cover. 

2. When is the last time you did something for the first time?

Few days ago…going down a slide head first at a kids soft play centre with my daughter. So DJ, rock and roll, I know! Lol

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