The festival will return to Kitchener, Ontario this June 6, 7, 8, & 9th, 2019 having been allowed to add a 4th day to the festival. Drawing about 30,000 people each day, according to organizer Rob Mattacchione of Beyond Oz Productions, the festival has become a summer highlight for music fans throughout southern Ontario and beyond, with many US visitors making their way to revel in the summer fun.
This year organizers have further expanded their ticket offerings, including campaign, hotel and shuttle packages as well as multiple ticket day formats through their Ticket Site. Other changes this year include the allowance of cannabis onsite but keeping the rules inline smoking laws allowing a 10-gram limit and joints and you have to be over the age of 19 to smoke and a “silent concert club,” where concertgoers listen to music through headphones, lasting until 1 a.m., two hours after the rest of the concert shuts down, in case you need a little more time to bring yourself back down.
Check out the Ever After Music Festival 2018 After movie in case it’s your first time or you want to see if you made the cut
ill Gates & Haus of Panda are headlining the Ontario stage, London producer Khardiac & Nova Scotian DJ CRaymak are taking the Main Stage (Excalibur) and Toronto natives HYDEE & Crookedd are playing the Dub Arena. We caught up with HYDEE in a recent interview.
HYDEE made a name for himself in the Canadian Drum & Bass music community over the past decade with Dubstep and everything else between. A long-time resident at Embrace Presents & Destiny Production events, HYDEE has shared the stage with superstars like Skrillex, Nero, Rusko, Flux Pavilion, and Zeds Dead. a long time veteran at (Digital) Dreams, HYDEE has traveled and played all over Canada and parts of The United States leaving a bass trail of destruction behind him and making a name for himself as a top rated local in the scene.
@thesceneinto: Why/how did you get involved with this festival?
@hydeedub: I originally got involved with Ever After through the Facebook group, Toronto Bass Community. TBC was asked to select local talent to line the local Ontario stage in Ever After’s second year of the festival which was when I headlined the Ontario stage in 2016.
@thesceneinto: Some have described dubstep as “angry robot music” How would you respond to
them?
@hydeedub: I’d say to those people they’ve only heard one type of dubstep and are categorizing the whole genre into this so called “angry robot music” type sound. I personally would say they need to experience the other sub genres or types, as there are many different sounds of dubstep from melodic to deep dubstep to very wobbly and wonky step stuff and even into the newer head banger metal step or death step type stuff. Lots of great music and artists to explore and discover in the dubstep category that isn’t just “angry robot music”
@thesceneinto: Has social media helped your genre or held it back?
@hydeedub: As an artist who has been working in the industry both pre- and post-social media, I have
seen firsthand just how much it has impacted the scene. Back in the day you physically had to hand out hard copies of your music, write your information on the sleeve and hope people would dig your music and contact you with opportunities. Social media has amped the music scene on several platforms such as marketing, communication and overall distribution of music. It has helped dubstep reach a broader audience and acted as a platform to reach fan bases all over the world. Artists in all industries no longer
need to appeal to millions of people in order to be successful, resulting in the rise dubstep and other niche genres.
@thesceneinto: What’s next on your to-do list? Any collaborations, new albums, tour dates?
@hydeedub: I would love to tour with a big-name DJ as local support within Canada or Ontario, something like what Ever After does with the Road to Ever After series of events. I think it would be cool to travel and play at new venues, meet new people and get a glimpse of what tour life is like. Outside of that, I’m just doing my own thing, dj’ing and pushing my brand, playing as many shows and festivals as I can along the way. I also love helping other DJs and friends in the process when I can, I find it rewarding to help others reach their goals and to help expose local talent in this industry.
@thesceneinto: What is the apex track of your genre?
@hydeedub: Hard to say because there is so many amazing dubstep tracks out there, so I’m going to name a few. Every time I hear or play G Shit remix by Badklatt, Boss by AFK & Carbin or The Beat by Dirty Monkey & Jantsen the crowd always goes off and sings along. Great tunes that always get me hype whether I’m behind the decks spinning it or in the crowd raging!
If we’re talking about Drum & Bass, then it is Blood Sugar by Pendulum. It is always a tune that goes hard and with that unforgettable melody that’s tattooed into people’s brains and everyone always sings along too. It’s 100% a track everyone knows and recognizes IMO!
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