The Average Minnesotan's Guide to Twin Cities Electronic Music

I have always seen the Twin Cities as a harbor for good live music.  From the time I was of a concert-going age, everything I have ever wanted to see live has come through here with very little exception. The promoters in town have been stellar at attracting acts big and small from the Foo Fighters to Mick Jenkins, I have been able to check acts huge and small of my must-see list with fervor, but the massive diversity of the Minnesota music scene has only really gotten to me recently.  As the electronic music scene has grown exponentially over the past few years, I have been thrown into a new world of live music.

 Electronic Dance Music has always brought a bad taste to my mouth.  When I pulled on a friend's pair of cheap, yet "stylish" headphones and was subjected to what was introduced to me as Dubstep in high school, I found myself very put off by the mess of distorted and bass heavy "robot music."  For the next decade I avoided everything EDM as clubs flourished and festivals such as Tomorrowland and the Electric Daisy Carnival have become some of the biggest music-related events in the United States.  It was not until recently, that I ventured into the world of uncertainty that is EDM.  After having a series of roommates that swear by the trunk-rattling bass bangers and beat breaks, I have reluctantly begun to attend EDM shows in order to expand my concert-going proficiency.  What I have been exposed to in the past few months is a ratty, yet highly functioning and ever-swelling honey pot of interesting people and acts.

The electronic music scene in Minnesota is booming mostly due to the emergence and relative dominance of the Skyway Theater in Minneapolis.  While its "charm" may just amount to a lack of sanitation, the former cinema has allowed acts both large and small to flourish.  The main venue is one of the largest "club" style venues in the Twin Cities with a capacity of 2500 when packed to the hilt .  The building also house three more venues that can house anywhere from 25-800 people which makes the venue the perfect place for huge acts like Skrillex and Flux Pavilion and smaller, underground artists as well.

I was able to catch up with a Chicago transplant, EDM artist and fan Phil Stallone who goes by the moniker Shangles on Soundcloud.  Raised in an a house music Mecca, Stallone has grown tired the radio friendly acts that sell out the large Chicago venues. Stallone sees the Minnesota electronic music scene as very "underground friendly" and he appreciates that smaller artists have the opportunity to gain exposure.  Stallone chuckled as I asked what culture-shock or mental distress an EDM novice, like-me, should prepare for before going to a show.  Although he highlights the prevalence of drug use in the community, the often fur-clad club-goers are friendly and relatively harmless.  Stallone's remarks proved useful when he treated me to my first real EDM experience in The Loft at the Skyway Theater as we enjoyed the Dubstep and Drum and Bass stylings of underground DJ, Shivers.  The experience showed me that the EDM movement in Minnesota is a harmless outlet of college-aged outcasts and club kids who find solace in front of massive subwoofers pushing out high-tempo, face-shifting tunes.  Thanks to venues like the Skyway Theater, artists like Stallone, and consumers like yours truly, the EDM infrastructure in Minnesota is set for another decade of enlargement and advancement.

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