Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer.

Biography

Ashton grew up in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and attended

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. In 2020, Niche ...

. He initially identified with visual arts rather than music, creating movies with his dad's camera at the age of ten. When he was 16 years old, he played in a

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band named Pale Existence, which contributed to his heavy style of music. In the following years, he became increasingly more involved in the scene, promoting shows, distributing food and assistance to concertgoers, buying records and eventually learning to DJ after studying electronic music production. He began creating music in the 1990s, using

Opcode Systems Opcode Systems, Inc. was founded in 1985 by Dave Oppenheim and based in and around Palo Alto, California, USA. Opcode produced MIDI sequencing software for the classic Mac OS and Microsoft Windows, which would later include digital audio capabili ...

Studio Vision Pro. In the mid-1990s, he briefly toured with

band Exhumed as a bass player. Bassnectar played house parties in the San Francisco Bay Area and began gaining momentum at

Burning Man Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. The name of the event comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred ...

, often playing up to 7 sets a night. He released his first album in 2001 and performed as Bassnectar for the first time in 2002. He was previously known as DJ Lorin. On July 3, 2020, Bassnectar announced that he was "stepping back" from music, amid allegations of sexual misconduct that had been disseminated on social media. He denied the most recent allegations as being "untrue", albeit admitting that "some of my past actions have caused pain, and I am deeply sorry."

Tours and live performances

Bassnectar performed regularly at a variety of music festivals, including

Bonnaroo The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...

Camp Bisco The Disco Biscuits are an American jam band from Philadelphia. The band consists of Allen Aucoin (drums), Marc "Brownie" Brownstein (bass guitar, vocals), Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig (guitar, vocals), and Aron Magner (keyboards, synths, voca ...

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

Electric Daisy Carnival Electric Daisy Carnival, commonly known as EDC, is an electronic dance music festival organized by promoter and distributor Insomniac. The annual flagship event, EDC Las Vegas, is held in May at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and is currently t ...

Electric Forest Festival Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Original named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan, Rothbu ...

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival The Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival (commonly referred to as Okeechobee) is an annual four-day music and arts festival. It is held at the 600-acre Sunshine Grove property in Okeechobee, Florida. History The first Okeechobee Music and Arts Fest ...

, Life is Beautiful Festival, Oregon Eclipse,

Wakarusa Wakarusa can refer to several things in the United States: * Wakarusa, Indiana * Wakarusa, Kansas * The Wakarusa River, a tributary of the Kansas River * The Wakarusa War, part of the Bleeding Kansas violence before the American Civil War * Wakarus ...

. In 2012, Bassnectar sold over 250,000 tickets, not including festivals. Bassnectar finished in fourth place in the 2013 America's Best DJ competition conducted by ''DJ Times'' magazine and ''

Pioneer DJ Pioneer DJ is a brand that represents the company's range of DJ products. In March 2015 KKR acquired an 86% percent stake from Pioneer Corporation. Again, in March 2020 KKR and Pioneer Corporation sold their respective stakes to Noritsu. DJ p ...

''. In 2015, Bassnectar stopped touring and shifted focus playing the festival circuit, and curating his own events. One such event, named 'Deja Voom'. took place from February 27 through March 2, 2019 at the Barcelo Maya Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Deja Voom hosted artists across five stages: Pool Party, Beach Stage, Deja Room, Voom Room, and The Oasis. These spaces brought different sub genres of electronic

bass music Bass music is a term used to describe several genres of electronic dance music and hip hop music arising from the 1980s on, focusing on a prominent bass drum and/or bassline sound. As one source notes, there are "many different types of bass musi ...

to cater to a variety of music tastes.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Motions of Mutation'' (2003) * ''Diverse Systems of Throb'' (2004) * ''Mesmerizing The Ultra'' (2005) * ''Underground Communication'' (2007) * ''

Cozza Frenzy ''Cozza Frenzy'' is the fifth full-length album by American electronic dance music artist Bassnectar, released on September 29, 2009 from Om Records Om Records is an American record label, established in 1995, which releases electronic musi ...

'' (2009) * ''

Divergent Spectrum ''Divergent Spectrum'' is the sixth studio album by American DJ, Bassnectar Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Ashton grew up in the Sa ...

'' (2011) * ''

Vava Voom ''Vava Voom'' is the seventh studio album by Bassnectar released on April 10, 2012, through his label Amorphous Music. The album includes several collaborations with artists from other genres; most notably, Lupe Fiasco. The song "Pennywise ...

'' (2012) * ''

Noise vs. Beauty ''Noise vs. Beauty'' is the eighth studio album by American DJ and record producer Bassnectar Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Ashto ...

'' (2014) * '' Into the Sun'' (2015) * '' Unlimited'' (2016) * ''All Colors'' (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bassnectar 1978 births Living people American DJs American electronic musicians Breakbeat musicians Dubstep musicians Remixers Ableton Live users Monstercat artists Owsla artists Electronic dance music DJs