CM
Splash House June Edition 2019
text by Jorge Perezchica / interview by Treem Heff
Splash House, the pool party sibling of Coachella arrived in splashtacular fashion for its summer June edition in Palm Springs, CA. Although the three-day weekender has evolved and expanded over the years, one thing remains constant: the camaraderie among fans is definitely palatable. Gaining in popularity, the seventh annual proved to be the biggest yet — as throngs of glistening shirtless bodies and babes in bikinis seeking out the best EDM music in the world took over three hotels: Saguaro, The Renaissance and The Riviera, and after-hours at Palm Springs Air Museum.
Every summer, Splash House takes the EDM scene to the next level. Featuring a word-class lineup from emerging talent to international stars. The June edition featured Justice, Jai Wolf, Armand Van Helden, Troyboi, A-Trak, Pete Tong, AC Slater and more. Tickets to Splash House sell out quickly, but fortunately good things come in pairs. The premier pool festival returns again August 9-11.
Throughout the weekend madness, Coachella Magazine took a moment to interview Dom Dolla. His impressive set at the after hours Palm Springs Air Museum was a visceral experience to the ear’s delight. With a mesmerizing soundscape that transported us to an otherworldly place as if walking through a movie or lucid dream. We left our troubles at bay and enjoyed the blissful night with friends, drinks and dancing — thanks to the power of music.
Coachella Magazine: So, you’re from Melbourne, Australia.
DOM DOLLA: I am. Melbourne, Australia. It’s a very modern, very forward-thinking city. Very cold right now but it can also get very hot. It kind of reminds me a bit of Chicago because it’s got a big river that’s running next to it and its next to a big bay. It’s cool.
CM: Is there a lot of like creative people up there?
DD: Yeah, there’s a lot of artists, painters, musicians. It’s sort of considered like the cultural hub of Australia I suppose. Sydney definitely has the same roots as well, but I think Melbourne overtakes that just a little bit.
CM: So how many places you’ve been on this tour?
DD: We started touring the states in the beginning of February. We played 35 shows and then went home for a couple of weeks, came back. I reckon I’ve been to about 60 or 70% of the capitals in the US.
CM: So is this your first day in Splash House?
DD: I’ve been to Splash House before. I got booked by Goldenvoice, might’ve been two years ago. I played at the Saguaro. It was during the August Splash House. So it was hot. It was like steaming that particular day. But I had a really good time. I’ve literally just driven in from LAX. So, I’m excited. This is some deep-ass heat out here.
CM: You said you drove two and a half hours to get here?
DD: Yeah, well we got up at uh — I finished playing an after party at 4am, got up at 7am, then got on a plane from Chicago and drove straight here.
CM: So how many times have you been to this area because you deejayed at the DoLab at Coachella?
DD: Yeah, I deejayed at the DoLab a couple of months ago. Before that I’d been to Splash House once. And just a concertgoer at Coachella a couple years before. I think this is my third time or fourth time in Palm springs.
CM: Is there anything that you switch up here compared to the DoLab?
DD: Yes, definitely. I love playing music that I’m experimenting with and I’m working with, just to see how the crowd reacts. Most of the time it’s just about reading the crowd, looking at them and seeing what they want, you know. I’m finding more and more, I’m lucky enough that they want more of my music. I’m finding that I’m having to dig into my back catalog and play music that’s my older stuff, but it’s a lot of fun.
CM: When did you get started as a DJ and producer?
DD: I’ve been DJing since I was probably 15 and I only started producing when I was 20, I think. So, I had five solid years of DJing at friends’ parties, bars, clubs back home, and then started writing music and it expanded interstate and internationally.
CM: Where do you get your best creative inspiration?
DD: I feel like these days, it’s probably on the Internet. It’s like listening to other people’s music on the Internet and being inspired by the music that they’re writing. But I feel like the only way I’ll get onto those artists is if I get dragged along to a show by a friend and I’m able to see the context of that music. I can understand the time and the place in the context of why this music is created. And then I’ll go back and listen to their sets at home and go, wow, cool, and understand more about it now. So yeah, I think step one is go to a show. Step two study at home.
CM: Are you going to do anything else besides music, you think?
DD: Before I was a music producer, I used to specialize in graphic design and typography development. I used to work for a big touring company called Frontier Touring in Australia. And then big international rappers and bands and stuff. I would sit down and work through what their merchandise wanted to look like and literally designed their merchandise. I was pretty good at Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for a while, which made it an easy transition to slide over to digital audio workstations because it was a similar sort of workflow. I was just using my ears instead of my eyes.
CM: So you always had a creative mind?
DD: I suppose so, yeah. In a way it’s a muscle you’ve got to train, you know. But, I suppose from a young age I knew that I wanted to do something relatively creative.
CM: How do you enjoy being on tour?
DD: I didn’t think that I would like it as much but oh yeah, I enjoy it. I like being on tour and being able to travel to places that I never ever in a million years would imagine that I’d visit. I feel like now I’m pretty well versed after four years of touring the states. I feel like I know American hours.
CM: Are you going to drop any projects soon?
DD: I’ve got a single at the moment which is doing pretty well called “Take It”. That one’s doing good, I’m excited. I’ve got a bunch of other singles I’m waiting to release. The next one’s called “San Frandisco” and we should probably have that out in a couple of months. I’ve just finished off a new remix for a friend of mine Hayden James who’s an amazing songwriter out of Australia. I finished that last night, so I’ll be testing that out tonight at the Air Museum. I’ll just be playing a bunch of new music tonight and experimenting, getting to read the crowd, see what they think.
CM: Are you shooting any videos?
DD: We’ve actually just shot a video clip for “Take It” and funny you asked, we wrapped that up like two or three days ago. I was like, I just want it to be as strange as possible and we were hitting the director with a bunch of concepts and ideas. He came back with this script that I was just dying of laughter over and it’s just so weird and wacky and psychedelic. We filmed it with this director in the UK and it comes out on the 21st of June. I’m pretty excited about that one. I’ve never had a video fit before. So, yeah, first video.
CM: When did you find out exactly what you wanted to do as a career?
DD: Originally, I wanted to be an architect like my dad growing up. It’s funny, it’s almost like it balances creativity and professionalism in the real world. But I went from that to design which kept him happy and then did music. It was sort of a natural transition, which is good.
LINKS:
Splashhouse.com
Domdolla.com
PHOTO GALLERY