Diplo performs at the Westword Music Showcase on June 21, 2014. Photo by Evan Semon, heyreverb.com.
For traditional musicians, cold weather is an unforgiving environment to perform in: Instruments get out of tune quickly, amps take time to acclimate to the temperature and the musicians’ fingers will freeze, leaving them unable to play complicated chords or handle drum sticks.
So, that must mean electronic musicians have it easy — no wood, no strings, no problem. Right?
Thatap not entirely true, says , who will be playing the annual cold weather concert at , , on Jan. 30.
“The one thing I noticed in cold weather is your hands can freeze up and your laptop doesn’t register your fingers anymore because itap not warm enough,” Diplo told Reverb in an email.
Diplo’s EDM project will be the fourth act to headline a concert outdoors in the middle of January for Winter on the Rocks. In the past four years, artists have faced everything from mild temperatures to snow storms, but the concert hasn’t been canceled yet.
It might be snowy, it might be chilly, but Diplo — who is familiar with such shows, having headlined Winter X Games 2013 in Aspen — said, audiences tend to be resilient.
“I think the energy is higher,” Diplo said. “People are trying to stay warm … and so many warm bodies together.”
The plan for Winter on the Rocks is to just keep the party going — keep the crowd’s minds off the cold. And to do that, Diplo said Major Lazer will debut new music at Red Rocks from the projectap upcoming two releases in 2015.
“The first one seems like stereotypes of reggae music in a fun way,” Diplo said. “The second one was us mixing reggae and dancehall with whatap current in the U.S. This next one is us trying to take reggae music into a crazy new future.”
On past releases — 2014’s “Apocalypse Soon EP” and “Free the Universe” — Major Lazer expanded its roots reggae and jamaican club sound into more crossover pop singles, and Diplo said, this trajectory will continue on the new albums.
“We definitely have some radio friendly records on the new album, but itap even more progressive than the last,” Diplo said.
Finding the balance between the style and what radio listeners are looking for has always been a hurdle for the EDM act.
“When you challenge radio you never win,” Diplo said. “Finding the right blend is important.”
Originally reported as being released in February, Diplo said to expect an album to be released by the spring.
In the meantime, Diplo is focusing on his other gig as a producer for the likes of Madonna (she recorded a track for Major Lazer, but Diplo said “we gave it to her for her album”), Lorde, Usher (who will appear on the upcoming Major Lazer album), Nicki Minaj and many others.
What this takes is another balancing act, Diplo said, letting his own style come through, while making music that meshes with the specific artist he’s producing for.
“Sometimes itap cool to just go into a session blindly — for me, good music is good music and I’m constantly learning,” he said. “But I definitely tailor sounds to each artist.”
