SURROUND is made up of artists Heidi Lawden, Jeniluv, and Masha Mar. They recently launched the label Dusk Recordings and are widely known for their LA warehouse parties, creating the festival and event series Dusk Camp, and their distinctive tastes on the dancefloor as selectors and true crate diggers. Together they are creating some of the most inclusive and forward-thinking spaces in LA – and are special guests at the third edition of Secret Project.
We catch up with SURROUND ahead of their performance at Secret Project to talk about the origins of the collective, their synergy in the booth, their Dusk brand, and expectations for the future.
Electronic Groove: Hello SURROUND crew, thank you for taking the time to speak with us at Electronic Groove today. To begin, tell us a little about SURROUND and how the project came to be?
SURROUND: The three of us had played various parties and undergrounds in LA individually and after being on Heidi’s ‘Dublab’ show to celebrate international women’s day, we talked extensively and realized we had shared dreams and ideas of organizing a festival and truly inclusive club nights, and and and…We threw one Christmas party a few years back and billed all together playing a lot of back-to-backs, and realized the synergy between us was something magical both for us and our crowd.
Electronic Groove: Who are some of the artists both past and present who have inspired your musical approach the most?
Masha: Axel Boman immediately comes to mind, Danielle Baldelli, K Hand all Dig Deeper alum, 2 of whom had their LA debuts at the party that’s been running for a number of years now.
Jeni: Solar is an eternal influence along with Galen and Doc Martin. Jeni is a Sunset Campout die-hard and responsible for introducing us all to that SF world.
Heidi: DJ Harvey has been inspiring me for as long as I can remember. SURROUND were thrilled to work with him on his LA party post-pandemic recently. I’ve had a few big bangs, Giles Peterson, Princess Julia, Andrew Weatherall, David Mancuso, Carl Craig, Laurent Garnier, IF, Fabio and Groovrider, Mrs. Woods, and then love nothing more than getting lost to an extended set from someone like Marcel Dettman, or Dan Avery. Ben UFO is an insanely next-level DJ and Joy Orbison played one of my favorite sets ever at Love International, ND Baumecker is not someone I get to hear often but I feel like we are kindred music spirits, Carlos Valdes the same. I love all the femme DJs out here repping, Haai, Peggy Gou, Honey Dijon, Helena Hauff, Lena Willikens, Ash Lauryn, Eris Drew, and Octo Octa. Sherelle is the future and I recently went to a Juke Bounce Werk party and was blown away by the likes of Swisha and Kush Jones. A DJ I’m yet to see live but am in love with their productions is Bored Lord. Ok, I need to stop, I’m just constantly finding inspiration everywhere I turn, I don’t listen to many online mixes I’m all about seeing and feeling DJs live or hearing them as they talk and give up a little of their personality on the radio. I moonlight and play a lot with Lovefingers who consistently makes me strive to be better.
Electronic Groove: ‘Dusk – Volume One’, a recent project that you all contributed to and the inaugural compilation from Dusk Recordings, has been described as a “love letter from California”. Tell us a little more about what this project represents.
SURROUND: It was conceived and created amidst the pandemic when we were all isolated, but sharing the gift of music with friends and one another to stay connected. We ourselves sought solace in the studio and became aware many of our DJ friends we booked or played with had been doing the same (a lot of them Dusk Festival alumni) and we were all loving what we were hearing, so it felt great for the artists to trust us with their work and to be able to shine a light on their talents as producers while we couldn’t shine the strobe light of one of our parties on them amidst the shutdown.
Electronic Groove: What inspired the three of you to launch Dusk Recordings and what plans do you have for the future of the imprint?
SURROUND: The reasons above really. We had connections to a great distributor and it just felt right, Masha was really the force of will behind that. A lot of SURROUND’s plans will be excitedly discussed and then we’ll be all ‘F* it let’s do it!’. We have more releases forthcoming from the three of us, as well as other and more varied producers worldwide. Again, Masha was really great at instilling confidence in those of us that could noodle on something for years and never have it see the light of day.
“A lot of SURROUND’s plans will be excitedly discussed and then we’ll be all ‘F* it, let’s do it!'”
Electronic Groove: The three of you also founded Dusk Camp – a three-day music and art camp-out in California. What all goes into this experience and what aspirations do you have for the future of the event?
SURROUND: This was born out of that first conversation about our dreams for our friend and LA’s scene and we couldn’t have hoped for a more glorious inaugural festival. We each have an organizational thing we take on but always with the others on back up, often it’s a yelling match, other times it’s an all in agreement love in, it’s never boring. We just held a Dusk overnighter on some beautiful private land in Joshua Tree. Music ran from midday to midnight with communal fireside stargazing till dawn when we picked back up with sound bath yoga and more chilled music. It was really something to keep the Dusk Festival ethos alive and family together until it’s safe to get back to our full 3-day fest in 2022
Electronic Groove: We’re excited for your upcoming performance at Secret Project – what can we expect from your performance?
SURROUND: You know, what’s crazy is we never plan it. One of us will play first, set a tone and we just build from there. We’re constantly communicating, dancing, and generally bigging one another up behind the decks. It’s a joyful time being up there all together, you really get to be in the moment without constantly thinking what to play next, one of us might change course and it sets a new tone for us to build from.
Electronic Groove: Secret Project will be taking place in a 360 degree dancefloor environment this year for the first time. How do you prepare your set differently for an open air environment like this as opposed to a more intimate space, if at all?
SURROUND: We’re so excited to be a part of their ‘in the round’ concept. It’s really history in the making when a promoter puts on something different like this. We play Sunday, most likely after being there all Saturday, so we’ll have the benefit of having a feel for the crowd but on the day we’ll respond to them, their energy, the environment and just go for it.
Electronic Groove: Is there anyone else on the Secret Project lineup you’re excited to check out in your downtime?
SURROUND: Everyone! Haha seriously, we’ve all been to every secret project since its inception to dance, have fun. Anything this fun and as well-conceived as this urban festival is really is such a win for our world and LA. It’s great to be able to really get a feel for what our fellow DJs are playing. Floorplan is particularly exciting, two generations of magic-making behind the turntables.
“It sounds really f-ing corny, but you are capable of much more than the voices in your head tell you that you are not”
Electronic Groove: What’s next for SURROUND – either as a group, or individual projects that you’re working on?
SURROUND: The following week after Secret Project (Oct 9th), we are producing our own ‘day-into-night’ outdoor party in Grand Park. The legendary Miss Honey Dijon is our headliner along with Chris Cruse, DJ Mez -who is a young DJ we’re really helping to elevate-, and of course ourselves. Beyond that, we have a full calendar of bookings, both individually and together. Masha has her occasional ‘Dig Deeper’ parties and Jeni has just put their heart, soul, and years of experience into a new permanent party space, Batwing Studios. SURROUND welcomes Jennifer Cardini into that space in a few weeks’ time. Heidi postponed all her 2021 EU shows to really focus on LA and the rest of the US and has been DJing the most diverse shows every weekend as a result.
We also have an amazing few factory 93 collaborative events forthcoming we are bursting to share, watch this space.
Electronic Groove: If you could leave us with one piece of advice, what would it be?
SURROUND: Dream big dreams, follow them, point yourself in the direction you wanna go, and put the work in. It sounds really f-ing corny, but you are capable of much more than the voices in your head tell you that you are not.
Oh and don’t put mascara on your bottom lashes 😉
SOURROUND will be playing at Secret Project this Sunday, October 3rd. Purchase your tickets here.
