Coming right from Meow Wolf in Santa Fe and headed to San Diego the next day, Goldrush was blessed with a set from Kyle Watson on the final day of the festival. The Goldrush Glasse team was fortunate to sit down with him and chat a bit about his background and experience before he headed to the Hideout stage.
From a young age, Watson began studying music. “It pretty much started 15 years ago. My dad has been in the music business his whole life, and he got my my first production software. It kind of all went from there, I was able to write music at home for fun. About 10 years ago I started releasing it, and from there it’s pretty much history.”
Compared to his home of South Africa, the United States festivals have exuberant production and a quick-growing scene. “We don’t have a great economy, so it’s difficult for us to get the international access. We have our festivals and we have our club nights, it’s a little tricky but we’re doing alright.” Watson began touring the states last year in March, and since then has played multiple festivals including Electric Forest, Hard Summer, Goldrush, and more. “The festival scene here is pretty crazy—absolutely crazy. I’ve never seen the level of production that I’ve seen here.”
Watson spoke to one of his newest releases, “Safe,” that he wrote the instrumental without any vocalist in mind, before going with an Australian singer. “Once I finished the instrumental I really needed a unique vocalist. So I picked Stace Cadet for his unique tone, and I knew this is the one. It came together super quickly, very nicely.” Being pretty lucky, Kyle Watson has worked with many people, and said there has been a fluid, mutual understanding of what they both want from the product.
For the Saturday night set, Watson was excited to hear the artist performing before him, Justin Jay, and see where he could take the crowd from there. He promised us both new and old music, speaking highly of the positive energy the Arizona rave scene has shown him in the past—he played in Shady Park last August.
At the Hideout stage, the South African DJ played fresh, deep house music. His set was innovative, electronic, and had the entire audience shuffling, flowing, and vibing throughout his hour-and-a-half set. Watson released a new single, on October 4th, “Wurkit.” The nearly five minute track is a forward-thinking, original house mix, from our favorite South African DJ. For a taste of Watson’s Goldrush performance, listen to “Wurkit,” available on all streaming platforms. As for us, Arizona’s already looking forward to the next time Kyle Watson comes to town, for more of that nutritious house music.
Check out our full rundown of Goldrush Day 1 and Day 2!
Written by Stephanie Regan
Gallery from Bernard Smith
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