As the new year kicks off, we are all looking forward, forgetting about 2016 memories. However, one memory I can’t seem to get out of my head is Insomniac’s Countdown NYE 2016 festival. Though once a one day festival, the Insomniac team decided to expand this year and make the event into two nights, December 30th and 31st. For me as well as many others, festivals are not only a time to see performers you have been wanting to, but also a time to expand and discover new ones. This year at Insomniac’s Countdown I discovered the sound of an up and coming DJ whom I believe will be one of the top female DJ’s in the industry. This new wave, female artist is known to the music community as REZZ.
Isabelle Rezazadeh, better known as REZZ, is a twenty-one year old female DJ from Ontario, Canada. REZZ released her first EP in 2015 and followed with another in 2016, this time through deadmau5’s label “trapmau5”. Through these past two years of making music REZZ has found her sound, which is what caught my attention at Countdown NYE 2016. REZZ’s sound can be easily defined by her as “alien house." But, what is alien house? From what I heard at Countdown REZZ’s alien house sound is a mix between dark, eery electronic, and deep trap and house. During the hour long set, REZZ maintained a happy medium between her own experimental beats and the mainstream songs that were sure to make the crowd happy. She would switch from original, never heard before trap and dubstep beats, to something as popular as “Raise Your Weapon” an original by deadmau5. REZZ presented the perfect amount of her own beats and banging crowd-pleasers, drawing people in from all over the music spectrum. However, though her sound is what originally drew people in to the Infinity stage, her presence and visuals is what kept them there.
When trying to describe her stage presence one main word comes to mind: explosive. The hand movements, dance bits, and occasional verbal acknowledgment of the crowd were in spurts of excitement. There was never a second during the hour long set that REZZ had both two feet on the ground. Keeping her trademark hat, ponytail, and glowing goggles on, REZZ bounced around the table, making every person watching jump along with her. Mirroring her firecracker of a personality, REZZ’s visuals were jaw-dropping. On every screen around REZZ her well-known logo with goggles was twisted and warped into different patterns and colors, creating another universe within the tent.
Though her music alone is enough to attract music lovers, REZZ’s combination of her fiery presence, trippy visuals, and hard beats are what caught and kept my attention. Her performance created another universe inside the Infinity tent; a universe of eery, dark, and alien house, trap, and dubstep beats. Out of the many people I saw perform at Countdown NYE 2016, both male and female, REZZ was definitely at the top of my list. If you have not seen REZZ before make sure to check her out. And if you have seen her before, check back again because much has changed about this evolving artist, you don't want to miss a second of it.
