This past weekend’s Slingshot Festival, held October 6-7 at The Fruit in Durham, was a spectacular display of experimental electronic artists local and national. Having two stages simultaneously made the slightly pricier tickets absolutely worth it. Representing local artists like GRRL and Ultrabillions, as well as nationally based artists like Hiroko Yamamura and Kate NV, Slingshot offered something for every eclectic electronic aficionado.
While the show had a homegrown feel to it, the audience it drew spanned from 80s-inspired ravers dressed in pleather to Onitsuka tiger sneakers babes to city girl punk aesthetics. No matter what you felt like wearing during the weekend some sets definitely had more vibrancy than others. The venues overhead multicolored lasers gave some lower BPM sets the much needed boost. Sets like Kate NV and Herlop belonged more in a utopian virtual art museum alongside artists like Macabre Plaza and Stevia Sphere with a more feminine twist.
Kate NVs is a Moscow based synth queen, whose sound resembles melodic drone mixed with a colorful manic pixie dream. Incorporating spacy vocals over shimmery loops, the best way to listen was to close your eyes and envelop yourself in her artistic expression. Experimental sets like hers would have been best served with a projection behind her, showing the audience all the wires and blinking lights that went into producing the music where the sound alone washed over some crowd members.
Hiroko Yamamura is a Chicago based DJ and producer whose sets are best experienced with a pair of black sunnies and your biggest appetite for industrial techno and house mixes. Yamamura’s Boiler Room set last year was hosted by Slingshot and The Fruit in October of 2022, and drew a spectrum of ravers and electronic music lovers alike. After the first Boiler Room set hosted in Durham, she were energetically welcomed back. There is something about deep, melodic, and unpredictable beats that brings out an authentic joy in the spirit of the crowd. This sentiment of “Why do we love this so much?” really brings out the most loving characters amongst strangers.
The festival is a wonderful opportunity for locals and travelers alike to be immersed in the digital world of electronic. Some sets at Slingshot would definitely been more fun with a few puff puff passes, but I hope in the future the festival draws not only electronic music geeks but more young ravers just looking to explore a new genre and truly let themselves go to the beats.
