There are only a few big names in the progressive genre of bass music and Minnesota is one of them. Christian Bauhofer, better known as “DJ Minnesota.”
“DJ Minnesota” performed in Chico April 6 at the Senator Theater. He was brought to Chico by Blowout Productions as one of the few electronic dance music artists that plays throughout the year.
Bass music performances at many popular music festivals such as “Lightning in a Bottle” and “Mysteryland” is what Minnesota is known for in the electronic dance world. His most popular songs have an impressive 900 thousand plays on Soundcloud. He has been on this music scene before it became popular and he continues to produce innovative tracks as he grows as an artist.
Christian is originally from Minneapolis hence the nickname Minnesota. In his teenage years he moved to Berkeley before attending UC Santa Cruz for a major in history. About halfway through his college education, he dropped out to pursue a career in music.
“I always knew I wanted to do music,” Christian said.
Although young in the bass music scene Christian claims how his influences are some of the pioneers of this very specific genre.
“I think ‘Bassnectar’ was one of my first influences,” he says. “But Greg (G Jones) is amazing he’s probably the most influential.”
Christian explains how he appreciates the thriving dance music scene since he gets to see an audience that has an admiration for the music he is creating.
“I know a lot of people just come to party, but I don’t care as long as they are listening,” he said.
Although he has had Chico performances before, this was his first time performing at the Senator.
“I like this town,” he says. “Actually my grandpa went to Chico State!”
He shook his head regarding any pre-show rituals.
“Drink a beer I guess. I think I might be driving us home later tonight. I feel like I’m kind of the dad of the crew.”
Dad was not a word that came to mind when “DJ Minnesota” took the stage later on that night. His heavy bass beats of hip-hop and dubstep vibrated the walls of the Senator. The crowd were mostly college students and was relatively large for the venue.
Opener Luca Lush did a profound job of getting the show going and had the audience notably sweaty before Minnesota took the stage. Luca is also well known in the electronic dance music world for his extremely party worthy trap/hip-hop beats.
The speakers were impressively handled by the resonating sounds blasting throughout the night. When “Minnesota” played “Thunderdome,” the crowd went so wild it appeared to be headbanging in synchronization. The show lasted longer than a normal show at the Senator, with “Minnesota” putting on one last heavy track around 1 a.m. and expressing great gratitude to the crowd.
Jackson Sawa can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_arts on Twitter.
