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‘Freq Show’ assembles top electronica artists

Karasho, here pictured with a pal, will bring progressive break beats and bass-heavy hits to Freq Show. --Courtesy photo

Talking about electronic music is almost like being a Trekkie. “Star Trek” contains subcultures upon subcultures of existence: humanoids and nonhumanoids, corporeal, artificial, transdimensional, and the list goes on.

The same goes for electronica: Dubstep is not the same as house, and to call a house-head a trance lover is just ignorant.

So what happens in a night of EDM, or electronic dance music? It’s like putting a Klingon and a Vulcan on a super nova star: They have a good time.

In a mashup of everything electronic, promoter Jeffrey Williams and his team have put together a night of entertainment featuring dubstep, house, trance and some genres of electronica that may go where no man has gone before.

With acts like DJ TheFat Rat, Karasho, Dottkom, Ariok, Beatslacker and K-Dose, it feels like we’re already on another planet. So how do promoters on the island of Oahu manage to track down artists from around the world, then gather them into one venue, without a star fleet at their disposal?

“Coordinating the show is probably one of the most stressful parts of putting together an event,” Williams said. “We personally try to keep an eye out for who we think are up-and-coming artists and try to build a relationship with their agencies. Coordinating everyone when they come in is a different story and I am lucky to have a great staff, like Lisa Kinoshita, behind me that helps out with the artists in person.”

What does the local EDM scene think of such an eclectic group of DJs?

“The buzz around the scene is that everyone is excited to see TheFatRat in particular. All the other DJs will surely bring great music along with some new tracks and good vibes to SoHo Mixed Media Bar,” Williams said.

TheFatRat describes his music as German disco in glitchy house. With remixes of pop stars like Chris Brown and Bruno Mars, TheFatRat will showcase dance music you won’t only get lost in, but to which you will also be singing along.

Karasho hails from Italy with his progressive break beats and bass-heavy hits. Dottkom, from Toronto by way of El Paso, Texas, boasts deep trance and house hits on his resume.

Ariok brings his dubstep production and live genre-mashing performance from Denver. Beatslacker, another Texan, has a transient sound with progressive house and trance sets. And K-Dose, who will hop across time zones from Australia to Hawaii, brings happy hardcore to round off the electronica showcase.

This sort of pulsating entertainment is exactly what Spock would encourage to live long and prosper, but that will no longer be possible at SoHo Mixed Media Bar after this show because the venue has a new owner.

Williams, bidding a fond farewell, called it “the perfect venue.”

“We have done events there for a couple of years now and are sad to see it changing ownerships next month,” he said. “The way the venue is set up allows us to have a photobooth, a retail shop hosted by Rave Rock, two rooms of music, juggling and acrobatic performances and an amazing light and visual performance by Wonderland Productions. The venue also has a bar in each room and a self-serving kitchen serving some of the best deep-dish pizza. So I personally love hosting events there.”

This has not been the first time SoHo was said to be on the verge of closing, but owner Daniel Gray said this time it’s for real.

“I know we said we were closing in the past, and what happened with that was that the investor who was supposed to come in as my partner bailed at the last minute,” he said. “It worked out in my best interest because now, we have signed a deal which is totally confirmed for SoHo to change owners. My partner (Mark) Becker is working on a vodka line and has been really busy for the past six months.

“It has been hard to run things on my own, so I decided it’s time to move on while we are ahead. SoHo’s last night will be March 30, and the new owner will take effect on April 1. Unfortunately due to confidentiality clauses, I can’t say who the new owner will be quite yet. Perhaps in a few weeks we can let the public know.”