This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Over the past decade, Lorin Ashton, aka Bassnectar, has taken his exploration of distorting electronic sounds from a handful of small underground raves to selling out consecutive headlining shows.

Currently, the DJ/producer, who credits Nirvana and Metallica for changing his life, spends the majority of his time traveling and finding inspiration along the way. During a rare moment at his San Francisco home, Ashton, 34, talks about how he continues to find a desire to create new sounds while living out of a suitcase.

"There is no lack of creativity or inspiration. The challenge for me is just trying to juggle everything," Ashton says.

That multitasking has translated into "Vava Voom," the Bassnectar EP coming out in April. Ashton says he never imagined he would be this busy. "I feel like it's only just beginning and it's doubling every year, if not more."

Ashton explains the two themes of "Vava Voom" as one where you are on "some kind of crazy spaceship and you are already going at a hella fast speeds and then you pull a lever and everything [changes] and you are in this whole next level." The second theme Ashton describes is one of hypnosis where the sound is "like waving my hand in front of your face and you become transfixed and you are watching the pendulum swing back and forth and clicking into this strange enchantment."

"Vava Voom" reflects Ashton's diverse tastes, and he describes each song as having a different personality. The 10-track abum features everything from a collaboration with Lupe Fiasco that blends dubstep and hip-hop to a remix of the punk band Pennywise that "basically sounds like a punk rock song." The EP takes a turn he describes as "some really beautiful downtempo" and throws in a remix of "Laughter Cresendo" that he wrote for one of his old albums and "it's just like a voyage that has been the last six months of my life in the making."

Bassnectar's Salt Lake City show this weekend will be the first set in America this year, coming at a time when he is closing out the "Divergent Spectrum" tour before completely launching into the "Vava Voom" tour. "Salt Lake has this interesting cross-section that will have a lot of things that worked really great over the fall and also some taste tests of things nobody has heard before."

Much like his albums, Ashton says his live sets are varied and constantly evolving. "It kind of changes with respect to what I'm hearing a lot of, either highlighting my favorite things or complementing what I'm hearing," he says. Sets are often designed like acts of a play with a lot of "smaller journeys and processes of building tension and releasing tension, like the rise and fall with breaks in between." A change in a set may happen on the spot as a result of who is in the room and how they are responding, he explains.

As the Bassnectar fanbase has expanded, so has the basshead community and fans, who are invited to join as a show ambassador. Ashton describes the concept of the ambassador as what he was doing years ago when he was going out to raves. These are people who are volunteers handing out free ear plugs, serving platters of fruit and circulating the venue to ensure that concertgoers are having a good time.

Ashton emphasizes that he doesn't think water should be sold — handing it out at shows is just one way to create a friendly, family-style atmosphere at the show.

His charitable giving extends well beyond H2O at the show, in the form of a program called "Dollars Per Bass Head" where one dollar from every ticket is donated to a nonprofit organization.

"Last year we raised $250,000, which also means we had over a quarter of a million people coming out to Bassnectar shows, not including festivals," Ashton says.

Ashton describes himself as being very political, but finds it's best to let the music be the centerpiece of the live event. "Outside of the event, anyone who is attracted to that experience, sensation and community can get more involved in the thinking and philosophy of that and I prefer to talk about deeper issues online where people have a bigger attention span. I leave the atmosphere of the show for more magic."

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Bassnectar

When • Friday, March 2, at 8 p.m.

Where •Saltair, 12408 W. Saltair Drive

Tickets • $30; smithstix.com