Australian DJ Wax Motif’s 12 Days Of Christmas Start With Holy Ship Wrecked Music Festival

So there’s always the option of shopping and caroling around this time of year. But rarely does the idea of flying into the Cancun airport and then riding 90 minutes out to Riviera Maya come up as a viable run up to the Christmas holidays.

Thing is, lots of people are going. Insomniac is putting on their Holy Ship! Wrecked festival over 4 nights from December 13^th-17^th with approximately 50 DJs all in residence for the event.

When you think about it further though it’s kind of an interesting idea. Why not head South where it’s warm and park yourself on beach where your only responsibility is to have some fun and try not to forget to catch your flight home.I spent nearly half an hour talking with Wax about his upcoming plans for Mexico.

During my video interview of Wax he explained much about his approach to music and the vacation he was planning anchored in Mexico.Wax explained G-house which is his style of music. G-house is short form for like gangster house. The DJ incorporates Rap and R&B with house beats. What’s interesting about having a multi-day festival of EDM players is the opportunity to compare various styles which exist within the EDM space.

I asked Wax to comment on the idea that EDM crowds interact differently than purely concert crowds. EDM fans seem to be more in their own space, while concert crowds are interactive, sharing the songs that have created the soundtrack of their lives. Looking at the fans from the DJ’s perspective allows Wax to observed the same behavioral patterns: the crowd shifts form bouncing along to interacting as a unit when a sample plays from a well-known song, then settles back into the prior pattern.

According to Wax “that’s kind of like what we’re trying to achieve, this sense of familiarity and then like taking them somewhere new …until people know the song sometimes the reactions aren’t as crazy sometimes until the song becomes like popular so it’s a good way to just kind of like keep everybody locked in through some of the more unfamiliar parts of the song.”

He went on to explain that a music festival running over several days is more intimate than the usual shows because DJs tend to stick around and play more than once, and the crowds are smaller and there for the multiple days.

There has to be thought put into building a schedule around a crowd which is in residency. In a regular festival setting, most people come and go each day. That leaves the freedom to skip some of the acts, and come later to see others. Holy Ship Wrecked is a trip to a foreign country, where the talent and the attendees domicile in the same hotel. The stages are running below your rooms and in front of the beach. Managing an immersed crowd is a different skill than just putting on a show. This, is a particular subspecialty of Insomniac. In a hotel takeover, making best us of the entire facility adds to both the ambience and the experience of the attendees.

Performers like Wax Motif are there to play their shows. It is after all the talent which is a significant incentive for the ticket buying public to attend. It is also the way in the which the performers are chosen and scheduled which adds to the experience.

The life of a traveling DJ is hectic. Last week Wax played in Asia, then flew to Miami to play an Art Basel event and left the day for Los Angeles. There are many hours on airplanes for each hour of stage time.

Thinking back about how Wax handled our conversation, it is easy to see how he can maintain a crowd. He has an easy grace about him. The pressures of rising success can be managed. Wax’s manner gives off the comfortable confidence of a seasoned professional who is just going to do a show. I’m quite confident that’s what we will see once he steps onto the stage and plugs into his Pioneer DJ rig. The G-house will start and the vibe will shift. EDM fills your head with the here and now. Anything else which was occupying your headspace is on pause while the DJ spins.