Valhalla Sound Circus: Canada’s Hidden Gem

Photo Credit: Scout Photography

Written By: Rebecca Hollman

Valhalla is a 3-day immersive bass festival and circus two hours outside of Montreal. Known for its live performances, Valhalla Sound Circus showcases some of the best circus performers from all over Canada. Hooping, spinning poi, spinning staff, aerial silks, and all sorts of flow arts are highlighted as the main component of this festival. Along with the circus performances, Valhalla also features lots of dark, dirty, grimy bass music- creating a dark, demented circus vibe for the festival. Valhalla is known for its combination of free expression and community vibes- creating an event with music, visual art installations and the aim of strengthening of the bass music community.

Photo Credit: Scout Photography

Hidden away in the beautiful, dark forests of Quebec, Valhalla synthesizes art, music, adventure, nature, friends and decibel shattering sound systems. Valhalla features three unique stages- The Thundergrond, a colossal wooden fortress that is the iconic altar of bass music worship, The Drakkar, a boat that has sailed back into the port of Valhalla and crashes through waves of vibration, and The Hive, a 360 degree colorfully decorated multisensory experience hidden in the forest that keeps going day and night.

Valhalla offers tent camping for its attendees included in the price of a ticket. However, if you want to camp next to your car there is an additional fee. Car camping passes are limited and first come first serve. Valhalla also offers shuttles from Ottawa and Montreal on Thursday before the festival and Monday after the festival. 

Photo Credit: Scout Photography

Valhalla’s 2018 lineup has all the best of the best and the new up and coming artists in bass music. It features heavy bass artists like Badklaat, Megalodon, Riot Ten, Spag Heddy, and Sullivan King, drum n bass artists like Black Sun Empire, Delta Heavy and PhaseOne, riddim artists like Hi I’m Ghost, experimental bass artists like Truth, Eprom, SHADES, CharlestheFirst, Chee, DMVU, Tsuruda, Woolymammoth and Zeke Beats and trippy bass artists like Jantsen, ill.gates, Ill-Esha and Liquid Stranger.

Here are some of my favorite artists and lesser-known artists on this lineup that I think everyone should check out before the festival. Make sure to check out their top tracks below and catch their sets at Valhalla this year.

Woolymammoth

Woolymammoth is an eclectic experimental bass producer from San Francisco, California that has been releasing weird bass tracks on record labels such as Buygore, Mad Decent and Saturate. He is known for collabing with artists such as Noisia, Bleep Bloop, Tsuruda and Mr. Carmack, as well as with others. Check out his SoundCloud page here.

Megalodon

A heavy bass and dubstep producer from San Francisco, California, Megalodon has been gaining momentum recently in the bass scene- putting out tons of new tracks, being featured on BBC Radio 1, and remixing tracks from the likes of Slander and others. Featured on Never Say Die record label, Megalodon is one to watch out for in the coming year. Check out his SoundCloud page here.

Tsuruda

Tsuruda, a minimal and experimental bass producer from Los Angeles, has been putting out tracks on Dirt First Records and touring around the US with the likes of Huxley Anne and others. Known for working with Woolymammoth, Eprom, Bleep Bloop and Noisia and remixing artists like Graves, Tsuruda is one to watch. Tsuruda also has a side project called PAINT that he produces experimental bass with Huxley Anne. Check out Tsuruda’s SoundCloud page here.

SHADES

SHADES is a collab between the Belgian producer Alix Perez and the UK producer EPROM. Working together they have created the heavy hitting bass alias of SHADES. SHADES’s tracks are released on Alix Perez’s on record label: 1985 Music out of London, UK. Other SHADES tracks have also been released on Mixmag and NEST HQ. Check out Alix Perez’s SoundCloud page here and EPROM’s here.

Jantsen

Jantsen is a dubstep producer from Denver, Colorado known for collabing with LUZCID, Wooli, Dirt Monkey, Conrank and others. Jantsen has produced multiple tracks with Bassnectar such as Red Step, What and Lost in the Crowd. He regularly produces tracks with Bassnectar and Bassnectar plays his music in his live sets. Check out Jantsen’s SoundCloud page here.

Dirt Monkey

Dirt Monkey is a bass producer from Boulder, Colorado. He has produced tracks with Space Jesus, DMVU, Jantsen, Ganja White Night, Subtronics and others and has remixed artists like Rusko, Buku, and others. Dirt Monkey is releasing music on Wakaan record label and currently featured on many music festival lineups this summer in the US and Canada. See his SoundCloud page here.

DMVU

An experimental bass producer from Denver, Colorado, DMVU is releasing on Circus Records and Deep, Dark and Dangerous. Known for this track, Bloccd, that really catapulted him to fame, being played regularly by Bassnectar and other bass producers, DMVU is up and coming on the bass scene. He collabs on tracks with artists like Truth, Holly, UZ, Dirt Monkey, Yheti and many others. Check out his SoundCloud page here.

Hi I’m Ghost

Hi I’m Ghost is a duo from Los Angeles, California consisting of Nathan Davis and Tiago Nunez. Known for their spooky, dark and heavy sound, Hi I’m Ghost has been producing experimental bass and riddim and releasing music on Fire Power Records. Hi I’m Ghost’s tracks have been dropped by artists like Riot Ten, Snails and Figure as well as others. Check out their SoundCloud page here.

BadKlaat

A heavy bass and dubstep producer from Gloucester, UK, BadKlaat has been producing tracks on Fire Power Records and Black Label. BadKlaat produces tracks with the likes of Riot Ten, Sullivan King, SKisM, Excision and many others. He is currently on a spring tour around Australia and Europe. Check out BadKlaat’s SoundCloud page here.

Ivy Lab

Ivy Lab, a duo from London, is known for being at the leading edge of the UK bass music scene and for producing experimental future beats utilizing hip-hop and drum machine electronica. They are currently releasing their tracks on their own record label, 20/20 LDN, as well as on Bassrush, Mixmag and Critical Music. Check out their SoundCloud page here.

Get your tickets here. Learn more about camping here. Learn more about directions, shuttles and getting there here.

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