Claude VonStroke's debut DirtyBird Campout

Last weekend I made the trek back to the beautiful Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, CA for DirtyBird Campout. The American funky house label joined forces with The Do Lab in creating a summer camp themed music festival event bringing out everyone’s inner 12-year-old.

In honor of DirtyBird’s 10^th year in the making, artists from around the world came together to support the first annual Campout led by Claude VonStroke. The laid-back music label caters to a slightly older demographic that still knows how to party and have fun instead of the typical high-energy “raver” crowd in electronic dance music.

The best part of this 3-day festival is everyone in the campout community got involved–artists, volunteers and attendees–giving attendees a sense of community and new way to connect with some of their favorite artists. Most festivals you have to go through high security checks, you’re gated off from the stages and only interact with artists during their performance. But DirtyBirds don’t take themselves too seriously and they know how to have a good time!

You could find camp counselors: J. Phlip, Kill Frenzy, Justin Jay, Justin Martin and Claude VonStroke, in uniform wandering the campgrounds, leading activities, participating in games and getting down on the DJ decks. This festival broke the barriers of superiority of VonStroke’s words of wisdom “all from the same flock”.

It was one of the first festivals since attending Lightning in a Bottle where it felt like festival organizers focused just as much (if not more) on making the venue a fun and interactive environment for attendees as they did in stacking the music line-up with big names. DirtyBird and The Do Lab coming together was a match made in heaven.

In terms of music, the “booty” house music label didn’t disappoint. My favorites included: Danny Daze, Kill Frenzy, Claude VonStroke, Lunice and Eprom. Each set felt like an intimate dance party with artists, fans and volunteers getting down on the dance floor and on stage with the DJs performing.

After Route 94 had to cancel their DirtyBird appearance, Danny Daze quickly stepped in to replace the UK producer’s Saturday evening spot in the line-up. Belgian music producer, Kill Frenzy, brought the hype with his dark, deep house techno sounds, taking the party up a notch Saturday night. Lunice and Eprom brought out incredible energy to kick off the Late Night Lodge stage that kept the party going until sunrise.

Camp leader, Vonstroke, closed out the Birdhouse stage Saturday night with a funky house set filled with hip-hop influences. After starting his producing career in Chicago, VonStroke started DirtyBird to the west coast with free pop-up parties in San Francisco.

For dance music fans DirtyBird truly provided something special for ticket holders with the interactive experience. VIP tickets were well worth the price with the opportunity to hang out backstage, private bar and comfy faux fur couches to lounge around on when they needed a break from getting down.

Stay tuned for more upcoming projects from DirtyBird. The American house music label focuses on their artists by selectively releasing singles that the label has full confidence in rather than putting out everything that is sent their way. The DirtyBird signature “booty house” sound steps away from the typical big room house music often heard at major music festivals, and has a darker, hip-hop feel, as mentioned by VonStroke in a recent interview with Billboard.