Zedd shrunk his stadium-sized spectacle right into a synth-fueled sardine tin of euphoria over the weekend, turning a humble NYC bodega right into a secret rave he known as his “smallest show ever.”
Simply 25 individuals shuffled into The Little Store, a tiny nook retailer that lives as much as its identify within the South Seaport neighborhood of Manhattan. The bar was excessive due to MUNDO, whose renegade reggaeton and amapiano raves have been taking the Bronx by storm.
EDM met ATM on the store, the situation of which had been stored secret as a part of an elaborate scavenger hunt initiative hosted in partnership with 5 gum. Followers needed to decipher a collection of hints and clues on social media, then present as much as obtain a Zedd-branded, glow-in-the-dark pack of 5 gum, which doubled as their ticket. One attendee even mentioned he camped out in a single day to make sure entry to the uncommon rave.
The occasion’s improvement befell over a interval of 10 months, in keeping with Maria Urista, Vice President, Gum & Mints at Mars. Her workforce, she says, got down to “deliver an extremely stimulating sensorial experience fans could get nowhere else” whereas celebrating dance music tradition.
“We kept coming back to the energy and excitement around secret raves, performances for a group of fans dedicated enough to seek them out,” Urista tells EDM.com. “It’s what led us to developing an underground event of our own, but adding the tension of hiding it in plain sight, with one of the genre’s most recognizable talents, in a location where 5 gum can already be found.”
“From there, the toughest part to navigate was the ingenuity of our and Zedd’s fans—they dug into each clue we dropped so deeply, sharing theories with each other, and using some incredibly novel ways of piecing everything together,” she continues. “We actually ended up changing our clues and the cadence of information we doled out in response to the fervent fan response.”
c/o 5 Gum
The scene was surreal for these discovered themselves in Zedd’s pocket universe. And the irony was palpable—a person accustomed to commanding crowds on the world’s greatest festivals was now locked in a within-arm’s-reach interaction with barely two dozen followers.
Keep in mind 5 gum’s wild commercials? Those that confirmed the world “how it feels to chew 5 gum,” which apparently meant spontaneous levitation, the flexibility to style colours and the uncontrollable urge to parkour? Crammed right into a single slender bodega aisle and dripping sweat as Zedd carried out probably the most intimate present of his profession, we lastly understood what they meant.
“This is just such a fucking unique experience for me,” Zedd mentioned at one level. “So I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough because I never get to do this.”
c/o 5 Gum
We skilled an unique nosedive into the stratospheric Telos, Zedd’s first album in almost a decade, which releases on Friday. As never-before-heard music and generational dance anthems like “Clarity” and “I Want You to Know” reverberated off linoleum flooring, The Little Store remodeled right into a hypnogogic dream the place the atypical collided spectacularly with the extraordinary.
On this minuscule slice of raving heaven, he proved that true musical magic is not measured by the dimensions of the venue, however by the electrical energy shared between an artist and their followers.
“It far exceeded my expectations and the energy and vibes were unmatched,” mentioned attendee Flo Patino. “From Zedd thanking us for being there, to talking to us, the new songs that haven’t come out yet, everything was incredible—it felt like having a best friend in front of me playing. It was so beautiful that I got home, thought about everything that had happened and had teary eyes from the emotion because it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The rave capitalized on 5 gum’s long-latent purpose of harnessing the power of digital dance music to enchantment to their shoppers, in keeping with Urista. The partnership, she says, was the newest within the model’s mission “to be part of life’s most thrilling moments” via music occasions and activations with beloved artists.
“Music means so much to our consumers, and our product can be found at concerts, festivals and shows across the country—it’s only natural for our brand to look for ways to amp up that experience,” Urista explains.
After quite a few compelling model activations within the hip-hop world, like a singular jewellery assortment that includes precise 5 gum chewed by Yungblud and a customized cassette monitor with J.I.D that solely 5 followers may pay attention to only 5 occasions earlier than the tape shredded, it was time. In order that they known as on Zedd, one of many world’s most influential digital music producers.
“We have wanted to play in EDM for years, and partnering with Zedd for this year’s campaign was a no-brainer,” she continues. “His fandom and our audience perfectly overlap, he’s been creating some of the most thrilling music moments for more than a decade and he’s on the verge of releasing his first new album in almost 10 years—the perfect moment for the brand to celebrate.”
Followers of Zedd can pre-save Telos right here. The album is scheduled to launch on August thirtieth, 2024.
Comply with Zedd:
X: x.com/zedd
Instagram: instagram.com/zedd
TikTok: tiktok.com/@zedd
Fb: fb.com/zedd
Spotify: spoti.fi/2CoYpk2
