15 Can't Miss Acts at HARD Summer 2014

The 7th annual HARD SUMMER is officially sold out, and why wouldn’t it be?  It has a stacked lineup of headliners including Tiesto, Disclosure, Axwell, Dillon Francis and Jack U, aka Diplo and Skrillex’s newest bromance/collaboration project.  The two-day Los Angeles-based music festival also features the entire A$AP Mob and Pusha T; combine that with several monstrous stages of sound, wild carnival rides and over 35K+ attendees and you’ve got yourself the recipe for major ticket sales.

What’s great about HARD, though, is that it has distinguished itself from a slew of similar EDM festivals in the States by staying true to the more underground, emerging music that hits the scene, shedding light on newcomers and other buzzworthy acts that are oftentimes bigger across seas.  HARD is, for many acts, their first shot at breaking through to a massive US audience.

Since we’re guessing you are already familiar with the headliners (if you aren’t, read a book Billboard), we’ve put together a list of 15 non-headlining acts you should definitely check out this weekend. If you aren’t going to HARD, listen to the tunes anyways and look out for these DJ’s at a venue near you.

2014 seems to have been Trippy Turtle's year. After amassing a solid core group of fans via his FoFoFadi conglomerate, he set to make 2014 his with a debut single ("Trippy's Theme") via Mad Decent's Jeffree's, helping solidify the love that he's received from the Jersey club community and the electronic music scene worldwide. A pair of remixes with DJ Sliink (of August Alsina's "Sucker" and Chris Brown's "Loyal") don't hurt either.

This is one of our most anticipated DJ sets at HARD Summer.  It’s her first U.S. festival show ever, and thanks to her continuous release of mixtapes on SoundCloud we know it’s going to be a banger.   She’s a bombshell from Birmingham who taught herself to DJ at the age of 17.  Her mixes are funky, heavy-hitting house blends with hip-hop samples and breakbeat rhythms.  Hannah is releasing a track called “Signs” this week on Ultra in collaboration with Chris Lorenzo, and yes we are patiently waiting.

We would really like to kidnap this kid and make him DJ at our next house party.  In all seriousness though, Kidnap Kid is one of the hottest newcomers out of the UK. He has been building momentum ever since his first single “Vehl” was named ‘Best Electronic Song’ by iTunes.  Having put out more successful singles including “So Close” and “Like You Used To” and also releasing a handful of quality mixtapes all eventually led to his breakthrough in the States. This year he played Winter Music Conference, Coachella, and is currently headlining his own U.S. tour.  Kidnap Kid is signed to Black Butter Records, which is also the home of a couple of acts you can find on this list.

This will be Claptone’s second performance at HARD in Los Angeles, but if its anything like last year’s set then you are in for a treat.  Claptone will play ALL of his hits, so get ready for the hip-hop sampled cult classics  “Cream” and “Shook” along with his popular productions “Ghost” and “Control”.  If you are unsure about what he looks like, that's OK–no one does.  Look for the bird-shaped mask that he is notorious for wearing and follow the uplifting, feel good house beats until you reach your destination.  Thank us later.

Worthy puts on a great live show, one where you can honestly tell he is reading the crowd and vibing off the energy in the room.  It’s hard to really put his sound into a genre, but you’ll hear everything from breaks to tech house to old-school electro bass.  Also, he is is one the four original members of Dirtybird… need we say more?

This guy had us with his Destiny’s Child “Say My Name” remix and has never since let us down.  His signature sound is stripped down R&B remixes with sexy synths and even sexier vibes, but recently he’s been stepping outside of his own box, producing original work with UK pop vocalists like Jessie Ware, Rochelle Jordan, and Javeon.  This HARD performance is the first stop on his “She’s Different” North American tour.

There is not much drum & bass on the HARD lineup, so get your fix here.  Alix has been on the come-up for a few years now, most recently known for his highly acclaimed BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix and also his 2013 album Chroma X Chords, both powerful takes on his style of dubstep and liquid funk. As of late Alix dropped a new EP titled U, which features Rashad and Spinn, and also is producing tracks for Foreign Beggars.

Jacques Greene is a mysterious young house music producer from Montreal (now residing in NYC) who’s been making waves in the dance scene. His hit single “Another Girl” put him on the map a few years back, but it’s his debut EP, Phantom Vibrate, released this past April, that really has people buzzing. Greene’s music can be described as pillow-y house music… or boot-knocking beats… whatever you prefer to call lots of R&B samples and sexed up vocals.   His DJ sets are a journey through sounds inspired by the beginnings of Chicago and Detroit house music. On the decks he dances around the booth, seeming to enjoy himself and effortlessly projecting high energy onto the crowd.

In the mood for some UK bass music?  Rustie is ready to deliver. This Glasgow native has been on a hot streak; Pitchfork just awarded his newest single “Raptor” as a ‘Best New Track’ and the song will appear on his next LP launching at the end of August titled Green Language.  His music is electro meets trap meets hard house (or something like that), and this will be the final stop on his North American Summer Tour, so try not to miss it.

This is not Kastle’s first HARD performance, but you can always count on him to bring something fresh and fun to his live shows.   His music is a fusion of R&B, hip-hop, house, and garage influences, making for an eclectic and bass-heavy set list.  Kastle’s self-titled debut album landed him a spot on Billboards Top 20 Electronic Albums of 2013, and this year he has already remixed everyone from Ellie Goulding to Janelle Monae and AlunaGeorge. Look out for his sophomore album release in early 2015.

There really is no way to make a “must see” list without including Maya Jane Coles.   She isn’t new to the scene at all; actually Maya is one of the first few female producers to write, perform, produce, and arrange all of her own electronic music.  She’s been on dozens of magazine covers, received countless accolades like ‘Producer of the Year’ and  ‘Best DJ,' and has created endless amounts of material that would put many DJs on this list to shame.  She’s a bad ass in her own right, but is also shy and extremely humble, which is refreshing. She might be a veteran but is still hard at work every day, putting out new productions and remixes probably as quickly as we type this.   Maya, we salute you.

If the name isn’t ringing a bell, his hit single “Jack” probably will.  The song dominated dance charts and was mixed into nearly every DJ’s set last summer.  He produces mostly house music, but if you do some digging you can find drum & bass tracks under his moniker, too.  Dig even further and you’ll learn that Breach, aka Ben Westbeech, appeared on tracks with Paul McCartney, Bjork, DJ Marky and Kraak & Smack back in the day.  How’s that for multi-faceted?

These guys are probably one of the most entertaining live acts on the HARD bill.  The London collective has been taking the world by storm with their hip-hop infused, drum & bass music, and lively shows.  Onstage they play instruments while dancing about, sing and hype the crowd with call-and-response tactics, and bring out several guest vocalists to perform throughout the set. Their debut album Home was #1 on the UK charts last year, and they won an MTV EMA for ‘Best New Act of 2013.'  Rudimental just announced that they will be opening up for Ed Sheeran on tour, but catch them now to avoid the onslaught of young, screaming girls that will likely ensue there.

Gorgon City has had a huge year.  Two of their recent singles, “Ready For Your Love” and “Here For You,” reached #4 and #2 on the UK Singles Chart, respectively.   They‘ve been touring like crazy, and just released yet another single last week "Unmissable” which will be on their highly anticipated debut album Sirens, out on October 7.  For their live show, expect lots of deep house beats, soulful vocals and some two-step.  Your feet will not leave the dance floor, trust us.

Chase & Status never disappoint.  EVER.  The London-bred drum & bass duo already had two successful albums under their belt when they dropped their latest LP Brand New Machine, which took over the UK dance charts at #2 and is now quickly approaching platinum status.  The album features a massive list of guest appearances including Major Lazer and Pusha T, which is just a small notch on their belt of collaborations over the years considering Rihanna, Rita Ora, Cee Lo Green, and Tinie Tempah are all also on that list.  Chase & Status are proud to wear their drum & bass label despite having so much hip-hop, dancehall, dubstep, and rock laced throughout their catalog of hits.  This weekend, if we’re lucky, Pusha T will take the stage with them at HARD to perform their hit single  “Machine Gun."