Here's all you need to know about Hostile, the latest champion of California's dubstep community.
January is the month. You're shoulder-to-shoulder at the most lit show in LA. Chibs, HAMRO and Hexx have just played.
The headliner takes the stage — it's INFEKT, and he's playing to a sold-out crowd at the 1720 warehouse venue.
This was the first show of 2024 for Hostile, one of the fastest-rising riddim and dubstep brands in California. The brainchild and promoter behind this brand is Tony Merino, a successful electronic dance music entrepreneur who planted seeds for the project in October of 2023 with two sold-out HOL! headlines.
Just one year later, Hostile has created a home for the masses who seek heavy bass and double drops in environments outside of the standard LA nightclub.
But it's the rowdiness of the bass music culture that inspired Merino to create this platform.
"As a misfit growing up, I've always loved the rebellious nature of the culture," Merino said. "I love how dubstep allows you to channel that energy onto the dancefloor."
Hostile has gone on to sell-out several other shows, including a wild VERSA headline back in June that the artist coined, "the craziest show of my life." As a follow up, they've booked VERSA b2b Subfiltronik in San Francisco, taking place on October 5 at DNA Lounge.
He credits the raw energy of bass music as one of the reasons why he's choosing to throw events in uncanny locations around the city. Two of the next four Hostile LA events are advertised in "secret locations" that will be texted out to fans day-of.
UPCOMING HOSTILE SHOWS
September 13: The Resistance with AKEOS - Secret Location
October 4: YVM3 with Automhate: VYLE, YAKZ & STVG - 1720 Warehouse
October 19: SANZU with INAKTIV, Chango & 7L - Secret Location
October 31: VKTM with MAD DUBZ, DEUCEZ & STAYNS - 1720 Warehouse
"We like to create events centered around the raw energy that comes with bass music while creating a platform to highlight upcoming artists in environments where they can thrive," Merino said.
In the polluted, ever-growing and ever-commercialized environment of today's EDM, fans seek the refreshing tone of events like these. They want the spontaneity and grit of an intimate venue where fancy tables and suited bouncers aren't present.
While LA has long been argued as the "real" bass capital of the country, it's recently catered to large headline tours and concerts. Hostile is putting LA back on the map as a thriving hub for the underground, while reuniting the community around that approachable vision they all crave.
"Once we feel we've made a significant cultural impact, we hope to take that experience to other cities," Merino said.
For now, fans can satiate their thirst with four insane LA riddim shows at 1720 Warehouse and secret locations around the city.
Continue your investigation into Hostile and let us know what else there is to be uncovered.
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