The last time we got caught in a whirling vortex of lasers and lights pulsing to the beat of Swedish House Mafia's "One," we promised ourselves to never drop a hallucinogenic drug at a music festival again. It was a very bad trip.
But then we started thinking: Without mind-altering substances, how would we stomach overproduced electro bangers whenever the next uninspiring electronic dance music assignment popped into our inbox? The answer: a pair of EyeParty shades.
"Our glasses make any light source look like a kaleidoscope," says company spokesperson Samantha Meister. "It's very beautiful."
In a nutshell, EyeParty is a New York City-based company whose diffraction lenses will make you feel as if you're on the world's greatest acid trip or an ass-load of mollies. Best of all, there are no known side effects and it's 100 percent legal!
"We definitely don't promote [drug use] at all," Meister insists. "These glasses are for a better visual effect. It just adds to the element. It is like a shot of visual adrenaline, whether you're on anything or not. It's a shot of happiness."
Introduced to the masses last year at New York's Electric Daisy Carnival, the EyeParty frames were in fact conceived with the EDM scene in mind, Meister says.
"Porter Robinson put them on last week and was, like, bugging out," she enthuses. "And we gave some to Pauly D. He thought they were really cool."
This month, the EyeParty team has temporarily moved its operations to Miami for Winter Music Conference, Miami Music Week, and Ultra Music Festival, offering diffraction lenses to vulnerable beat freaks looking for that extra edge.
But don't assume these frames are only for kandi kids and raver bros, because EyeParty doesn't discriminate. Meister has worn them at several shows outside the EDM sphere and says the effect is just as gnarly.
Have you ever listened to and/or watched James Taylor live while tripping on EyeParty? Meister has. And she says that although the "light system isn't as powerful" as it is at an electro show, "Carolina in My Mind" never looked better.
