If there was one party during last year's Winter Music Conference and Miami Music Week that everyone kept shouting out on social media, it had to be the Red Bull Guest House.
In its inaugural edition, the event proved to be no joke, offering four days of rooftop pool parties and daily breakfast with your favorite dance music acts. And, of course, Red Bull threw its weight around and booked topnotch labels — such as DFA, OWSLA, Fool's Gool, Boysnoize Records — to select the tunes for the all-weekend, invite-only event.
For the 2014 edition, Red Bull will take over the Gale South Beach, and there's no doubt this year's party will match the inaugural #RBGuestHouse in terms of sheer awesomeness.
"It's the attitude and people that make the Guest House," insists Clayton Blaha, cofounder with Skrillex of OWSLA and publicist for Biz3.
Last year, Blaha served as one of the Guest House's founding partners, and he says he had no hesitation in partnering with the energy drink brand. "Red Bull has always been very supportive of what Sonny [AKA Skrillex] does and what we do as a label — they really seem to get it. They will invest in artists and ideas as opposed to campaigns. The Guest House is kind of a natural progression of the relationship we have with them."
Naturally, Blaha is excited to once again take over the Guest House and showcase OWSLA's music in a more intimate setting, especially when compared to the total chaos that takes over our city during WMC and MMW.
"I like Ultra, I like music festivals, but this is really, really intimate," Blaha explains. "Last year, we had some legendary rap and hip-hop DJs spinning. You can see it's such a wide variety of music in a small venue."
In addition to sets from Skrillex's label, you can expect Richie Hawtin's M-nus Records showcase, a PMR vs. LuckyMe party, a throwdown with Diplo and his Mad Decent crew, and poolside tunes by Hot Creations.
"I'm superexcited to see anything from Hot Creations," Blaha enthuses, "because they are such an awesome label with incredible music that works really well for poolside chillin'. Also, PMR and Disclosure. And Diplo and his cast of characters."
For those lucky enough to score an invite, Blaha says you can also expect new things from OWSLA, including new cuts by Skrillex. "We'll have another superstellar lineup that will be fun. The music will be different because there's so much new stuff released all the time, so you can expect to hear new sets from all of our artists. Sonny has been playing a lot of new music in his live sets, so I think it's safe to assume you'll hear some of that."
In the end, though, as far as Blaha is concerned, the Red Bull Guest House is ultimately about two things: "Good people, good times."
