Ephwurd Talks Playing The Main Stage At EDC And The "Ephwurd" in iEDM Exclusive Interview

Bass music made a huge splash at EDC this year. BassPOD was lit all weekend, and bass music even made it onto kineticFIELD, a stage generally reserved for more mainstream EDM. Slander and Ephwurd were two groups that brought bass onto the main stage of EDC and bass zombies and headbangers were ecstatic.

iEDM had a chance to sit down with Ephwurd's Datsik and Bais Haus to talk about the origins of their name, bass music on the main stage, and the versatility of the F word. 

iEDM: Is it hard for you guys to balance out your individual projects with the Ephwurd project? 

Bais Haus: For me, I'm full-time Ephwurd at this point. 

Datsik: Honestly, it's fun because with Ephwurd we're focusing on different sounding stuff from Datsik so it's kinda nice to dive headfirst into that and the minute I get bored of making something that has a mainstream appeal to it or based on house music or something, then all of a sudden problem solved. I start making dark dubstep, so it's really cool to have that yin and yang while making music. 

iEDM: How did you come up with the name? I can see it phonetically, but how did Ephwurd come about? 

Bais Haus: At the end of the day we wanted something where we could kinda take the piss out of it. So like, if kids are being haters, we'll be like 'fuck off' P-H-U-C-K. 

Datsik: We're just having fun. F-Word. Like the word.

Bais Haus: It's like the intro to our set. 'Fuck is the most interesting word in the English language. Literally. It's a noun, a verb, an adjective.' 

Datsik: A feeling. 

Bais Haus: Yeah, it's fun, you can play around with it. 

Datsik: And it's like yeah, we don't give a fuck. 

iEDM: Legit. How does it feel to be on kineticFIELD and have one of the closing out sets? 

Datsik: It's honestly crazy, I've never (as Datsik) because of the nature of the music, I've always been at bassPOD. But this year was crazy, one of the biggest crowds I ever played for. But it's cool with Ephwurd because we're able to play stuff that I wouldn't normally play as Datsik and crossover in a way where its fun but we still keep it OG. We're like the wobbly act, it's kinda fun. 

Bais Haus: We tried turning it into a house party. Because that's fun. Sometimes I feel like, with main stage acts, it's really serious a lot of times. These guys are like "this is my set here we go, people are gonna enjoy it." and we're like "yo let's have a fucking good time right now! Let's turn this shit into a fucking house party!" 

Datsik: Especially at this time. We're playing at 3:30 AM on the mainstage and kids just want to close out and have fun. 

iEDM: The two of you obviously work together, but do you have a dream collaboration with Ephwurd? 

Datsik: The Weeknd.

Bais Haus: Yeah we always come up with the stock answer of 'The Weeknd.' We get that question a lot and it's kinda hard to answer because one week we'll be like "yo, let's make a banger." and then the next week we'll try to work on some pop shit. So, week to week we have a different dream collaborator, so we just come up with the Weeknd. 

iEDM: EDC is one of the biggest festivals in the US, do you have a dream stage that you want to play on? 

Datsik: I mean, my dream is coming true, being able to play on the main stage and on a different stage. When I started Ephwurd with Bais Haus, it was one of those things where I was like "yo, it would be so crazy to be able to play twice in one weekend and not have to travel to two different cities." And now it's like a weekly thing. Like this last set will be my fourth show of the weekend, in the same city. And it's gnarly in a way. I'm so blessed, I feel very blessed where it's all gone. And shoutout to Insomniac for taking chances. 

Bais Haus: Yeah seriously, they've been so supportive since day one. 

Thanks guys for your taking time to talk to us. Make sure you check out Ephwurd's remix of Big Gigantic's "Good Times Roll" and follow their SoundCloud to stay up-to-date on their newest music. Make sure you check out Ephwurd's online press releases for the newest music information! 

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