The salty air and swaying palm trees of bucolic San Diego are a far cry from the grit and grime of techno birthplaces like Detroit and Chicago. Yet since 2015, the prolific FNGRS CRSSD crew behind the genre-bending CRSSD fest provides dancefloor denizens not one but two opportunities to vibe out in idyllic environs. Every March and September, at Waterfront Park, CRSSD presents three stages of acts that span niche electronica to eclectic live acts. Past performers have included heavy hitters like Chromeo, Cut Copy, Chet Faker, Underworld, ODESZA, Röyksopp, Ladytron and hundreds of others. To take a peer inside this idiosyncratic fest, we spoke with four spring 2025 acts and learned about their artistry and what makes CRSSD so special.
Flight Facilities
The Australian group Flight Facilities, made up of Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell, has made waves in their native country since 2009. Their debut album Down to Earth included guests like Kylie Minogue, Emma Louise, Reggie Watts, and Bishop Nehru, and earned the pair an ARIA gold record. Sometimes performing under the name Hugo & Jimmy, the duo has popped up at festivals and events at every corner of the globe—from SXSW to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Flight Facilities has had massive success in Australia. What was Sydney like as a place to embark on a music career?
Hugo Gruzman: I feel fortunate that the time and place we grew up with music was probably the best it’s been in Sydney. So, there was a great DJ culture. My cousin got me into that because he was a big DJ then, and I followed in his footsteps. And that’s actually how Jimmy and I met, through clubbing. A lot of that culture has died off, which is sad because Sydney has had problems.
What makes me sad is that other DJs won’t get to tread the same path that I got to tread. It was the best time of my life, and a lot of people playing here today are artists I was listening to and playing while I was learning to become a DJ. So, this is like a dream come true.
"It was the best time of my life, and a lot of people playing here today are artists I was listening to and playing while I was learning to become a DJ."
The duo started by remixing other acts before creating your original songs. Could you walk us through that process?
It started just from playing other people’s songs, and then you start to go, “Ah, that song was a bit long, or I didn’t like that part,” and then you start to edit those songs. Then, after you edit it, you go, “I think I can do a different version of it,” and then start remixing it. Once you know the fundamentals of how a song is put together, it makes it a lot easier to make it original by getting a vocalist. Our first vocalist, Giselle, we met in a bar in Sydney. We had a beat, she had a voice, and it just came together really luckily.
Tell us about another happy accident, a time you did something that ended up being something completely different but gave you that same feeling.
I reckon most of the songs we’ve made, we’ve done that. But one of the songs we made years ago was while I was working on it, Jimmy called me in the middle of it, and the phone ring was in key with the song. I wound up taking bits and pieces of an Apple phone ring melodically, and I inserted them into one of our songs. I’m not gonna say which one in case Apple comes after me, but there is an Apple phone ring in one of our songs.
"Once you know the fundamentals of how a song is put together, it makes it a lot easier to make it original by getting a vocalist."
You guys have over two million monthly listeners on Spotify. Do you believe people discover you guys through that platform, or how do you feel they land there?
I’m not sure. It probably helped that we had a good listener base before streaming took off. But you never know how many people are sitting there just streaming your tracks all day or how many of them are just playing in t-shirt stores around the world, which apparently is a lot of it. All we know is when we play the shows, people turn up, so there must be some people listening.
Quickly, give us three tips for constructing the perfect festival set.
If it were my festival, French acts would be the first way I would go. Second, make sure you’ve got some good food. If people don’t have that, you’re done for; no one will last the day. And then a third tip for a good festival: location is everything. Here you’re next to the water, so it’s beautiful. There’s something else to look at so you’re not just in a car park.
"Location is everything. Here you're next to the water, so it's beautiful. There's something else to look at so you're not just in a car park."
Do you remember the first time you heard the Roland TB–303 and how it made you feel?
I’ve always loved acid music, and I listened to a lot of the ’80s dance acid music, knowing they had the original 303. I use it on almost everything if I can. I need to stop myself from putting it in every song.
Well, it’s like your secret weapon, right?
It’s so good. You can make any organic track—if it’s something with a guitar and a piano and things like that—add acid, and it just becomes this whole other great fusion of electronic and organic sounds.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name Roland in electronic music?
It’s the 303 because it’s the thing I love using the most. But we’ve used a lot of drum machines like the 909 and the 808. We use that a lot on our old records. You can listen to a song with just an acid line and a 909. That’s all you need. But they’re synonymous with early dance music, and I don’t think they’ll ever outdate.
You’ve performed at plenty of festivals across the globe. What makes the energy at CRSSD different from other festivals?
It must be good and different because this is the fifth time we’ve done it. There’s something almost similar about being home that’s by the water, and it’s always like beautiful weather. The lineup they curate is a bit more European-centric, which is what we’ve always been drawn towards, and it feels like there is a little clash of cultures in this one city.
"You can make any organic track—if it's something with a guitar and a piano and things like that—add acid, and it just becomes this whole other great fusion of electronic and organic sounds."
François X
Acclaimed French artist François X plays a brand of techno that blends “high-impact club energy with cinematic textures and the deep physicality of Black American electronic heritage.” While living up to such a lofty sonic manifesto is no easy feat, Francois X is achieving his goals across the globe—from initial breakout sets at Concrete through appearances at Berghain, Fabric, Awakenings, Melt Festival, and other events. His 2025 EP, Straight Edge Society, is a deeply personal offering revealing his guiding philosophies.
How did you develop your signature sound, and what key moments shaped that journey?
I developed this during my teenage years in Paris, listening to Laurent Garnier and all the French techno DJs. I think my signature sound is more about a journey, you know, not hypnotic per se, but dreamy.
The journey is a dream
Exactly, exactly.
What makes CRSSD in San Diego different from other electronic techno festivals?
For me, it’s my first time here, but what I like is when I arrived, I noticed the festival was located in the harbor. It’s West Coast, it’s California. So compared to Europe, where we play most of the time in festivals, there is more of an industrial vibe; here, it is more chilled out.
"It's West Coast, it's California. So compared to Europe, where we play most of the time in festivals, there is more of an industrial vibe; here, it is more chilled out."
How do you view the current state of underground techno and its evolution?
I think techno is not underground anymore. It’s really popular, and people are waiting for it, especially nowadays, seeing as we are at a big festival. My motto is to reach a wider platform, stick to my roots, and be authentic. More people around me or listening to me is a good opportunity to showcase the music we have in hands, in our minds. Let’s spread the word—let’s spread the magic of techno.
So, what makes the TB-303 special to you?
The 303, for me, is like a machine that has this pretty much crazy psychotic energy—the sequence is never-ending. When the artist starts tweaking the knobs and opening the filters, it’s like giving you a rush of adrenaline. For me, it’s an iconic machine.
Do you have a favorite track the 303 inspired?
I also have to have the original “Acid Tracks” from Chicago by DJ Pierre, Phuture, and Dutch producer Speedy J.
What are some of your go-to techniques for achieving those deep hypnotic grooves?
Good question. I need to have pads. They don’t have to be melodic, but they have to put an atmospheric vibe in the back. And I need to have this sub-bass rolling under the kick to give the groove. Not an obvious groove, just something in the back, so the dancer doesn’t hear it at first, but then he has this movement in his body.
What’s a piece of advice you wish you had earlier in your career?
In the music business, even if it’s an art and a creative field, you have to be professional. Nothing is to be taken for granted.
"The 303, for me, is like a machine that has this pretty much crazy psychotic energy—the sequence is never-ending."
slenderbodies
Max Vehuni and Benji Cormack are the enigmatic personalities behind California dream pop duo slenderbodies. Amidst the hard-hitting techno tents and festival revelry, the group’s intimate songs stand out. Following its unique path, slenderbodies has been blending subtle electronic textures with indie songwriting chops since 2016, amassing a devoted following of listeners along the way.
slenderbodies describes itself as having “hushed moods and falsetto vocals,” which we’ve heard at the CRSSD. What elements define your style?
Benji Cormack: I feel like the guitar is another pillar of that. Those were the two parameters when we first started the project: plucked, layered guitar with a lot of falsetto vocals. We wanted to stack a lot of elements together. Nowadays, a lot of songs start like they did at the CRSSD, and we’ll mess around with something until we get what we want.
We talked about the guitars a little bit. So tell me what it’s like being in a live guitar-based band and electronic music festivals.
Max Vehuni: It happens all the time. It’s because of the way our music is produced, especially some of the early stuff, which was very guitar-centric but very electronic. I think we get looped into EDM festival kind of electronic music. We do have some drop-based music, so that helps. We’ve started getting into really playing as a live band. So it’s always interesting to come to electric festivals and then play like some rock stars.
"Those were the two parameters when we first started the project: plucked, layered guitar with a lot of falsetto vocals."
You guys perform at lots of music festivals, right? What makes CRSSD stand out?
MV: It’s near my house, right by the water, which is always incredible. It’s cool to be on a stage, looking at a crowd, and seeing the ocean right next to you. That’s pretty special. We have some people on boats pulling up.
BC: Partying and trying to watch over the fence. That’s super funny. There is a distinct energy about California festivals that’s hard to find anywhere else.
How did the remix of your song “Hold On To You” by YoSoyMatt and French Braids come about?
BC: We’re big fans of Jeff of Poolside, and everything he’s done with his band, and the feeling was mutual. That song had been out for a while—we had played it on tour. I feel like it kind of just fell into our lap. Jeff was like, “Yo, I got this great artist to do this remix.” It’s super special. It’s cool to see it played out. My wife loves to go to a lot of dance festivals, so she’ll hear it out sometime.
What’s her favorite dance festival?
BC: She was just at EDC in Mexico City. We played Electric Forest a few years ago, and that was super fun. Since then, that’s become our favorite festival to go back to. The magic really never fades from that place.
"There is a distinct energy about California festivals that's hard to find anywhere else."
Give us some tips for constructing the perfect music festival set.
MV: All bangers. You got to play all the high-energy stuff. I feel like that’s generally what tends to do the best. Play all your most popular songs and all your most up-tempo, energetic songs to get people excited. They’re there to hear a lot of music and have good energy.
BC: The second tip is to play songs that engage the crowd even if they’ve never seen you before. If it’s one of your first few festivals, play a cover.
How do Slender Bodies use platforms like Reddit to engage your online community?
MV: We love Reddit, and I think it’s a great place to share your music or connect with other people on guitars and productions–sharing ideas and information. We love our Discord; that’s like our bread and butter because we love being able to have conversations with fans who are very direct. We spend a lot of time on there.
BC: Before Discord, it was Reddit because it was like asking questions. Now, we consistently get a lot more of those questions on Discord, but we still try to hold an AMA once every year for the devout users because it is one of the only online places where you can subdivide your interests in that way.
"Play all your most popular songs and all your most up-tempo, energetic songs to get people excited. They're there to hear a lot of music and have good energy."
You’ve toured extensively in the last few years and built up a following of nearly half a million monthly Spotify listeners. Can you tell us about the process of growing the band?
MV: A lot of it has honestly been putting out music consistently, lots of different records, and touring a lot. We started doing a lot of opening runs, and people would hear us, be interested, and then say, “I found you guys from this show or this show.” A lot of it was hitting the road and touring a lot and just putting out consistent music, like an album every year for the past eight years now.
Do you remember the first time you heard the Roland TB-303 and how it made you feel?
MV: I used to go to Low End Theory. That’s the first place I ever saw somebody actively using one live, and I thought it was very interesting. The amount of stuff they had for that tiny room was kind of unreasonable, but I just remember being like, “That thing sounds really crazy, and they’re using it live.”
“A lot of it was hitting the road and touring a lot and just putting out consistent music, like an album every year for the past eight years now. ”
8Kays
8kays aka Iryna Shvydka emerged from the Ukraine capital of Kyiv to set the electronic music world alight. On songs like “Basic,” “Magma,” and “Time Warp,” 8kays forges a stylistic blend that combines earworm melodies with propulsive rhythms. Whether at tastemaker festivals like Burning Man and Tomorrowland and on releases through labels like Renaissance Records, Blaufiield Music imprint, and Eleatics Records, 8kays is turning heads with her unique, driving approach to progressive house.
What’s something about your creative process or journey that would surprise people?
It’s always complicated to surprise people. The important thing is to surprise yourself. All artists are confused about the direction they should move in. So the first thing is to surprise yourself, and then you will find reflection in your audience.
What differentiates CRSSD from other festivals you might have played at?
Every festival is unique because of the people who do it and the people who come in to dance and enjoy it. You have a really beautiful location here, so the sun and the weather. I can’t say exactly what it is, but you have a feeling, something like spirit, which isn’t very easy to explain.
So many of your tracks feature intricate melodies and deep grooves. What role do synths like the TB -303 or others play in shaping your sound?
Actually, I did a few tracks with the 303. One of them was the track “Basic.” It was my first inspiration when playing around with a synth, and suddenly, I had a perfect loop that could define the arrangement. It’s flow.
"I can't say exactly what it is, but you have a feeling, something like spirit, which isn't very easy to explain."
Your sound is known for its emotional depth and cinematic quality. How do you develop that signature style?
Talking about genres, we call it melodic techno, but I’m also from a different direction of emotional music: melancholic, groovy. I came from trance music, and it’s something that has meshed with my soul. It’s how you feel, so I guess I’m a melancholy girl.
So, what’s your typical workflow when starting a new track? Do you begin with a melody or rhythm, or is it an emotion you want to capture?
In most cases, I start with what I call “a perfect loop.” I try to build those with a kick, bassline, and some part of a drop section. After that, I build up some melody and transition. But sometimes, I have a pretty good top line, and I try to play around and build everything around this main idea. But in most cases, I’m not using the melody at the start. Melody is something that comes afterward.
How do you approach crafting your tracks for the club versus the festival?
There have been a bunch of amazing festivals in the last two years, and you want to bring festival sounds to your music. But at the same time, I really love to make what I call Spotify-friendly music—music you can listen to without thinking about how to dance, just listening and receiving motion. So, I try to do both.
"I came from trance music, and it's something that has meshed with my soul. It's how you feel, so I guess I'm a melancholy girl."
