As a DJ, the art of crowd control is often overlooked and under appreciated, especially when it comes to smaller, local acts in regional cities. The industry is extremely saturated, which makes standing out more challenging as a rising artist. For Obayashi, however, that task appears effortless. 

I recently had the pleasure of checking out an Obayashi set at an intimate rooftop venue called Sky in Salt Lake. The club itself is a large, sprawling two-story night club focused on VIP experiences, but its rooftop is a scaled back, intimate version where the DJ booth sits on the floor facing a small dance floor that overlooks downtown Salt Lake's skyline. For an end of summer night out, it's perfect. 

I watched as Obayashi focused on their set, commanding an excited crowd that seemed to not only enjoy the music, but the opportunity to be in the presence of Obayashi themselves. Across the dance floor, people shouted to their friends about Obayashi's set and how excited they were. I asked a few if they knew Obayashi, to which they responded not personally, but that they don't miss an opportunity to see them play when they can. This was a local artist with fans. Actual fans. In Small Lake City, that's rare. 

I caught up with Obayashi before their set at Get Freaky later this month, where we talked about their latest release, along with what fans can expect at their upcoming festival appearance. 

Obayashi: This was a cool release because Fantom Freq had reached out to me directly regarding wanting me to release on his label. I had sent this record over and he signed it almost instantly. Once that happened, I sent it over to my engineer Taylor Pierce who gave it the final mix/master and really brought it to life. 

Obayashi: My workflow typically starts with me working on the relationship between the kick and bass elements. Once I have those sounding nice, I start to add in drums & percussion to really get a groove going. From there, it's playing around with synths and tweaking those with automation to give it movement. Final step is filling in the pieces with vocals, FX and final ear candy pieces. 

Obayashi: Like any festival set, I plan to highlight my own music, especially my unreleased ID's. I'm playing on the Ranger Sound Car (one of my favorite stages/sound I've played on) and really plan to flex the system. I am currently transitioning my sound from tech house and more into the indie dance/melodic house & techno realm, so my set will be filled with my previous sound and what's to come. I've really love playing tracks with a fun acid synth and driving kick drum that take you on a journey. 

Obayashi: One of my go to tracks right now is "IDK" by Azzecca. 

Obayashi: The scene has shown me how to work hard at my goals and provided me with the understanding of what community is. It's also shown me a lot about building relationships and connecting with people. Ever since I first got into DJing, all I wanted was to create safe spaces for release like what music has done for me. Somewhere to embrace being a little weirdo and forget the daily struggles we all face. Our community in SLC has helped heal me in so many ways and I'll forever be honored to be a part of it. 

Obayashi: This year I've really focused on getting myself healthy and happy so that I can really take my project to the next level. My goal is to continue releasing music and pushing to visit more cities to share my sound with. 

Obayashi: It's not technically a rave or festival but one of my favorite memories is going to Burning Man and riding my bike around with friends who I left calling my family. There's something truly special being in that space to learn more about yourself and release your inner child. 

"The mesh & sequins give this shirt a lot of magic to spice things up!"

Obayashi: I have always been more focused on comfortability so that I can run around being a lil gremlin. My go to is a t- shirt, cargo pants or shorts with cool designs, some comfy sneakers, and accessories like a hat or shoulder bag. I typically wear a lot of mens clothing but have lately liked figuring out how to embrace my femininity more by wearing a button up and letting the girls out for some fresh air. 

Obayashi: This feels like home.