“A perfect 17-minute after-movie masterpiece,” is what the Miami New Times called the Ultra Miami 2013 Aftermovie. And I can’t agree more, although we can agree to disagree on the spelling of aftermovie. I have watched it several times and experienced the symptoms of many of my peers: goosebumps, elation, excitement, awe, and, yes, even sadness.
Ultra is arguably the most important music festival in the EDM world. It is held during Miami Music Week and the Winter Music Conference, when the annual IDMA Awards (International Dance Music Awards) are given out. Translation: it’s like the Grammy’s of the DJ world. It’s held in March, unofficially kicking off the summer music festival season. It is pretty much the only time during the calendar year when all the DJ’s are in the same place at the same time- most of these guys go in and out of countries within hours. And with all those eyeballs, a DJ’s set at Ultra can set the tone for the entire year – good or bad.
This year was even more important as it was Ultra’s 15th year on the block. We went big, as we most definitely were not going home without a party. Ultra became the first EDM festival to cover two weekends, with a record breaking 330,000 people in attendance. And at UMF TV, we wanted to break some records of our own… which we did. We became the most viewed festival event in North America to date, with 10 million unique viewers; over 200,000 of which viewed concurrently for Swedish House Mafia’s final set, making it the highest concurrent number of views for any US non-sponsored music stream, as declared by YouTube.
For me, personally, Ultra Miami 2013 was the culmination of a whirlwind year. I moved to Los Angeles in March of 2011 as an aspiring TV Host. I gave myself a year to turn that aspiration into a reality. Exactly one year later, in March of 2012, Charly Friedrichs aka Final Kid, the mastermind behind the masterpiece, randomly saw my demo reel online and e-mailed me to be the new UMF TV host. In fact, he had to e-mail twice as I didn’t receive the first e-mail! Damn you, Spam! It was a dream job. I was literally looking at flights to go to Ultra! So, to not only be going there, but to be the host, was truly an honor and a no-brainer.
Then, EDM exploded and so did Ultra. I remember speaking to some of the guys about my travel goals for 2012, specifically Ibiza and Buenos Aires. By May, I had been to both, thanks to Ultra. While I cannot confirm this, I strongly believe I booked my other dream- being an MTV VJ– because of my experience and expertise in the music world via Ultra. By the end of the year, I had to think of new dreams as I had accomplished everything that I thought was once so unattainable! (I totally feel like a self-help book writing that.)
So while many people experienced the symptoms above because of the incredibly cinematic genius that is Charly’s work, I experienced those on a different level. Goosebumps, elation, awe, excitement, and, yes, a hint of sadness that such an amazing year had come to an end. If you follow me on my various social medias, you know the journey still continues with Ultra – and is only going to be getting bigger! – but I guess, nothing compares to your first time, right? It was my first year living my dream- owning it and breathing in every moment – and I couldn’t be more thankful to an organization and the dance community for embracing me and making those dreams come true.
Without further sappiness, here is Relive Ultra 2013: The Official Aftermovie. You will notice a familiar face around the 3:40 mark.
And here is my own recap! My behind-the-scenes video of what went down at Ultra Miami 2013 on the day of Swedish House Mafia’s last set.
