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Archive Feb 04, 2014
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Before launching into stardom, new waves of electronic music must make their rites of passage through the Avalon’s CONTROL Fridays. Always on the forefront of the newest and most forward-thinking brands of electronica, CONTROL Fridays has played host to some of the genre’s biggest acts way before they even qualified a mock Coachella bill — EDC gawds like Skrillex, Wolfgang Gartner, Dada Life, Bingo Players and more passed through the Avalon’s weekly showcase. This weekend, they celebrated a glorious five years with Dada Life and with no intentions of slowing down, we caught up with co-founder Ryan Jaso on CONTROL’s success and what made it the mainstay it is to date.
LA CANVAS: What spurred CONTROL’s creation?
Ryan: We saw a void in the marketplace — there was a new sound coming and with it a new generation of fans. We went to a lot of dance music-based parties that were more underground, and we saw what Avalon was doing on Saturday nights and wanted to introduce this new sound to a big stage.
LAC: What do you think has allowed CONTROL to have such longevity?
R: CONTROL is a brand, it’s known across the world at this point and I think that is something you rarely see in nightlife. We’ve never done anything we weren’t proud of, and we’ve always stayed true to what we believe in. You won’t see Paris Hilton gracing the CONTROL stage anytime soon.
LAC: At what point did you feel like CONTROL was a success — was there a particular show or moment where you realized it?
R: For me it was our second show ever with Surkin, we probably only did about 750 people — low by comparison to our big nights now — but it made me think this could actually work.
LAC: What were the challenges in keeping CONTROL afloat? Any near-disasters or mishaps?
R: There was a challenge every week in the beginning. We went through three or four bookers before we linked with Giant which really helped solidify the bookings, countless promoters, general managers, production coordinators… you name it. We always had the backing of the owner John Lyons which is really what made it last. Most clubs would have given up if they saw more than half the shows in the red, but Avalon believed in it and that’s what brings us here today.
LAC: What are some of your favorite/most memorable CONTROL shows and why?
R: There are too many to name; we’ve had the pleasure of having artists like Bingo Players, Krewella, Rusko, Dillon Francis, Skrillex and Dada Life cut their teeth at CONTROL. I’ve heard many of the aforementioned state CONTROL is one of their favorite parties in the world and that means a lot.
LAC: Where do you see yourselves in five years?
R: Doing an interview with LA CANVAS about how we made it to ten years of CONTROL.
Photos courtesy of CONTROL. Pictured: Dada Life at CONTROL’s recent 5 Year Anniversary party.
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