One of New York’s hottest (literally) festivals is back for another wild year. Electric Zoo, now approaching its 11th year, just dropped an incredible first phase lineup.

Now that it’s been around for over a decade, Electric Zoo is doing some revamping of their image and mission as a whole. The new lineup poster has a sleek and simple look, with the title “Electric Zoo: Evolved”. Their website encourages attendees to “just think about the metamorphosis that a caterpillar undergoes to become an exquisite butterfly”. Thus, is the idea behind Electric Zoo: Evolved.

Now that we finally have the lineup, we can start making plans for this incredible weekend. Here are five artists I’m going to be sure to catch, and here’s why you should, too.

GERRY GONZA

All the way from Arizona, Gerry is traveling to the East Coast to show New York how we do house music out west! Gerry’s single, “Bad Bitches”, was released on Confession in 2016 and earned him a name in the house music world. Since then, Gerry has continued to grind out incredible tracks and collaborate with other incredible artists like Destructo and Bijou. His original track, “Jackmode”, was one of my favorite releases last year. Seeing him on an East Coast lineup was unusual, so I’m excited to see what he brings to the Zoo this August.

I_O

I_o is an artist who jumped into the scene and gained a named for himself very quickly. He has done all this while still remaining fairly low profile, which has contributed to the mysterious brand he’s growing. We’ve recently seen him popping up on more and more lineups, including Ultra Miami, EDC Las Vegas, and Paradiso. His dark sound is strikingly ominous and he certainly delivers when it comes to the underground, techno warehouse party vibe. Go check out his tracks “Low” and “Warning” to get a feel for i_o’s unique sound.

LICK

Another artist we’ve been seeing on more and more lineups lately is Lick. Receiving lots of support from huge names like Zeds Dead, Slander, and more, this Deadbeats artist has exploded in the bass music scene. In addition to a huge announcement that he’d be playing Electric Forest, Lick has also secured spots at Chasing Summer, Paradiso, Ilesoniq, Ever After, and Sunset Music Festival. Just this week he’s already announced two more huge shows: Dead Rocks VI and the Bassrush Pool Party during EDC Week. His deep, haunting bass sound is certainly one that has caught on quickly within the genre, and I’m excited to see him continue excelling throughout this year. If you’re not familiar with his music, try listening to “Blood Rave” or his VIP flip of Illenium’s “Needed You”.

KAIVON

If you like to be put in your feels, there’s certainly going to be plenty of that during Kaivon’s set. An Icon Collective graduate, Kaivon is a master of chill and captivating drops that initiate intense emotion from the listener. He just made his festival debut about a year ago, and has begun making bigger and bigger appearances since. Electric Zoo will be a massive one for him! If you’re not familiar with Kaivon’s music, check out some of his tracks such as “First Love” and “Anything” -- you won’t be disappointed.

SHADIENT

Shadient is an artist I just started hearing about fairly recently, but he certainly deserves this spot on the Electric Zoo lineup. Though Shadient is no rookie to producing, his name is starting to spread more thanks to support from huge artists like Porter Robinson and the release of his Divide EP on Slander and Nghtmre’s record label, Gud Vibrations. His sound is hard-hitting and heavy, but it presents an original angle on bass music that I haven’t heard from other producers. “Numbers Station” is my favorite track from the new EP, and I suggest you check it out and add Shadient to your list of artists-to-watch.

Though these are some up-and-comers that I’ll be sure to see at Electric Zoo, there are tons more incredible artists on the lineup that weren’t mentioned above. This event will take place August 30th - September 1st at Randall’s Island Park in New York City, New York. For more information and tickets, head to electriczoo.com. Hope to see lots of you there!

p.s. Check out this blog post if you're looking for some animal-inspired outfits for E Zoo 2019!