The first-ever Resonance festival, a one-night only event featuring live bands, DJ sets, an art market, and much more, happens tomorrow.
Resonance is the brainchild of Ash Uss, who is both a DJ and a social worker specializing in homelessness.
Uss joined The Show to discuss how and why she organized Resonance. She told The Show that part of her goal is to celebrate Phoenix’s diverse community of independent artists. But she also sees her work as part of a higher calling — an act of community service and gratitude.
Full conversation
ASH USS: I’m really inspired by the house music scene in New York, right? There’s this person, Larry Levan, who’s a really famous DJ there, and he made these warehouses in New York City where black and brown and queer people could be and dance at a time when if they were at another bar, they would be physically attacked or arrested, etc.
So I just want to make sure that that is so much of what inspires me and what is so important about DJing. Because it’s not lost on me, the role that music and space play in having support for people.
SAM DINGMAN: Can you talk a little bit about DJing as art? What do you see as the artistry of it?
USS: I mean, it’s selection. It’s the amount of thought, and it’s different for everyone. But for me, when I have a DJ set, I sometimes go a little crazy and will have half a gallon of cold brew and sit with my records and think, “OK, which are the who are the artists that I want to uplift?”
I’ll always get on the mic and tell some story about a record I have. One of my favorite records is this band called the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band.
DINGMAN: Awesome.
USS: Yeah, they’re this group out of Zimbabwe, and all of these songs were made while these folks were working in a mine in Zimbabwe. So under very, very terrible conditions. And these folks were all musicians, and they would bring their instrument at lunchtime into the mines and play this beautiful music for people in the mines to help with morale and to bring joy to a truly oppressive, terrible environment.
Like, that’s the thing that gets me stoked about DJing, are those stories.
DINGMAN: So how did you get the idea to take the DJ work that you were doing and turn it into this festival?
USS: Earlier in the year, I had been planning to do an event that was a tribute to acid house music, because I constantly am feeling called to remind people of where the things that we love came from. And there’s so much music that people listen to in clubs or in dance settings, that before you could just get a machine at Guitar Center for like $200 and do it, people had these insanely complicated analog devices that took so much work and time to learn how to do, to make electronic music.
So I wanted to do an event kind of like honoring that, pairing records and the newer expression of that sound with where it came from.
And it was supposed to be out There Space, which got shut down like six days before the event. So scrambling, and I reached out to everyone that I could to try and find a new location. And that was how I connected with the Icehouse.
DINGMAN: For people who aren’t familiar with Icehouse, Icehouse is kind of a special spot. Tell people what Icehouse is.
USS: Yeah. The Icehouse is a very historically important venue in Phoenix. It opened as an actual place to produce ice. It was an icehouse. That’s what it was.
And then in the ’90s and 2000s, it was a really significant rave and party spot. And there’s a lot of people who are part of the lineup for Resonance this year that will tell stories of being in high school, of being like 15, 16, 17 and going to these all-ages, alcohol-free raves in the ’90s and the 2000s.
And so it was a gathering place for creatives, for quirky people, for people who wanted to experience music in a very intentional and intense way. There were artists that used to live in it. It was a hub. I mean, it really was like a DIY hub for a long time.
And then it slowly transitioned. It’s sold. And now mostly it’s used for corporate events. And so when I had reached out, the Icehouse was really clear with me that they were interested in working together because they wanted to get back to some of the origins of it.
DINGMAN: So how does it go from the original event to Resonance?
USS: Well, after I finished talking to them, I reached out to all of the bands and DJs, and I said, “If I were to do like a one-night music festival at the Icehouse, would you be in?” And within two hours, every single person I talked to was like, “I’m 100% in.”
So then I emailed them and I said, “You know, I’m really glad that we connected. I wanted to just kind of pitch this to you. I spoke to a lot of people. I think that we could probably do like a bigger event here if you guys are willing to work with me.” And they answered, and they said, “What works for you? What number works for you?” And, well, my heart sank and I was like, “Oh boy, we’re doing this.” So yeah.
DINGMAN: Am I understanding correctly that you and the other artists in the festival were able to kind of divide the cost of the venue amongst yourselves type thing or?
USS: No. No. I didn’t want to put any cost on anyone.
DINGMAN: I mean, that’s extremely generous on your part.
USS: That is a big part of this process, if I’m being totally honest. When I got sick a few years ago with cancer, I was really sick for a long time because I had surgery and then I had a few rounds of radiation. My medical bills were insane, and I made a few GoFundMes. And collectively people raised probably almost $40,000 for me.
A lot of what motivates me to work with unhoused people is just looking at the situations and the hardships in my life and knowing that if I didn’t have as many blessings or if I wasn’t like a white lady, I could be on the other side of the interviews that I do with homeless people.
It’s a similar thing when I think about cancer. Like, I am in the position now of being well and being healthy. And if I was not in Phoenix when I got sick, I do not know what would happen. I do not know what my life would be like. And so I’m heavily motivated and inspired to do this because of the love I have for the city, because it really saved me.
And I know that sounds so cheesy, and I wish there was a less cheesy way to say it, but it’s matter-of-fact that I don’t know where I would be today without Phoenix, because I needed a lot of help for a long time. Yeah.
DINGMAN: Thank you for sharing that. And I really hear what you’re saying, that the idea of putting this up is connected to a really deep experience that you had, if I’m hearing you correctly. And that’s really remarkable. Let’s talk about the artists that are going to be a part of the festival. What are people going to see at Resonance?
USS: There’s eight bands that are on the bill for this festival. The selection of the bands was really to have different sounds. So, there’s Hyperbella, which is jazz-funk kind of fusion stuff.
Another part of the curation that was really important to me given the political climate and what is happening in Arizona specifically, I wanted there to be a lot of Latin sounds like intentionally woven into this bill.
So in the DJ room, the first three or four acts are DJs that play that sort of sound.
DINGMAN: And this is all going to happen on April 25?
USS: Yes.
DINGMAN: Cool. And may we assume that there will also be a DJ set by you as part of this?
USS: There will be.
DINGMAN: OK. Very cool. Well, the “you” in question is Ash Uss, who DJs under the name Trip Hazard. She is the organizer of Resonance, which again will be happening on April 25. Ash, thank you so much.
USS: Thanks.
