Miami Music Week is an annual event that takes place each March in Miami, Florida. This week-long event celebrates the best in electronic dance music. A variety of world-class DJs, live performances, and exclusive parties are always on deck.
As a team, we were stoked to head down there and spread the word about hearing protection technology. Once we got in Miami, the team set off to beautiful South Beach to check into our hotel and map out our moves.
Day One: Red Bull Guest House
If you’ve never been to Miami during Miami Music Week and Ultra Music Festival, it’s hard to put into words how fast-moving and stressful the week can be. So we stocked up our fridge, got some post-flight food in our systems, and got to work.
First thing was making sure our Music Original earplugs were all ready for our good friends at the Red Bull Guest House. This is our second year working with Red Bull and we couldn’t be happier. The vibe that Red Bull Guest House cultivates each year is unrivaled and stands heads above most events you’ll find in South Beach.
After making sure each package of concert earplugs looked great for the 200 guests staying at RBGH, we decided to ease into the weekend by keeping it local.
The past few years, Mr. Seth Troxler has been putting on a self-branded party called “Seth Troxler presents F*ck Jams.” Troxler is known for being as edgy and outspoken as he is incredibly talented behind the decks.
This night was absolutely no different. Accompanied by his good friends from Tuskegee Music, The Martinez Brothers, they laid down cut after cut of some of the deepest disco and funk music you could find in a 20 mile radius. Things got downright sweaty at the small SoBe club “Do Not Sit on the Furniture” and we wouldn’t have wanted to start our week out any other way.
Day Two: Impeccable Vibes
It feels like Red Bull hired a Michelin star chef of music to layout a perfect menu for the weekend, with each day inherently complimenting the others.
After cooking some breakfast and recharging the batteries, we hopped on the old Chevrolegs and started cruising down Collins Ave. We kicked off the day by heading to the Red Bull Guest House for the Rumors party with Guy Gerber, Danny Tenaglia, Chaim, and special guest DJ set by Chromeo.
Last year, Guy Gerber and Solomun put together our favorite party of the weekend at the RBGH Breakfast Sessions so we were amped up. Each night, RBGH hosts epic parties with some of the most top-flight talent and a huge buffet of delicious food to snack on. At EARPEACE, we love our music, but especially when combined with good food and drinks.
At the day party, we started things off with Danny Tenaglia, who we had partnered with for custom product. Danny has been open about dealing with tinnitus and hearing damage. We love working with people who truly have a deeper and more meaningful relationship to the product and message that we represent.
Guy Gerber did what he usually does and turned the party up to an 11. This led us right into Tha Funk Lordz themselves, Chromeo, who rounded out the evening with a heavy dose of classic Chromeo songs, hip-hop, and even some solid future house tracks. It was fantastic.
After a long day of sun-soaked fun at RBGH, we headed to check out one of our favorite lineups of the weekend: The Paradise Miami party. With the like of Jamies Jones, Guy Gerber, Hot Since 82, Eats Everything, Lee Foss, Matador, and Jackmaster manning the tunes for the night, how could one go wrong?
We brought along custom EARPEACE for our friend Matador. As his set really started firing up, people in the crowd were very thankful. Our earplugs aren't like foam or fashion earplugs--the technology really works to reduce the noise but deliver crystal clear sound. The outdoor vibes of the Paradise party were a nice change of pace from the nightclub scene and the whimsical decorations made it seem like an oasis in downtown Miami.
As the night rolled on, we jetted back over to South Beach to catch the legend Joris Voorn spin for the RBGH Breakfast Sessions.
Lacing his set with techno from the deepest depths of some clubs in Berlin, he whipped the crowd into a frenzy and started a good old fashioned dance party. His awe-inspiring techno set was a perfect way to bring the night to a close. Once we ate a couple fried chicken & waffle sliders at the buffet, we slid back to our room to catch some well-needed rest.
Day Three: We're on a Boat (Yacht)
Yesterday marked the first day of Ultra Music Festival at Bayfront Park in Miami and you could just tell things were more in full swing than days prior. Loads of people flocked to Southern Florida to bask in the glory of all that is electronic music.
Our CEO, Jay Clark, took a more refined and reserved approach to the day, joining John Digweed aboard his 14th annual sunset yacht party. This yacht ventured out on the harbor for 6 hours of endless techno & house music, accompanied by stretching views of cityscape and water.
We once again equipped Digweed and his fans and VIPs with custom Bedrock x John Digweed EARPEACE so that they could sail into the weekend with an incredible experience and no ringing ears. Huge shoutout to E&B and Digweed for having us out again.
The rest of the team spent the day with HARD Presents at the RBGH. We got there just in time to see Gorgon City go back to back with Kidnap Kid.
You can tell at this point how the week is really starting to wear on those who have already been here for days but we’re starting to see some new life in the weekenders. Justin Martin went back to back with Ardalan and brought along Claude Vonstroke for support as well. They played their anthemic song “Function” and the crowd of booty house-loving fans went crazy.
Duke Dumont laid down a house-ridden set that then bridged the gap into an eclectic back to back set by HARD owner Gary Richards, aka Destructo, and Boys Noize.
Watching the heavy rain clouds start to shroud SoBe as they played Boys Noize remix of The Chemical Brothers soon was something we’ll never forget. The skies opened up and there was a torrential downpour that drove partiers to hiding under any piece of coverage they could find. In true Miami fashion, it only lasted a little bit before clearing up so people could get back to start their nights.
After getting rained out of Ultra, we decided to stay in South Beach to stop by the Black Butter Records party. Sets by the likes of Amine Edge & Dance and Lee Foss b2b MK were great to catch on the way out to the bar.
We rounded out the night at Seth Troxler’s Big Tittie Surprise at RBGH Breakfast Sessions with DJ Tennis, Jackmaster, and Seth Troxler. Jackmaster and Seth jumped back and forth on the decks, keeping things going late into the night. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow and are hoping the weather will be more cooperative so we can make it over to check out everything there is to see at Ultra Music Festival.
Day Four: Finishing Strong
We’re almost on the backend and still going strong. We’ve been grinding all week and networking the best way we know how - getting our product into the hands of the people that need it most.
Saturday was a big day - leading off with the Young Money pool party at Red Bull Guest House. This was hands down one of the more fun lineups this weekend, breaking away from the typical electronic music seen almost everywhere. Lil’ Wayne was accompanied by ?uestlove of The Legendary Roots Crew, Hudson Mohawke, DJ Mannie Fresh, and some surprise guests. The music played across multiple genres from rap to trap to hip-hop and even some disco.
?uestlove filled his set out with a bunch of original samples transitioning into the songs we know and love. DJ Mannie Fresh played a bunch of his early 90’s work, which hit us with a wave of nostalgia. When he played “Still Fly” by the Big Tymers, every millennial who remembers middle school dances started singing along immediately.
Nobody was ready for the storm that was about to hit when Lil’ Wayne finally came on to perform a medley of every song you could possibly want to hear. He even brought DJ Mannie Fresh back out onstage for a classic rendition of the song "Go DJ." The place was absolutely packed. It was our favorite day of the week and want to thank Red Bull again for putting such an awesome lineup together.
Our night at Ultra started with the debut festival performance of Get Real - the new powerhouse duo of Claude Vonstroke and Green Velvet. Just seeing these guys by themselves is a treat, but together, they took it to another level.
It was appropriate that as we were walking up they were playing Green Velvet's song "Voicemail," which had by that point turned into one of the theme songs of the weekend.
The stage they were performing on was something of a steam punk podium in the middle of a crowd. It shot fire out of the top and was surrounded by metal tree structures that poured out smoke. Definitely one of the top sets of the weekend. We can't wait for a chance to see them again.
We finished out the night the same we we did every night last year - going to see Carl Cox perform on his home stage. Smiling from ear to ear in typical Carl fashion, he pumped out hard-riding, 4 on the floor house music for the masses.
Carl had some custom product waiting for him in his tour bus that night. He's a huge fan of our product and he even uses our earplugs under his motorcycle helmet when he rides.
On the way out of Ultra, we stopped by the boat party out back to grab a couple drinks and to let the hoards of people leaving clear out. After some great music and free drinks, we headed back to Guest House to go to the final night of RBGH Breakfast Club with DJ Harvey and Dixon.
We walked through the doors to the groovy sounds of DJ Harvey, as he threw down some cuts of disco and funk. This was a nice way to transition into the deep house vibes Dixon would be gracing us with.
We danced the night away, got our last bits of delicious food and left there with a great sense of closure. We will be dreaming of the Breakfast Club and all that Miami Music Week has to offer. Until next year.