Golf Clap: Central to Electric Forest identity
Every year, 30,000 plus music-enthusiasts gather under the magical trees of Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan for Electric Forest. The festival happens every year during the end of June — this year it expanded over two weekends — and features new art installations, improved amenities, a varying lineup, and new friendly faces. In the midst of the ever-changing experience that is Electric Forest, there are also a wide variety of characteristics that return each year. They offer the Foresters, as the attendees collectively refer to themselves, a feeling of familiarity. The beautiful location, The String Cheese Incident’s wild Saturday night shows, the endless hunt for Carl, the team behind the event, and Golf Clap, all return year-after-year, to bring Foresters “home.”
Bryan Jones and Hugh Cleal are the minds behind the house music duo that has been gracing the stages of Electric Forest every year since 2014. This year, Golf Clap played a record number of 12 sets over the eight days of Forest. The shows varied from Good Life Welcome Pool Party, to the GA campgrounds, to sets on Tripolee, Forest Stage, Grand Artique, and more. Each one possessed a unique feel and sound, but the set that resonated the loudest for the artists was their 9:15 p.m. show on Thursday of Weekend 2 at the Forest Stage, the same slot as their breakout year.
“It was amazing to do it all over again with the sun setting over Sherwood Forest,” Golf Clap said. “It seems like it was a lifetime ago we first performed there, considering everything that’s happened to us since then.”
Since their first set in 2014, Golf Clap has seen its music and fan support reach new heights. Recently, the duo’s collaborative track with Eyes Everywhere, “Bout That,” has been named an Essential New Tune by Pete Tong on BCC Radio. The group has performed at festivals such as Holy Ship, Lollapalooza, Mysteryland and many others. Currently, the duo is looking forward to a United States tour in May, 2018.
Golf Clap originates out of Detroit, only three hours east of Rothbury, so returning to their roots is uncomparable to anything else the musicians have experienced.
“It’s amazing when you are looking through the crowd and you know half the people out there,” said Golf Clap, “It’s great to get to share our favorite time of the year with everyone from around home that we don’t get to see too often now. We owe everything to them.”
Golf Clap doesn’t merely stand behind the deck watching the festival go-by. The duo is hands-on in putting the local flavor into Electric Forest and encourages the growth of the local talent. The guys partnered with Electricology for a meet-and-greet with an eco-conscious raffle winner and also ventured into general admission camping for a for a renegade camp set.
“Having a huge festival in your state will always get the local musicians motivated to get onto the festival someday,” said, Golf Clap. “Since Electric Forest has gotten so big, there are more and more renegade camps popping up that feature all kinds of local talent.”
One of these camps is Panky Rang Productions, a grassroots, eco conscious, production team also based out of Detroit. Panky Rang formed in 2012 and has since set up renegade camps at festivals such as Movement, Up North and, of course, Electric Forest. By working with artists such as Golf Clap, the renegade camps help close the gap between the massive festival stages and the local music scene.
Panky Rank’s bus top stage provides platform for local DJ’s of all experience levels to perform at Electric Forest. Alongside Golf Clap, Kazrk, KNGHT, Joe Hertler and Gypsy played into the early morning hours on — all unpaid and all for the love of local music.
“We really want to bring the forest family together in the GA lot,” Ben Pearlman, Panky Rang team member, said. “To do this, we offer up-and-coming local artists a chance to take the stage and perform in front of a larger crowd.”
“The renegade camp has taken on a life of its own in a true forest fashion. It goes down in the lot,” Panky Rang co-founder, Eric Chandler, added. “Electric Forest is a part of Michigan’s youth culture. It brings a wide variety of artists from all over the world together to create an unparalleled experience and it happens to be in our own backyard. ”
First time Foresters and returnees alike can feel at home when they come to Electric Forest. The festival may come and go each year but the heart remains.
“Every aspect of EF is handled with a level of care and ownership that we haven’t seen anywhere else,” Golf Clap said. “The same team is there each year and that also makes the forest feel really comfortable. The crowd has changed somewhat since the very beginning but, all in good ways.”
Golf Clap
FB: @golfclapdet
Panky Rang Production
FB: @pankyrangproductions
