There’s a great deal of nuance that separates a good house and techno party from a great one. Aesthetics play a huge role, as does song selection, but in order to truly curate an atmosphere that manages to cut through the noise and leave a lasting impression, there must also be the strong presence of a certain je ne sais quois. Fortunately for Denver-based crew Foreign Roots, they have all three in spades.
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Having hosted a first-Friday party, Foreign Roots and Friends, at Denver’s Your Mom’s House for six months running, the five-man crew has quickly gained notoriety for their diverse yet cohesive sound and perhaps even more importantly for each member’s passion for hospitality and their collective commitment to treating everyone in the scene like family. Kicking off 2018 with a change of venue, Foreign Roots and Friends will now take place the last Friday of each month at Bar Standard. The inaugural event will take place Friday, January 26 and is not one to miss.
The format of the event is where a lot of the magic happens. Each member of the crew is paired up with another local musician — sometimes with little experience playing together — for around an hour of collaborative selections, often going back and forth every couple of songs. This particular setup encourages collaboration, partnership and the organic development of ties between other crews and artists that lasts well past the evening’s event. The group has shared the stage with well-established artists like Diego Santana to local talent including Jasmine Pina Anderson aka beatgypsy — owner of the local yoga and cycling studio Rhythm Revolution, an innovative venue that features a live DJ set during classes. With house and techno continuing to gain greater traction in what label-head Sartorius Bernson describes as the “bass capital of the country,” the small and open atmosphere of the city will surely benefit from their diplomatic approach. “Put out the love, it’ll surely all circulate. We’re a community, without supporting each other there’s no point to it.”
The label’s origins began when Bernson — under the moniker Groove_Werk — and label-mate Kyle Rossignol, began broadcasting video feeds of their sets. Taking care to establish a fully immersive experience they started developing the plant-rich, organic stage-craft that has come to be a signature of the crew’s shows. Broadcasting these “moods” to great acclaim, Bernson and Rossignol began gaining a reputation that eventually forced the party from behind the camera and onto the stages of a variety of venues around town. When Bernson and Rossignol joined forces with John Traverson (aka LUVr), Zach Mazierski (aka EERIE) and Broderick O’Brien — all well-versed DJs and musicians in their own right — the Foreign Roots crew was born. Marked by an incredible passion for the music each member has been enjoying individual success across 2017. Each playing enough gigs to break a lesser individual, the prolific group is still greater than the sum of its highly-motivated parts. It is this passion bordering on obsession that seems to tie the members together, and the deep love proves highly contagious. Not only defined by their prodigious tact navigating the emerging scene, their recent release Weirdos Only EP is serious heat.
For those interested in experiencing what Foreign Roots has to offer before their Bar Standard debut, they will be participating in LoveVibe 2 — a collaborative party with the Zookeepers crew taking place at Boulder’s Alchemy of Movement from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. this Saturday, January 13th. The event is 21+ and will not be serving alcohol but welcomes you to bring your own. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
lol fuck Foreign Roots. They are snobs and do not collab well with any other music groups out here, selfish, go home