Global Ascension is a music and art festival for self expression, escaping the city, and getting in tune with yourself and the nature around you. Currently going on into it’s 4th year, the festival will take place on Friday May 13, 2022 2:00 PM – Sunday May 15, 2022 in Apple Valley. The creators Joakim and Carter talk to 6AM about how they were inspired to create their festival and what participants can expect from this 3 day getaway experience.
Thanks so much for talking to 6AM how has the first quarter of 2022 treated you so far?
Hey! Thank you so much having us. 2022 has been great so far. Lots of planning for Global Ascension while also playing sets out in the desert with some of our favorite collectives, Scenixx and Subterranean Dwellers. Great start to the year and looking forward for what’s to come :)
You are the founders of the Global Ascension Gathering, what inspired you to create your own music festival experience?
This all started with being introduced to the mountain parties in Santa Barbara. We fell in love with the music, community, and vibe instantly. We found out about Lucidity and Subterranean Dwellers and a few other underground festivals that opened our eyes even more to this amazing scene. We eventually started djing and before you know it started throwing our own events in the mountains. Our main inspiration was seeing all the magic and connection happen within these transformative gatherings and the love that they bring. We knew we wanted to create our own vibe and community to the scene. About 1 year later we had our first desert gathering and have grown tremendously ever since.
“We hope to create a transformative experience where one comes to reunite with themselves as well as joining the community and love that our gathering brings.”
The founders of Global Ascension and what they want to achieve
In the festival description, multiple genres are listed as being part of the festival from house, techno, psytrance, drum & bass, experimental… Why did you decide to have so many genres present for this festival rather than have a select few like many other festivals do?
Well a couple reasons actually. We first fell in love with house and techno through the mountain parties. These were the only two genres we liked at first. Our first festival was a Subterranean Dwellers event where we thought it was only house and techno but little did we know it was a 3 day full on psytrance festival. That weekend changed our lives and perspective on all these genres. Throughout the years now, we have progressed our love for dnb, experimental bass, breaks, melodic and so much more. At Global Ascension we value all genres and want to create a progressive sound throughout the weekend with the sounds we’ve learned throughout the years; which leads us to our next point: Friday will be focused on house leading into techno later with some late night experimental bass. As we progress to the morning we will go back to a more melodic sound to some. During the day time of Saturday the bpm will increase as well with some dnb going into some faster techno leading to psy tech. By Midnight we are having full on psytrance throughout the night. We love the flow of starting the weekend slower and then progressively gets faster and more psychedelic. One thing we know for sure is that we don’t want to hear the same 4 by 4 loop all weekend long.
The festival also lists “creating art” as an aspect of the festival. What activities does this include?Â
We have lots of art in many different forms. From the live painters, to the fire flow Psych Variations crew, as well as a fully immersive black light tent. Art itself can create a transformative experience which is why we are so highly encouraged of people expressing themselves in this way. It’s amazing seeing the progression of the art that happens and the connections made within the art. This will be our first Global where we are incorporating workshops throughout the day for people to come hang out and learn some new skills! Painting, yoga, flow and fire, and meditation classes will be fully apart of this next gathering as well :)
“At Global Ascension we value all genres and want to create a progressive sound throughout the weekend…”
Why was it important to you to have the additional art activities available and not just be a dance music event?
We want to incorporate these activities to expand your skills and knowledge to create an even more immers