Saudi EDM festival Freaks of Nature debuts in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM: Freaks of Nature, Saudi Arabia’s homegrown boutique electronic music festival series, made its first appearance at the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) this week. Originating in Riyadh, the creators of Freaks of Nature organized this event, named “querencia,” with the vision of creating a dreamlike place for free expression and unity among “fabulous freaks.”

The Amsterdam showcase featured a lineup of Saudi talents including Sound of Yaz, Rash, DJ Igniter, Bigg3, Yazeed and DJ Hannah, who presented back-to-back sets with international artists such as Toby Romeo and Lucaz, as well as Dutch artists like DJ Basicz, Brooks, WeDamnz, Seth Hills.

Every October, Amsterdam becomes the epicenter of the world’s electronical music industry during the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE). It features a mix of music festivals, warehouse raves, boat parties, hundreds of panels, conferences, business sessions, and many other adjacent events. The city comes alive with non-stop energy throughout the five-day event, spanning over 200 clubs and cultural institutions hosting over 1,000 activities.

Freaks of Nature’s organizers said that their mission is to connect international DJs, industry professionals and booking agencies with Saudi artists. They want to provide them with a platform and boost their presence beyond the Kingdom.

Dutch DJ Basicz, who has performed in Riyadh twice, said, “Saudi Arabia is not really on the map right now in the event scene, so it’s great that they (they organizers) are bringing it to ADE, it will gain more recognition now.” He unexpectedly discovered the Saudi music scene when he met Yazeed Al-Hashim, the festival’s CEO, in Amsterdam. DJ Basicz explained, “he liked my vibe and invited me to be part of the new music scene in Saudi.” In an earlier interview with Arab News, Al-Hashim talked about ADE, mentioning, “for us, it was really essential to show the international music community the Saudi entertainment scene as well as Saudi local artists.”  

Saudi talent Bigg3 said that ADE is also an opportunity to learn about new music technologies and industry trends. He emphasized ADE’s importance, saying “it’s almost necessary for all the event makers, DJ’s and producers to be at ADE; everyone is here.”

Bigg3 and DJ Basicz, paired up for one of the night’s sets, discussed the contrasts between performing in the two countries. They noticed that the Dutch crowd is more familiar with techno music, while in Saudi Arabia, Bigg3 said, “we are just starting to get used to it, we are building the industry.”

A little over two weeks ago, Freaks of Nature organized a two-day festival in Riyadh, also themed “querencia.” “Every event of our series is unique, but we want people to recognize it under the same title, just like the well-known Awakenings techno festival,” the organizers said. During the festival, partygoers enjoyed performances by both international DJs like Lost Frequencies, Agents of Time, Nic Fanciulli, DJ Morten, as well as local and regional artists.