Las Vegas Weekly

Z-Trip’s Revolution takes over Rain

The poster for Z-Trip’s Revolution, with artwork by Shepard Fairey.

Illustration: Shepard Fairey

Prepare for the Revolution. Z-Trip’s Revolution. The Weekly received the exclusive news yesterday that the L.A.-based DJ, born Zach Sciacca, will be the new Friday night resident at Rain. He’ll officially kick-start the “party for the people” on October 16 and will likely raise the bar once again for Las Vegas nightlife.

The significance in Z-Trip coming to Vegas is massive. Fresh off his America’s Best DJ win, the turntablist proved during Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto on September 12 that he could win over music fans of all tastes with his unique brand of blending. Sure, you could call him a “mash-up DJ,” but as the credited founding father of the genre, newbies should be prepared for their preconceived notions to be shattered. Z-Trip pulls off the mixes live and with a balance of recognizable and underground tracks.

“It’s kind of sad when people call me a ‘mash-up DJ,’” Z-Trip told the Weekly in a 2008 interview. “Just the fact that I like to incorporate different stuff, rock or whatever, into my mix is one of many, many flavors. I like to consider myself a ‘well-rounded DJ.’”

Z-Trip is officially confirmed as the new Friday night resident at Rain.

“Z-Trip is the originator of the sound,” says N9NE Group vice president Michael Fuller. He cites Uneasy Listening with Z-Trip and DJ P as a groundbreaking album for the format that launched a whole new sound. “To them it was called ‘blending.’ Somehow it turned into ‘mash-ups’; I don’t know exactly how that happened. [Z-Trip] was doing mash-ups before it was called mash-ups,” Fuller says.

He feels collaborations of dance music and pop will become the norm next year. “Z just want to position himself in that, as well as do what he normally does, which is he plays cutting edge music in a very aggressive, technical fashion. So we’re supporting that movement.”

As expected, the specifics of the Revolution party are being kept under wraps, but we do know that Rain and Z-Trip have partnered with groundbreaking graphic artist (and Z-Trip’s good friend) Shepard Fairey for the look of Revolution. “We have a couple of custom instillations that we’re working on right now with Shepard Fairey,” Fuller says of the artist behind OBEY and the controversial Barack Obama HOPE posters. “He’s one of the biggest art icons in America right now. We are very excited to have him as a partner.”

Beyond a new look and feel, Z-Trip’s residency will bring other changes to the Palms nightclub – some that even the folks at N9NE Group don’t know about.

“[Z-Trip] has a bunch of surprises musically that he’s not even telling me,” says Fuller. “He says that he’s coming in two or three days earlier, locking himself in a room and just practicing for those three days. He is a meticulous perfectionist and I am positive that night whatever he does is going to be legendary.”

Never one to adhere to formulas, Z-Trip’s Revolution already sounds… well… revolutionary. “Z-Trip didn’t want to come out of the box doing the same ordinary thing,” Fuller adds.

Similar to Paul Oakenfold’s successful Saturday night residency at Rain, special guests will take control of the turntables when Z-Trip isn’t spinning on Fridays. He is set to spin about 30 dates over the next year, with Will.i.am, Jazzy Jeff and others filling in on Z-Trip’s nights off.

Sounds like this Vegas nightclub musical revolution is something we can get behind. Z-Trip, we salute you.