DJ/producer Boys Noize (real name Alex Ridha) heads out on a world tour this fall, featuring select appearances with his Skrillex-teaming side project Dog Blood and booked by new agent Lee Anderson of AM Only.
Routing: Anderson hoped to curate a list of smaller, intimate and “cool” spots. “The big dance festivals are great experiences, but sonically the artists kind of blend together,” he says. “Our strategy was to come in, strip it down, hit venues like Beta in Denver [Oct. 17], Output in Brooklyn [Oct. 22, 24] and Grand Central in Miami [Oct. 31], mixed with festivals, where it’s really going to pop — flike Voodoo in New Orleans [Nov. 1] and Freak Night in Seattle [Oct. 26].” Boys Noize will also play In the City in Johannesburg (Oct. 4), Olympia in Montreal (Oct. 25), Fabric in London (Nov. 15) and such Australian cities as Sydney (Stereosonic, Nov. 30), Perth (Dec. 1), Melbourne (Dec. 7) and Brisbane (Dec. 8).
Audience: Anderson wanted to give back to fans, rather than just maximize profit. “You look at Miami and it’s so easy to financially just go to Liv or Mansion and make a ton of money. With this, that wasn’t the focus — it was, ‘Let’s play the cool smaller rooms to have that fun intimate experience.'” Same goes for Brooklyn, where he booked two dates at Output: one for the Boys Noize Records crew taking the stage and the other a four-hour Boys Noize set. “As an agent, we’re doing under-play rooms that we could blow out with our eyes closed. It’s a very low-stress tour in that way.”
Promotion: “I’ve never been a fan of doing an all-in Live Nation deal or an all-in AEG deal,” Anderson says. “If you have the best deal and the best room and you’re the best in the market, you get the show.” And Boys Noize relies on fans, heavily connecting with them through social media. “I’ll often get things from him to add people to a list, and oftentimes it’s the day of the show, from people online,” Anderson adds. “He’s really appreciative, and he’s really hands-on. His fans are die-hard.”
Agent: Lee Anderson, AM Only
Tour Dates: Sept. 6-Dec. 8