Minnesota

At first glance, Christian Bauhofer comes off as the unassuming dude yawning next to you in class. He looks like some kind of lumberjack/nerd fusion with his glasses and scruffy hair. Come up to the same man after the sun goes down, with the addition of a few drinks and a whole lot of bass, and you will find the smiling Christian assuming his party crushing alter-ego: Minnesota.

“My goal is to make bass heavy dubstep/glitch hop music that’ll get you dancing, but it is not the same old three note transformer step,” Bauhofer states. “I try to focus more on the melodic side of dubstep, and hopefully, make quality songwriting a more relevant factor in the genre.” What began as a leave of absence from UC Santa Cruz has been extended indefinitely as Bauhofer’s career has taken flight and nationwide demand to see him play has grown. The time off has proved incredibly useful to him as he has been able to focus his attention on producing as well as accepting many offers to perform at festivals that he wouldn’t have had time for during the school year. Festivals that he is now able to perform at include the Emissions Campout in California, Electric Forrest in Michigan, Snowball in Colorado, Snowmont in Vermont. Other opportunities have opened up for Minnesota, including touring as a supporting act for Big Gigantic;

“Touring with Big Gigantic was a really good learning experience,” said Minnesota. “I learned a lot about what it actually takes to be a touring musician, playing five or more shows in a row, which is much different than flying out for the weekend and playing a show or two. I definitely learned I had to take it easy on the partying and drinking in order to make sure I was not exhausted the next day. Also, Big G brings a whole new lighting system with them on tour, so I got to see what really goes behind the scenes to put that together every day.” Minnesota’s career goals came further to fruition when he was signed under Madison House Inc. in November of last year. With the support of Madison House Inc. and Vital Management behind him, Minnesota’s career has certainly been propelled to great heights in a short period of time.

“I could not be more happy with the results,” recounts Minnesota in regards to his relationship with Madison House Inc. “I am very glad I signed with them rather than one of the huge booking agencies with thousands of DJ’s on their roster. Being one of the few electronic acts on their roster allows me a ton of attention, which is great.”

Minnesota’s first EP, “ Panda Snatching Tycoon”, was released on Tycho Records in January 2011 and has found critical acclaim since then. His next official release came from Mal Label and was titled “Ancient Machines”. “Ancient Machines” was number nine on the addictech.com best seller’s list for the year, and every track from the album charted on the beatport.com glitch hop charts. During this time, Minnesota also managed to put out a free EP with Martyparty called “Ultraviolet Halo” which was released in July 2011. This just proved that Minnesota shows no signs of slowing down as an artist.

“Big room, melodic bangers,” is how Minnesota describes his next EP. “It will also have some faster tempo hip hop influenced stuff on it.”

In terms of production, Minnesota’s tracks represent major influence from song writers that have gained his admiration. Other artists such as Mimosa, Martyparty, Modeselector, have truly had an impact on his production and success. Yet, it is impossible to undermine the value of some of his personal favorite artists such as Bassnectar and PANTyRAID throwing his tracks down during their sets.

“Quickly becoming a staple in my sets,” commented Bassnectar when discussing the use of Minnesota’s track “Push It”. “Perfect for when I need a track that is epic and churning but also melodically hyped.”

Minnesota’s goal seems simple; to release diverse productions that can win over any crowd. The support of his management team, agency, and some of the world’s greatest artists can only attribute to his hunger for more time spent on the road and in the studio. To those that haven’t had the opportunity to see Minnesota perform, just wait until his tour rolls out this summer. To put it lightly, Minnesota is a name to watch.