We caught up with Mary Droppinz at EDC Las Vegas and got the lowdown on her two sets, her latest track, full circle moments, and more!
In a scene full of talented producers trying to make a name for themselves, Mary Droppinz is a clear standout. Not tied down by one genre, she welcomes the opportunity to explore her own sound, raising underground bass-fueled elements to the forefront of her music. She’s garnered attention from legends like Claude VonStroke and Zeds Dead, and she humbly pays it forward to fellow rising artists through teaching music production classes.
No stranger to EDC Las Vegas, Mary Droppinz returned this year to play two sets, a follow-up to her stereoBLOOM performance in 2022. Laying down beats on the colossal cosmicMEADOW stage and intimate Meta Phoenix art car, fans were in for a treat as she took us on multidimensional sonic journeys. Whether you caught one or both of her festival performances or are just getting acquainted with this fiery producer, now is the perfect time to follow along as she furthers her impressive career.
Before she sets off to play more festival stages, we linked up with Mary Droppinz at EDC Las Vegas to chat about new music, full circle moments, her sobriety, her musical upbringing, and much more. Check out our full interview with her!
Watch the full interview with Mary Droppinz on YouTube:
Hi Mary Droppinz! How are you feeling today and what does playing EDC mean to you?
I’m feeling great. It’s an awesome day to be playing EDC. It means that I’ve been working hard and I get an opportunity to play on a massive stage.
Awesome. And tonight you played Cosmic Meadow. How did that set go?
That was amazing. I absolutely love that stage. It’s huge, and it’s one of the first ones when people walk in, so it’s really cool.
It must be amazing. Everybody walks in, and you’re the first person they see. Tonight, you have another set on one of the art cars [Metaphoenix.] How are you planning to differentiate your two sets?
I feel like for this one at the art car, I’m going to be coming in with a little bit more stronger energy right up front. As I opened up the cosmicMEADOW stage, I wanted to get everything marinated and ease it in, but it’ll be 10:45, so I’m ready to rip it for this one.
Any plans to explore the festival after? Anything else you want to check out?
Definitely. I’ll be going down around the festival after; I wanted to go see my girl Sara Landry‘s set, go check out some other friends’ sets and just have so much fun.
On a different note, your latest remix of “Eyes On Me” by Joluca and Dedebah is so infectious and such a catchy release. Do you mind providing some insight into how that came together?
Yes. Actually, Joluca is one of the members a part of the B2B. There are two of them. Adam was actually my production teacher at IO Academy, and so it’s a weird full circle for me to get to be able to remix my teacher’s track. So that’s how it came about. He’s just been super proud of me and my journey of where I’ve gone since I went to school there. And so he hit me up that we’re releasing on here and on the Southpoint label, and I was like, “I would love to remix. Let’s go.”
It’s such a full-circle moment, for sure. You recently shared on social media about your journey to becoming sober. We were wondering if you could provide some insight into that, your decision, and maybe any advice for other sober people who are curious.
Love that. Yeah. I have just decided that I would like to unlock different levels of my mental capacity, my energy, and my brain. And I just wanted to see what I can do with having a clear channel for me. So it wasn’t necessarily that I had any addictive issues or anything before, it was just a choice to just really let the music be my fuel. So I’m just exploring that fully now and having fun with it.
I feel like if anyone’s ever curious about it, I think that that’s an omen for you to just explore things further and see what you can do to better your life if that’s something that you’re curious about. I even just tell people that are interested in starting to work out or just be healthier, eat healthy. It’s like you’re feeling a calling. Just take it and run with it and see what you’re capable of because you only live once.
Exactly. Definitely want to make these healthy choices and have a clear head in life. I also came across another quote that you shared on Twitter/X recently, “We cannot truly understand our relationship with music unless we consider how music makes us move.” At what point did you know that music was your passion and you wanted to do this full time for a career?
I knew music was my passion when I was one year old. I heard a Janet Jackson track, and I just started dancing, and ever since then, I’ve just always been finding music. And my dad, he played drums after work just for fun. So it was just a part of my life going home to practice on the drums or play some piano, or to have my little playlist, or download illegally on LimeWire back in the day and all that. My passion was strong.
Being from Nebraska, I listened to a bunch of emo music growing up originally, but then when I moved out to California, I started going out to the underground scene in LA and Orange County, and that’s when I was like, “Whoa. This is what I need. I need electronic music.”
They don’t have that in Nebraska.
No. [laughs] They didn’t have that going down there. And so I just fell absolutely in love with it. It took me to a different place when I was dancing and feeling it. And then there’s like the first EDM show that I went to. I think it was a Steve Aoki event in Mexico City, and I was like, “Whoa. This is epic.” And then I went to Coachella and that’s when I was like, “I’m going to do this for my life.”
The last time you spoke with us, you had just released your single “Ignite,” which was your own spin on Zeds Dead and Subtronics’ release. Are there any other artists or tracks you’d love to remix or artists you’d love to work with in that capacity?
Yes. I would love to remix anybody’s track. I like to add my own spin to things all the time, but I definitely want to work with Skrillex and Flowdan as well. I absolutely love his voice and vocal tone. I really want to work with Wiz Khalifa. I want him on my track.
Final question here. You also give back to the dance music community by teaching others how to DJ via Femme House, LP Giobbi’s brand. What advice do you give these up-and-coming artists, and any words of wisdom that you’re sharing with them or people who may want to become in your shoes one day?
Yeah. I tell them, give yourself a ten-year time limit ’cause I feel like so many people jump in and they want something right away, and it dilutes that love for all of this, and it gets so competitive, and you’re just working super hard. Just give yourself ten years to figure it out and if things don’t pop, then just keep it as a hobby. But if you set your mind to that, then it keeps you free and able to just create and be grateful for the opportunities that come. And that’s what I really think happens because then you create more magnetism in your life when you’re not so focused on like, “I want to do this. I want to do that. I need this. I need that.”
Just find yourself. I know that there are a lot of things to play because it’s hot or it’s trending. But find what really makes you move and feel comfortable. I was playing breaks and electro and all this stuff five years ago and it wasn’t popular, and people were like, “What’s that when you’re in America?” But I just kept doing it because that’s the way that I move and that’s how I feel. So yeah, find what you feel comfortable moving with.
Awesome. We love that advice. Well, that’s all we have for you, so thank you so much for chatting with us. Be sure to check out Mary Droppinz. She’s going places, and we can’t wait to see what you do next. Have a great rest of your EDC!
Thank you for interviewing me. I appreciate it. Much love.
