Techno Tupac sat down with us at Countdown NYE to recount his experience playing the festival, reflect on the culture, and share some words of advice for the new year.
Insomniac‘s Countdown NYE was a celestial experience that launched dance music lovers into 2026, providing moments of reflection, celebration, and an astronomical lineup. One of those artists was Los Angeles’ own Techno Tupac, who has done everything from DJing and producing to tour managing and artist relations throughout his journey in the industry.
Techno Tupac has exploded on the scene with his unique style and uncanny stage presence, which have been front and center during standout performances at notable festivals like Beyond Wonderland, Coachella, Dirtybird Campout x Northern Nights, and more. Known for his fusion of hip-hop, house, and techno, the LA-based artist has dropped tracks like “In Ya Mind“, “Round The Clock“, and “Side Man” on celebrated labels like Dirtybird, Space Yacht, and Rules Don’t Apply.
Techno Tupac’s performances intertwine core-shaking basslines, hypnotic rhythms, and astral transitions, the perfect combo for drawing crowds in and keeping them grooving, especially at an end-of-year alien-themed massive. At Countdown NYE, he rocked the decks on the BeatBox stage, skyrocketing aliens and otherworldly beings into galaxies unknown.
After his performance, we sat down with the rising star to hear about his experience, share some industry advice, and drop poetic notes on the past, present, and future of the culture as we forge ahead into the new year. Read on for the whole conversation!
The countdown just wrapped up after, of course, the one, the only; DJ, producer, dancer, and just all around artist: Techno Tupac hopped off of the Beatbox stage, and guess what? He joined us. Thank you so much for joining us. How are you feeling? How did your set go?
It was great! I got here really late. It was a task to get inside. But I got inside, and then I did my shit. And also, my crowd was fucking crazy.
Yes, it was an amazing crowd. People were really loving the vibe! How does it feel to be performing at Countdown?
So this is my first time back in LA for New Year’s since the pandemic. I usually spend my New Year’s in SF. Shout out to the Bay. But, yeah, this was amazing. I used to be a performer attending. My first Insomniac festival was Escape 2018, and I was a performer’s attendant under Miss Easy. Shout out to Miss Easy! So, honestly, this is crazy. Anybody who’s here tonight, if you didn’t go downstairs, you missed out. Downstairs is where it’s at.
Yeah, the Twilight Zone.
It’s crazy. But, yeah, there are four stages here. Beatbox is in the lobby, so I caught a lot of people. Apparently, they like what I was playing cause they stayed right there!
Speaking of which. How did you come up with your set list for tonight?
I didn’t. [Laughs] I just freestyle! It’s just like back when we were kids. I’m a freestyle. If I like it, I’m going to develop it and go with it. I have a few transitions or combos that I like to do. But, everything else, I was just like, ‘What are y’all feeling? How y’all feel? What are we doing? Let’s get it!’
So you’ve been all over the festival circuit at Desert Hearts, Coachella, and now Countdown. What has been your favorite festival this year?
Great question. I’m going to say [Dirtybird] Campout. I know a lot of people weren’t happy with Campout. Yeah. Shout-outs to Northern Nights. Dirtybird is family. Those are my people. Forever and a day. Sorry, we didn’t get to… Well, I’m sorry y’all didn’t get to renegade. Because if y’all came over to the RV camp, y’all know what we were doing! But, yeah. Northern Nights was crazy. It’s up in Northern California, and that was our first year there. As y’all know, we haven’t had Campout in two years, so it was just good to be back with the flock.
We love a good resurgence. We really do. Now, when I first met you was actually in high school. At the time, you were, and still are, a legit dancer. How do you make that transition from dancing to DJing? You really do do it all! You know, you set up everything at the DoLaB, so you’ve done a little bit of everything.
I do everything except security! [Laughs] My temper is too bad for security. But everything else, you got it. I’ve been grandfathered into almost everything I’ve done, and I’m really blessed. All this stuff is cool, but I have I really have two jobs: pushing the culture forward and bringing the little ones up the right way. Everything else I get paid for. But if I don’t do those two, nothing else will happen.
I love that you said that because you really do it all, and it’s hard for people to kind of break into the scene. I also saw you’ve done network mixers, including IndustryHours alongside Moore Kismet.
Ayyyye. Shout out to the kid. Shout to his mama too. The kid has been making music since they were 16. Even back then, watching them, I was like, “whaaaaat?!!”
Right. Just so much talent, so much energy, and such good vibes. What advice would you have for any young artists as we go into a new year?
Find your passion, find what it is that drives you. Because, unfortunately, America is not a country. It’s a corporation. So with that, you’re going to have to realize everything’s a business. So, as I would say, find what drives you, learn how to make that make you happy every day. If it doesn’t make you happy every day, if that’s not what you want to do or what pushes you, then let it be a hobby. But also, there’s nothing wrong with it being a hobby because hobbies turn into more.
Poetically put, which brings me to the name. I have to ask. How did you come up with Techno Tupac? I know your real name, but honestly, this name truly fits you.
I didn’t, so I was at Home Bass in 2019. Long story short, Justin Martin and Claude VonStroke were going back because it was in Florida, we had bad weather, and they told us to go inside. So, I went up to my hotel room, then came back down, and it was my first time there. There was no real green room in the convention center. So, I’m just looking at the lights. And this little chick, I still don’t know who that girl is, but she ran up to the rails. She said, “Oh, my God, you’re the Techno Tupac!” And I was like, “What the?” Then I thought, wait, I like that.
So I ran over to Mikey Lion and Lee Reynolds from Desert Hearts. I call Lee Reynolds dad because that’s my OG. I said, “Dad, this girl just called me the Techno Tupac!” and he goes, “F*** yeah, you are, brother!” And then Mikey just looked at us and started laughing. I was like, “Yeah, that’s it!”
As an artist who was born and raised in Los Angeles, what do you think makes LA DJs so unique?
Because we’ve got that funk, you know, Dre, Quick. Terrace. We just grew up different. LA, we have the OG, gangbang music, but it’s all funky. We love instrumentation. We’re the descendants of Bootsy and George Clinton and all that. We just have a different feel for music.
How have you seen the dance culture change over time?
So, we got these things like those, I don’t know. The cloth stars. I call them “wook pizzas.”
Flowstars! Yes, I love it!
Yes, and the fire dancers. I love how much we have grown in our scene and how open everybody has been to EDM lately. Of course, you know, once anything goes mainstream, you’re going to get a lot of riffraff. But it’s not our job to police them. It’s our job to show them what this culture is. And if they don’t get it, don’t worry about it, y’all. They’ll be out of here in, like, two, three years, and go figure something else out and go destroy some other culture. But it’s our job to just press our issue and show them what it is.
Yes. I love that. Now, with Countdown NYE always an alien theme, I thought it would be fun to throw a little quirky hypothetical in there for you. EDM ID is sending a capsule to space to teach the otherworldly beings about EDM culture. What’s one item that you’d have to send to space in that capsule?
I would have to say, send some old Frankie Knuckles.
We love the classics!
Yes! Belleville Three! Like, let them start from the beginning and then watch what they do with it.
