Exploring the Minds Behind Mutiny Music Collective

Get to know the founders of Mutiny Music Collective, creators of ROLL’n Rave, Singularity, and upcoming Renegades at the SLC Fear Factory.

Little has been known about the creators behind Mutiny Music Collective, a production group that popped up in Salt Lake City near the end of the pandemic. Their story began with a socially distanced drive-in festival west of SLC, featuring artists such as Subtronics, Sullivan King, Boogie T, and Riot Ten. Being one of the first major events in Utah to occur in months, ROLL’n Rave was a highly anticipated event that ended up being a success. Soon after, that same group produced another incredible event, Singularity, a three-day socially distanced pod experience featuring artists like NGHTMRE, PEEKABOO, and Dr. Fresch.

So who was this anomaly that brought life back into the scene in Utah? As I sat across from Daniel Krotz and Alex Prevatt on the patio of a coffee shop, I could sense the buzzing excitement to talk about their passion project. In order to discuss the origin of Mutiny Music Collective, the shaping and molding it’s gone through, and the future that lies ahead, we started at the very beginning: two outdoor fanatics with a love of winter sports, climbing, and electronic music.

Daniel Krotz grew up in Maryland, and his introduction to electronic dance music began by attending many clubs and shows in Washington, DC, specifically at Soundcheck. It was here where he would religiously attend weekday performances not only to see big-name artists but also to support his local DJ friends.

In 2018, Dan sold and donated his belongings, left his previous career in industrial real estate, and picked up jobs across the country for auditing professional licensure testing before settling down to work on a farm in Oregon. When the sustainability and enjoyment of this lifestyle came into question, he picked up and moved again to Park City to become a ski instructor, where he met Alex.

Growing up in New Hampshire, there weren’t many places for Alex Prevatt to experience electronic dance music. When he was stationed in San Diego during his military service in 2016, he started attending shows and falling in love with the community. After the military, he went to EMT school and headed to Park City, Utah, to do Mountain Search and Rescue. The two hit it off as they continued to bond over many shared interests. The summer after meeting Dan, Alex traveled to as many music festivals as he could squeeze in, including Bass Canyon, Lost Lands, and more.

The pandemic hit while Dan and Alex were climbing together in Moab.

When whispers started circulating about the national parks closing and security tightening on overnight guests, Dan and Alex went their separate ways. They reunited a few months later when Alex started working at a local climbing gym, Movement. It was at this location that the idea for Mutiny Music Collective began.

I had Dan come to me with this idea of doing a concert. We had a third partner, Jason, at the time, who ended up parting ways with us amicably and Jason also came up to me, and they didn’t even know each other at all. But they both came to me like, ‘Hey, we should do a show’. Jason was also into EDM. And so I said, ‘Okay, well, we should all meet.’ It was just very strange that I had multiple people coming to me within a 36-hour period.
Alex Prevatt

Dan, Alex, and Jason decided to meet up at a coffee shop in Millcreek, Beans and Brew, where they would begin to brainstorm ideas of how to put on a show. Alex had seen the first drive-in events in Germany and was inspired to go that route because no one had been doing that in the US at that time. “I said, why don’t we throw a drive-in concert? Like, how hard could it be? Little did we know, it would be the most complicated process because it was still during COVID,” he said.

On September 11, 2020, ROLL’n Rave, a two-day festival on the Utah Motorsports Campus, became the first sold-out electronic dance music event since the pandemic started.

Though the financial burden of curating this event weighed heavily, Dan and Alex announced that they would be donating a portion of their proceeds to benefit the Save Our Stages Act by NIVA, which was meant to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live music venues and promoters throughout the United States during the difficult time period.

When we started the ROLL’n Rave during the pandemic, we were both living in our vans, and we didn’t really have any place to stay. So, we would go to The Front climbing gym or the grocery store and sleep in the parking lot every single night. We talent bought all of ROLL’n Rave sitting in the van one night, using a hotspot from our phones for our laptops, and then spent the next month in The Front climbing gym, in the cafe upstairs working.
Dan Krotz

Dan described the lead-up to the show as a “fever dream.” The trio would work together in the office found within the coffee shop of their gym before going back to their vans that were in its parking lot. “It was summer, and I didn’t have AC or anything, so we would just crack our doors and try to sleep, but it was so hot,” Dan said. “And then wake up, crawl out of the van, go back in the climbing gym, sit back down on the computer, and do it again.”

It was just surreal to be working on something of that scale, and it was just so new to us. We were working on this in such an uncomfortable environment where there were so many distractions. We would just work and then be like, okay, my brain is tired of working; let’s go climb a little bit. Maybe we’ll have some fresh ideas for a problem.
Alex Prevatt

Photo Credit: @alliemischen

Given the accomplishments of each of Mutiny’s events so far, there’s merit in wondering where their success derives from.

Beginning this journey at 23 and 26 years old, respectively, Alex and Dan credit being young, coming from a background of being a patron as well, and the desire to make an experience that enlivens the community that they love.

“Being young has definitely been its own advantage. We’ve got a good energy level and rashness. We’re very comfortable taking risks right now because we’re young, and we don’t have families, mortgages, or mouths to feed,” Alex said. “We can afford to take an L on a show and eat McDonald’s for a month. And I think it helps us be more connected to the community.”

It’s easier for us to be on top of trends and social media because we are the same age as most of our patrons. But also, at this point, there’s still lots of experience to gain. Overall, we’ve done some very challenging events, so doing a normal concert now is not overwhelming.
Alex Prevatt

Dan echoed those sentiments while sharing that they drew inspiration from their own experiences in the scene along with the shows put on by other promoters like Brownies & Lemonade and Space Yacht. “One of our biggest strengths is that we’ve also been patrons our entire life. Going to shows as an attendee, we know what we like,” he said. “We really just obsessed over what we thought was cool and looked to figure out how we could redesign this in Salt Lake City to be something that we ourselves want to enjoy too.”

Much akin to their inspirations, Mutiny Music Collective is not tied to booking artists in a singular realm of the scene.

Past shows have featured artists ranging from Eptic and Black Tiger Sex Machine to Noizu and OMNOM to help solidify their range from bass to house while also booking rising artists in support. “We get this really cool opportunity to show people things or artists that maybe they don’t know, but we believe in, that we think they will be really stoked on,” Dan said. “We want people to walk away from the opener of a show and think, ‘Holy crap, that was so sick. I love that music now.”

“Every single show that we do, we’re not trying to outdo the last but just make it different in a better and strange way,” Alex chimed in. Beyond the curated lineups, they’ve accomplished this by championing the 360-stage concept in Utah. Additionally, they host Tri-Quarterly Mutiny Shareholders Meetings. These free monthly shows allow Mutiny Music Collective to give back to the community that has supported them over the past few years.

Our biggest drive is the community. When I got into raving, that was the singular reason that I got into it. Here was this super, loving community, and you could just be whoever you want to be. And I feel like there’s been a kind of growing separation from that. And as large events and concerts become more mainstream, the culture is disappearing a little bit. And so, it’s always at the forefront of our minds, asking how do we keep this community really tight? How do we encourage the behavior that we want, the PLUR, that comes in this loving community, that’s just the most important thing to me.
Alex

Photo Credit: @jozizzy

So what’s on the horizon for Mutiny Music Collective?

Mutiny Music Collective is about to bring the most interesting experience to date as artists like SVDDEN DEATH, DEATHPACT, Algo, yvm3, and IMANU will be performing at Salt Lake City’s renowned haunted house, Fear Factory. Those attending The Renegades on June 16-17 will be able to witness the horror and thrill as these artists and more encapsulate the deathly vibes that haunt the factory.

To keep the experience accessible and inclusive for all, they’ve recently announced support from Skullcandy to provide a sensory-based audio experience for the hard-of-hearing community at The Renegades. Through Skullcandy’s Crusher headphones, patrons can connect directly to the artist’s audio feed to enjoy the crisp sound and feel the bass. And it’s clear that this is just the beginning of a bright future for Mutiny Music Collective.

I would love to produce a couple of really interesting and just weird events every year that probably are limited capacity. For us personally, it’s more exciting, and you’ll spend a lot more time and energy and give a lot more love to something that’s unique. It’s just human nature. Things get old if you’re doing the same thing day in and day out. It gets old even for patrons, and that’s why there’s been so much gravitation toward other styles of events. We’re always trying to give something different and challenge ourselves in the process.
Alex Prevatt

If you’re looking to get in on the Mutiny Music Collective experience, tickets for The Renegades can be purchased via Ticketfairy! Be sure to text (801)-312-9158 to stay connected with Mutiny and get updates on future events!