Part producer, part A&R man, part CEO, Gary Richards does it all. When he’s not throwing some of the hottest concerts of the summer like Holy Ship! and HARD Day of the Dead, Mr. Richards takes his show on the road as Destructo, a hard-hitting techno/house DJ with an underground mentality. He came to Rumor in Philadelphia this past Friday to spin a set of his futuristic house beats. This wasn’t your typical raver gloves and hula hoops concert but more of a club show in the purest sense. The night flew by as he locked into a groove that inspired the audience to break it down on the dancefloor rather than wile out.
Some of my favorite selections of the night (and admittedly some of the only songs I recognized) included Disclosure’s “Confess to Me,” a throbbing club-ready work punctuated by the signature minor seventh chord stabs of house music.
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Then there was that one song that goes “WOM WOM” aka Destructo’s biggest song to date and the eponymous track off his latest EP, Higher. It’s hard to listen to some of these songs individually, especially with the shrinking attention spans of today’s music listeners. But in a club setting, Destructo’s well-thought-out series of slow builds, incremental progressions, and releases are incredibly effective at making your body move to the music.
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If you get the chance before the summer's over, I highly recommend catching Destructo when he comes to your town. Whether it be at a festival of thousands or an intimate club, he will spin a set that will keep you dancing to songs you've never heard before. Some DJs are there to entertain the crowd, some DJs introduce new sounds and styles, Destructo does both.