Over the first weekend of April 2026, South Carolina welcomed its newest underground festival, Camp Kouch. Located at Woodlands Nature Reserve, Camp Kouch delivered on every promise it made to attendees and concluded as the party of the year.
Organized by longtime sound-system culture enthusiasts and curation masterminds, Kouch Kollective, Camp Kouch delivered nothing short of pure excellence.
Getting to Woodlands Nature Reserve was an omen of good times ahead. As the roads led deeper into lush South Carolina backwoods, the canopy of trees above began to completely surround the road, creating a tunnel of leaves and shade. It nearly felt like traveling through a portal. A short sandy drive into the venue, led by hand-written signs, ends at the box office and ticket check with incredibly friendly workers ready to help start the weekend. The venue itself was the perfect container for such a well-curated event.
If you’re anything like me, I know the sound systems are calling your name. Camp Kouch had an impressive four stages throughout the venue.
The Living Room was the mainstage, completely surrounded by speaker stacks and art woven amidst the trees. Behind the soundbooth was a tower that shot fire into the night sky, emphasizing the insane bass drops played each night. The sound rattled every atom in the vicinity.
Soundsystem Culture is real and appreciated at Camp Kouch
Hi-Vi Sound System partnered with Black Cat Sound System to create their own intimate stage between campgrounds. Showing off their sonic craftsmanship, their DIY build of purple and orange stacks reached up to the trees to push high-impact sound each day.
Synthesis Audio had their own stage as well. Their stage directly displayed their knowledge of sound and experience with the craft. As an audience member, this stage contained so much love that its creators poured into it. The Synthesis group also taught numerous workshops here in the mornings, giving attendees excellent opportunities to speak with masters and grow their own skills. The team designed the Synthesis Stage thoughtfully, with plenty of space to dance or chill.
Of course, no festival would be complete without the beloved late-night stage. Player 1 Productions came to the fest to cook up The Back Yard stage. Opening at 3am on night one of the festival, attendees were in for a surprise as they walked up a gentle hill and around a bend. Sitting tall and proud was The Backyard Stage. With full LED panels and creative visuals behind the stacks for dancing all night, this stage was an absolute treat. Jake Niles of Player 1 Productions put in a lot of work to make this dream a reality and provide a space for attendees to dance late each night.
The sound arrangement from every stage was immaculate, with nearly zero sound bleed between them. It is evident that a lot of love and care went into the planning of where each stage was located. Sound-system culture enthusiasts were nothing short of pleased and it’s obvious that Kouch Kollective put forth a labor of love and devotion to the culture.
Now that I’ve painted a picture of the venue and sound systems that housed each set, let’s actually discuss the music.
Dive into day one at Camp Kouch!
Friday, April 3rd was a trust fall into a magical weekend. First-year festivals are my favorite events because nobody truly knows what to expect. Every twist and turn of each hour of the day is full of that whimsy and wonder for the unknown. As day melted into a warm southern night, the venue came alive. Colorful lighting in every tree, projection mapping around every corner, art installations in every nook. The polite, “Excuse me, camp neighbor, do you have tent stakes I could borrow?” morphed into “So what set are we going to after this?”
The Living Room stage was THE place to be camped out. A legendary run of artists took over this stage on just day one! It was hard to believe we were getting so spoiled on the first day. As the sun dipped below the horizon, Optik Sound did a great job of moving the dancefloor along and preparing for the delightfully strange night ahead. Maxfield followed, displaying a broad array of bizarre sounds with a flow so smooth you’d forget what time it was. If the stage itself wasn’t a masterpiece already, flow artists joined a platform to the left of the stacks and spun fire for all the starry-eyed guests.
Crawdad Sniper took the stage after Maxfield, leading with his signature aquatic beats and rolling bass. Lone Drum took to the stage next, keeping the energy moving with his mastery of sound. As if the night couldn’t get any better, Resonant Language followed to keep the night moving and grooving, giving the crowd immaculate sound design and gritty flow into each track unleashed from the decks.
After Resonant Language reprogrammed our brains, sonic mastermind Audio Goblin plugged in. For an hour, the artist treated the crowd to some of the most unique and truly different sound design most of us have ever heard. Audio Goblin did not hold back as he blended that delicious glitchy sound with digital blips of bubbling, yet biting, sound selection. Lastly, for this stage, Cut Rugs took over the atmosphere with music that was impossible to sit still with. If you weren’t dancing, you weren’t paying attention! Cut Rugs played a commandeering set, meshing trap and bass for a perfect Friday night. He closed out this stage, as Friday at The Living Room stage drew to a close. However, the night was just getting started for all the beautiful wooks of Camp Kouch.
After asking some smiling faces where the Back Yard stage was, I followed the crowds of people to the back portion of the festival. What I saw next blew all expectations out of the water. Player 1 Production’s late-night stage was a beacon in the dark, full of lit-up LED screens and enormous sound. The crowd danced all night until sunrise as Rafeeki delivered a sunrise set. They huddled by the beautiful waterfront stage while Rafeeki dialed in the vibes and brought up the sun. Day one was drawing to an end with a beautiful soundtrack. The set concluded with a family photo and everyone meandered their way back to their campsites, ready to reset and start the next day as soon as possible.
Plug into Saturday!
After a few short hours of excited, but necessary, rest, the sun moved high into the sky and Saturday was off to a bright start. Friday had been a perfect beginning to the festival, and it was obvious the attendees were hungry to see what Saturday had in store.
Murkury performed an afternoon soundbath at The Back Yard stage, which was perfect for setting intentions for the weekend or merely just getting into a prime headspace for the hours to come. After the soundbath was the infamous Crawdad Sniper Crawboil. Guests were able to get weird and get a snack to fuel up for their day! I, however, spent my morning lounging in an elastic rope web listening to DiCE MaN’s workshop at the Synthesis Audio stage. It was incredibly refreshing to hear another writer’s insight and advice, and I will be chewing on his perspectives for a while. I am very grateful for the opportunity to listen to a workshop that aligns with my own work!
Afterward, I spent some time exploring the vendors and shops, and I could not believe the talent this festival attracted. Not only were the musical artists out of this world, but all of the art vendors were incredibly talented. What a treat to experience artists of every stripe all around us! The sun had started to inch down the skyline as 6pm rolled around.
I highlighted Sbokes as an artist not to miss during this festival, and I sincerely apologize if you missed that set. Sbokes did a perfect job of bringing attention to The Living Room stage and setting up the crowd for a night of nasty bass all evening. His set was experimental and dark. He displayed his signature gritty and mysterious sounds as promised, and I cannot wait to hear more from him. I took a little break and went back to camp after his set, preparing for the long night ahead.
I soon caught myself sprinting back to the mainstage because I simply could not miss a Mantra Sounds set. She displayed an incredibly talented set, live rapping into her mic while also mixing on the decks. I was immensely impressed by how many things she was doing at once on stage. Her voice is entrancing, putting the crowd under a spell.
I was already locked in at the stage as dubstep legend Chief Kaya pulled up with the infamous King Shotta. Their set sent every sound system enthusiast in the venue into a frenzy and proved that the culture is alive and booming. Middle fingers danced in the air as Chief Kaya ripped absolute filth on the decks. Staying planted at The Living Room Stage was the move as Criso and Chef Boyarbeatz jump up for a legendary b2b. This was a run for the heads. You could even say it was deep, dark, AND dangerous. They didn’t hold anything back as their set prowled through the nighttime air.
I feel like I blinked and it was time for The Widdler. This set was particularly exciting, as it was a coveted Midnight Mass set. Low-frequency lovers rejoiced as The Widdler bent sound into feral and murky vibrations. It was wicked and ritualistic, conducting the crowd into a dubstep frenzy.
It was at this point of the night that the festival had reached my favorite part of any festival. All the first-day nervousness was gone. The crowd had melted into one single, dancing organism, alive with the motion of the bass. People were linking arms and dancing together like they’d known each other forever. Each bass drop was coupled with attendees making eye contact with each other like, “Can you believe this?!”
As if the night couldn’t get any more perfect, the evening faded into the midnight timeslot and the legends Eazybaked themselves plugged in right on time to keep the good vibes high. The two of them flowed on the decks like they were operating from the same brain. If there were ever a chance to showcase a more experimental side of a project, Camp Kouch was it and Eazybaked went for it. They played several songs off their flawless newest album, The Antennae.
The crowd was treated with a set full of energy and emotion, as everyone danced as if their lives depended on it. Eazybaked are masters at moving that dancefloor, and this was no exception. As a longtime Eazybaked fan, I dare say this was one of my favorite Eazybaked sets thus far. They showed off their dedication to the underground and didn’t hold back on any unique sounds.
As their timeslot drew to an end, it was time for the masterwork set of Pathwey b2b Murkury. They gave the crowd a very unique set, wrapping the dance in a mystique that is a treat to experience. Pathwey and Murkury are designers of the craft (and the pioneers of Synthesis Audio!), and watching them conjure a b2b was bass magic. I stood right next to the speakers and got lost in the music. The set they played made nothing else matter except being present in the moment.
After giving the crowd a captivating set, it was time for the long-awaited DiCE MaN b2b Rafeeki b2b Mikayli set. The three producers braided together their sounds in perfect harmony, driving the energy of the crowd into the deep night. Rafeeki used his impeccable stage presence to howl into the mic, “Can I get some energyyyyy?” The crowd gave it everything they had. The energy was bumping as the b2b2b continued with amazing tracks and synergy between the three artists. Not entirely long after the set began, Eazybaked popped back on stage to make this a surprise b5b. The harmony of these five artists blended seamlessly together for an hour of bliss on the decks. The talent of all five producers closed out Saturday mainstage with impressive weight and movement, a perfect closing to The Living Room for the day.
The natural progression of the night, of course, led the festival back to The Back Yard stage for late-night shenanigans. I made it up the hill to catch Poetic, Sol Good, and Empti keep the vibes high and grooving late into the evening. I actually found myself at the back of the crowd for once, because tonight I wanted to watch some fire spinners. The flow artists had a circle at the back of the stage, safely tucked away for stunning performances. I was lost in the flames as they danced and spun all night!
Before I knew it, the seven o’clock hour had started. It was early early morning, yet time for one of the sets I was most excited for. We were in for a treat with a very special Audio Goblin sunrise set. Fans in the Tippersphere and glitch-hop enthusiasts are likely to know Audio Goblin sets for trippy, glitchy, neuro-inspired upbeat goodness. This set was such a delectable morsel as Audio Goblin showed us a rarely-seen side of his project. It was a masterfully performed set, guiding the sunrise into daytime. This was a set to melt into. He used drippy tracks that flowed softly into each other. Audio Goblin showcased his array of talents and multitude of sounds this weekend. The rising sun revealed a whole new beautiful side of Audio Goblin as the crowd soaked in good vibes and danced gently.
Last day, forever memories!
Sunday. That bittersweet day of the festival, where we are completely settled into the environment, but know our hours with each other are limited. That, in my opinion, makes them all the more special.
Chef Boyarbeatz and Skoda powered Sunday morning with a downtempo yoga set, helping attendees slow down, reset, and give their bodies a moment of reprieve. After some stretching and gentle movement, the iconic gRLL sMTH block kicked off, grilling up tasty tunes and treats just for you. The line for lunch was full of great vibes as the hungry folk of Camp Kouch gathered for a shared meal and shared vibes. It was a Sunday picnic with incredible energy.
I myself got caught up in some festival-signature side questing this fine afternoon. The temperature was perfect and a light drizzle fell that got rid of any dust or high heat. I could not have been happier.
By the time I was done, admittedly, goofing off, the mainstage once again grabbed the attention of the festival. The run of artists that ensued did not go easy on a Sunday crowd! At 8pm, Tripp St. got the energy grooving along and led into a vicious b2b with Milano and Untitld. After that, Visages and Monty demolished the decks with heavy and energetic sets. Resonant Language spoiled us rotten with a midnight 140 set. As a 140 enthusiast, I could not believe my ears. The performance captivated the dance floor, and nobody could sit still! Artifakts followed with a set with hip-hop-inspired elements and his signature groovy, heavy bass.
After dancing nonstop for hours and enjoying the filth at the main stage, I knew exactly what I needed. Pipe Leak was playing a set at the beloved Synthesis Audio stage. If I could give you one piece of advice, it’s to never miss a Pipe Leak DnB set. He has carved his own lane and the drum and bass he played veered into liquid territory. It felt like running my brain under cool water. It was exactly the set everyone needed. The vibes and energy were stellar as Pipe Leak ushered the night forward with rolling DnB energy.
After this, I had to sprint to The Back Yard stage for a can’t-miss-set by air castles. She played an extremely unique set. It was strange in the best way. She showed off her mysterious and ethereal signature sound, not afraid to get grimy. She is haunting on the decks in the best way possible.
After a schedule adjustment, the festival was drawing to a close. The sun was creeping up yet again, this time with a sense of finality. These were our last hours together under that beautiful Spanish moss.
Those who were still up headed back down the hill to the Synthesis stage to watch a stunning Pathway journey set. It was so easy to see the crowd’s energy hanging in the air. It was that bittersweetness, everyone hugging their new friends and shedding tears over beautiful moments from the weekend. Pathwey was curating a beautiful soundtrack to beautiful moments shared by strangers turned family. It felt immaculately fitting. Taking a step back and watching everyone smile and laugh together, people holding hands, people dancing for the last few moments together. That is what this is all about.
I can only think of one way to perfectly conclude the perfect weekend. Due to the aforementioned schedule adjustment, DiCE MaN was next up on stage to perform his renowned Poetry Set.
The crowd turned all the attention to the stage as he plugged in his mic. You should never miss DiCE MaN poetry sets. The way he weaves together bass music, snippets of others’ poems, and his own writing, is a masterful testament to the human spirit and reminds you what it’s like to be human. It anchors you in to what it’s like to feel. What is art without emotion? DiCE MaN performed an unforgettable poetry set on this Monday morning, captivating the attendees in a whirlwind of beauty and art. I don’t think there was a single dry eye in the audience as tears fell from everyone’s eyes. DiCE MaN chose words with surgical precision and coupled the poetry with heart-wrenching music. This is the beauty of what we all do. This is what this is all about.
Final Thoughts on the inaugural year of Camp Kouch
I had the chance to speak to a variety of different attendees about their experience at the first Camp Kouch. The sentiment was overwhelmingly positive. Not only did I personally have a magical time, but it seems like the consensus of the attendees is glowingly positive. As someone who cares a whole lot about our scene, I also care to hear how people are doing and experiencing events. The crowd that Camp Kouch attracted felt more like family by the end of the weekend. This is a Grade A homie fest. Every attendee was there for the right reasons: for sound system culture, for providing uplifting experiences, and furthering the culture.
None of this magical, soul-stirring weekend would be possible without the minds at Kouch Kollective. This event was masterfully curated from start to finish. Each and every single hour was very clearly created by people who know the scene and care about it. Every attendee I met spoke wonderfully about this event. It shaped up to be one for the books. This was a weekend for the heads, for the folks that breathe this life. We are extending immense gratitude to the team that made up the backbone of the weekend: Spears Moose, Walt Moose, and Zack Poe. None of this immaculate event would be possible without them and without them caring as much as they do. Kouch Kollective promised a weekend full of connection, healing, genuine community, and spectacular art. They delivered on that promise and blew any expectations out of the water.
Camp Kouch was the party of the year. If you weren’t there, my condolences because you missed a real special one. Will we see you next year? Let us know!
Stay updated with Camp Kouch
Website | Instagram
Stay in touch with Electric Hawk & all our coverage
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Twitch | Radio Show
Looking for new music? Keep up with our weekly Spotify Playlist, Fresh Hunts. Updated every Friday with all the latest releases. Whether it’s the news from Camp Kouch, your favorite artists, some old-school, or underground…we just want you to hear it.
