Sam Pool spent over a decade in drum & bass and dubstep as SPL before deciding in 2014 that he had taken that project as far as it would go — Champagne Drip, the pivot, fuses jungle and bass music with 8-bit sounds and lush 80s synthesizers into something that feels warmer and more melodic, and it has since headlined EDC Las Vegas, Electric Forest, and Lost Lands. He plays Buffalo Iron Works on Oct. 2.
About the Show
Pool launched Champagne Drip anonymously, letting the music arrive before the name did. His first signal was a pair of official remixes (Bassnectar on Amorphous Music, Elliphant on Mad Decent) that spread quickly enough to set up his debut EP, Radio Bikini, also on Mad Decent, in September 2014. A second EP, Journey Into The Champagne Sea, followed in 2015. The catalog kept growing: remixes for Zeds Dead, Diplo, and Dillon Francis, plus festival bookings at EDC Las Vegas, Electric Forest, Sunset Music Festival, and Lost Lands. Pool also curated his own “Champagne with Friends” events in Denver and Portland. He grew up in a musical household (piano lessons young, a mother who played piano and guitar, a father who taught him to cut mixes from vinyl), which may explain why Champagne Drip pulls from registers that most bass music producers never go near.
His 2023 Shock Therapy EP on WAKAAN was something more personal. Released after Pool relocated from Los Angeles to Oklahoma, it opened with “Energy Healing,” which pairs abrasive basslines with introspective arrangements, and closed with “Dream Dog,” built on transcendental synthesizers and layered vocal chops. Pool described the record as “me coming home to myself.” Live, his sets are characterized as “high energy, intensely feeling, and boundary-free.” “Kaleidoscope” and “Me & You” are both approaching 20 million combined streams.
The Oct. 2 show is presented by MNM Presents, which has been booking live electronic music in Western New York since 2001. Supporting acts include special guest Zoska alongside local support from Fruitbat and McThuggin.
Venue & Logistics
Buffalo Iron Works, at 49 Illinois St in Buffalo, holds 500 and is one of the more right-sized rooms in Western New York for a show like this: enough space to move, close enough to feel the bass. Doors open Friday at 7:00 p.m., show at 8:00 p.m. The event is 18+.
Tickets
Tickets start at $20 and are available through theticketing.co. Buy tickets