Lone Drum of K.L.O. & Perrita Pixels Talk Sound Haven & More Amongst Legendary Runs 

Written by: Sterfrii

Cover Image (K.L.O. w/ Reino) by: Hanna Midd

Other Photographers:

Amron Forsythe, Connor Morss, Degen Exposures

Sound Haven continues to grow year after year, and somehow it still feels just as intimate as the very first one at Nashville’s Further Farms. The immaculate vibes make this the ultimate, goated “homie fest” – one where you can find the artists there to perform also bopping around the crowd as eager fans themselves of the art and artists involved. There’s an overwhelming sense of community found surrounding Sound Haven that is palpable and honestly is worth mentioning more than any lineup or flyer could ever convey.

The production at the fest is top notch. The UFO main stage has become a staple, which boasts some of Antic Studios creative mastery. Production there and on the late night Planetary stage were as proper as ever! The main stage also employed an even bigger Funktion-One Vero system this year, with 21 total F124 subwoofers. In 2024, it was already the tallest F1 stack to be deployed in US at the time.This year with the help of (Sub)Culture, they also took advantage of having no noise ordinances and had 12 Hennessy Sound Design (HSD) Battlehawk subs, 4 HSD Haymakers & 2 HSD Hammers. With Element 5 and Rumblebee Audio also all in the mix, those grounds truly serve as a dream for soundsystem culture fanatics. 

This year was a blast and went by in the blink of an eye. Between the music curation, to the vj’s, to the art installs, to the vendors (and even the weather), everything was smooth and ran like a well-oiled machine. That’s one of the beautiful things about Sound Haven, they listen to their fans and work hard to improve the experience each year. The Kouch Stage by Kouch Kollective returned for shenanigans, which included a secret Cut Rugs set and the dopest ~3.5 hour gRLL sMTH experience ever.

2025’s lineup, in tandem with great visual curation and installation choices, together made this year feel as intentional and interactive and stimulating as ever. Main stage acts from Caspa to Ivy Lab to one of Ternion Sound’s last festival performances, all helped the fest really showcase an eclectic, well-curated lineup for the wide range of tastes found among the attendees. The late night performances were just as perfectly arranged between the Planetary Stage sunrises, the Kouch Stage and the ever-growing Crash Landing Site.

The team behind Sound Haven, Sacred Hive, has been on an impressive wave of events on both sides of the fest. They hosted an official DeBussy renegade at Secret Dreams as a “Road to Sound Haven” curated throwdown, and then had Sound Haven THEN hopped straight to the after parties at Tipper & Friends in Huntsville – it’s really amazing to see how dedicated they are to bringing fans the best in audio and visual experiences. Between both audio and visual there are a few artists who have stuck out to me on this same marathon of events, who seem to be just as dedicated to bringing fans captivating performances.

Ben Parker is the mastermind behind Lone Drum. He’s also the scratching wizard and the “L” behind  K.L.O. His path to production and turntablism started as a teenager in the UK, “messing around with hip-hop records and getting hooked on the art scratching.” In the early 2010’s he remembers finding the crossover between hip-hop and electronic music. 

“Think scenes in London and Bristol where glitch hop and bass were blowing up. I was at underground parties and clubs, experimenting with blending vinyl manipulation into digital productions, which eventually led to my style today,” Ben told me shortly after his appearance at Sound Haven. His K.L.O. set at Secret Dreams was cut short due to the notorious flash flood incident, so it was great seeing him at an even more primetime slot in the evening.

“Sound Haven this year was epic — intimate vibes with killer production and a crowd that’s truly there for the music,” he recalled. We talked about the pros and cons of some of the more remote, smaller-capacity fests. Some of the biggest things that stand out to him is the “personal connection; you feel the energy up close, and there’s less chaos, more community. Cons can be logistics, like weather dependencies or limited resources, but Sound Haven pulls it off well by keeping it curated and attendee-focused, making it feel special rather than overwhelming.”

Ben has been running these sets solo and has been on an absolute tear, gladly keeping the show running while Mike Wallis (aka Osmetic and the other ½ of K.L.O.) has been taking the time to recover from his brain tumor surgery. “Leading these KLO sets has been a wild ride, especially flying solo as the “Lone (KLO) Drum” lately. It’s been very different without Mike. I’ve been djing for years so I feel comfortable up there on my own, but I've been trying hard keeping the energy high even without the full crew.” Ben and Mike first connected through the bass music scene a few years back, sharing similar vibes on experimental sounds. They started a Project together called 'Krymes" and were djing that project around London for a few years. “Kursa came into the mix naturally since we’ve all been orbiting the same circles,” Ben recalled. 

“It started with casual jams that turned into full studio sessions around 2016/17. We realized our styles meshed perfectly: Kursa’s production wizardry, my scratching, and Mike’s input on the flow. It was organic, born from late-night sessions and a love for music and sound.” This project has evolved as each artist has in their own right individually, resulting in an incredible community-driven fanbase. Mike runs Colony Productions, a label that you need to get acquainted with if you aren’t already! He’ll be making his highly-anticipated return to the states this month to rock with K.L.O. at Red Rocks with Ben, with what has to be an unnerving set time, speaking of primetime. They are sandwiched right in between Tipper’s final two live sets, and I honestly can’t think of anyone more deserving. “The Red Rocks set sandwiched between Tipper’s is huge – the venue is incredible and crowd energy will be unmatched to send Dave off on his final show. Overall, it’s shaping up to be a strong finish with a mix of fests and club performances.”

When it comes to Lone Drum, he has a distinct “call & response” scratching style that is organic and distinct and yet blends so well with the production.

He revealed that he doesn’t ever rehearse a specific routine for any performance, saying that “improvising just keeps everything fresh and engaging for me, it’s like a conversation with the crowd and the music itself. I don’t rehearse specific routines because life on stage is unpredictable, like when a singer misses a lyric or the energy shifts unexpectedly. In those moments, being able to adapt on the fly turns potential mishaps into highlights, making the set feel alive and connected rather than scripted. It’s the best approach for me because it builds that raw, spontaneous vibe that electronic music thrives on.”

He said that “K.L.O. will keep evolving with joint productions and shows, balancing the collaborative energy. Got some new tunes in the works blending heavy bass with intricate scratching, plus a few Hip Hop EP's,” on top of his other project Brick Wife with cloud_d (of Bricksquash). Don’t sleep on his solo tunes either – this dude is working overtime to bring you heat!

Something else we got to talk about a bit was the leveling of the playing field for visual artists at festivals and events. “Pairings like me with Reino at Sound Haven show how visuals aren’t just background; they’re integral to the experience. In the past few years, with better promotion and branding, VJs and visual creators are getting proper billing, merch, and recognition, which elevates the whole event and fosters more collaborative creativity. I’m stoked about that,” he mentioned. 

Speaking of visual artists, let’s take it back to Sound Haven (and Secret Dreams, annnnd Tipper afterparties and the upcoming Infrasound Equinox…) Another vj that’s been on this same trek with Ben is Perrita Pixels! She’s come out the gate swinging and has now played other fests like Infrasound and Firelights, along with a number of other one-off shows and events. 

I got to catch up with her about her recent run of events and what it’s like seeing her name amongst so many timeless, innovative artists and inspirations at some longstanding events. “It’s the most surreal feeling ever. I’ve been attending shows since I was 16 years old and always felt a want or need to be able to give back and work in the music industry. I finally found my niche by putting my art and doing visuals during some of my favorite musical acts.” She continued, telling me that her first Sound Haven “was working and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It’s a different kind of rewarding feeling when you’re doing what you love at a festival, rather than just attending to attend.”

She championed 4 sets at Sound Haven: Chief Kaya, 11th Hour (US Festival Debut), Apparition (of Ternion Sound), & Dêtre. Last weekend at the Nocturnal Nights Tipper after parties she had a few instance b2b’s with the likes of Psybernautics and Glass Crane. Between all these events she’s admittedly had to spend more time crafting and curating sets than creating, which is her primary goal. She said that she “really wants to get more time to sit down and work on making my own content. It’s been a busy run of gigs and bookings that I feel like are helping me grow but I don’t have the time to make art in the middle of it, which is why I wanted to VJ in the first place – to display my art to my favorite music. So that’s my number 1 goal right now, is to get into more softwares to create more visuals.”

When it comes to the leveling of the playing field between visual artists, I also got to chop it up with her about that a bit more in-depth. “I think the promotional side of vjs becoming more of a thing for consumers to look forward to on bills is a really good thing. I wish the promoters with budgets would take vjs more seriously with pay because we’re such a huge side of the production team that I think gets overlooked in some situations,” she admitted. “It’s definitely not all the time but vjs should be getting travel, stay, and paid for each set fairly like anyone else being brought out to work for production.” She shares this sentiment with love, and we here at neuro.studio collectively echo her take. Together we can continue to bring about the changes that we all love to see! This hasn’t stopped her from finding the right connections and heavily getting into the groove behind the scenes. She is showing tons of promise early into her visual journey with unlimited potential to grow. 

Production is one thing Sound Haven and Sacred Hive in general don’t slack on, which can be attributed to their tight-knit team of creative, like-minded individuals. The experience for the fans (as well as the artists) is of the utmost importance and at the forefront of consideration when planning, which results in everyone having something to take away from their events. They never have strayed from their roots, which is another reason I think they’ve seen so much success in creating magic spaces within their events – dope music, high-end audio/visual production and unforgettable vibes. Amongst this legendary run for so many artists, Sacred Hive pushed the envelope even more and just announced their absolutely MASSIVE Eternal NYE event in Orlando featuring GRiZ, Zed’s Dead, Inzo, Liquid Stranger, Mersive, Cool Customer & more. Get your tickets here!

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