This Raver Has Become an EDM Darling—Because of His Stank Face

Fortune favors the bold in the weird and wonderful world of electronic dance music.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Nick Wise captured the hearts of the EDM community when he went viral for—well, just being himself.

Thanks to a serendipitous appearance on a livestream, Wise, a dubstep fanatic who also produces music under the moniker Biotechnick, has become a darling of the bass music festival scene. One of the constants of these fests are the battalions of head-bangers maniacally riding the rails at any given stage—but they quake just a little bit harder when Wise is there.

If you attend Lost Lands, Bass Canyon or practically any other major dubstep festival, odds are you’ll see an afro whipping like a dandelion petal in a hurricane. That’s Wise, whose charismatic “bass drop” face has become synonymous with the exuberant, carefree ethos of electronic music festivals.

EDM.com caught up with Wise to chat about his life since the viral moment that led him to get noticed at festivals, rub elbows with his musical role models, and become EDM’s most desired festie bestie.

EDM.com: You’ve become quite a popular face in the raver community. How exactly did this start? Take us back.

Nick Wise: Ever since I discovered dubstep in 2011, I’ve had a huge passion for the music scene as a whole. And even at my first show—Excision’s Paradox tour, 2016 in Orlando—16-year-old me made his way to the rail and raged as hard as I could.

I’ve made it a mission to be upfront and center at every single show I’m attending and if there is a rail, I’m headbanging off of it. I have seen over 300 artists perform and have made friends with people at every single one of those sets. Most people are drawn in by the amount of energy and love that I give my favorite artists.

Before the faithful day I became the meme, I was just known locally as ‘the guy that goes crazy on the rail at every single Florida show and festival,’ and Biotechnick, my production and DJ alias. But it wasn’t until Lost Lands 2022 that seemingly the entire EDM scene would know what my face looks like.

The moment the bass face happened was during Black Tiger Sex Machine’s set on Day 1 when they dropped WODD’s “Emotional Response.” The soul-vibrating bass and the incredible visuals that accompanied were absolutely mind-blowing and I completely melted into the moment. What I didn’t know is that the camera caught that moment in 4K and the world saw my pure reaction on the “Couch Lands” livestream. The Twitch comment section blew up about the funny bass face guy and many people who had met me before then chimed in, ‘Ayo that’s “Biotechnick!”

While I was enjoying the rest of Lost Lands Day 1, EDM Twitter was doing its thing. Screenshotting my face and making numerous funny memes. Then Day 1 came to a close, I had just headbanged to Excision for two hours, and I was on my way back to camp. That’s when I got my first, “Yo you’re the guy from the stream!” I didn’t know what that meant—they said to check Twitter immediately. I didn’t even have a Twitter. So I ran to camp, charged my phone to 2%, turned it on and went to Twitter. That’s where I was greeted to hundreds and hundreds of pictures of my face.

And the cherry on the top was that BTSM has posted my picture as well, stating that if they found me, I would be given guestlist for life to any upcoming shows they were playing. I knew then that my life had changed forever.

EDM.com: How often do you get noticed at music festivals?

Nick Wise: More than you could imagine. Really hard to miss this afro popping off on the rail! Before the meme, I was mostly known by people I have shared the rail with at previous festivals and people who have seen me perform. But after Lost Lands, if I pull up to any function, the majority of people I encounter are aware of me, the meme, and my love of headbanging. They’ll either come up and ask for a picture, or film me popping off to a tune.

I have been to so many festivals and shows that now artists, production team members, security, and performers will recognize me from either the meme or previous shows and come up to me to say, “What’s up.” My favorite thing ever is seeing an artist I look up to onstage realize I’m there on the rail, then smile, point and wave at me. My soul leaves my body every time. It’s too funny!

EDM.com: If anything, your situation is proof that good things happen to those who are bold and uninhibited. What aspects of music festivals make your individuality bubble to the surface?

Nick Wise: Something cool that I want people to know is that even at local shows with minimal production but talented artists, I’m still a never-ending bag of energy. Hearing my favorite artist show off their talent is nothing short of inspirational to me.

Then you take these artists and you put them in an environment like Lost Lands, a completely immersive, incredibly curated live event with an ungodly amount of bass, an insane level of production, and a never-ending sea of lovely individuals all coming together and experiencing this magical moment with you. All of those things together fill me with an unimaginable amount of joy.

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EDM.com: Anyone with a growing a fandom starts to get weird requests from people. Beyond the typical picture request, have you been approached with any strange asks?

Nick Wise: At Countdown Invasion Orlando, I had left the rail temporarily to hop in the pit for Versa, got recognized, and this guy was like. “I want to face you in the pit. Let’s go, me and you.” I’m like, “Gee, you’ll probably win but let’s go,’ and we legit clashed into each other full-force, swung each other around. He threw me and then I’d throw him. It was such a fun moment of consensual aggression. We destroyed each other in that pit!

Then we hugged, shook hands, and we went our separate ways. That guy rocked! I hope I get to run into him in the pit again someday.

EDM.com: You got to meet Excision recently. How did that opportunity come about?

Nick Wise: That was because I bought an Ultimate VIP pass. It was VIP, a merch bundle, a BBQ lunch, and a chance to meet Excision and other artists wandering around backstage. I knew it was going to be cool but I never could have predicted for how unique of an experience it would be for me.

EDM.com: What did you say to him? And what did he say to you?

Nick Wise: I’ll start by saying I didn’t only just meet Excision. I met Hi I’m Ghost, Bandlez, Eliminate, Ray Volpe, Marauda, Decadon, and a handful of photographers and influencers for Lost Lands. And they all knew who I was! I had met Volpe, Marauda, Eliminate and Bandlez before but not like this.

Ray Volpe: “Ayy look who it is, the meme guy.”

Eliminate: “So how does it feel to be famous?”

Decadon: “Ah I saw you going off on the rail during my set.”

Hi I’m Ghost took a picture with me instead of the other way around. And I wouldn’t let Marauda say anything of the sort. I had to geek out and hype him up after he annihilated Lost Lands with his set.

Now for Excision, I had done a lot of mental planning for this very moment. I was about to meet the man behind my music taste since I was 12 years old. The person who blew my mind and broke my neck numerous times. The legend who showed me the magic that is the live music experience. You know how hard it was to not just geek out and pass out on the poor guy? I tried really hard to meet him like a normal human and be super chill and succeeded with flying colors.

I said, “The man, the myth, the prehistoric robotic legend! Hey Jeff!” I asked for a hug and then proceeded to congratulate him on the phenomenal two-hour set he played the previous night. He thanked me and hyped up his throwback and Detox set he’d perform the following day. Then I showed him my O.G. X Rated CD and he was kind enough to sign it! Then I walked away, turned around the corner, and exploded with glee.

EDM.com: Has this unconventional recognition led to more opportunities for your career as a DJ?

It has actually! And I am incredibly grateful for this aspect. Once people found out through the meme that I was a bass artist, I started to get an influx of attention on my Facebook Group, SoundCloud, Instagram and Twitter. Different companies started to reach out about bookings and then suddenly I’m playing out-of-state shows, opening up for legends I look up to, headlining sets, and just having the time of my life meeting so many amazing people and then dropping basses on their beautiful faces!

Now I’m in the works of setting up a tour as I’m starting to get more consistent show and festival books. Definitely be on the look out for that because 2022 is gonna be an insane year.

EDM.com: What do you hope your fellow ravers take away from your story?

I hope my story acts as inspiration for those who are maybe a little more subdued to not be afraid to come out of their shell at these events, and dance as hard as you can. Not like no one is watching, but like everyone is watching and cheering you on.

I hear from a lot of people that my energy at these festivals is “unmatched” but I believe that the same passionate fire I have burns brightly in the souls of every single person in attendance. It’s up to you to show the world what you got. They might really like what they see.