Pro Insights From TOKiMONSTA, Zimmer90, Franc Moody & Vintage Culture

CRSSD Festival returns to the San Diego waterfront next month. We caught up with TOKiMONSTA, Zimmer90, Franc Moody & Vintage Culture for some insights into production and DJing.

The two‑day event will bring together an expansive roster spanning techno, house, indie‑electronic and crossover live acts - continuing CRSSD’s tradition of genre‑diverse curation.

Tickets are still available, but you’ll need to be quick. Sunday single-day tickets are 95% sold out, and weekend passes plus Saturday singles aren’t far behind.

Ahead of their performances, we caught up with four artists for a few quick-fire interviews.

Based at the Waterfront Park in San Diego CRSSD Festival runs over two days: March 14 and 15, 2026,

Buy tickets from the CRSSD Festival website.

What is your all-time favourite bit of kit, and why?

The Roland SP-404 is definitely a classic "GOATed" piece of kit". It’s not the most powerful piece of gear in the room, but it changed the way I thought about making beats in the earlier days. There’s something about hitting pads and hearing grit that reminds me why I started producing in the first place. 

What one production technique do you wish you’d known when you were starting up?

Engineering… the technicalities of mixing down records. My early work has a very distinct sound that is iconic in its own way. But really, I didn’t fully understand gain staging, headroom, or how frequency balance really impacts how a track translates outside your bedroom.  Yet that unawareness at the time also gave that work a lot of special character  

What one DJing technique do you wish you’d known at the start of your career?

How to read energy, not just BPM.  Technically, DJing isn’t very hard to learn. Understanding when to pivot genres, when to let a track breathe instead of mixing out quickly, that’s the deeper craft. I used to think playing the most interesting record was the goal. Now I know the goal is playing the right record for that exact moment while being patient for the right moment for that special record  

What can we expect from your set at CRSSD Festival this year?

It will be a fun energy, but also a building journey. I’m less interested in shock value or sameness and more interested in taking people somewhere steadily and intentionally.

[quote align=right text="Technically, DJing isn’t very hard to learn. Understanding when to pivot genres, when to let a track breathe instead of mixing out quickly, that’s the deeper craft"]

What is your all-time favourite bit of kit, and why?

Our old Wurlitzer at home is probably the most essential thing because it's where everything usually starts in its simplest form. We love the physical feeling of the keys - it’s less about the "gear" and more about how the instrument creates a space for us to just be intuitive and explore.

What one production technique do you wish you’d known when you were starting up?

We wish we had realized earlier that "less is more" and that you don't need a million plugins to create a deep atmosphere. In the beginning, we tried to fill every gap, but now we know that giving a wide synth pad or a vocal enough room to breathe is what actually builds our universe.

What one DJing technique do you wish you’d known at the start of your career?

Coming from a live band background, we had to learn that it’s not just about playing the next track, but about creating a continuous flow with long, slow transitions. More like telling a story or moving through a journey. Using filters to gently blend frequencies is like painting; it allows the crowd to stay in the vibe without even noticing the music has changed.

What can we expect from your set at CRSSD Festival this year?

You can expect a journey that takes you to softer sections, but also more energetic and electronic parts.  We love to play around with our tracks and play more technoid versions to keep everyone moving while still keeping those soft, dreamy moments.

Using filters to gently blend frequencies is like painting; it allows the crowd to stay in the vibe without even noticing the music has changed

[quote align=right text="Using filters to gently blend frequencies is like painting; it allows the crowd to stay in the vibe without even noticing the music has changed"]

What is your all-time favourite bit of kit, and why?

I just received the new Pioneer Mixer - Euphonia. This is my new baby. What I love about it is how musical it feels. The rotary design forces you to think in terms of flow and dynamics instead of quick cuts, and the sound is incredibly warm and open. You really hear the depth in the low end and the detail in the mids, especially on longer blends.

It encourages patience — longer mixes, smoother transitions, more control over energy. For the kind of journeys I like to build now, it feels very natural, almost like playing an instrument rather than operating a machine.

What one production technique do you wish you’d known when you were starting up?

Arrangement and restraint.

Early on I thought more layers meant a better track, but the real lesson was learning what to remove. When the instrumental  is clear and the emotion has space, everything hits harder. Now I’m very focused on structure, tension, and letting a record breathe instead of over-explaining the idea.

What one DJing technique do you wish you’d known at the start of your career?

Phrasing and patience.

It’s not about tricks or fast mixing – it’s about understanding when a track wants to change and giving the crowd time to feel it. Once I learned to trust longer blends and control energy instead of rushing peaks, my sets became more powerful and more consistent.

What can we expect from your set at CRSSD Festival this year?

A set built as a journey, not a checklist.

CRSSD crowds really listen. There’ll be unreleased music, deeper cuts, and moments designed specifically for that stage and that time — not a generic festival set.  Can’t wait to see all my friends at CRSSD, it’s gonna be wild.

[quote align=right text="When the instrumental  is clear and the emotion has space, everything hits harder"]

What is your all-time favourite bit of kit, and why?

It’s hard to pick! But either my Juno 60 or my C3 Hammond organ, but I’d probably have to pick the Juno if it came down to it. It oozes character and is so versatile, always adding colour and personality to a track. It’s never failed me! Ned and I call it the squit machine, as some of the bass noises you can get are so damn funky.

What one production technique do you wish you’d known when you were starting up?

Less is more. Avoiding cluttering up frequencies and making sure parts and sounds really own the space they’re in. A lot of this comes from making sure the sound and the idea is good at source, rather than over compensating with loads of effects and tricks to try and make something fit in. Still working on this!!

What one DJing technique do you wish you’d known at the start of your career?

When we first started I’d say I was lacking in nearly all of the requisite techniques required to become a competent DJ. I was very much a fish out of water. Working out how to load in my USB stick was trouble enough and mixing was nigh on impossible.

What can we expect from your set at CRSSD Festival this year?

We’ve reworked our set a fair amount since we were last over in the US at the end of 2025, adding in lots of songs we’ve never played before and rethinking the set as a whole. It’s given it a very fresh feel/lick of paint so really looking forward to bringing that energy to the CRSSD crowds! 

Also be nice to see a few familiar faces in SD, as it’s become something of a home from home for us over the years!

[quote align=right text="making sure the sound and the idea is good at source, rather than overcompensating with loads of effects and tricks to try and make something fit in. Still working on this!!"]

Follow CRSSD Festival on Instagram.

Based at the Waterfront Park in San Diego CRSSD Festival runs over two days: Sat and Sun March 14 and 15.

Buy tickets from the CRSSD Festival website.

Find Franc Moody, TOKiMONSTA, Vintage Culture & Zimmer90 on Instagram.