DJ NGHTMRE excited to return to Belly Up Aspen during X Games
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Performing at Belly Up Aspen during X Games weekend is about as good as it gets for Los Angeles-based DJ and TV personality Tyler Marenyi — better known by his stage name NGHTMARE.
“I love it here,” Marenyi said, an avid snowboarder. “I’ve always wanted to come here and see the X Games, and I feel so blessed to be able to be playing this weekend. And, I love all the competition, huge mega halfpipe stuff — it’s a whole other level when you’re here.”
Raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Marenyi relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a music career around 2014. He got his start by creating trap and house remixes of songs by Tiësto, Rae Strummond, and Skrillex, as well as producing his own songs. He gained recognition when Skrillex played one of his songs during a set at Ultra Music Festival, eventually signing with Diplo’s label Mad Decent.
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After releasing an EP and collaborating on several high-profile tracks, he released his debut album Drmvrse in September 2022, for which he is touring to support.
The Hero’s Journey, by Joseph Campbell, was just a story that I really identified with,” he said. “In my case, it was like, living in North Carolina and wanting to go live in LA and make music for a living just seemed very unattainable. You kind of have this denial of the call, and then, eventually, you accept it, go off into the unknown world, and you have your series of trials and tribulations and conquer your biggest fear at the end, returning home a stronger, better person.”
Indeed, that impetus to take the jump is paying off — not only with a new record, but also with the release of a new, recently-released travel documentary series, SAMPLED, on Paramount +, which he helped create with his brother and appears in.
The series, which he describes as “less formal than Anthony Bourdain’s show, but more formal then F*** That’s Delicious with Action Bronson, was inspired by his global travels and the experiences he had outside the club in Valparaiso, Chile.
“The show is different artists in a different city internationally that they’ve never been to,” he said. “They do their show and then you kind of document these three days around their show where they’re getting to experience the city curated by someone who’s very local.”
Even with all the projects he has going on and all his exciting future plans, for this weekend, he is most excited to be in here for his “fourth or fifth appearance” at Belly Up.
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“I don’t get to do too many venues that are below 500 people or so,” he said. “So, having people literally like an arm’s length away, the energy is just really high. When I’m really close to people, the crowd always echoes the energy back, you know, times 100. I feel like the fan base grows a little stronger every time that I come back now, which is cool to see; I’m excited.”
For more information and tickets: bellyupaspen.com/events/nghtmre-2/
Sarah Girgis is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9151 or sgirgis@aspentimes.com.
