Memorial Fund for Riley Crisman
Donation protected
Our community suffered an unimaginable loss over the weekend with the sudden passing of our dear friend Riley Crisman, aka Rilathon. All donations will go directly to his family to help cover (and hopefully exceed) any funeral expenses they incur.
We're also putting together a special memorial event this Friday at The Miramar Theatre to celebrate his life and raise further money. Details soon.
As I'm still at a loss for words, I'm just going to share what I originally posted last night on Facebook about one of the greatest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing:
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Today is an unimaginably dark day for midwest bass music. Riley Crisman, aka Rilathon, was absolutely one of the greatest humans I've ever known. Immeasurably humble. Extraordinarily talented. A keen mind for both music production and music business. And always, always, always putting everyone else before himself.
I still remember meeting him 4 years ago at The Miramar Theatre... He talked my ear off about deep dubstep and showed me some of the stuff he was working on. I could immediately sense his wealth of passion for bass music, so we exchanged info and I promised I would be in touch.
I hit him up shortly thereafter and booked him for his first ever Miramar show (opening for Gentlemens Club). Between his immense knowledge of the genre and his own excellent tastes in music, he instantly became one of our go-to staples for deeper shows. But he wasn't just a dj and producer... this man always knew who in our scene was doing REAL work and was constantly doing everything in his power to get them noticed/booked as well. I can't tell you how many local support acts I've booked over the years that were direct suggestions from him. I could book a headliner and ask him if he had any ideas who I should have on support, and he'd come back to me with 3 perfect acts; 1 or 2 of whom I may not have even heard of before. More recently we even had him booking the deep stuff on the Jawbreaker and Radiance side-stages, and then this fall we had him curating the monthly Spook Audio event at The Miramar. As spectacularly talented with music as he was, he loved sharing that limelight even more.
The craziest thing is how many times he asked me to pay the artists below him more, using the money he was supposed to receive, because he knew they needed it more. Or the times where he would specifically ask to NOT play the direct support slot so a smaller artist/homie could have that coveted spot before the headliner instead.
He had his hand in just about every avenue of the music industry imaginable... Music production, artist bookings/management, record labels, live events, and probably others I'm missing. He was also my only employee of Lex Recs, where he was literally the brain of the operation. On the deep dub boat party in August, he told me that he wanted to start working with Lex Martin Presents, booking shows and such. I was super stoked and gave him an immediate hell yeah bröther.
There was so much talent and potential in this guy. And everyone knew it. Everyone could feel it. He will be missed tremendously and he will never be replaced. We will continue his Spook Audio monthly party in his honor. He may not be with us anymore physically, but all of his hard work in the scene will be carried forward and his vibe will remain here forever.
Rest in paradise, my friend. I miss you too much already.
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I would encourage anyone reading this to check out his music. This man poured his soul into his work:
https://soundcloud.com/rilathondeepsideprod
https://soundcloud.com/rilathonlofi
We're also putting together a special memorial event this Friday at The Miramar Theatre to celebrate his life and raise further money. Details soon.
As I'm still at a loss for words, I'm just going to share what I originally posted last night on Facebook about one of the greatest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing:
-------------------------------------
Today is an unimaginably dark day for midwest bass music. Riley Crisman, aka Rilathon, was absolutely one of the greatest humans I've ever known. Immeasurably humble. Extraordinarily talented. A keen mind for both music production and music business. And always, always, always putting everyone else before himself.
I still remember meeting him 4 years ago at The Miramar Theatre... He talked my ear off about deep dubstep and showed me some of the stuff he was working on. I could immediately sense his wealth of passion for bass music, so we exchanged info and I promised I would be in touch.
I hit him up shortly thereafter and booked him for his first ever Miramar show (opening for Gentlemens Club). Between his immense knowledge of the genre and his own excellent tastes in music, he instantly became one of our go-to staples for deeper shows. But he wasn't just a dj and producer... this man always knew who in our scene was doing REAL work and was constantly doing everything in his power to get them noticed/booked as well. I can't tell you how many local support acts I've booked over the years that were direct suggestions from him. I could book a headliner and ask him if he had any ideas who I should have on support, and he'd come back to me with 3 perfect acts; 1 or 2 of whom I may not have even heard of before. More recently we even had him booking the deep stuff on the Jawbreaker and Radiance side-stages, and then this fall we had him curating the monthly Spook Audio event at The Miramar. As spectacularly talented with music as he was, he loved sharing that limelight even more.
The craziest thing is how many times he asked me to pay the artists below him more, using the money he was supposed to receive, because he knew they needed it more. Or the times where he would specifically ask to NOT play the direct support slot so a smaller artist/homie could have that coveted spot before the headliner instead.
He had his hand in just about every avenue of the music industry imaginable... Music production, artist bookings/management, record labels, live events, and probably others I'm missing. He was also my only employee of Lex Recs, where he was literally the brain of the operation. On the deep dub boat party in August, he told me that he wanted to start working with Lex Martin Presents, booking shows and such. I was super stoked and gave him an immediate hell yeah bröther.
There was so much talent and potential in this guy. And everyone knew it. Everyone could feel it. He will be missed tremendously and he will never be replaced. We will continue his Spook Audio monthly party in his honor. He may not be with us anymore physically, but all of his hard work in the scene will be carried forward and his vibe will remain here forever.
Rest in paradise, my friend. I miss you too much already.
-------------------------------------
I would encourage anyone reading this to check out his music. This man poured his soul into his work:
https://soundcloud.com/rilathondeepsideprod
https://soundcloud.com/rilathonlofi
Fundraising team (2)
Alex Martinelli
Organizer
Milwaukee, WI
Wesley Crisman
Beneficiary
John Crisman
Team member
