10 years strong: CRSSD is the backbone of San Diego’s progressing dance music scene

“I've had a lot of phases in my career, and CRSSD has seen every one of those over the years,” says Australia-born DJ and producer Cassian contemplatively as he sits backstage at the San Diego festival. Ten minutes from now, he’ll step onto stage in front of thousands to close out the events of Saturday night, marking his largest set at CRSSD to date. As a returning favourite, he’s climbed through the ranks over the past decade since the festival was inaugurated — humble beginnings with daytime sets on the festival’s smaller stages grew later and larger, and now he’s been given the opportunity to play one of the most prestigious slots of the weekend. “I'm closing down the stage, so I'm trying to treat it as such and make as big a moment of it as I can,” he says.

As a primary ethos, CRSSD is all about nurturing talent from the ground up. Set in California’s second largest city — just a two-hour drive from Los Angeles — there’s an effort made to bring artists from the farther reaches of the US, and even more globally, to the less trodden dance music scene here in SoCal. In a milestone 10 years, it’s had a hand in helping to grow the careers of artists like Jamie Jones, ANNA, and Seth Troxler, as well as Cassian, who’s now become a household name at the festival. “They’ve had an insane run of booking really great talent,” Cassian explains. “They manage to capture the whole spectrum of electronic music, and there’s something special about that.”

Hosting dual events each year, one in spring to mark the start of festival proceedings, and one in autumn to round things out, CRSSD has become a marker for the changing of the seasons, bookending summer each year. CRSSD’s Fall ‘25 edition went ahead in late September as a last hurrah celebration of its 10th anniversary, bringing both international and local talent to Waterfront Park, a secluded pocket of land in the city centre by the sea, and a sanctuary away from the busy streets of San Diego. 

Over two days, thousands flock here and party at the festival’s three stages; a main hub named Ocean View which boasts exactly what’s its name suggests, an anything-goes stage right in the heart of the festival named City Steps, and a more secluded spot at the back of the festival surrounded by foliage, named The Palms. Despite the close proximity of stages due to the festival’s small size, there’s little to no bleeding of sounds — and the site is even set up specifically with the sunset in mind, which dips behind the sea each evening with a dedicated schedule of dusk sets.

“With the ocean on one side and the city skyline on the other, there’s a quintessential backdrop showcasing San Diego at its best,” muses Ryan Bedrosian, the owner of Rich’s, a local club hosting nightly afterparties for the festival. And he’s right — it doesn’t feel like a city centre festival by any means. There’s a stunning view over the Pacific where planes fly low overhead, and to the east, a panorama of Downtown that lights up gradually as day turns to night.

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On Saturday, the first of CRSSD Fall’s two-day affair, there’s a sense of anticipation in the air as punters make their way onto the grounds. Blawan is one of the first to step up to City Steps with a vinyl set, luring in a certain techno-favouring audience who slowly filter through over the course of an hour to watch him drop choppy, glitchy hard techno tracks that feel slightly less experimental than his own recent productions. Over on The Palms, the sun is beaming over crowds at Swimming Paul’s set, who spill into the adjacent water fountain to catch the French producer’s bubbling house performance.

Offering a little divergence from the festival’s electronic programme, there’s a selection of live artists who appear on Ocean View, namely Empire Of The Sun, Maribou State, and Fcukers, the latter bringing their luscious, flowing vocals and boisterous riffs to the stage with a peak afternoon slot. The New York outfit ooze effortless cool with their hybrid style that draws an intimate but committed crowd. By the evening, they pass the reins over to Caribou, who performs live with a selection of classic anthems — a much different experience from the roaring chaos of KETBOI69’s City Steps set just a stone’s throw away.

Meanwhile, Live From Earth affiliates DJ Gigola and MCR-T are on a high energy club tip, laying down a range of ghetto tech and hard house with vocal ad-libs from MCR-T himself. Accelerating the pace into the evening, their infectious chemistry feeds straight into the crowd. “I’m basically just playing with one of my best friends, so we're always gonna go all in,” Gigola laughs when we catch her after the set. “We're a team, and I trust him completely. That's the beauty of it, because we both enjoy every transition — it’s not like I play a song and he plays a song. We become one in the set and in the mix, and that’s just the biggest joy.”

By Sunday, there’s a refreshing new wave of energy inside the festival that feels rare for the second leg of a two-dayer. Afterparties took place throughout the city last night, and will do so again tonight, too — dozens of scheduled events go ahead at venues like the intimate underground club Spin, live music hotspot Music Box, and queer venues like Rich’s and EQ, extending the music schedule across the city with a selection of artists who already appear on the line-up throughout the day. 

Today, there’s a large proportion of international talent on the bill, and a lean toward tech-house and hard techno sounds that entices a slightly different audience. Though a large number of crowds travel from nearby cities like LA and towns on the cusp of Mexico, it’s not just SoCal residents who make the journey to CRSSD — there’s fans travelling from all over the States to be here this weekend.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this event not sell out,” comments Max Braun from booking agency Wasserman, who work closely with the festival. “In a time where an event’s success is so largely tied to their headliners, CRSSD’s success feels dependent on their intention, and that’s to book forward-thinking acts in the current climate of what’s happening in dance and indie music,” he says. While the festival’s efforts to book breaking talent rings true, CRSSD’s line-up is marred by a lack of female and non-binary artists, with just a handful of women billed to play over the weekend of a total of more than 50 acts.

Throughout the day on Sunday, artists like Chris Stussy and Chris Luno dish out melodic house and tech-house as another scorching day turns to evening. Brutalismus 3000 bring a hectic display to City Steps, where they’re backed by intense strobes — an audiological chaos which concludes with screeching, pulsating industrial styles. Headliner John Summit closes the final moments of CRSSD with arguably the largest crowd of the weekend, rounding out the night with a euphoric remix of The Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’ that brings crowds arm-in-arm.

After 10 years, it’s clear to see that CRSSD has made its mark here in San Diego. It’s an event locals look forward to bi-annually, and the backbone of San Diego’s electronic music scene, which has developed gradually alongside the festival over the past decade. Though there could be more diversity in its music programming, it’s still an entryway for emerging artists to launch their careers, and a way to bring new audiences to global sounds. 10 years down and a legion of fans returning every spring and autumn, there’s only telling what the next decade of CRSSD will bring.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter