Kosha Dillz is one of the newest faces to make waves within the music scene in 2015, and his DIY approach at spreading his name out to the masses has made inroads with fans on various levels. His unique blend of hip hop music fusing English, Hebrew and Spanish lyrics has caught the attention of many new fans along the way on Vans Warped Tour this summer.

His name got out through blogging on various music tech sites such as Hypebot, discussing his experiences with promoting at and for shows and tours. His outlook on how to spread the word about his music has caught the attention of many readers, who eventually transitioned into becoming a fan of his music and even coming to see his performance at one of the Warped Tour stops.

“I’m trying to stay active during this time on social media and stuff. I’m giving shout outs to other bands and just being part of it. That’s what I like about it – being part of the entire get up. They’ve got 70 bands on here. I meet a lot of kids who’re like ‘man you played? I didn’t know you played…I wish I saw you play. I want to get your music anyways.’ ”

“There are other kids that are like ‘I look up all the bands before I come.’ Other people are like ‘I come because it’s Warped Tour.’ It’s a good thing. It’s something that people go to and never look the bands up.”

Prior to Warped Tour, he performed at South By Southwest in Austin, TX, and he shared his experiences and his thoughts on the ins and outs of promoting within such a large event.

“Yeah South By Southwest – you play ten times for 20 people each time, or maybe 200, and another for 100. On this one you’re playing for 100 or 200, or you could be jumping on stage with a bunch of other people, free styling with other bands for 10 people. It’s the same thing except you’re on a bigger stage and you have your own tent and people you’re taking pictures with left and right. That’s such a really cool experience,” he said.

Back to Warped Tour, he adapted his past promotional tactics and his networking approaches and made it work with reaching unfamiliar attendees to checking out his music. Whether it was selling his CDs or simply talking to people about having his songs on a Warped Tour related CD compilation, he raised awareness of what he was doing and shared his experiences from this past summer.

“It’s been cool to tell people you’re on the Warped Tour compilation. I’m autographing those. It’s a nice experience to be like ‘yo…I’m on the CD that everyone’s buying!’ I’m one of the last tracks to finish it off. It’s kind of an honor that the song I made with the guy after….what’s going to happen after 60,000 views on YouTube and now it’s on 100,000 CDs that you’re going to sell. How cool is that? So I get to show people pictures of these shows and they’re stacked. The shows are huge. How grateful should I be? It’s like a second or third chance I never got.”

“The thing is, when I got the call to do Warped Tour, I didn’t expect to get the call. I was working hard and I could hope. I put one foot forward saying it’s only show time and time again if you work hard and do it DIY that something steps up and appears and disappears. It’s nice to hear a lot of people say we deserve it, but also it’s up to me if I seize the moment and take advantage of this. That’s what Kevin [Lyman] mentioned to us.”

During his time on the Warped Tour, he got to experience a lot of new artists he was previously unfamiliar with and bonded with those he knew from before. He shared some of his personal discoveries amongst his touring mates.

“Family Force 5 I think it is. They’re cool. I met them. Trace [Cyrus] from Metro Station – he’s a really humble dude. I like that they’re on the grind. Palisades – they’re my homies. They’re really dope. They’re from New Jersey. There’s a lot of New Jersey people. Candy Hearts are my friends. My homegirl Mariel [Loveland] – she’s dope. Le Castle Vania on the Beatport Stage, MC Lars, Koo Koo Kanga Roo – check them out. They’re amazing. Born Cages – I watched them play. New Beat Fund – they’re on Red Bull Records.”

“Riff Raff and Mod Sun are totally different. I love them both separately. I love their branding. I love the way they present their music, the colors and everything. There’s so much more. We live in LA. When’s the last time you’ve hung out with someone everyday for two months? I’m basically living with a bunch of people. I’ve never done that.”

By Rei Nishimoto