UPDATE 7:09 PM ET: The website in question, www.unlocktheotherside.com, is now officially open to the public. It claims to be “the new home for the Bassnectar universe & beyond.”
Despite facing a lawsuit alleging horrific acts that have forced him to secede from the music industry, there has been a lot of noise coming from the Bassnectar camp this past week.
On Tuesday, January 10, Bassnectar fans uncovered a URL to a website, www.unlocktheotherside.com, that appears to be preparing for a large-scale comeback. Images and text on the site alluded to loads of new content that included a new album, monthly curated events, mixes, live streams, and much more. Access to the site appeared to be only intended for paying members. The site has since been deactivated.
While the discovery of this website ignited the remaining Bassnectar fanbase, there wasn’t any reason to believe that it was the product of his official team. On Thursday afternoon, however, a member of Bassnectar’s team, only known as Kate, delivered a message to a private Bassnectar Discord server. The message was then relayed to the public Reddit community, r/Bassnectar, by one of the subreddit’s moderators. The post has since been deleted.
Under the Discord name “wearebassnectar,” Kate claimed that they were in charge of “community development” and that the website was, in fact, real. It just wasn’t intended to be live at the time of discovery. She continued, assuring that any purchases made on the site would be “still valid for the membership.”
Of those who were able to enter the site, some of them shared screenshots on social media. The screenshots depict the site operators on a paid membership structure, with prices from $100-$150. These prices could be yearly, one-time, or perhaps something else. It isn’t specified, despite the fact that operators are accepting people’s money. Either this is an elaborate scam, or Bassnectar, real name Lorin Ashton, is about to attempt one of the most controversial comebacks in the history of electronic music.
The r/Bassnectar moderator who delivered the message to the public confirmed its authenticity, writing, “I can 100% confirm this is an official announcement from Bassnectar’s team.” When reached for comment, the moderator explicitly stated that they do not support nor wish to be associated with the Bassnectar team.
On Tuesday afternoon, January 17, a new mixtape titled Music For Optimists was uploaded to Bassnectar’s Mixcloud account. Soon after, he wiped his Instagram and Twitter accounts clean, removing the statement he made addressing his allegations. Despite an ambitious new website, a new mix going up in his name, and his socials being wiped clean, there still has been no announcement or comment from Ashton himself. He hasn’t made any public comment since he announced a hiatus back on July 3, 2020.
On April 6, 2021, Ashton was sued for sexual abuse of minors, child pornography, and human trafficking. A month later, two more women came forth to join the lawsuit. On January 11, 2022, Ashton filed a motion to dismiss the case. It was denied. According to case documents uploaded to the internet, if the lawsuit is not settled by May 2023, a trial will likely take place in September.