Phoenix DJ Bloom Phase wins M3F's Battle of the DJs competition

This past weekend (Friday Jan. 24), local upstart DJ took to the stage at Walter Studios as part of M3F Festival’s Battle of the DJs event. While the competition was intense enough, Bloom Phase had an effective and endearing hook.

“Hi, my name is Bloom Phase,” he says. “Bloom like a flower. Phase like a moon.”

Not only was it a mark of true earnestness from the relative newcomer to robust Phoenix DJ scene, but the whole sprouting and growing analogy felt all the more poignant when Bloom Phase won the competition. His prize? Performing a set at this year’s M3F, of course.

Oh wait, and there’s another wrinkle still. While Bloom Phase has been making music since he was a child, and started actively DJing in the past few years, the event was his first proper competition as a musician.

“Over the past few years, I’ve been really trying to hone in the mixing aspect and get a relatively clean sound,” he says. “But when this competition came up, (I thought) ‘Oh, that’s awesome!’ I was psyched I was even allowed to participate at all.”
Bloom Phase, who went second in the competition, brought a noticeable shift to an already energetic crowd. His raw, soulful vocals and use of chopped/screwed sounds brought a unique edge to his funk and house music mixes.

“I love dance music, and having that ability to add my own feeling to it is really nice,” he says.

It’s been quite the journey for the young musician, if only in getting to where he was comfortable enough to share himself. Bloom originally called himself Tribal Leader before he found both his stage name and that signature sound.

“I used to make this really aggressive electronic music, and it’s kind of cheesy, but I just wanted to 'bloom' into something else,” he says. “There’s this album called ‘Morning Phase’ [by Beck] that’s one of my favorite albums of all time, so I kind of took that.”

Though Bloom Phase’s use of his voice made his set unique to ultimately win the competition, each DJ made the stage their own during the 30 minutes allowed to both mix and perform their curated selections. Three other DJs performed that night: Cece, winston t and AIONMF. (Another DJ duo, CHKLZ, withdrew from the event mere hours before due to “unforeseen circumstances.”)

Before Bloom Phase took the stage, German-born DJ Cece kicked off the 9 p.m. event. Cece’s set consisted primarily of light visuals and a consistently bouncy, deep-house groove. Audience members trickled in from the lobby during this first set and slowly found the groove.

After Cece and Bloom Phase, winston t arrived with a different genre experience entirely, leaning more toward the realm of hip-hop and R&B tracks with Afrobeats and house influence. As he incorporated ‘90s and 2000s classics into his set, winston t’s performance got several attendees singing along to their familiar favorites.
The night ended with AIONMF, a former college football player from Seattle who later transitioned into fashion and music production. AIONMF played a high-energy mix of techno, bass and rap/trap music, turning the venue into a lively house party.

Prior to the event, there was this undeniably positive and joyous energy to the crowd, as people gathered around the bar or sat at various lounge tables, laughing and chatting excitedly with friends.

The crowd’s attitude stayed vibrant and upbeat throughout the event. Many people came prepared to rave, wearing pashminas and kandi, practicing flow art and hula hooping and generally dancing with strangers and artists alike.

Even during intermissions, attendees kept the good vibes going, taking time to chat with the people around them while taking photos and selfies with Walter Studios props, including the massive lawn chairs at the back of the room.

At the end of the four sets, a palpable anticipation filled the air as the participants were brought back on stage for the evening’s emcee to announce the winner. Voted on by the audience, the crowd roared for each of the participants, but the loudest of cheers were clearly heard when Bloom’s name was announced. The young DJ was immediately showered with hugs and praises as he exited the stage post-victory.

But the show’s not over just yet. With the competition win under his belt, the EDM artist now has to plan out his M3F set.

“This is the biggest stage that I will have ever been on,” he says “And I’ve been doing music for so long, it's always in the back of my head, like 'If I got this big show, I’d do this.' So there’s a million ideas that I would like to do.”

M3F 2025 is slated for March 7 and 8 at Steele Indian School Park. In addition to Bloom Phase, the fest will feature performances by LCD Soundsystem, Justice, Sylvan Esso and Alvvays, among others. For tickets and more info, head to M3FFest.com.