Leave it to the city by the bay to produce a DJ with heartstrings as long as his locks.

As one of the foremost artists in American dubstep for the past ten years, Lorin Ashton, or Bassnectar, has an equally firm grasp of the identity and origin of the genre.

“So a dubstep or grime is kinda like this ultra slow, ultra dirty spawn of hip-hop… but it’s at halftime breakbeat speed. So it feels, like, abnormally slow, and just gives this really heavy feel.”

Over his more-than-ten-year career, Bassnectar has meshed his self-described “amorphous and ever-changing” sound with artists from Lupe Fiasco to Datsik.

As one of the more charitable artists in the industry, Bassnectar has championed his own fundraising events as well as joined forces with artists like Dave Matthews and Phil Lesh for benefit shows with worldwide charity organizations. In 2011, Bassnectar donated $1 from every ticket sold on his tour to charity via the “Dollar Per Basshead” campaign, amounting to $250,000 distributed across three charities.

In true San Francisco fashion, Ashton has garnered a furious fan base that will follow him anywhere. “The Bassnectar movement,” as it has been coined, has since resulted in a die-hard community of fans who refer to themselves as “Bass Heads” and travel to attend Bassnectar events, similar to the Dead Head community centered around SF legends The Grateful Dead.

His return to the beautiful and legendary venue Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado sold out of 10,000 tickets almost immediately, prompting a second night in June 2012.