Ft. Collins, Colo.
Beautiful, Shiny Things
www.prettylightsmusic.com

Combining soulful, organic aspects elements with cutting edge electronic sounds, producer Derek Vincent Smith aims to “make hot beats in different electronic genres, taking elements from the futuristic and the vintage.” Inspired by the colors of a Pink Floyd concert poster from the ‘60s, Smith selected the name Pretty Lights for his musical vision. He released his first record in 2006 and got his start playing STS9 after-parties around Colorado, eventually opening for everyone from the Disco Biscuits to Cee-Lo and Big Boi at Sundance. He’s now rigorously touring with drummer Corey Eberhard in support of the double-disc album, Filling Up the City Skies, which amassed over 30,000 downloads on the Pretty Lights website in its first three months after being released in late October 2008. Pretty Lights is expected to put out a new LP this spring and then focus on the festival circuit this summer. “It’s about the concept of pretty lights: Wherever you see them and whatever kind of circumstance you see them in,” Smith says. “It’s just beauty and shiny things.”

This week we look back to June 2009 when we featured Pretty Lights as an On The Verge act…