FriendShip Interview with Glenjamn

FriendShip Interview with Glenjamn

When it comes to recreation, the possibilities are endless—from skateboarding to traveling, lounging on the beach to dancing, and attending burlesque shows to enjoying live music. One event that stands out by combining all these activities into one unforgettable experience is FriendShip an annual music festival cruise that offers a perfect blend of fun, music, and connection. FriendShip is the best trip with friends.

FriendShip 2025 is set to sail from Friday, February 21 to Wednesday, February 26, 2025. Departing from Miami, this unique journey aboard the iconic Norwegian Joy will take festival-goers to the stunning private island of Harvest Caye in Belize.

 

This festival cruise isn’t just about the music—though it features five marathon days of expertly-curated underground tunes, including a 24-hour private island party. FriendShip is an all-encompassing experience that offers much more than just electronic music. With programming that includes skateboarding showcases, comedy, and a burlesque performance by the legendary Dita Von Tesse, there’s something for everyone.

The atmosphere aboard the FriendShip cruise is all about good vibes, where smiles and cheers greet you from the moment you step on board. This festival brings together people from all walks of life, creating a community where friendships are forged—whether for five days or a lifetime.

 

FriendShip 2024 exceeded its own spellbinding reputation, further cementing itself as the vanguard of dance music’s rare, ‘you-had-to-be-there’ moments. This year’s sailing featured an impromptu reunion of Dog Blood (Skrillex + Boys Noize) following their 4+ year hiatus, surprise sets and appearances from Rico Nasty and  Chris Lake b2b Chris Lorenzo, a 24-hour island party, and intimate artist-focused programming. FriendShip’s flagship ‘Dial-A-DJ’ hotline even saw artists like Bob Moses play once-in-a-lifetime pop-up sets in lucky attendees’ private cabins using custom mobile DJ rigs.

The upcoming FriendShip 2025 promises to once again be a free-spirited playground that’s equally as fun for the performers as it is for the attendees. It offers artists an unabashed forum to truly let loose and groove alongside their fans while orchestrating once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for attendees to connect with their favorite acts.

 

Even if electronic music isn’t your usual go-to, the energy and camaraderie on this cruise are infectious. By the end of the trip, you’ll gain a newfound appreciation for the genre and the sense of community it fosters.

Want a sneak peek into the magic of FriendShip? Check out the FriendShip 2024 recap video produced by L.A.‘s famed underground documentary-style photographer, glenjamn below. His video captures the essence of the festival and showcases why this cruise is an experience unlike any other.

 

Also check out Frank151’s interview with glenjamn and some photos from 2024 FriendShip:

Below video.

 

**** Frank151 and GLENJAMN:

Tell us a little about who you are and how you got involved with FriendShip. 

It kind of all started in I believe, 2007. I think that’s the year of the first Hard Music event by Gary Destructo. That’s when he started that whole [Hard Music] brand. I kind of snuck into that festival the first time and just took photos and videos, but once I got there, I became friends with the Ed Banger crowd. So kind of friends with Busy P and Justice. We ran into them early in the day and they were like, “We need someone to take photos. You want to come with [us]?” And I was like, “Great, but I don’t have a pass. You have a pass for me?” They said something like, “We’ll get you in.” At that point Gary didn’t even know me, so I was just, in the 2000-and-7-8-9-10 (years: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) era, a guy that would bring his camera. I had a real day job. I used to work at Disney during the day. So during the day, I would work marketing stuff for Disney and then at night, I would kind of go out partying. It was my creative outlet. I wanted to take photos of what’s going on at night, that I just like the energy of because I typically wasn’t someone that went to the clubs or anything like that. I got bit by that kind of bug when I saw Daft Punk at Coachella 2006. Ever since that point, I was like, “Yo, I’m going to start taking photos; filming whatever this kind of music is…” It led to going to Cinespace to see Steve Aoki, and LAX to see DJ AM & Mike B. Then going to see Shepard Fairey, A-Trak and all those guys all over in LA. During that whole, I guess we call it the “blog house era,” I found out about all these parties and was like, “Oh my God, Justice is playing this New Year’s party.” So I snuck in, brought my camera, and then the next time it was a Halloween party. Gary was like, “Who is this guy, man?” After a while, Gary was like, “Let me hire you to shoot the festival…” and we’ve been friends ever since. He saw me last year and told me, “You gotta go on the boat. You’re going on the boat. You’re gonna come on the boat. I’m hiring you.” I’ve done a lot of music festivals. Yesterday I did a festival, but I do it far few in between now because I’ve moved into more of the art and fashion world(s). In terms of  covering my photos and stuff. Back then, I was into going to all the festivals. I’ve been to Coachella fourteen times by now. I was that guy who shows up to take photos. The (photographer) Cobrasnake had his lane with the cool celebrities: Ronnie’s photo. I was not there for the girls or the hot celebrities. I wanted to study the DJs with video cameras and photos. I was a very big nerd. I wore a fedora. It was not a good look. [laughs] With this natural progression of friendship, whenever Gary needed a photographer/videographer, I would show up. I’m not one of those new kids that shoots everything. I kind of developed my own taste of the people that I want to follow in this musical journey. Those people were on this boat, like, I’ve known Skrillex for a while, ever since he started… He told me he used to watch my videos on my YouTube before he started DJing. There were a bunch of other DJs on the boat like Boys Noize, one of my best friends. I hang out with a lot of the DJs that were on the boat. It felt like it wasn’t even an assignment; so I’m just gonna go bring my video camera and see what happens. I typically don’t do recap videos. I told Gary, “Let’s try this out, but let me edit it with my friend and let me do it my way so it’s not like corny EDM. You know: furry boots vibe.” I made the video to feel like you’re peaking at the end of the video. I wanted to do it my way where it looks like I’m lost on the boat. I don’t typically do vlogs like I used to be known for; just strictly filming DJs on stage, but this was more like, “Hey, let me treat it like a vacation because I want to make a little vacation video,” and it’s not something that Gary said I had to do. He’s the kind of guy, and our relationship is so tight, that he’ll let me have that freedom, but he’ll give me notes on the coverage. He just wants people to see what it’s like. FriendShip is kind of like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. You just got to see my (recap video) adventure. There are so many different twists and turns (on the FriendShip cruise) that you can make your trip your own. You know? 

To be honest I wasn’t too familiar with FriendShip nor your photography, but after doing some research, I’m now a fan. I think you mentioned in a past interview that things happen organically; even the things that we like. I kind of had that same experience where you were talking about your first Coachella. That you were more excited about seeing Kanye (West) and Gnarls Barkley perform than some of the DJ sets. 

You know when you’re in a group of say eight friends and we’re all trying to go see everything together. In 2006 we didn’t have WiFi available or good cellphone service. There was no big cellular infrastructure like they have now. Luckily, my tribe took me to where I needed to go and they took me to the Daft Punk (set at Coachella) and that literally changed the course of my entire life. I never really took photos. I really never took video. I never did any of that. But in my mind, that sparked off something telling me “I need to document this..” My style has been influenced by Gonzo. Point of view documentaries, but you’re getting it from a short Asian man’s perspective. [laughs] Live with it.

Do you feel like you were recording it for your own personal keepsakes or was it something else? It was thirteen years ago that you started posting?

I made a YouTube account because I was like, “I need to have this. This needs to be a shareable moment with everyone.” This (YouTube) is the one way to share it back then, and luckily, it’s still like this. It’s just one of those things where you take a tech gamble. Like, “I’m gonna put my photos on Flickr.” Nobody uses Flickr anymore. Luckily back then, I put all my photos on Google Drive and it’s still on Google Drive. I’m one of those guys choosing a certain path and choosing my own adventure. I don’t like to subscribe to trends, per se, but I think I personally have good taste. I follow my taste and the culture just aligns together. I really invest my time deep into the people that I actually f*ck with and Gary Destructo is one of those people. I’ll never forget the fact that when I was done with Disney and trying to be a freelance videographer/photographer, every year I would have three or four gigs by Gary to keep me kind of afloat. That’s why he’s important to me and I feel like I’m important to him. He could have gotten anyone to make a video of that whole weekend but he decided to go with mine and to now do an interview; to do press about it, it’s because he gets the homie code. That’s the way I operate with everything from now on. Trial and error. I’ve dealt with weirdos. Now I just rock with all the good-good ones. 

Have you ever attended anything like the FriendShip Music Festival Cruise before?

Yeah, I attended eight or nine Holy Ships! Gary liked being on a ship. A floating kind of party. The reason why it works with Gary is because he’s like, “…You need a captain to steer you through the entire event.” 

Like a captain, or more like a curator… 

Yeah, a party captain. So you need someone like Gary Destructo to be the captain of FriendShip so people know there’s a culture behind it rather than just an event with cool artists. There’s kids that spend time making their own merch just to give it away and it builds their own community. It’s like a cohesive community. There’s something so special about these events. Some (of the younger attendees) devote their whole year to going back on it the next year. They have their own community. They have their own parties. They have their own little cliques. Stuff that happened because of the magic of being on something like a FriendShip Cruise. It’s like a floating dorm. Everyone that’s kind of like-minded… The parties end around 6am and nobody has to call an Uber to go home. Like, we’re all living in the same place for 5 days. It’s a wild thing. One day it’ll be like a documentary because there’s so many cultures of people. It’s kind of like a two joint adventure. You saw (on the recap video) a fraction. I tried to get as many people in frame as I could, but there’s so much going on that I don’t have everyone in there,  but I’m not mad about not covering everything. I’m happy that it looks the way it looks because it’s how I felt. A fever pitch for five days straight.

How does the five days work? Does everyone meet in Miami?

We embark on a cruise ship in the Port of Miami, then ride the boat that goes around the ocean. Then it stops. Usually you don’t stop on an island and sleep there. You stay on the cruise ship every night then end up at a port, and that’s where they set up the beach party. And then after the beach party, everyone just goes back on board. You get off for sightseeing and come back on. 

There’s a cool little story about Skrillex. He was only supposed to be there at the party on the island but then he was like, “Man, I’m having such a great time,” so Gary set him up with a room just in case. He rode back with us instead of flying back on his own. He was interacting with fans. It was like Skrillex was a stowaway. It’s fun to have stories like that. The kind of the magic where, like if it was any other hollow event, you’d be like, “Nah, I’m good. I’ll just catch the flight home. Thank you so much.” But it was cool and that’s why I f*ck with Gary because he does it cool; his way. I’m always in search of the natural cool and that trip was literally a fun, cool time for me.

It sounds really fun; on top of the entire six-minute recap. I think it makes anyone that watches it feel a bit of FOMO, like it’s either FOMO or get onboard. 

A lot of other videos are typically dreamy cuts, but I wanted to make it look like you’re hallucinating, you know? And there’s so much great energy, so much fun, so much alcohol, so much this and that… And then everyone’s dressed up all crazy. You can see how the fans really get into their outfits every single night. It’s a wild thing. It’s a wild experience to be a part of. 

I’ve never attended an event like FriendShip and watching your videos makes me ask myself what’s wrong with me and why haven’t I? [laughs] Watching the recap video, it looks like there’s such a wide range of people in attendance and like you said, it’s almost like you’re in a little town or dormitory. So it seems like no matter the differences or dynamics, the one thing that brings everyone together and that bonds them is the love for music and good times.

Literally. It’s like a family for the shippers. There’s “kids” [young adults] that have little clips you put on your head or hat and you get more as you meet other people. It’s kind of like the new friendship bracelet. It’s cute. It’s like that whole Wookie-meets-”plur” (Peace. Love. Unity. Respect) and I love that. That’s the beauty of “fun dance music” because electronic music is very rooted in happy energy. Euphoria. It’s the energy and when you put it [a music festival] on water, it’s kind of the best. Sunny and peaceful. It’s all love. All good vibes and if you don’t enjoy that, I’m sorry but you’re probably not gonna enjoy anything in life.

If you were to verbally summarize FriendShip, can you describe it in one sentence for someone that has never seen the recap video nor knows anything about FriendShip? 

It’s kind of what I said: FriendShip is a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, you know? You have a million different DJs. A million different stages. A million different parties. A million different people. A million different foods you want to eat. A million different things you’re going to want to do. Then you start flipping the page and you’re like, “Oh, I’m going to go to page 12 or page 20 and I’m gonna go that route.” You start having your own adventure and might be like, “Oh, I didn’t necessarily mean to go to this DJ, but I actually really liked them. I was just on the seventh deck hanging near the theater room where that DJ was playing…,” you know. I love the fluidity of how open everything is. You’re in the same dorm room with all your friends. You don’t need an Uber to go home… It’s hard to say in just one sentence.

That’s a great way to explain it. 

Breaking down the words “friend” and “ship.” It’s literally the joining of those two words in a very symbiotic, very cohesive, very weird, very erratic, but also very euphoric, very loving, very caring and very adventurous way. To be on a boat, it’s kind of like being a pirate without all the weird illegal sh!t. You get to dress up, do your adventures, go swim in the ocean and hang out with the biggest blue beard pirate of them all: Destructo. You want to do this five day event. It’s an amazing experience and the weather was perfect [this year].

For any new people that are considering attending next year’s cruise, what advice would you give to them and what’s the “top three must-haves” for their suitcase?

I wish I could go back to my first time going on this [FriendShip Music Festival Cruise] thing. With zero expectations. Where by the end you don’t want to leave, you know. I don’t want to even give anything away. I just know that you’re gonna have a great time. You live like this experience for five days and it’s just such a weird, different version of life. Like people go to Burning Man and just “unplug.” Their phone doesn’t work…certain things don’t work unless you pay a lot of money for the internet. Don’t need the internet; just party for five days. I want to disconnect and it’s a lovely experience on FriendShip, especially in 2024 where nobody disconnects. It’s a really uniquely fun experience that you’re not gonna get everywhere. You gotta literally try it out once. It’s like the first sip of the best wine you’ve ever had. You’re gonna want a little bit more, but it’s only a sip every year. That’s why people get super into it. People build communities from it because one trip turns into two, turns into three, and then you see the same people you hung out with before. They are all like minded people like you. You get bit by the bug, you know? Yeah, you get bit by the bug. That’s probably what’s been happening.

What’s the three must-haves in the suitcase?

Number one, coming from me: a camera. Number two: definitely sunscreen. Number three, and this isn’t for me because I don’t really do this anymore, I feel like I’m there now just to observe, but for everyone else, you’re gonna want to bring a crazy outfit. Everyone always has a crazy outfit like something that doesn’t make sense and this is the one place where you can wear it and you won’t be judged. You can be whatever you want. I’ve seen everything: boobs, dicks, fake foods, furry costume vibes, someone dressed like a farm animal, I’ve seen everything. Sometimes, once in a while as an adult, you want to feel like a kid again and you get to kind of feel like a kid again on FriendShip. 

 

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