Timeflies to headline Bigelow Bash

Pitt Program Council announced Thursday that for its annual Bigelow Bash it has booked a band that gained its fame through YouTube.

Timeflies, a Manhattan-based hip-hop and techno duo, will take the stage at the event, which is held each spring semester on Bigelow Boulevard between the Cathedral of Learning and the William Pitt Union. The duo will perform after three opening acts April 13. 

The student band that wins Pitt Program Council’s annual Battle of the Bands competition, held on March 20, will open Bigelow Bash. Bands MisterWives and The Mowgli’s are scheduled to perform after the winning band.

PPC chose Timeflies, who formed in 2010, after surveying random students to determine interest and consulting with various parties within PPC. According to Taylor Steffey, PPC’s special events director, PPC is still working out contract details to determine the cost of hosting Timeflies and said organizing Bigelow Bash is a three-month process. 

Steffey said PPC chooses Bigelow Bash’s headliner each year after gauging whether up-and-coming artists will become popular. She said PPC considered hip-hop artist Macklemore for last year’s Bigelow Bash in the fall, but soon realized his growing popularity would drive his price tag up significantly. From Steffey’s experience, it’s all a matter of timing. 

“When we had Ke$ha a few years ago, she was still on the way up,” Steffey, a senior psychology major, said. “It wasn’t until after her performance here that she hit her peak.”

Timeflies boasts a significant fan following and posts new mashups and freestyle videos every Tuesday. 

According to the duo’s website, vocalist Cal Shapiro and DJ and producer Rob Resnick released their debut album, The Scotch Tape, in 2011. Since then, Timeflies has released two EPs — “One Night” in 2012 and “Warning Signs” in 2013. In 2012, the duo also released a six-track mixtape called “Under the Influence.” 

Steffey said Carnegie Mellon University previously hosted Timeflies in response to high student demand.