HorsegiirL Kicked Off The Year Of The Horse With A Meditative Rave

How do you celebrate the year of the horse? With HorsegiirL, of course. On Feb. 17, the German producer-equine hybrid hosted a listening party at Othership Williamsburg in honor of Lunar New Year, and NYLON had a front-row seat to the meditative rave.

By the time I checked in and claimed my cubby, I had about 30 minutes to use the sauna and ice baths before HorsegiirL was scheduled to come galloping in. I started my journey in the sauna (which was set at an oppressive 162 degrees Fahrenheit, FYI), just in time for a guided breathwork meditation. The session began and I legit felt like I was going to die (or at least pass out), but once my parasympathetic nervous system was activated, I genuinely started to enter a flow state. Afterwards, I took that as my cue to try the cold plunge — emphasis on the word “try,” as I probably only lasted a total of seven seconds. I ran through the cycle one more time, and made my way to the tea room where HorsegiirL was expected to meet us.

Upon my arrival, the rounded couches were already packed with buzzing fans (and two monks in earth-like garb trying to meditate). When the artist eventually made her grand entrance, horse mask and all, the room fell silent. “Hello, everyone,” she said, her calming voice reverberating through her prosthetic. “Happy year of the horse.”

The evening was intended to be a listening party for her unreleased music, but in true HorsegiirL fashion, she kicked things off with a lecture about fungi instead. “Fungi are one of the oldest organisms on our planet, and they function as waterways, as underwater rivers, and they provide all the organisms around them with water and minerals,” said HorsegiirL.

“Their survival is based on being together. Being one organism. I want us all to be a bit more like fungi tonight,” she said, a statement that earned a few approving “hmms” and nods. The meditating monks assumed their positions around the crystal-covered moss patch in the center of the room as HorsegiirL took her seat amongst the crowd, eyes shut, and the first song, a glitchy ode to fungi, washed over us.

In keeping with the organic theme, the next two songs took inspiration from the earth’s resilience and the free-spirited nature of rivers. She encouraged us to rotate our heads to mimic the earth’s rotation (naturally), periodically picking a crystal off the moss patch and handing it to an audience member.

For the third song “Hands,” we were instructed to look at our hands and reflect. Though not much reflection was had, as HorsegiirL quickly invited a group of people to dance around the moss with her. By this point, the tea room had evolved into one big dance floor, with people gyrating on the ‘70s-inspired couches in nothing but their wet bikinis and soaking swim trunks.

Next up was her new track, “Only The Best.” Before pressing play, she shared that she would be going around and putting her hand on peoples’ heads “to give you some fire horse energy,” which of course made everyone gasp and squeal in excitement. Sitting in the front row I was an automatic candidate for her blessing; we held hands as she placed her right palm atop my head, and as I closed my eyes, I felt the blazing stallion within me activating.

After a few more tracks, which she guided us through with some suggested dance moves, we reached the final song of the night. “Let’s all get up together, dance together if you feel like it, move, shake it out, and face this lunar new year, this year of the horse, head on,” HorsegiirL said. As a song about the beach, our swimsuit attire felt apt.

The night’s version of the afters looked more or less the same as the main event; still in the tea room, the fans began scream-singing along to HorsegiirL’s biggest hits as the musician graciously took photos with everyone in the room.

As for her advice for this upcoming year, the mare told NYLON exclusively: “This is the year to stop manifesting passively, and get into action. One mantra over lots of mantras that you don’t fulfill. Believe in yourself, authenticity is a top priority this year. You got this.”