Stereosonic returns to Australia and rebranded as new EDM festival - as haunting photo of famous raver who died tragically at age 22 resurfaces

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Iconic Australian dance music festival, Stereosonic, is back in a new guise.
Stereosonic co-founder Richie McNeill is set to launch the festival's successor, called Hypersonic.
The festival will come to Sydney Showground on November 29 and Melbourne Showground on November 30.
Social media sites for Hypersonic this week began teasing its return, describing it as a 'groundbreaking multi-genre' event.
On the bill are Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, Armin van Buren and Steve Aoki, among many more.
Presale tickets go on sale at 12pm on August 21, and general tickets are available from August 22, with prices starting at $169.96.
Stereosonic, which began in 2007, closed up shop by 2016, after the festival's American parent company, SFX Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy that year.
Meanwhile, a haunting photo of a raver long associated with the Stereosonic music festival has resurfaced amid the news of the event's revival.
Sydney bodybuilder and influencer Aziz Sergeyvich can be seen flaunting his impressive physique at a rave.
Known as Zyzz, Sergeyvich died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 22, while taking a sauna in Thailand in 2011.
In the photo, Zyzz can be seen posing with friends in front of a stage.
With one hand around a bikini-clad girl, the fit raver can be seen flexing his bulging right bicep.
Zyzz became synonymous with 'Muzz' dancing - a vigorous dance floor routine popular with fans of the kind of electronic music featured as Stereosonic.
Muzzing features fluid upper body movement and arm gestures rather than fancy footwork.
'Every year since Zyzz's death, the culture I grew up with has slowly faded away,' wrote one fan in a tribute to the raver published in Vice in 2017.
'The Muzz dance is probably the last remaining echo of Zyzz's influence on hectic Muzza culture.
'A recurring staple of most of his videos, he perfected the art and encouraged the sport at every local music festival, from Defqon and Stereosonic to Two Tribes.'
Russian-born, Zyzz moved to Australia with his family in the 90s, and was a strong student, interested in commerce and business studies.
He slowly rose to fame by sharing videos of himself and his workouts on YouTube in 2007.
Before his passing, he had amassed 60,000 fans on Facebook, developed a clothing line, a protein supplement, and had written a book called Zyzz's Bodybuilding Bible.
He was also considered to be one of the very first social media influencers.
Before flying off for his ill-fated trip to Thailand in July 2011, he asked his followers, 'Off to Thailand for a month this weekend, any traveller tips....'
His last post came two days before he died, where he wrote, 'One year ago, and 10kgs lighter. 100kg now (90kg here) this size is the sweet spot for girls... Arnold status here I come.'
Zyzz was found dead in early August after having a heart attack in a sauna.
On the 10th anniversary of his passing in 2021 many of Zyzz's fans commemorated by posting tribute videos and pictures to social media and fan websites.
Followers shared photos of the bodybuilder or themselves, after being inspired to work out by the buff social media star, who often stressed the importance of aesthetics and looking good.