An Interview with MDX Headliner- The Leader in Rave Support Supplements

Imagine, you just spent the last night partying like it was the end of the world. Partying like some kind of force had entered your body and freed your spirit from its meaty confines. You find yourself interacting with another plane of existence that you did not even know existed. For the first time in your life, you feel the breath of the world, but then, you go home and sleep. In the morning, your spirit has been slammed back into its fleshy suit and the weight of the world suddenly snaps back into the frame. Your body is sore, your head pounding, your mood crashed and depleted. You feel drained. Are you sick? No, you're hungover. Every high has a low, and you're falling. If only there was some way to prevent the crippling lows, so you could spend the next night reminiscing, rather than recovering. Fortunately, a new player has entered the scene, carrying with them the cure for rave sickens. Introducing MDX Headliner.

MDX Headliner is a company pushing out rave support supplements. It was started by a man named Ian O’Connor.  He has been raving for nearly 10 years, and for the last 2 years he has been working to develop a cure for the rave side effects that have plagued his peers. I had the pleasure of interviewing him about the growth of his company.

Nicholas C. - How did MDX headliner start?

Ian O. - I have spent several years in the EDM scene and have always been inspired to create a supplement for addressing the taxing conditions ravers put their bodies through. In 2016, with the guidance of published scientific research, my friends and I began experimenting with a fairly complex and scheduled supplementation regimen of common store-bought and specialty supplements. However, it was never simple or easy carrying around several bottles of pills, or worse, small, unlabeled zip-lock bags of capsules. Knowing there were other “turnkey” rave supplements on the market that have come out in recent years, we really began pursuing the idea in 2018. However, we wanted it to be different – we aimed to make a safe supplement that uses minimally effective doses of the necessary ingredients, packaged discretely, and for portability.

N.C. - What’s the process like for selling a vitamin supplement? Does the FDA make you jump through hoops with testing and regulations?

I.O. - With supplements and other products that are not pharmaceutical drugs, such as food and cosmetics, manufacturers must follow “good manufacturing practices” or GMP. The easiest way (and cheapest at this point in the game) to follow this guidance is to use a GMP manufacturer. The GMP manufacturer does all the testing and ensures regulations are followed in the procurement of ingredients, manufacture, and packaging of the product.

N.C. - What’s the meaning behind the name MDX Headliner?

I.O. - There’s no real meaning behind “MDX”, it’s just an acronym that sounds cool. However, the term “Headliner” is referring to a festival’s biggest show of the night, signifying the importance of the supplement, and the customer, who is our headliner!

N.C. - How did you design the logo and package for MDX?

I.O. - My father is a graphic designer, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for him to help me with the logo.

N.C. - Are there other rave supplements on the market that you are competing with? If so, how does MDX stand out?

I.O. - There are a few rave supplements, some of which are well established. However, after doing extensive research, I cannot say any of them are true rave supplements because they fail to deliver all the right ingredients that your body needs, or worse, deliver unnecessary or potentially harmful ingredients. You can find out more about this and our ingredients on our website mdxhl.com

It is also worth mentioning is that most existing supplement brands only offer the product in a pill bottle –they do not offer the product in a compact, mylar pouch like MDX. We have found that this is a huge selling point. I’d like to thank the team at QQ Studio for providing great packaging!

We have positioned MDX Headliner as the safest, and most-effective rave supplement, in an easy-to-use, discrete pouch.

N.C. - Do you have plans to expand your inventory to include different types of supplements?

I.O. - Yes, we do, but we are sticking to serving just the rave community. Future products include specialized pre-and post-rave supplements that complement the flagship product. Additionally, we will include a 30-count pill bottle product offering for all our supplements.

N.C. - How do you test your supplements to make sure they are perfect?

I.O. - Testing was done over the course of a few years, and several festivals with a small group of friends. With the guidance of a few good resources online, we used trial and error to hone in on the ideal combination of ingredients, such as magnesium citrate, alpha-lipoic acid, and green tea extract, to name a few. Overall, there are 13 ingredients in MDX Headliner.

N.C. - How do you reach and stay connected with customers in your niche market of ravers?

I.O. - We have found the best way to get high visibility and feedback from our customers is to attend festival and rave events. Our best tool at this point is word of mouth. We frequent a lot of festivals and distribute as many samples as we can and discuss about our mission and product while doing so. Other than that, we maintain a presence on the rave-meme community on Instagram – you can follow us here: @mdxheadliner. We occasionally run promos for free samples through our Instagram too!

(QQ Studio was lucky enough to win one of these promotions and receive our very own sample)

N.C. - How has the rave community been affected by Covid? Are there socially distant raves or have things taken a pause?

I.O. - Things have taken a pause, particularly for live events. However, there have been some great live streams hosted by event producers such as Insomniac on Youtube, Twitch, and other streaming services which have been quite a blessing.

Also, we have seen an uptick in socially distanced “drive-in” style music festivals over the past few months. We’ve only attended one but was very impressed with the organization and production value.
The live streams and drive-ins have really highlighted the adaptability of rave community, but we cannot wait to get into a crowd of 10,000 people again!

N.C. - What do you look for in packaging, and why did you choose QQ Studio to fulfill your packaging needs?

I.O. - Since we are a new company, we needed a small MOQ to keep costs low. QQ Studio offered what we needed at a competitive price. Additionally, QQ Studio has the best selection of small mylar bags that we could find, and the Team at QQ was great to work with during the packaging development process.

Note: Our open top bags are ideal for holding supplements like the ones sold by MDX headliner. The compact sizes make these bags great for individual servings. The bags can be heat sealed so that the supplements inside stay protected. The durable material ensure that the contents will be kept safe while your rave away. Find the bags used by MDX headliner right here.

The Party’s Just Getting Started

MDX Headliner is working to ensure that the ravers of the world don’t wake up the next day in a sore daze. With a dedication to premium ingredients and transparency, this company is innovating the rave scene and EDM community with quality support supplements. More than that, they are finding a gap in the market and filling it with tested products that they back with science and honest support. Visit their online store now to try the supplement out for yourself. When festivals start back up you can be sure they’ll be bigger and louder than ever. Start preparing. If you want to learn about other small businesses that are innovating their market, read our interview with Nuts 4 Coffee.