React Presents is ecstatic to announce the celebrated return of the official Spring Awakening Music Festival DJ Competition for the fifth consecutive year! This time, one Grand Prize Winner will receive both a coveted slot on stage for a live set in front of the event’s warm base of attendees and three VIP weekend passes.
So, let me give a bit of a background on myself, I dj, currently learning to produce dance music, and I’m also part of a up and coming Dj duo FinalSound. So I have a bit of a background in the scene, I’ve attended numerous undergrounds, after hours, and festivals over the past 7 years with that said I’d now like to discuss the festival of TomorrowWorld.
We arrived in Chattahoochee on Thursday the day of the Gathering around 2 in the afternoon, We got our stuff out of our vehicle and dragged it to the entrance which was about maybe a good 900 ft away. The line to enter Dreamville was ridiculous, obviously we were not the only ones in line but it literally took us about 2 hours to reach the search point where security checks your camping gear and whatnot. There were K-9 units there for narcotic searches but truth be told the dogs seemed less interested in the people and more interested in staying in the shade. Once we got to our campsite which is decided by basically falling into a spot after the person in front of you we set up camp, fortunately for us we followed the rules and our group entered together so we could all camp right next to each other. Our neighbors were from Vegas, Canada, New Jersey, Mexico, the UK there were people from all over the world. This is one of the key components to this festival, the camping experience, I personally believe no other festival can replicate your camping experience like TomorrowWorld.
The following 3 days consisted of nothing but pure bliss, the stages all of them were mind blowing. The amount of detail and effort that went into each stage is mind blowing, I have never seen production such as this. The line up was just as amazing I saw Laidback Luke, Dannic, Deorro, Dimitris Vegas & Like Mike, BlasterJaxxx, Bassjackers, the list goes on forever. By far the most diverse line up the states has ever seen. This festival in my opinion takes the cake for all camping festivals, any festival for that matter. Security was great, prices were decent, showers were awesome, the vibes were amazing. I highly recommend anyone to go to this festival, it is something you will talk about until it comes again the following year. Mad props to ID&T for throwing such an amazing festival here in the states, youll catch me there next year, thats for sure!!
Mario U
Marcin:
Over the years React Presents’ Spring Awakening Music Festival has grown exponentially: expanding from 2 days to 3, raising the stage production, bringing in some great artist and of course having more attendees. On paper all of this looks great, but in reality if wasn’t this year. The heavy hitters for the most part didn’t seem to bring their A game in terms of production or set arrangement. Some recycled sets from previous festivals and some didn’t do anything to make their sets memorable. I can’t say everyone was bad as Diplo, Knife Party, Benny Benassi and Kaskade all and good sets and are definitely my highlight.
There was good variation this year among the EDM sub-genres with stages hosted by specific labels, but in my opinion the music was lacking as opposed to the last 2 years.
The larger crows created a logistics nightmare at the 2 entrances into the fest and having just 2 tents to divined up the will call and guest list lines was definitely not a good idea. It took people upwards of an hour if not longer to get through the lines and security just to get in. That shouldn’t happen in Chicago’s only EDM festival which is becoming THE festival in Chicago besides Lolla that many will want to attend. A third entrance would be highly suggested for next year.
The highlight of the entire weekend was meeting all of you. From our official meet up on Day 2 to just walking around the stadium, it was great to meet some new fans take pics trade kandi and even bump into fans that at this point have become acquaintances and friends. I’d like to thank YOU for that.
To check out our entire picture gallery from Spring Awakening Music Festival 2014 FOLLOW THIS LINK!!!
Iza:
Last year’s Spring Awakening blew me away as far as production and artists. This year, I can’t say the same thing. Although the stages were changed up, I can’t say that I was wowed. The artists used minimal lazers, if any, and did not put a lot of effort into their sets. They were very overplayed and bland. The only artist that I will compliment is Diplo. His set was very lively and did not have any dull moments. He played a variety of his work as well as other popular tunes. Everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves finally.
Pricing of vendor alcohol did not change much from last year. This year, however, did have more options for food. This gave it a more festival feel. Port-a-potties were available throughout the festival. However, they were not clean and most of them had no toilet paper before the end of the night.
Although my 2013 SAMF experience was amazing, this year has shown me that I would have two options for SAMF 2015: VIP tickets or none at all. The fest is all ages, and that is a problem. Chicago teens do not know how to behave and can’t control themselves. I saw too many people get carried out on stretchers, heard too many people ask for drugs, and saw too many people get ditched by their friends at a time of need. I was disgusted with people.
We also had a chance to INTERVIEW Chicago local talent RJ Pickens, to read our entire INTERVIEW and check out one of his better sets of the year FOLLOW THIS LINK
Pictured from left to right, Cathy,Izabela, Rj Pickens and Marcin post interview after his Silent Disco set at SAMF14 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
We’ll be seeing you at North Coast
Don’t Be Shy, Just Stay Chi!
Pictured from left to right, Cathy,Izabela, Rj Pickens and Marcin post interview after his Silent Disco set at SAMF14 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
1) How did you get into the EDM scene and who did you start out listening to?
“Well, I grew up listening to B96 in Chicago, amongst many other kinds of music, but I didn’t make the lifelong connection until I was 18 and I was up late and partying with friends as a freshman in college. An older friend that was a senior when I was a freshman put on a Chemical Brothers CD (“Exit Planet Dust”) and I was like “What is THIS??” I stayed up all night listening to it and then went to the record store and bought it the next day. It was all over after that.”
2) How long did you perfect your mixing skills before you landed your first gig?
“I started playing when I was 18/19 at house parties. It wasn’t so much about mixing at that point, but rather programming; thinking a track or two ahead, programming your dance floor and keeping the party going. After I had been playing parties for a while to more mainstream type crowds, I learned how to match beats and the technical skillset along that avenue.”
3) Did you ever experience that “I made it moment”? If so, when did it happen?
“I’m going to answer your question in a round-about way. I feel like a lot of people want to make progress in their craft or dj career or whatever, but I think people look at it the wrong way. Like, ‘I need to do all this stuff and then finally Boom – I’ll get to the end and its an instant reward.’ I don’t think this view is accurate, and I don’t think there’s one gig like “ahh I finally made it!”. I think it’s a string of small victories that you accomplish along the way. Then, after a while, look back and you think “Holy shit, I did all of that!”. That path is forever an ongoing path, you’re always learning and always wanting to improve. The journey is your destination. “
4) I see you have performed all over Chicago including Primary, Spybar, Soundbar, the Mid, and Castle, but mainly Castle. Would you say that Castle is your favorite place in the city to spin? Or do you even have a favorite club in the city to spin at? If so why?
“Well, I have a lot of history at Castle. That’s not only one of the first clubs I started going to religiously when I was of age (it was called Vision at the time), but it’s been a big part of me, as I’ve put a lot of time and efforts in over there in all my years. I first played there in October of 2005. At the time, Armin (Van Burren) was a favorite artist of mine, and I got to play the early opening set for him. That was my first gig at Vision, and it was a pretty big deal at that! I always wanted to play that room. It was (and still is) Chicago’s big room. Then, in a round-about series of events, I started working there full time, and over the years ended up doing everything there from marketing, promotion, online ticketing, to event flyers and coordinating and managing events. I booked artists, dealt with artist hospitality/logistics and spun there monthly as a resident. I lived, ate, and breathed Vision. That place will always have a special place with me because I put so much blood and sweat into it. I’ve definitely played at many other places along the way as well, and there’s unique features to all of clubs that I play at regularly. I’m fortunate to able to play a variety of venues in this city, and it’s hard to pick a favorite. But hands down, the venue I have the most history with is Castle.”
5) Besides Chicago, we see you were in Miami for the WMC and travelled around the Midwest. How do you feel the Chicago scene compares to the rest of the US?
“I mean. Im always going to love it here because it’s home, and we’re actually really fortunate to have what we have in Chicago, now more-so than ever. We’ve never had so many options, on any given week/weekend to see so many awesome artists. As a dance music consumer, it’s never been better times than right now. However, to answer your question: Every city is a little bit different, depending of what the city laws are. For example, as opposed to Chicago, Miami or Las Vegas have a 24-hour liquor license, so the parties go all night there because they can. Obviously, there needs to be a market for this music in place in each city in order for these events to succeed, but at this point, electronic music has never been more popular in America than it is now – all across the country. There are a few major US markets that I feel are a little ahead of the game though, because they’ve simply been doing it for a lot longer than the rest of the country. The cities on that list for me would include: NYC, CHI, LA, SF, MIA, and Seattle.”
6) You’ve been part of the Chicago scene for 14+ years, what do you think of the scene and how it has changed over the years?
“ Back in the beginning of my time here, there were a lot fewer of us. There were still a good number of us but stuff like Spring Awakening for 3 days, or even a one-day festival like this was unheard of at that time. Club and theater events were much more prominent. There was a large show/festival called PureNation back in 2006. That was a really big deal when that happened. It was a one-day event on Northerly Island for maybe 10,000 people. Everything else in the scene operated the same, but was to scale: fewer events, fewer large venue shows, or whatever but it was always still a great party. It’s nostalgic for looking back and being a part of all of it. I’m a little older now, and as I walk around I just see everyone having the best time of their life. Every one of these kids is counting down the hours to this event – people’s lives revolve around this. I remember being crazy excited about big shows in my younger years. It’s a cool feeling, and I’ll never forget it.”
7) What is your most memorable DJ experience/gig and why?
“I’m terrible at answering questions such as this one, and it’s because I’m very fortunate to have had so many amazing nights playing in this city (and beyond) with a multitude of top-tier artists. However, I will definitely say that there is no feeling like taking your crowd on a true journey through the course of your set, and having that organic connection with them where it almost feels like you’re playing puppet master, pulling on all the right strings and making the crowd respond in unison. I’ve made many of those types of connections with crowds and dance floors over the years, and it truly never gets old.”
8) Any advice you can give to young aspiring DJs and producers?
“I can suggest a couple things, for sure. 1. Do it for the reasons you want to do it for, and be happy with it. If you want to just play records cool, if you want to spin at your local bar cool. If you’re aspiring to do the artist thing and land bigger gigs with bigger headlining artists, it will require a lot more work. Whatever your choice, just do it for yourself and what drives you. 2. If you want to take the artist route, it’s never been so important to produce your own music. DJs now need even more material to set themselves apart from the masses of other DJs. Everyone who has a laptop can potentially be a DJ (and we’re at no shortage of people trying). 3) Only play the music that you love. Take the time to listen to the music you love and learn it. Nowdays, you have the ability to play any song in the history of music with the prevalence of the internet, so don’t just go cruise the Beatport top 100 and play the same cheese everyone else does. Dig a little deeper and play songs that truly move you, as that will begin to define your own artistic style of playing.”
9) What’s next for Rj Pickens? Any big shows coming up, any collaborations albums or remixes we should keep an eye out for?
“This month (June) is a big month for me. I have a lot of respect for the Pryda labels and collective of artists, and I actually get to play with all 3 of those guys this month. I played with Eric Prydz last night at The Mid, I’m Playing with Jeremy Olander next weekend, and with Fehrplay at the end of the month. I have RiverWest Music Festival coming up in July, a couple of shows in Detroit and Denver, along with a couple big shows here in CHI also. I have some tunes in the pipeline to be released soon as well. I recently did a remix for a buddy and fellow Chicago artist – Russoul (Cajual Records artist – Cajmere/Green Velvet’s label). He sent me a vocal track of his and I really dug it, and was happy to have a chance to give it my own treatment. Then, I’m looking to follow that up with a 2 track release of my own originals. I’ve got a number of other projects on deck too, and I’d love to give some more details on when those are coming, but we’ll just have to cross some of these bridges as they come, because sometimes there’s just not enough hours in a day!
Check out one of RJ Picken’s best sets below, as he opened up for Eric Prydz on June 13 at The Mid for an officially Spring Awakening Music Festival After Party.
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