News: Electric Daisy Carnival Promoter Arrested — Is This Part of the War on Raves?

Bad news (read here), but I’m hopeful for Pasquale Rotella. Seems to me he’s a good guy committed to giving EDM fans something special. This is an unrelated but tonally relevant quote from an interview I conducted with him last year:

“I’m gonna stick in there. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. The worst part about having to deal with this stuff is I just want to produce the best experience possible. I want to create something that’s really special, where people leave with something memorable. I definitely look forward to the day when there’s less politics in the way. I’ve had to put on a suit more than once this past year and be the politician. I’m not passionate about that role. When you work on an event year round, get it all set up, and the gates are about to open … that’s what I love. I want to lose the distractions.”

[photo by Caesar Sebastian]

Raver Madness: Electric Daisy Carnival (and the Dance Music Industry) Fights for its Rights

Sharing this here a bit belatedly (it’s from October’s issue of SPIN), but it’s no less relevant today than it was a couple of months back. In a music industry (#whatindustry?) that has been in a constant state of tumult for more than a decade, the business of dance is booming. We’ve all heard that old “DJs are the new rock stars” chestnut a gazillion times, but it’s never been truer. Actually, it’s also misleading — rock stars had chart hits and huge record labels backing them. These guys commission their own jets to shows where thousands of kids await their favorite songs that have never been played on the radio. This article is, on a macro level, about the love-hate relationship that the mainstream has with rave culture. On a micro level, it’s about Los Angeles, Electric Daisy Carnival, Sasha Rodriguez, the nightly news and millions of dollars. (via SPIN)