How ARC Music Festival's Global Appeal Is Uplifting Chicago's World Class House Scene
The slow start to an event like ARC seems in some ways true to how Chicago spirit and house music began. For a long time, the city was able to take shape thanks to the various influences gathered on the night life.
DJ Heather, DJ Lady D, Hiroka Yamamura and the blessed Madonna cover a diverse range of influential genres from funk, soul, new wave, R&B, pop, disco (including Italo and Philly styles), punk rock and industrial. Even when house music got its name, not everything had clearly defined lines. "There really was an infinite gap between them," explained the Blessed Virgin. Opened after The Warehouse closed in 1983, the Medusa Club served as a cultural melting pot, influencing an ever-growing sound and culture.
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"For me, not being on the beach was an advantage," explained Hiroko Yamamura. “New York and Los Angeles are always fresh and trendy. Things are much slower in the Midwest. This is what happens with cars. These drum machines are designed to look like a real drum, the 303 is designed to look like a real bass and it does a terrible job. The 909 and 808 were in discount storage when they got here. The affordability of Roland equipment has, in the words of DJ Lady Dee, "democratized the studio experience." You had to spend a lot of money, go with a lot of musicians and you could do it yourself.
After cementing this tradition as only Chicago can do, the sound gradually shifted to exclusive destinations in international territories. South Africa went full speed ahead and developed styles such as afro house, kwato, ggom and amapiano, while in France, the UK, Ibiza and Brazil many other subgenres emerged such as French beat, hard house, Balearic beat and comeback. . Many developments in North America, such as ghetto houses, footwork, dance halls, and clubs in Baltimore and Jersey, took place in or near Chicago.
In a globalized world, all these patterns exist in a symbiotic relationship and influence each other. ARC not only educates, but also serves as a hub for Chicago's ever-changing art scene, admired by the city's greatest artists.
