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<\/p>\nWith decades of experience, DJ Heather has become a cornerstone of Chicago\u2019s house music scene. This summer, she\u2019ll bring that expertise to two of the city\u2019s biggest stages when she opens the Perry Stage at Lollapalooza Thursday and plays ARC Music Festival in Union Park at the end of August.<\/p>\n
These bookings represent a testament to her enduring influence. While the scene may evolve, Heather maintains her approach to DJing: tapping influences from across time while crafting sets that reflect the environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DJ Heather spoke with Chicago about her festival approach, the evolution of Chicago\u2019s music scene, and why she\u2019s currently in a \u201crhythm of joy\u201d in her career.<\/p>\n
What would you say your story is currently as a DJ, as an artist?<\/p>\n
I\u2019d say I try to pull a lot of influences from the past and present, and then pay homage to a city that you\u2019re in, or an artist that you may see in the audience. So I\u2019m always thinking about those things when I\u2019m playing, because I really try to make sets specific to where I am.<\/p>\n
But really, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s hard to explain. It\u2019s really cerebral, but really also emotional because your plan might take a different turn because someone might be late, or the sound isn\u2019t as great as you thought it was or would be, or you\u2019re trying to figure out what you\u2019re going to do to connect to an audience, so then you may have to switch things up.<\/p>\n
But at the end of the day, you\u2019re still trying to prepare \u2014 have all of those tools ready in the proverbial toolbox and be able to pull from those tools when you need them, as opposed to going through the same stuff all the time, playing the same set, per se.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How would you say you balance honoring your roots while also making sure that you\u2019re evolving with the times?<\/p>\n
I think that the notion of being true to yourself is kind of like a common thread. When you find your sound, you stick to it. You may sometimes, if you\u2019ve been around for a minute, come in and out of favor or consciousness for people. But if you\u2019re consistent and you\u2019re honest with that consistency, people really respond to that. I think that, again, is a through line, regardless of the type of music that you make, because people really want to feel that sense of authenticity and connection. I think that\u2019s what works for me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You\u2019re certainly in favor now. I\u2019d love to hear how you see this current phase of your career. How does it feel for you and what kind of thoughts have been going through your head over the last couple of years?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a great question. I think it\u2019s that thing where, as an independent artist, you question what you\u2019re doing a lot when those lows \u2014 those valleys are very deep and the peaks are really, really high. So the in-between can make you question what you\u2019re doing it for. Why am I putting myself through this stress or pain or drama? And then you might have a great event, and you\u2019re like, \u201cAh, this is the reason why I\u2019m doing it,\u201d or have a great moment with a friend, or music that you\u2019re making \u2014 I\u2019m like, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m doing it for.\u201d And that little carrot keeps you going.<\/p>\n
The things that keep you inspired keep it going. I\u2019m in this \u2014 dare I say \u2014 rhythm of joy. That sounds incredibly corny, but that\u2019s really true. I really, genuinely enjoy what I\u2019m doing. Sometimes it could be a little stressful, but I really don\u2019t take anything for granted. I\u2019m absolutely honored when I get a call. Getting this interview from you is fantastic. You know, these little things that cumulatively keep me inspired and keep me motivated.<\/p>\n
What is your process in terms of keeping your musical perspective fresh and discovering new music?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I do shop online quite a bit. I still go to record stores. People send me music all the time. I listen a lot, and it\u2019s sometimes not necessarily what people may think I would listen to, because I\u2019m known as a Chicago house DJ. But Chicago house is a really huge umbrella, and that means incorporating so many different things to create your signature sound.<\/p>\n
So you\u2019re going to use maybe a trance B-side, or an acapella or a Latin track, or, you know, something jazzy or something deep, or whatever, but then incorporating all of those things in your set. And I think that is very much a Chicago thing where you\u2019re pulling all of these influences and trying to make them your own. So it could be that your set includes industrial stuff as well, even punk rock tracks, if you can put them all under a four-four kind of heading. And with technology, you can do it even more so now with ease to make it more fluid.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Chicago house, but it\u2019s not just house in a traditional sense, if that makes sense at all.<\/p>\n
What do you really want people to take away from your upcoming set?<\/p>\n
Hopefully a lot of joy. Hopefully [to] have a really great time. Enjoy the fact that it\u2019s the first set on Perry\u2019s stage of the day, so it will be pristine and fantastic and fun. Hopefully, I will just be able to bring some great energy, definitely lean into the fact that I\u2019m a Chicago artist, local kid, and just have fun and try to figure out what people are into. The excitement of the start of a festival is always going to be fun. So I\u2019m looking forward to that kind of nervous energy, for sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With decades of experience, DJ Heather has become a cornerstone of Chicago\u2019s house music scene. This summer, she\u2019ll…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":107556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[68839,960,68836,68838,68837,5386,1818,25734],"class_list":{"0":"post-107555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-arc-music-festival","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-dj-heather","11":"tag-electronic-music","12":"tag-house-music","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-illinois","15":"tag-lollapalooza"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}