{"id":182228,"date":"2025-08-28T10:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T10:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182228\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T10:54:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T10:54:15","slug":"chicago-dj-hiroko-yamamura-plans-to-blur-all-the-genres-at-dance-heavy-arc-music-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182228\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago DJ Hiroko Yamamura plans to blur all the genres at dance-heavy ARC Music Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

DJ Hiroko Yamamura<\/a> doesn\u2019t confine her music taste to one genre. Though she\u2019s technically a house DJ, you can catch her spinning anything from obscure techno to K-pop.<\/p>\n

Yamamura<\/a> will take the stage on Friday at ARC Music Festival in Union Park, an electronic music festival celebrating Chicago as the home of house music. She\u2019s one of the few local DJs who has claimed a spot on every ARC Festival\u2019s lineup since its inception in 2021, alongside Derrick Carter<\/a> and Gene Farris<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Yamamura, who grew up sneaking out to raves and learned to DJ by observing club sets around the city, stopped by the studios of WBEZ sister station Vocalo to talk about her path to the turntable and her recent Boiler Room Chicago<\/a> set. She also shared advice for aspiring DJs.<\/p>\n

Nudia Hernandez: You\u2019ve been at every ARC Music Festival so far, performing?<\/b><\/p>\n

Hiroko Yamamura: Yes, knock on wood! This is going to be the fourth year of the festival. Really honored to be part of it, watch it grow. I\u2019m still surprised and really excited to see what this festival is able to pull off every year.<\/p>\n

When you have a big kind of music festival like ARC, is the prep a little bit different?<\/b><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re playing at home, there\u2019s always the friend factor, right? That you don\u2019t [otherwise] have to worry about. Because your friends are actually probably your toughest audience. If people don\u2019t know you, maybe their criticisms don\u2019t land as strong. So the fact that people you know and love will be there, and maybe they\u2019ve heard you more than a few times, you want to make sure that you deliver something fresh.<\/p>\n

One of the great things that I get to do is I tend to play with a guest from out of town, kind of hosting someone. This year, I\u2019m playing a back-to-back [set] with DJ HAAi, who\u2019s absolutely amazing. That always makes things a little bit different, to add someone else in the mix.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Hiroko<\/p>\n

Yamamura loves a B2B, or back-to-back, set. She\u2019s pictured here performing with DJ Hyperactive at ARC Festival 2024. This year, she\u2019ll be joined by DJ HAAi.<\/p>\n

Victoria Sanders \/ Courtesy of INFAMOUS PR<\/p>\n

Do you consider yourself a house DJ?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve probably played every genre under the book, and part of it is very, I think, built out of necessity. When I first started DJing, I probably didn\u2019t really know what the genres were. At the time, I was using vinyl, and I could only buy so much vinyl \u2014 it\u2019s expensive. If the person at Tower Records or wherever I was buying something from was like, \u201cThis is techno.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, this is techno.\u201d And someone in Berlin is on the internet being like, \u201cThat\u2019s not techno.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it sounds good, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s pop music, underground techno. If the moment calls for that, my hand\u2019s gonna reach for it.<\/p>\n

You grew up playing musical instruments, first getting the violin put in your hand. Did you enjoy playing instruments?<\/b><\/p>\n

I did. You know, growing up in an Asian American household, it was a bit punitive, it felt like, initially \u2013 having to go to orchestra every morning. My entire family went through that regimen, but I wouldn\u2019t trade it for the world. Getting classic music training, or any kind of real music lessons nowadays, is a privilege, right? Music education is not required in a lot of public schools now, and you can really see that starting to have an effect on culture and people\u2019s basic understanding of music literacy. I feel like I\u2019m super lucky, even though maybe I hated it at the time, because I just looked like a dork with the violin.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Yamamura<\/p>\n

Yamamura is one of only a few local DJs to land on the ARC Fest lineup all four years. She says fans can expect a \u201cparty time\u201d during her set.<\/p>\n

A lot of these kids want to play these big festivals like ARC. What would be your advice?<\/b><\/p>\n

If you know 100 DJs, and only one of them is successful, use those realistic numbers when you think about what you want to do. If you love music, do it, absolutely. It\u2019s a passion. It is an addiction. It is everything. However, a lot of us have to do side jobs. We have to work the back line at concerts, we\u2019ve got lots of other side gigs to make this the reality.<\/p>\n

But if you really want to do this, absolutely do it, because the folks that I know that have put 100% into it, I think we have a 99% success rate. Someone like myself, I\u2019ve just gotten lucky. You throw in dumb luck and maybe be a nice person to people along the way, and things might go a little bit better for you.<\/p>\n

Looking to to ARC Music Festival, what could people expect at your set?<\/b><\/p>\n

Gosh, I think we\u2019re going to have a party time. Again, I\u2019m playing with DJ HAAi<\/a>, who is the most amazing producer. She\u2019s been in a bunch of bands and I have this, like, \u201cI\u2019m not worthy\u201d moment, playing with her. The stage, as well, I think it\u2019s mostly women that day. I\u2019m really excited about that. There\u2019s a lot of Chicago artists. It\u2019s one of those festivals that\u2019s just different from a lot of places, and the representation there really matters. They care about it, and they\u2019re not doing it in a corny way to check off boxes \u2014 everyone that\u2019s there is amazing. There\u2019s not an artist on there that I\u2019m not excited to see, personally.<\/p>\n

Morgan Ciocca is the digital producer for Vocalo.<\/p>\n

Nudia Hernandez is the host and producer of Nudia In the Afternoons on Vocalo. Follow her @nudiaonair.<\/p>\n

Want more arts and culture in your inbox every week? Subscribe to The Goods<\/a>, Vocalo\u2019s Chicago-focused newsletter.<\/p>\n