18 months later, the 31-year-old DJ is climbing even higher by curating Experts Only<\/a>, which could very well be the hottest electronic music festival in New York City\u2019s history. In doing so, the rapidly-rising headliner has unveiled another side of his artistry: daring business strategy and gentle leadership skills.<\/p>\n So, we asked him all about what he has planned for the two-day extravaganza.<\/p>\n In turn, Summit gave The Post the inside scoop on the inaugural, highly-anticipated festival, set to take over Randall\u2019s Island on Saturday, Sept. 20<\/a> and Sunday, Sept. 21<\/a> with a jam-packed lineup (including Summit, of course), state-of-the-art staging, interactive art installations, and up to 50,000 expected fans in attendance.<\/p>\n Some highlights from the lineup: BBC Radio host Pete Tong<\/a>, whom John hails as \u201cone of the most legendary selectors of this generation,\u201d a live set from the enigmatic DJ duo Kasablanca, a back-to-back performance from Kaskade<\/a> and Cassian, and a spotlight for the local favorite Tony Y Not. John\u2019s longtime friend LP Giobbi<\/a> will also be performing, blending her classical training on the keyboard with modern house beats.<\/p>\n Want to be there or see Summit live elsewhere?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where you can find the hard-working party-starter in the near future.<\/p>\n Experts Only Festival tickets 2025<\/p>\n All Experts Only Festival dates, start times and links to buy tickets are listed below.<\/p>\n John Summit tour schedule 2025<\/p>\n A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues and links to buy tickets can be found here:<\/p>\n Behind the scenes with John Summit<\/p>\n Six years ago, very few people had heard of John Summit. At the time, he was John Schuster, a University of Illinois graduate who worked as an accountant by day and spun records at local bars every other night. The DJ gigs weren\u2019t about profit or ego; John says that they were \u201cfully fueled by passion,\u201d a drive that he believes helped shape his creative approach to making music.<\/p>\n After years of livestreaming and releasing his own music on SoundCloud, John\u2019s breakthrough hit, \u201cDeep End,\u201d was picked up by Defected Records. Fans began to take notice, tour requests started rolling in, and his 9-to-5 quickly became a thing of the past. \u201cThe accounting job kind of gently let me go,\u201d he jokes. Now John, who adopted the \u201cSummit\u201d alter ego from the mountains he loved skiing as a kid, is widely regarded as an expert in house music, a genre he admits is hard to put into words.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHouse music is a feeling, and it truly has to be experienced,\u201d he told me, smiling, when I asked him how we would explain the style to your grandparents. At its core, he says the music is built on a steady four-by-four beat and traces its roots back to disco \u2014 grandma should get that. Unlike their more in-your-face cousin, EDM, house music rolls a little slower, pulling listeners into a dream-like trance. John simply sums the sound up as \u201chypnotic bass music that just keeps you dancing all night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And house music\u2019s effect on time and space should probably be a good thing, considering how many hours he spends behind the DJ deck. In the last week alone, John played at the LIV Nightclub in Las Vegas<\/a>, iconic Burning Man desert event, Chicago\u2019s Arc Festival, and \u2018afters\u2019 (the afterparty) at Radius.<\/p>\n When I ask him what he would tell John Summit of 2020 if he could go back in time, he brings me back to a moment during his stop in Black Rock City. He did two days without touching his phone \u201cwhatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to sound crazy, but I was out in the middle of the desert, lying, staring at the stars and reflecting on it all, and it hit me big time\u2026\u201d John recalled. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t tell myself anything because he had to go through so many hardships and so many errors. I made so many mistakes. Textbook mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n Mistakes happen, but if there is anything I can tell from talking with John, it\u2019s that he\u2019s easy-going enough to stick along for the ride. He\u2019s a regular guy, albeit living a life many aspiring DJs dream of. He didn\u2019t formally study music or come up through the industry pipeline. Even many members of his team worked \u201cnormal jobs\u201d before joining him. As a result, much of their journey has involved figuring things out the hard way and learning on the fly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think the reason why we were able to be so successful is that we didn\u2019t know any of the rules. We weren\u2019t afraid of any of them,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI really pissed off some people along the way with how I was playing at certain parties but being creatively free is what helped get me where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n Creative freedom was certainly part of it, though it\u2019s hard to overlook another key factor in John Summit\u2019s rise: his sharp business instincts. Summit built his career with a clear focus on longevity. It\u2019s part of the reason why he takes his health so seriously (you\u2019ll frequently find him posting screenshots of his Strava running app to his Instagram story). Balance is very important to him in all aspects of life. \u201cI\u2019m not here for a short time, I\u2019m here for a long time,\u201d as he puts it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe skills of going to business school have saved me from a lot of things that end artists\u2019 careers early,\u201d he revealed. \u201cYou can have all the talent in the world but if you don\u2019t know how to run a business, you don\u2019t know how to manage your own finances, you don\u2019t know how to run a team. Right?\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, John headlined Madison Square Garden with a 120-person team, a massive production that was, by all accounts, a resounding success. But his team also noticed a major gap in one of the world\u2019s biggest markets: New York City no longer had a dedicated electronic music festival. Electric Zoo on Randall\u2019s Island once had all the right ingredients: an iconic venue, no noise restrictions, and proximity to the city. John played E-Zoo back in 2023, but the festival hasn\u2019t returned since.<\/p>\n John launched his Experts Only record label in 2022, and a festival has always been on the horizon. This summer, everything seemed to fall into place. New York needed a show. John had the talent to make it happen. He didn\u2019t have to book based on anyone\u2019s ticket sales; he takes care of that on his own pretty well. Instead, he could curate a lineup just the way he wanted to, showcasing artists that reflect the Experts Only ethos of music without limits.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been signing a lot of like-minded artists and artists whose music I play in my sets, but it\u2019s also artists who are really the top of their level but may not be fully broken into the mainstream,\u201d John explained. \u201cI think it\u2019s so fun to bring other people to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n For John, it\u2019s never been about the money, and now, he\u2019s looking for ways to give back to the industry he\u2019s found so much success in. A few years ago, Leah (LP Giobbi) brought John on to a panel discussion at the Electric Forest festival and introduced him to Femme House. The non-profit organization supports women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ creatives working in the behind-the-scenes sides of the music industry. As part of the Experts Only festival, $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the cause.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really opened my eyes to how cool their mission is,\u201d John shared. \u201cIt\u2019s no secret most DJs are guys and most producers are guys, and I think it\u2019s because of the lack of awareness and education.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At its core, the mission of Experts Only is to share boundary-pushing music with serious fans. The festival on Randall\u2019s Island will be a first-of-its-kind, but for John Summit, that\u2019s a risk worth taking. It\u2019s all part of his larger vision.<\/p>\n He admits that the mountain-inspired \u201cSummit\u201d moniker might sound \u201cpretty basic\u201d to some, but the \u201cExperts Only\u201d metaphor is fitting when you look at the direction his life has taken.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever gone skiing before, the double black diamond is the hardest run to do. I like that because I feel like that\u2019s the route I\u2019ve been taking in life, is doing the hardest path that\u2019s rarely taken,\u201d John recalled. \u201cAll the DJs, the artists on the label, I consider to be experts. I consider all the fans who go to the events true experts, because you can\u2019t last till 4 A.M. afterparty if you\u2019re not a party expert.\u201d<\/p>\n As for potential Experts Only afterparties, ticket-holders should stay tuned. \u201cThere\u2019s no scenario where I\u2019m just going home afterwards,\u201d he laughed, hinting that he\u2019s looking at more intimate venues, and he plans to do little pop-ups at all of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n In many ways, John is carving out a brand of his own \u2014 with a deep love for electronic music, a fanbase that\u2019s starting to mirror the fierce loyalty of Swifties, and an experimental vision that is putting America\u2019s party scene on the map.<\/p>\n Where does he go next? You\u2019ll have to grab a ticket and see for yourself.<\/p>\n EDM stars on tour in 2025<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got a hankering for house, bass, trance or even dubstep, here are just five artists you won\u2019t want to miss when they\u2019re out and about these next few months.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Justice with Kaytranada<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Dom Dolla<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Disclosure<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Sammy Virji<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Mau P<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Large](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Electric-Zoo.jpg\")
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/p>\n