On this bright, hot and sunny afternoon, I wanted to play a set during this outdoor waterfront music festival that both reflected the mood of a proper daytime party, showed some range for me as an artist and showed some depth in my track selections (some tracks are brand new, some are several years old), while still portraying the brand of electronic music I believe in.

Artists' festival sets always differ from club sets, as you're part of a much bigger lineup and have a much shorter timeslot than what one would have in the club, usually.  This being said, you really have to come with the kind of tunes that you stand for, as you only have the stage for a short amount of time, and you need to make a maximum impact in the time you have.

That all being said, I was pretty happy with what I wound up laying down that day.
I hope it shines through in this recording.
Enjoy --


RJ Pickens
Live at Wavefront Beachside Music Festival Chicago
30June2012

Tracklisting
01. Climbers - Equal Responsibility [Lower East]
02. Deepsky - Talk Like A Stranger (Skylark Dub) [Yo!]
03. Jeremy Olander - Love Flight [CDR]
04. Castelli & Perazolli - Ronin [South American House]
05. Arno Cost & Norman Doray - Apocalypse (Sebastien Leger Remix) [Kontor]
06. Dana Bergquist & Peder G - Djakarta [Discoteca]
07. Dosem - How Do You Do It [Bedrock]
08. Cicada - Edge (RJ's Edit) [Critical Mass]
09. Fabrice Morder - Revolution (Fabrice Morder Remix) [Full House]
10. Pryda - Leja [Virgin]

RJ Pickens - Live at Wavefront Music Festival Chicago - 30June2012

For the past 2 decades, RJ Pickens has been a leader in building and growing Chicago’s melodic-driven electronic music scene. With nearly 25 years of DJ experience and tirelessly pursuing the perfect mix of deep, progressive, techno, and house sounds.  He rocks venues ranging from intimate to huge, and can go from being the headliner himself to being the supporting act of choice for countless global headliners on the best club and festival events the Windy City has to offer.  RJ is also a principal collaborator in a recently-launched and acclaimed music act called Portals & Parachutes, taking first flight in post-pandemic 2021.  RJ’s record label and music event banner — VESTED — has become synonymous with top-tier progressive electronic sounds.  Vested Recordings, while a relatively young label still, has seen remarkable support from some of the very best artists in the industry.  The event showcases produced under the Vested brand have been consistently showcasing the finest quality in its music bookings for the last 10 years. 

VESTED:  an adjective that means “to hold something completely, permanently, and inalienably — an unwavering commitment.”  In an electronic music sense, it simply means RJ is really serious about our party music, and his work on all fronts speaks for itself.

If you haven’t yet, tune in and turn it all the way up.

Links
facebook.com/rjpickens
twitter.com/rjpickens1
soundcloud.com/rjpickens
floorcontrolradio.com
facebook.com/vestedchi
soundcloud.com/vestedchi
twitter.com/vestedchi