This past Labor Day Weekend, Chicago welcomed ARC Music Festival, the first of its kind showcasing house music in its birthplace. Featuring sets from Chicago legends like Gene Farris, DJ Pierre, DJ Heather, and meme queen Hiroko Yamamura, as well as imports Will Clarke, Eli & Fur, and more, ARC made a splash.

ARC presented its four stages in Chicago’s Union Park: The Grid, its main stage bordered by shipping containers, flashing lights, and massive LED screens; The ARC Car Stage powered by TheGoodBus, a schoolbus atop which DJs jam away; The Expansions stage, surrounded by trees, overgrown vines, and stalagmites jutting out of the ground; and the special Elrow production ‘PSYCHROWDELIC TRIP’, with signature stage design, with psychedelic flowers falling from the ceiling, dancing chickens, and characters roaming the crowd.

Flaunt visited the windy city for the weekend to be part of this momentous occasion, hopping between stages to catch sets from the likes of Channel Tres, Bob Moses, watching a headlining performance from Zhu—which featured a Radiohead cover—eating arepas, kielbasa, and deep dish pizza, and catching up with some of the artists backstage in the Artist Lounge. Read below to see what they had to say about this inaugural festival and what it means to them.

DJ Pierre

Tell me about the importance of bringing a festival like this to Chicago.

You know, when I first got booked for this festival, it’s strange, but for some reason I knew something was unique about it because of the mixture of the DJs that they programmed. I was like ‘huh, that’s interesting.’ ‘Cause someone could do a mixture like that and have it be a smaller festival, but a festival of this size usually only sticks to a certain type of headlining DJs. I thought it was really great, and it really represented the city of Chicago very well, knowing that the music started here, and where its gone, and making sure they kept true to some of the pioneers, and made sure they were in headlining spots and positions. I really appreciated that.

We have to respect that and to teach that to the younger generation, because: how can they know? By the time they first hear about it, the story’s being retold from another perspective. Even if it’s not being told from another perspective, it just looks like it came from another place, because it’s more big and popular there. It’s especially important that we, the city of Chicago, be like ‘Hey, this is our music.’ In the U.S., we’re all part of our own city, so this is all part of a thing that we as a city can grab hold of and say, ‘Look what we did, look what we unleashed on the world.’ We can have another thing to be proud of in this city. We’ve got jazz and we’ve got other stuff, but this is the only music that was invented in this city and actually gone off and had a longer lifespan than anything else. Jazz is still going, but it ain’t the same size. This music went, and it just exploded and became a world music. It’s huge. So, it’s crazy to see what’s happened.

House music has come out has driven the technology—drum machines, keyboards—and a way of doing music. It’s connected in so many different ways. Other music hasn’t touched upon those things, and that’s all because of what happened here. And the advent of the superstar DJ. Without here, there’d be no superstar DJ. It started because the music was popular, and they were inviting us to Europe to perform as a live act, and we were like, ‘We don’t perform, we just DJ.’ And they were like, ‘OK, well come over and DJ.’ And next thing you know, 30 years later, DJing is a thing. Pioneer equipment is a thing. DJ technology is a thing. Everything is connected to that.

How do you think fashion is intrinsically tied with style and fashion?

House music was always fashionable. We always used to look at jokers in hip-hop, and they were always in baggy clothes, tracksuits. We would be dressed in shirts and jeans, all this fashionable stuff. We’d be real clean, smelling nice. Our hair would be inventive and creative. You knew someone was into house music just looking at them down the street. We were a close-knit unit. You would walk up to someone and say, ‘You, you house?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, you house?’ That was a term.

What excites you about the future of house music?

What excites me is actually what happened here at this festival. Coming out of the lockdown and not being able to DJ, and travel and do parties and events—what encouraged me is that it gave people time to sit back and appreciate the things they did not appreciate and see what they couldn’t see when things kept going. That type of reset has been helpful for the music industry as a whole.

Eli (of Eli & Fur)

Tell me about the importance of bringing a festival like this to Chicago.

Because of the history of Chicago and house music, it’s always really special. It’s amazing for new artists and people who haven’t been doing it for years and years to showcase their music in such an incredible city with so much history. There are people watching and people know what they’re talking about here. That’s important. Everyone needs a platform, and to have a platform here in Chicago, is incredible.

How do you think fashion is intrinsically tied with style and fashion?

To be honest, being in the U.S., it’s definitely a place where festival-wise, everyone expresses themselves. There’s some people who go crazy and wear collars and crazy things. Everyone expresses themselves in a different way. It’s amazing as a DJ to see that in the crowd to see people who have made an effort in that sense, because that’s what they want to express. I always just DJ in black as a lot of people do. I’m sad that I don’t have that creative style. Maybe I don’t have the nerve. But it’s nice when someone expresses themself with what they wear. I wouldn’t be able to wear the things everyone wears.

What excites you about the future of house music?

It’s a weird time right now, especially as COVID is finishing up. It’s sad in some ways, because up and coming DJs have had the worst situation. You want to start out with something, and then COVID happened, and everything got screwed up. I hope to support those people who have not been able to continue, who are really talented and just starting out. I know how hard it’s been, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I’m still not on the top of my game, and it’s a hard journey. So anyone I can help, I want to help.

Hiroko Yamamura

Tell me about the importance of bringing a festival like this to Chicago.

It’s really great. Chicago’s festivals have been aimed at a younger audience, which is great. But because of Movement in Detroit and music for people who are into house and techno, there’s not really been a place for that. Without Movement in Detroit this year, this was able to happen, and it’s been amazing. To be a fest in Chicago and not have house and techno has always been a weird concept to me. It’s finally happening.

It’s diverse, and they’ve got the right artists here.

How do you think fashion is intrinsically tied with style and fashion? You’ve got the Y-3, and what are the sunglasses?

These are the Alexander Wangs, I’ve got the new Rick [Owens] Converse. That’s just me being bored. Fashion and house are very much intertwined, but also in a bad way. It can seem like a trend sometimes, like if you have these—I don’t know how much you’ve been to Berlin, but there’s like the techno outfit. And the music kind of goes with it, and if you dress up the way you want, you’re not a cool techno person. That’s bologna. Maybe people are depressed and listen to techno and only wear black, but most people wear black because we spill pizza on ourselves. For me it’s being interested in things that are a little bit different and a little bit different.

What excites you about the future of house music?

One thing I really think helps, especially post-pandemic, there seems to be a lot more recognition towards the originators and people that maybe have been sidelined by bigger famous acts. We’re beginning to see people who maybe didn’t have a chance before, they’ve rebuilt their brand over the pandemic, and people have time to research older music and proper music. When the party aspect was separated from the music, these not-so-great musicians who look great on stage and have amazing pyrotechnics, they’re music kind of fell apart. When you’re at home, just listening to that stuff, it all changes. People have a different attitude about it coming back and a different appreciation. You know, house is a Black, gay music. People need to recognize that and understand where it came from and give it that respect. It’s not just this party thing that you do on the sides.

DJ Heather

Tell me about the importance of bringing a festival like this to Chicago.

It’s major because it’s the first time in a long time where Chicago DJs and a particular sound are a focus. Normally, that wouldn’t really occur, and like importing acts to come here, so it’s nice to have a showcase and a tip of the hat to what goes on here. It’s very special.

There’s everything for everyone, and each stage is curated perfectly, so it’s cool.

How do you think fashion is intrinsically tied with style and fashion?

Being in music for so long, especially in the city and seeing how it’s evolved fashion-wise, seeing how it’s become big and small. You can also see the European influence, and the festival vibes, and people are showcasing other parties they’ve been to or wearing gear from a different festival.

What excites you about the future of house music?

I always feel like I’m not really living history in a way. I feel like part of the history that’s current right now, but it’s been cool to experience the waves. Mid-80s, big part of the second wave in the 90s, and still being part of the consistent crew of people, and seeing the new generation come into their own now, it’s really cool. There’s people who are getting their groove on right now have been in it for a while—10, 15 years—so they’re very much aware of other people who have been doing it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about the past. I’m constantly making music. The enthusiasm will always be there. I don’t feel like I’m a heritage DJ or a person who’s genre specific. There’s enough room for people however they want to present themselves. There’s enough room and enough music that you really can pull from different places and you can still feel very in it and very contemporary.

Will Clarke

Tell me about the importance of bringing a festival like this to Chicago.

Obviously, house music is from Chicago. Chicago’s always been great with clubs, the festivals have never been that strong. Detroit has Movement. That’s only the festival specifically for techno and house in America that books everyone from all of the genres. It kind of felt like Chicago needed to step up. With ARC Music Fest, they stepped the fuck up.

How do you think fashion is intrinsically tied with style and fashion?

I love fashion, but I think at this moment in time, I don’t think fashion and house music goes hand in hand. There’s a few people who do it well. I don’t do it well. I like to follow it, but I don’t go and dress. My favorite brands are like Faith Connection, I really like what Heron’s doing, Rhude is doing some nice stuff. But I wouldn’t want to go to a rave and wear that stuff. It’s too sweaty.

What excites you about the future of house music?

Chicago’s one of my favorite places to play in America. There’s always this amazing community. I think America is going to come back a lot stronger with house and techno. It obviously went to the UK and Europe, but it’s always seemed America looked to the UK and Europe to see what they were doing. A lot of UK artists are coming over here, trying to build a career here as well. It never used to be like that. With festivals like this, it’s gonna come back.

Gene Farris

Tell me about the importance of bringing a festival like this to Chicago.

It’s extremely important to have a festival like this in the home of house music that’s not just a festival, because we do have other ones like deep house and other old school festivals. But it’s important for us to have a festival that’s current, that has this quality, no cheese, no corn, real music, and not only that, you don’t just have this being a takeover. You don’t have these guys coming into Chicago and taking over the festival. You have them playing alongside us, guys who can hold their own. I play with these guys all over the planet, but never in my own home.

How do you think fashion is intrinsically tied with style and fashion?

I think fashion and dance music, it’s been synonymous since the beginning. Our music culture starts from the Black, gay crowd, from Chicago nonetheless. Just being in this scene, it’s definitely fashion driven. Queens catered to this scene, especially in Chicago. We’ve always catered to our digs. Fashion and dance music has always been intertwined and it always will be.

What excites you about the future of house music?

I think about it in terms of jazz guys, like Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. Even some of the rock guys like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Led Zeppelin. Were they thinking in terms of history when making music, or were they just thinking about making good music? I’m just thinking about making good music and having a good time. I’ll let history decide what’s historic.