This morning in the opening panel of the EDM Biz conference in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Marc Geiger, head of WME’s music department and Perry Farrell, rock singer and founder of Lollapalooza sat down for a long awaited one-on-one conversation. Throughout the somewhat garbled conversation (aided, perhaps, by what appeared to be a cocktail, delivered to Farrell on stage by the conference’s host, Jason Bentley), the Jane’s Addiction front=man Farrell implied that his own electronic music debut could be released soon.
Both Geiger and Farrell shared how some of their experiences from the early days of Lollapalooza could be applied to dance music festivals of today, especially those going through some growing pains. Specifically, Geiger discussed the need for festivals to evolve to keep up with infrastructure demands while maintaining the creative core of what made them successful in the first place. “Post-consolidation the creators need to get creative again,” Geiger told the crowd.
During their conversation, Geiger and Farrell affirmed their respective credentials within the dance music community. It was soon after Lollapalooza’s initial success, when Farrell created the all-electronic ill-fated ENIT Festival. While it failed to achieve the level of endurance that Electric Daisy Carnival has (while also costing what Farrell says was a $1 million of his own money), it left him undeterred from continuing to expand his own repertoire beyond rock music. Today is he is deeply involved in an immersive musical experience with electronic music inspired by New York’s Sleep No More interactive theater shows.
For his own electronic music album Farrell says he collaborated with his friend, DJ Alex Graham as well as Joachim Gerraud, who recently relocated to Los Angeles, in part to work with Farrell. “He’s got a whomping sound but it’s classy,” Farrell says of the French producer, known largely for his work with David Guetta.
When asked what contemporary artists Farrell is currently listening to, he mentioned techno stalwarts like Guy Gerber and Richie Hawtin as well as Jamie Jones and Nina Kraviz.
“She’s hot, she’s sexy,” Farrell said of Kraviz. “She DJs and she just hangs out, but she’s got good taste.”
“She’s a Russian girl who knows how to hold a cigarette,” Geiger added, admiringly.