Amidst the spectacle of thousands of furry boots and glowing gloves, shooting fireworks, parading mushrooms and clowns and a rotating, LED-lit Ferris wheel, it's easy to lose track of the many DJs playing at Electric Daisy Carnival. Especially when they're not on stage, screaming at you to "Put your hands UUUUUP!!!!" Which is why we decided to schmooze our way into the "Artist VIP Area" to catch up with moombahton pioneers Nadastrom, Swedish hotties Rebecca & Fiona, and British drum and bass dude Loadstar—and ask them some extremely pressing questions about raver chicks and silly outfits. Some of these DJs were running on no sleep. Others were just wasted. But all of them were lots of fun. Here are our findings.
NadastromTHUMP: What is the silliest thing you've ever worn?
Dave Nada: Halloween of 2008, we played in Austin. I was trying to combine costumes. I wanted to be a mariachi guy and Jason Voorhees at the same time. So I wore a vest with no shirt on and a hockey mask and a moustache. No one got it.
Matt Nordstrom: Crocs.What's the best present a raver has ever given you?
MN: Custom kandi. One time they gave us party favors, which we threw back into the crowd. The fans that caught them were so hyped that they've been coming back to every show since.What's your favorite track of yours, and why?
MN: Our remix of Mele's "Bombay."
DN: Why, man?
MN: I feel like it perfectly sums up what Nadastrom is to a T. All the influences of where we come from are in that record. Do you have one?
DN: One of my favorites is our "Ghetto Pass" track. When we put that EP out on Dubsided in 2009, we were owning our sound as Nadastrom together. We applied our backgrounds in Baltimore club and techno and I think it worked the best on that track.If you could put anything in the world on your DJ rider, what would it be?
DN: Coconut water with espresso with it. I've only had it twice—once with Bassnectar, and another time when we played the Detroit Electronic Music Festival last year. It's amazing
MN: And maybe an ambulance.Who is your closest friend who is playing at EDC?
MN: Dubfire. DC represent!What's your best piece of rave advice?
DN: Water.What's the stupidest thing you've ever seen happen in a crowd?
DN: The "brotem pole," which is a bunch of a bros stacked on top of each other. The biggest one I've ever seen was at Stereosonic in Australia. It was a total of five bros.Aren't bros called something else there? Bogans?
MN: A bogan pole! [laughs]What's the best place you've ever been to a party?
MN: Panorama Bar in Berlin.
DN: Revolver in Melbourne.
MN: Output in Brooklyn.
DN: UHall in DC.So… everywhere. What's your favorite quality in a raver girl?
MN: A shirt that says "Boys like sugar." Sorry, my wife is a raver and had a shirt like that back in the day. She just posted it on Instagram for #throwbackthursday. Hi babe!
DN: Somehow who can shuffle with their hands. Like a handstand shuffle.
Rebecca & FionaTHUMP: What's the best present a raver has ever given you?
Rebecca: They always give us these cool bracelets.What's your bedtime tonight?
Rebecca: I don't know. Who knows? I don't like to be told when to go to bed.
Fiona: Maybe, like, one to two minutes from now. I'm really wasted. I think need to eat something.If you could have anything on your rider what would it be?
Fiona: Marx.Like a bunch of guys named Mark?
Fiona: No, Marx.Mics?
Fiona: Karl Marx, the philosopher. We would really enjoy having a party with him.Where is the craziest place you've ever partied?
Rebecca: We were in L.A. and this random guy walked up invited us to a weird house party. It was like being at a hobo camp with all sorts of people including homeless people. It was so great.Who is your closest friend playing on the EDC lineup?
Rebecca: We love Richie Hawtin, but he played yesterday. We are crazy about Richie!!!!! Today we don't really know anyone. We're just hanging out with each other.What's the silliest thing you've ever worn?
Rebecca: We did this photo shoot for Adidas in South Africa. We love Adidas, especially the old-school style jumpers and tracksuits. We did this ad for them, they flew us there and everything, and then we got there and the clothes were the new Adidas clothes, like too tight tops and too loose pants. But we liked them and wore them anyways even though they were too small.What's your favorite track of yours and why?
Fiona: The track we did with Spank Rock. People know him for being a rapper but he has an amazing singing voice. It's so cool. "Churches on Fire"!! Definitely.What's your favorite quality in a raver girl?
Fiona: Fishnets and…
Rebecca: Fuzzy boots. [Starts singing] Fuzzy boots! Fuzzy boots! Like, oh my god, they're like soooo amazing. [Fake Valley girl voice]
Fiona: Actually, you're wearing a lot of clothes right now.Being fully clothed at a rave is the future. But I do have a hole in my pants.
Fiona: Fight the patriarchy!
LoadstarWhat is the silliest thing you've ever worn?
Gavin Harris: A mankini. It was at a bachelor party about three years ago.Did you feel empowered?
No, I felt embarrassed. I wore it for like three minutes. I'm shy!Where's the best place you've ever been to a party?
EDC Vegas last year. Adam C, who runs the Ram, the record label we're all signed to, was having a bachelor party.The same one you wore a mankini to?
No, no. [laughs] We all played at EDC on Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday we had this bachelor partyWhat's your bedtime tonight?
As soon as possible. We did our album launch at Fabric last night, and I stayed up all night before getting on a flight here. No rest for the wicked…What's the best present a raver has ever given you?
A homemade t-shirt that she made me. It was heartwarming.Do you wear it?
No. [laughs]What's your favorite quality in a raver girl?
Their enthusiasm. Some of the raver chicks are so into the music, and they're the perfect people to play to, because they love everything you play.If you could put anything on your DJ rider what would it be?
A mankini!What's the stupidest thing you've ever seen in a crowd?
Someone in a blowup boat on top of the crowd getting pushed around.Who's your closest friend on the EDC lineup?
Culture Shock. James was at our album launch last night. He's probably feeling in a similar state as I am.What's your favorite track that you've made?
Probably "Losing You," which is coming out on our new album next week. The structure of it and the vocals are a different sound for us. We usually make drum & bass, but this was our first attempt at a dubstep tune.Why are you such a badass?
'Cause I'm from Bristol and I play drum & bass.
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Dave Nada: Halloween of 2008, we played in Austin. I was trying to combine costumes. I wanted to be a mariachi guy and Jason Voorhees at the same time. So I wore a vest with no shirt on and a hockey mask and a moustache. No one got it.
Matt Nordstrom: Crocs.What's the best present a raver has ever given you?
MN: Custom kandi. One time they gave us party favors, which we threw back into the crowd. The fans that caught them were so hyped that they've been coming back to every show since.What's your favorite track of yours, and why?
MN: Our remix of Mele's "Bombay."
DN: Why, man?
MN: I feel like it perfectly sums up what Nadastrom is to a T. All the influences of where we come from are in that record. Do you have one?
DN: One of my favorites is our "Ghetto Pass" track. When we put that EP out on Dubsided in 2009, we were owning our sound as Nadastrom together. We applied our backgrounds in Baltimore club and techno and I think it worked the best on that track.If you could put anything in the world on your DJ rider, what would it be?
DN: Coconut water with espresso with it. I've only had it twice—once with Bassnectar, and another time when we played the Detroit Electronic Music Festival last year. It's amazing
MN: And maybe an ambulance.Who is your closest friend who is playing at EDC?
MN: Dubfire. DC represent!What's your best piece of rave advice?
DN: Water.
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DN: The "brotem pole," which is a bunch of a bros stacked on top of each other. The biggest one I've ever seen was at Stereosonic in Australia. It was a total of five bros.Aren't bros called something else there? Bogans?
MN: A bogan pole! [laughs]What's the best place you've ever been to a party?
MN: Panorama Bar in Berlin.
DN: Revolver in Melbourne.
MN: Output in Brooklyn.
DN: UHall in DC.So… everywhere. What's your favorite quality in a raver girl?
MN: A shirt that says "Boys like sugar." Sorry, my wife is a raver and had a shirt like that back in the day. She just posted it on Instagram for #throwbackthursday. Hi babe!
DN: Somehow who can shuffle with their hands. Like a handstand shuffle.
Rebecca: They always give us these cool bracelets.What's your bedtime tonight?
Rebecca: I don't know. Who knows? I don't like to be told when to go to bed.
Fiona: Maybe, like, one to two minutes from now. I'm really wasted. I think need to eat something.If you could have anything on your rider what would it be?
Fiona: Marx.Like a bunch of guys named Mark?
Fiona: No, Marx.Mics?
Fiona: Karl Marx, the philosopher. We would really enjoy having a party with him.Where is the craziest place you've ever partied?
Rebecca: We were in L.A. and this random guy walked up invited us to a weird house party. It was like being at a hobo camp with all sorts of people including homeless people. It was so great.
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Rebecca: We love Richie Hawtin, but he played yesterday. We are crazy about Richie!!!!! Today we don't really know anyone. We're just hanging out with each other.What's the silliest thing you've ever worn?
Rebecca: We did this photo shoot for Adidas in South Africa. We love Adidas, especially the old-school style jumpers and tracksuits. We did this ad for them, they flew us there and everything, and then we got there and the clothes were the new Adidas clothes, like too tight tops and too loose pants. But we liked them and wore them anyways even though they were too small.What's your favorite track of yours and why?
Fiona: The track we did with Spank Rock. People know him for being a rapper but he has an amazing singing voice. It's so cool. "Churches on Fire"!! Definitely.What's your favorite quality in a raver girl?
Fiona: Fishnets and…
Rebecca: Fuzzy boots. [Starts singing] Fuzzy boots! Fuzzy boots! Like, oh my god, they're like soooo amazing. [Fake Valley girl voice]
Fiona: Actually, you're wearing a lot of clothes right now.Being fully clothed at a rave is the future. But I do have a hole in my pants.
Fiona: Fight the patriarchy!
Gavin Harris: A mankini. It was at a bachelor party about three years ago.Did you feel empowered?
No, I felt embarrassed. I wore it for like three minutes. I'm shy!
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EDC Vegas last year. Adam C, who runs the Ram, the record label we're all signed to, was having a bachelor party.The same one you wore a mankini to?
No, no. [laughs] We all played at EDC on Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday we had this bachelor partyWhat's your bedtime tonight?
As soon as possible. We did our album launch at Fabric last night, and I stayed up all night before getting on a flight here. No rest for the wicked…What's the best present a raver has ever given you?
A homemade t-shirt that she made me. It was heartwarming.Do you wear it?
No. [laughs]What's your favorite quality in a raver girl?
Their enthusiasm. Some of the raver chicks are so into the music, and they're the perfect people to play to, because they love everything you play.If you could put anything on your DJ rider what would it be?
A mankini!What's the stupidest thing you've ever seen in a crowd?
Someone in a blowup boat on top of the crowd getting pushed around.Who's your closest friend on the EDC lineup?
Culture Shock. James was at our album launch last night. He's probably feeling in a similar state as I am.What's your favorite track that you've made?
Probably "Losing You," which is coming out on our new album next week. The structure of it and the vocals are a different sound for us. We usually make drum & bass, but this was our first attempt at a dubstep tune.Why are you such a badass?
'Cause I'm from Bristol and I play drum & bass.