The Green Room: John Summit
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00:00Hey guys, welcome to the green room. We are backstage at Madison Square Garden with John
00:13Summit. How are you? I'm doing great. How you doing? I'm doing good. It's a big day
00:19for you. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. How are you feeling? I'm feeling good. I thought I'd be way more
00:23nervous than I am, but I mean, I've been preparing for the set for at least six months now and
00:28everything's fully locked in. So all I gotta do is perform now. All you gotta do is get
00:33out there. Do you get nervous at all before you go on stage? Uh, I mean I get nervous
00:37for every set to be honest. Like even if it's like 50 people, I get pretty nervous. So this
00:42is like what? 20,000? Uh, so I should be a little bit more nervous than I am, but I've
00:47been throwing parties all week already in New York, so I'm pretty comfortable right
00:50now. I love that. 50, 50 people or 20,000. You still got those nerves. I like nerves
00:55because if you don't have nerves, it means you don't care. Exactly. Exactly. Uh, so how
01:00are you liking New York? I mean, I love New York. It like kind of stresses me out a little
01:05bit cause there's so much going on at all times. I'm from Chicago, which feels like
01:09a smaller New York. Um, but I mean, it's been amazing. Like the people, the energy, big
01:15foodie, so the food's great. Um, and yeah, the weather's been nuts. So yeah, I throw
01:20like these boat parties and stuff has been fun. I know I saw your boat party. You guys
01:23were like partying right next to like Lady Liberty. Yeah, that was, I've never seen such
01:27a livery in person before. Oh my God. I was a little unimpressed. It was a little smaller
01:31in person, but she's, she's not as big as you might think, but you know, you know, she's,
01:36she's a queen. She's still a queen. Yeah. I wasn't a little worried. We're going to tip
01:41over the boat though. Cause like some waves to this on the side and like the whole crowd
01:44was like falling over left and right. But yeah, that could have been like a PR disaster
01:48floating in the Hudson river. Um, I've really loved watching your rise of your career, especially
01:56over the last couple of months, ever since Coachella, it's been pretty amazing. Um, and
02:01a lot of people think, you know, or people can assume that it was an overnight success,
02:06but you've been at this for a very long time. Yeah. I mean, I've been releasing music for
02:10eight years now. I've been producing for double that amount, been DJing for twice as long.
02:16So yeah, I've been doing this for a while. Um, but I think cause like dance music, especially
02:21underground dance music is very niche in that if you're not in the scene, you don't know,
02:25cause we don't have, we're not big on Spotify and like not on the radio. It wasn't until
02:29recently my tracks got on the radio. So, uh, it's funny when people would say overnight
02:33success, but for every overnight success is the 10 years that takes to make it happen.
02:39Your debut album, Comfort and Chaos comes out July 12th. Uh, how are you feeling? Are
02:45you so, so excited to put this out into the world? Yeah, that was like the most hell I've
02:49ever been through is putting that album together. Cause I mean, I've just been doing singles
02:53for eight years and I didn't really have to make an album cause I was successful, but
02:58all my favorite artists all have, you know, albums and then it's something I've always
03:02wanted to do and uh, made a lot of music that people don't expect from me on it. So I am
03:07very, I'm more nervous about putting that out than playing Madison Square Garden. Yeah.
03:11Cause you are known for like dance, fun music. And I, this new album shows a little bit more
03:18of a vulnerable side of you. You put more of your emotion into it and people are going to,
03:22um, hear a little bit more of your story, which is pretty cool. Um, is it, was it hard for you
03:28to open up in that way or does it kind of just come out of you or do you have to do like mental
03:32prep? Like, well, it was hard because I mean, I was on the road for like four years straight
03:36of just, you know, playing every single weekend, like five nights a week. And, um,
03:40so I was making just like dance for party tracks, which are easy to make cause you know,
03:44they're going to work. Totally. And I finally took a month off to actually write these tracks
03:47and get more introspective with it and kind of tap into more of my more emotional side. And
03:53like, cause on stage, I'm John Summit, the performer, but at home on John Schuster,
03:58this is my real name. And I didn't make like make, you know, kind of more rainy day music
04:03and stuff until that period of time. And, uh, it turned out pretty good. I think
04:08does the fact that you have your stage name, John Summit, and then John Schuster,
04:12is that, um, is that separation nice? Like, is it good to have that balance because,
04:17um, you can kind of know who you are on stage and then know who you are off of it.
04:22Yeah. It's like a double-edged sword, right? Where it's like, I'm pretty like introverted
04:26and stuff in real life. So, but then when I go on stage, I can turn the John Summit brain on
04:31and become this big performer in front and play in front of a hundred thousand people. And I'm
04:34totally fine with it. But when you're touring and playing every night, you kind of get lost in that
04:38and you kind of forget who you are a little bit. And so I've been trying to take more time off
04:42lately and seeing family and friends and like get, and then I think I make better music when I get
04:46out of that zone. Cause that's more of the performing zone. You know what I mean?
04:49Totally. And I feel like, like, um, whenever you spend time with
04:52friends and family that knew you before you were John Summit, it really like not only humbles you,
04:58but it puts it kind of, you, you find yourself again and find what makes you happy. Find your
05:03joy. And, um, And they treat me like a normal person too. And they, you know, they make fun of
05:07me and they keep me, you know, humble and stuff. They don't care who you are. They'll still make
05:11fun of you. I love that. Uh, the lead single go back featuring Julia Church. Uh, that song
05:17is incredible. I love it. Uh, it was that one of the songs that you previewed at Coachella.
05:23Yeah. So I played that Coachella, I think for the first time.
05:26And, um, yeah, the reaction was absolutely wild because I made that one in London with
05:30Subfocus and he's one of the most legendary drum and bass producers of all time. And I kind of
05:34headed him up with the song idea because I had this vocal with Julia and then, you know, we had
05:38the idea of doing both house and drum and bass on the same record, which is kind of like the whole
05:43concept of comfort and chaos of the album is the duality, you know, kind of the same thing with the
05:47Cascade collab, how it starts off all emotional and beautiful, then it has a big techno drop.
05:51So, uh, yeah, the reaction to that one's been nuts. I love that. I love, um, the comfort and
05:56chaos, um, kind of messaging. I think it's awesome. I feel like the name on everyone's
06:01lips at Coachella was John Summit, like seriously. Um, and, uh, I, I just know so many people that
06:08loved your set so much. And you also previewed so many of your songs that are on this new album.
06:14Um, I just, and I know that you love music festivals, you love performing them,
06:18but you also used to go to music festivals just as a viewer as well. Um, I still kind of do,
06:23I guess, because when I'm at Coachella, I'm still going every single day. Okay. I love that. So, uh,
06:28what's the biggest difference of going to a music festival versus performing at a music festival?
06:34Well, I mean, it's the total opposite experience, but I think you don't know what to do as a
06:40performer unless you go. I mean, you like, cause I went for so many years. I kind of know exactly
06:45what I like in a performance. I mean, as soon as I finished everything, I always set with Dom
06:48Doll. I went in the crowd and saw justice and I was just taking notes the whole time because their
06:52lighting show is incredible because I know I have the music and stuff down. I guess I always went
06:56as a fan, but I was always kind of like mentally studying performances because the whole act of
07:00performing just fascinates me. What was like the first time that you were like, okay, I want to
07:05DJ. I want to do this. I want to see how it works to make this, make these, make this music. So,
07:11I went to La Plusa every year growing up. Yeah. Like seeing dead mouse in the pouring rain in
07:152011 is what really inspired me to go all in on DJing. Cause I realized that it's more than
07:21just DJing. You can do a whole show, a whole production. And then I'm debuting my, like,
07:26I mean, I teased it at Coachella and in Toronto last weekend, but this is like the full debut of
07:31the comfort and chaos kind of arena show production today. And, uh, that's been inspired by, you know,
07:37when you think of Daft Punk, Justice, dead mouse, um, all these legendary electronic acts, I think
07:42that's what is really cool about what we do. I, I also too, with you, I think you, I love your work
07:51because not only do you make amazing music, but there's also so much that goes into this industry
07:55besides just the music and your social media game kills it. You're hilarious on Twitter. Uh,
08:02your tech talks are awesome. And, uh, you have your event company. There's so many
08:06aspects to your career. And I, I think it's very smart. And I, I, is there a strategy behind your
08:14social media or is this kind of who you are? You just love to post on Twitter all the time.
08:19So I've been tweeting since like 2012 and I was pretty much just tweeting into the void the first
08:23six years where I got no likes on anything, but then I was like releasing music and I never changed
08:27my personal to the professional handle or whatever my artist handle. Um, cause I just like
08:32flipped John Schuster to John summit, but I was still tweeting just like, um, you know, kind of
08:37just me. And, uh, I think the fans and stuff really gravitated towards that where I feel like everyone
08:42else is so professional and takes himself so seriously when, uh, I mean what I do, I mean,
08:46I take my music really seriously, but at the end of the day, you know, I'm throwing parties,
08:50we're having fun and like, well, it's not that serious. It's not that serious. You're a real
08:55human and people love to see that. Uh, how does it feel that Barack Obama knows who you are?
09:00It's nuts. Cause he, he plays where you are as one of his favorite tracks of the year. And I'm
09:05just trying to envision what setting he listens to the track. I am trying to, I'm doing the same
09:11thing. It's like his daughters that put him on or something like ahead of it. It's probably his
09:14daughter's putting him on and like, I can just see him like maybe making a coffee in the kitchen
09:19and that's just like what he's doing. Or maybe he's on a, maybe he's on the treadmill. I feel
09:22like Obama works out a little bit. You don't think he sneakily goes out to nightclubs,
09:26puts like a little mask on or something? I would be, imagine you're like at the club
09:32or you're, you're performing in Barack Obama's in the front row. Like,
09:35yeah, I mean, I should have put him on a guest list for tonight. Who knows?
09:37Totally. Maybe you come backstage, come have a drink in the green room.
09:42That's awesome. Whenever, uh, whenever that happened, were your parents like freaking out?
09:47Yeah. It's like things like that where they like, they're like, Oh, this is the real deal. Like,
09:51you know, I can play big festivals and stuff, but they won't even know what the festivals are.
09:55But then they see, like, I get like Forbes 30 to 30 and then, you know, they're like, Oh,
09:59so you're putting your business degree to good work. I'm like, I guess.
10:02Yeah. It's always interesting to see like what parents like, like, because you, like you said,
10:06you know, you'd be, could be performing the biggest festival, but it's like these little
10:10things, not really little. I mean, Forbes 30 under 30 is like incredible. Congratulations.
10:15But it's funny. I love that. Um, I'm sure they're so proud of you.
10:19Oh yeah. They're here tonight too. So it's going to be a lot of fun.
10:21Awesome. Awesome. I saw this clip of you, how you have never gotten flowers for a girl before.
10:29Did you, did you, did you know that that would take off in the way it did?
10:34Well, it's, it's also because I don't like date girls and stuff like that. So it made it,
10:38it kind of made me look bad where it's like, if I've been dating girls,
10:41I still don't give them flowers. But, uh, yeah, I guess that was a pretty dumb comment.
10:46Honestly, like looking, I looked at it from like a perspective of like seeing your side and I'm like,
10:50it's fine. I understand. Like you didn't, you didn't know, but now,
10:53you know, I know I'm a little too old to have not known that, but you know,
10:56you have to figure it out eventually. But guess what? You know what you did?
10:59You took action. You got flowers yourself and you gave them to everyone you work with. How'd
11:05that make you feel? And how'd that make them feel? Well, I was surprised like how happy they were
11:09about it. I'm like, uh, that's all I have to do is just give flowers and then it makes people
11:13that happy. So I was, yeah, I'm, I'm going to start doing it more often. I think.
11:18Now, you know, what's your favorite flower? Uh, I'm still trying to figure out what, like,
11:23I don't know my flower types. You don't know. You don't know the difference between tulips,
11:28sunflower, tulip, sunflower, hydrangea. I know what a sunflower is. I know what a rose is.
11:33You know, I've seen the bachelor before. I always thought like a rose was like,
11:37kind of like, will you marry me? Kind of thing. So I'm like, yeah,
11:40so this is the bachelor's fault. Okay. This is not my fault.
11:44That's so funny. Uh, if you could work with any other artists that is outside of your genre,
11:49maybe it's country, maybe it's rap, who would it be?
11:53Hmm. That's a tough question because, um, I mean, I, I like to try to find small artists who are
12:01more like unknown and unheard. Like Halo, for example, she was in seven different bands at
12:06once before going into electronic music and stuff. And I got connected to her through cascade,
12:11but like finding like a new act like that. And now she's a huge act and she's,
12:16she's the special guest tonight as well. But, uh, and she's just such a massive talent. So I think
12:21using my platform to kind of put new people on, that's why I have my label experts only to
12:26where I kind of, I don't know. I just, I think that's more fun to me.
12:30The smaller stuff and kind of the journey. I love that. Uh, tell me a little bit about
12:35experts only and how it's been having this company and these events.
12:39Um, it's awesome because the way I got put on is that I was releasing music through other
12:44underground labels that, you know, took a risk in me. Cause I didn't have a following
12:48and stuff. When I first signed records, I didn't have, you know, a big social media
12:52presence or anything. Um, and I feel like it'd be stupid that I can't do the same for other
12:56producers that send me such amazing music. And like, I'm playing a five hour set tonight.
13:01Half the music is my music, but the other half is most of these artists on the label that I've signed
13:05in this new music I dig for every day. I mean, I get like 300 demos a day now, which is nuts.
13:10That's insane.
13:11It's hard to filter through that.
13:12I'm sure it is. Uh, but all you need is that one that you find.
13:15Exactly. Exactly.
13:17Uh, I gotta let you get ready for tonight because five hours.
13:20Yes.
13:21Damn.
13:21And then I have a three hour after party set, so I got a full eight hour shift tonight.
13:25Okay. Well someone needs to drink a Red Bull, but I have to ask, um,
13:29do you have any pre-show, do you have any pre-show rituals?
13:33Um, usually just a few shots of tequila and that's what gets me going.
13:37I love that. Bring the energy, get it going.
13:39But besides that, literally up until 10 minutes before the set, like I got my laptop here,
13:43I'm working in changing every little detail cause I'm very neurotic. But then once I'm 10 minutes
13:49out, close the laptop, export my USBs, take my tequila shots and I get on stage.
13:53Get on stage. I love that. Well, thank you so much for coming to Rolling Stones,
13:57the green room, and we'll see you tonight. I'm so excited.
14:01Thanks for having me.