In a dimly lit room with hovering disco balls, Evanston event venue PALMHOUSE, pulsated with music. Students sang and swayed along to songs from “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder to “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan with all eyes on the night’s performers.
Student DJs and bands took the stage Thursday night at Mayfest’s annual Battle of the Artists, a competition to play at student-run music festival Dillo Day.
Three bands – The Deliverables, Tuesday and Inertia – as well as three DJs – Moody Acuario, Noise Pollution and Perl – sought to secure their spot on the Dillo mainstage in May.
The six performers were selected by Mayfest from an application pool of around 50 different acts, Mayfest Director of Programming and Bienen senior Catherine Johnston said.
Medill freshman and DJ Jared Perlmutter, whose stage name is Perl, said he has been producing music since he was 10 years old. In middle school, Perlmutter received his first DJ deck and has been mixing music ever since.
For the Battle of the Artists, Perlmutter said he did not prepare a set. Instead, he said he mixed music on the fly, based on what his audience seemed to enjoy.
“I just love to go off the cuff,” Perlmutter said. “I’m not nervous because if no one’s having fun, then I know how to flip that. My job is just to make everyone else has an enjoyable time.”
Perlmutter’s set ranged from classic tunes, such as “More Than a Woman” by the Bee Gees, to recent pop hits such as remixes of “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” by Role Model.
As a freshman, Perlmutter said it has been exciting to grow in the past year from being in high school to opening for Rico Nasty at A&O’s Blowout in the fall and potentially playing at Dillo.
“I was literally in high school last year … making music by myself in my bedroom,” he said. “Now I released a song this year and playing it … live in front of a bunch of people, and hopefully a few hundred or thousand people at Dillo.”
Weinberg senior and DJ Mahmood Sadeghi, known as Moody Acuario onstage, did not know what Dillo was before coming to Northwestern. He said that as soon as he learned about the music festival in his freshman year, he decided to join Mayfest as a member.
However, Mayfest members cannot compete in Battle of the Bands. Sadeghi said he decided to quit Mayfest his senior year to try to join Dillo in a new way: as a performer.
“I’m really excited to see more Black and brown talent on the main stage, and I hope I will be able to contribute to that,” he said. “I’m a senior, and this is gonna be my last hurrah before I go.”
During his set, the crowd bopped up and down to his fast-paced, electric remixes, merging genres through “Careless Whisper” by George Michael and “Gucci Flip Flops” by Bhad Bhabie.
At the event, students cast their vote for their top sets, writing down their favorite DJ and favorite band on slips of paper for Mayfest to count. Johnston said the winners will be revealed within the next week.
Allowing students to vote in the Battle of the Artists ensures the chosen performers are more representative of what the student body wants to see on stage, Johnston said. She said that for student performers, the festival helps student artists expose their music to a broader audience, Johnston said.
“We have a lot of people who are really interested in music and are really talented musicians themselves,” she said. “Giving them the opportunity to showcase their own talents and share the stage with bigger acts … gives these smaller artists a chance to show themselves off.”
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