The slow burn towards an event like ARC starting up does in some ways feel true to the spirit of Chicago and how house began. It was able to form in the city because of how many separate influences converged in the nightlife scene over a prolonged period.
DJ Heather, DJ Lady D, Hiroka Yamamura and The Blessed Madonna all name numerous influencing genres, ranging across funk, soul, new wave, R&B, pop, disco (including Italo and Philly styles), punk rock and industrial. Even when house music got its name, it was all of those things, without clearly delineated lines. “It was really a liminal space between them,” says The Blessed Madonna. All-ages club Medusa’s, which opened in 1983 after The Warehouse had closed, was significant as a cultural melting pot that impacted the still-developing sound and culture.
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“To me there was this benefit to not being on the coast,” says Hiroko Yamamura. “In New York and LA, things always happen and are fashionable. In the Midwest, we get things very slowly. That was actually what happened with the machinery. Those drum machines were made to actually sound like real drum kits, the 303 was made to sound like a real bass guitar, and it did a really bad job of it. The 909s, the 808s, they were in the discount bin by the time they got here.” Roland’s instruments being affordable, in the words of DJ Lady D, “democratised the studio experience. It went from having to spend a lot of money, going with a lot of musicians, to you could do it on your own.”
After establishing that culture in a way only Chicago could, the sound has gradually morphed in unique directions through international territories that have put their own stamp on it. South Africa has been firing on all cylinders, developing styles such as Afro house, kwaito, gqom and amapiano, while other subgenres such as French touch, hard house, Balearic beat and desande have arisen in France, the UK, Ibiza and Brazil. Many developments have also occurred at home in Chicago or nearby in North America, such as ghetto house, footwork, ballroom, and Baltimore and Jersey club.
In a globalised world, all of these styles exist in a symbiotic relationship, influencing each other. ARC not only educates but provides a focal point to keep things moving in the ever-fertile scene of Chicago, which the city’s leading artists welcome.
