With boundary-pushing DJs and EDM artists storming the world’s biggest stages and recently dominating pop culture, it can feel like the most surefire way to community acceptance and wide success might be jumping behind the boards or computers and turning out some dance-y, bumping techno tracks.
But no matter how world-conquering a sound or style may seem, the keys into it are still bound to be the energy, the attitude, and that real inviting, communal experience that audiences are always looking for.
That’s been the discovery of Tulsa-based DJ, producer, and EDM experimenter VARI.
The mysteriously glitchy and deconstructed digital persona of producer Jack Ritchie, VARI has already seen some viral moments and streaming successes, but it’s been a challenge of its own to navigate a rising career in the EDM world from a place as often overlooked in that scene as Tulsa.
VARI (Jack Ritchie): I’d say like maybe like a decade ago, that was when I really started going to shows, and I think the scene felt pretty strong then, we were getting a lot of bigger acts coming up through Tulsa, and it seemed like we were kind of on the radar.
And it kind of seemed like we fell off that radar. Like a lot of the bigger artists just started skipping Oklahoma altogether. I think it's just now, from what I've seen, started to kind of come back up.
I think that kind of motivated me to try and get more involved.
Brett Fieldcamp: For Ritchie, getting involved meant engaging the local community of clubs and dance fans more directly.
Rather than focusing all of his efforts on the expected EDM avenues like music licensing and digital content, he’s been pushing to form real relationships and establish himself as a part of the scene more than just a product of it.
VARI (Jack Ritchie): I think it's really hard to stand out. You really have to like build up a fan base to some degree, and I think that's the hardest part that, you know, I'm even trying to do now is how do you go from people being like “oh I've heard of that guy” to like actually caring about you as an artist?
And I think that's kind of the epiphany I had recently, like, working in the local scene like can be good just because you get that local network of people and you start building those in-person connections of not just oh like “I've heard this guy's music online. He's cool” to like “oh, like I've met this guy” or “I've seen him in person.”
And now they're more motivated to be like “alright, I would go out and see him again.”
Brett Fieldcamp: But that effort to build real connection with audiences and communities in person has presented its own challenges.
While Ritchie says that it’s easy – and often even tempting – to spend loads of time in the studio tweaking and tuning his tracks and developing broader, longer-form conceptual pieces, he’s lately being pushing himself to scale it back, focusing on the raw emotions and the palpable, danceable energies of his tracks, not just in the studio, but as a physical, energetic force on stage as well.
VARI (Jack Ritchie): Being a good live performer on stage and being able to work the room and stuff, I think, is an undervalued skill in EDM.
When you're DJing, it's so easy to just, like, head down, working your knobs, not moving at all, and trying to get the crowd going can be difficult. But if you get a bunch of people in there that, you know, especially at a lower level, like people just want to hang out and dance and have a good time.
I think it's a mentality shift. Maybe I started appreciating the value in just getting to the point for people.
Brett Fieldcamp: But getting to the point hasn’t been about compromising any of his vision or softening the edges of his sound.
For VARI – and for Jack Ritchie – the point has become the connection and the unique, electric conversation that happens between the DJ and the dancers when the beat is undeniable and the emotional core of the presentation is strong, relatable, and primed for energy.
VARI (Jack Ritchie): People want something they can emotionally identify with, and so if you really want people to stop, it's like something they can relate to, like a character they identify with, an experience they identify with, an aesthetic that they feel represents themselves better.
You gotta have some hook to make people think like “oh yeah, this is for me.”
Brett Fieldcamp: VARI’s newest EP, “Underflow,” is available now, and you can keep up with Jack Ritchie and the full immersive VARI experience at varimusic.com.
———————————
KGOU relies on voluntary contributions from readers and listeners to further its mission of public service with arts and culture reporting for Oklahoma and beyond. To contribute to our efforts, make your donation online, or contact our Membership department.
