Q&A With Pasquale Rotella

What in particular will the 100,000+ attendees find unique to this incarnation of EDC? Or, what has been improved upon last events?

We have an all-new experience for our Headliners this year—new stages, new art installations, and very special sets by some of dance music’s most legendary DJs. Every night on kineticFIELD we will have an extra special musical and visual celebration planned that will take you on a journey through 20 years of EDC. Also, circuitGROUNDS, bassPOD, and wasteLAND will feature massive stage redesigns,giving them a totally different feel. And of course lots of surprises that you’ll have to discover for yourself!

The event was a sellout but it apparently took longer. Any reasons why?

We went on sale at a completely different time than we normally do, plus recent changes to Nevada’s Live Entertainment Tax slowed things down a bit. There are also a lot more festivals these days, and many of our fans wait to buy tickets until after they have attended some of these other events.

How do you balance your time with being a father?

Being a father is the greatest feeling in the world, and I love coming home to my family at the end of a long work day. Rainbow comes to Insomniac HQ on a weekly basis and attends all the festivals, and I create a fun place for her at my office or backstage to play and read books so she’s always part of everything I do. Seeing the world through her eyes gives me new inspiration every day. I grew up washing dishes at my parents restaurant and always listened to them working and meeting with people, so my entrepreneurial spirit comes from them. I think it helps her development being in a working environment. How else is she going to know what to do, should she choose to take over?

BTW, tried to swing by your ‘area’ at Burning Man but found out that place takes a lot of energy to travel through! (not really a question, just the truth)-

I’m glad you didn’t make the trek over because this was the first year we weren’t there with the full ‘Wide Awake Camp’ set up!
We decided to take a break last year and focus our efforts on our own Nocturnal Wonderland festival, which expanded to three days and occurs on Labor Day weekend as well.

Anything in particular regarding Live Nation’s contributions that the industry should know about or has a misperception about?

Live Nation has been an incredible strategic partner ever since we joined forces in 2013. It’s difficult to find a corporate entity as supportive of our vision and creative projects as they are.

Finally, any comment regarding the trial in Los Angeles?  We want to make sure you have an opportunity if so.

I can’t comment except to say that I have the utmost confidence in my lawyers and the judicial system.