Lollapalooza Founder Says He Hates EDM: "I Sometimes Cringe at My Own Festival"

Perry Farrell, founder of Lollapalooza and the lead singer of Jane's Addiction, says he hates EDM. He added, "I sometimes cringe at my own festival."

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Complex Original

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In just a few days, the Chicago-based mega-festival Lollapalooza will celebrate its 25th year of existence. Recently, the festival's founder and lead singer of Jane's Addiction, Perry Farrell, sat down for an interview with the Chicago Tribune and made some divisive comments about his own festival.

"I hate EDM," Farrell told writer and Sound Opinions host Greg Kot. "I want to vomit it out of my nostrils. I can't stand what it did to what I love, which is house music, which was meditative, psychedelic—it took you on a journey. […] I sometimes cringe at my own festival."

What makes Farrell's hatred of EDM especially surprising is the fact that the stage that hosts most of the Electronic acts is named after him. "When they said they wanted to name a stage after me, I was honored," Farrell admitted. "I like the adulation. But now you say, ‘Perry, what's going on with your area here?’ Believe me, I've got questions myself."

Even if he himself isn't too keen on the directions that EDM has taken in recent years, Farrell does admit that its popularity cannot be denied, and the booking of such acts to the Lollapalooza lineup is an inevitability. "You'd have to do away with pop to escape it, and if you want to do a festival you can't do away with pop."

Farrell originally founded Lollapalooza in 1991 as a sort of farewell tour for Jane's Addiction. Rather than hit the road alone, he invited a number of his favorite artists like Ice-T and Nine Inch Nails to join him. What began as a one-time only kind of deal eventually morphed into one of the most dependable and well-attended festivals in the world. 

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