EDM a phase in most young people's lives.

House Music: A Lifelong Connection, Not Just a Phase

I’m 46 years old, and house music has been part of my life since I was eight. Back then, it wasn’t called EDM, it wasn’t a trend—it was a movement. I grew up in Chicago, the birthplace of house, where WBMX ruled the airwaves. The Hot Mix 5—Bad Boy Bill, Julian "Jumpin" Perez, Farley Jackmaster Funk, and the rest—were spinning sets that felt like they came from the future. Even as a kid, I knew this music wasn’t just something to dance to; it was a way of life.

Fast forward to today, and I see how dance music has exploded. Kids call it EDM now, and it’s become this massive, commercialized thing. Festivals, neon outfits, mainstream hype—it’s cool, but for most of them, it’s just a phase. They’ll jump on the hype train for a few years, then move on to whatever else defines their next stage in life. But for some of us, house isn’t a phase. It’s forever. It’s something we’ve lived, something we’ve internalized.

What’s interesting is how England has really stepped up and pushed house forward. Labels like Defected Records have taken the sound we built in Chicago and made it their own, bringing it across the pond and running with it. They’ve helped keep house alive in a way that mainstream American music largely hasn’t. While EDM festivals dominate here, real house heads know where to look—deep in the underground, where the spirit of WBMX, the Hot Mix 5, and true house music still lives on.

House is eternal. The real ones stay.