Big Data took to the stage with a five-piece band at Summerfest this year. The DJ/producer was joined by singer Lizy Ryan on the US Cellular Connection Stage on July 4th. Ryan brought a lot of energy to the stage and her voice stole the show. Big Data and Ryan had good chemistry onstage, and the crowd seemed to be enjoying their set. During his show, Big Data performed his big hit “Dangerous,” which was one of the few moments the crowd was really engaged in the performance. “Summerfest is such a different experience. When it’s your own show people are coming to see you and so they kinda know what to expect. When it’s a festival, we have to try to win over the people who stand there with their arms folded like, ‘Who are these weirdos,'” Big Data told me backstage before his performance.
Besides winning over a lot of the audience by performing “Dangerous,” Big Data’s set also included “Sick for Me,” “The Business of Emotion,” “Get Some Freedom,” and “Big Dater,” all of which are on his latest effort entitled 2.0 (released March 2015). The DJ also spoke to me about 2.0 during his interview. “When I was putting the record together I made a wish list of people I’ve always wanted to collaborate with- and a lot of them said yes. So I got to work with Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, Jaime Lidell who is one of my favorite singers, Kimbra, Twin Shadow, Dragonette, and a whole bunch of wonderful musicians that I’ve loved for years,” he told me. Big Data added,”It was really like a dream come true. With each song I would come to the session to write with them. I had the music already written and then together we would think about melodies to sing. Once we had the melodies, we would write lyrics. All of my lyrics are about technology- something to do with big data, paranoia, and Internet privacy.”
Even though it can be tough for electronic artists to win over audiences at music festivals that are more catered to Rock and R&B fans, Big Data proved good music can captivate any crowd. One of my favorite moments of the night was when he performed “Private Eyes” onstage.