Music Fesitval Hits Philly

Electronic music festival brings the Cataracs, Switch, Shwayze and many more to the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing this summer.

Because everyone is looking for a good time this summer, the founders of Pixie & Buck Productions have compiled an event that offers just that.

On June 18, electronic music hits Philadelphia with full force. Starting at noon in the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, the 618 Music and Arts Festival is looking to make a big splash.

Pixie & Buck Productions, formerly known as Power Plant Productions, first started as an idea between two high school sophomores, Keith Traffican and Stephen Wolff, in an effort to bring a little fun to their community for young adults like themselves. The founders began to hold simple electronic shows in church basements for charity.

After noticing significant success and equipping their knowledge and passion for electronic music, the two began planning. Event after event, crowds piled in, and the overall following grew immensely. With the assistance of new members Pat Mannion and Temple junior business marketing major Alex Sherman, the festival project was born.

On the day of their high school graduation, the Pennsbury High School grads had planned their first official festival called Summer 618.

“It was a group of local [disc jockeys] spinning electro on a farm for 1,500 kids, and since then, we haven’t looked back,” Traffican said.

Last summer, the event attracted more than 3,000 individuals to Snipe’s Farm located in Morrisville, Pa., where several DJs – including Traffican – opened the evening, followed by mashup duo Super Mash Bros. and closed with headliner and Philadelphia local Chiddy Bang.

This year’s event is offering fresh electronic bands. The lineup includes the Cataracs, Switch of Major Lazer, Shwayze, Porter Robinson, AutoErotique, Jokers of the Scene, Tayyib Ali, Ground Up Sounds, Sexy Saxman and others to be announced. Mixed in with established artists, many of the artists featured at this year’s event represent the future of electronic music. Those such as AutoErotique and Porter Robinson have been on the rise, obtaining praise from top DJs worldwide for their original work.

“This year we have bigger talent, production and a brand new location,” Traffican said. “We are in one of the best locations in Philly to run an event, and the production for the event is going to be amazing. Every special effect imaginable will be going down.”

“The radio used to be saturated with indie-rock bands and hip-hop,” he added. “Now, all the hits have ‘four-on-the-floor’ dance beats. The future of electronic music looks amazing. I can remember when people called anything remotely electro ‘techno.’ Now, I can walk down the street and hear the average kid blasting Skrillex or deadmau5 on their iPod.”

Tickets will be available May 1 at https://618fest.com.

Andrew Eiser can be reached at andrew.eiser@temple.edu.