“I’m an Adrenaline Junkie”: Bar Hopping With DJ John Summit

Frat boys want to be him, and sorority girls want to date him. But fair warning: John Summit “doesn’t really go on dates too much.” The accountant-turned-DJ much prefers partying, and if you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen videos of him doing just that: spinning at megaclubs like LIV in Vegas or Space in Miami with bottles of Don Julio and an entourage of baddies in tow. In the past year alone, he’s played at Coachella, hung out with Alix and Ashtin Earle, and found a spot on Barack Obama’s yearly roundup of his favorite music. “I got thrown in the deep end,” Summit reflects. “I’m trying to find comfort in it.” When we met up on a rare off day for the DJ to go bar hopping in the Lower East Side, comfort came in the form of aperol spritzes and a game of pool. As we sipped, the 30-year-old told us about his five-year plan, how girls get behind the booth, and getting punched in the face in Times Square.

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EMMA STOUT: Hi, John. Do you like being in New York?

JOHN SUMMIT: I absolutely love it here. You have such a great food scene. Any recommendations?

STOUT: I was thinking about taking you to the Applebee’s in Times Square for a Dollarita.

SUMMIT: Since I got assaulted in Times Square today, I’m going to avoid it.

STOUT: What?

SUMMIT: This lady walked by me in Times Square and hit me in the face as hard as she could with her purse. I thought it broke my nose at first. That’s a true New York experience, I feel like a local at this point.

STOUT: You’re really out here. Fuck, marry, kill: New York, L.A., Las Vegas.

SUMMIT: Sorry, Vegas, I’m going to have to kill you. I would fuck L.A. because L.A. is sexy. New York, I truly love– the people, the food, the culture, the vibe. I can see myself getting a place here eventually, so that’s why it seems more marriageable to me.

STOUT: If I throw Miami into the mix, does that change things?

SUMMIT: I would definitely be fucking Miami. I live in Miami right now and love it. It’s definitely a sexy, fun city in your late 20s.

STOUT: You play at Club Space a lot.

SUMMIT: Oh, yeah. I live across the street.

STOUT: Your commute is easy, then.

SUMMIT: I will literally walk to work at 5:00 a.m. and walk back from home at work at 3:00 p.m. because I do 8- or 10-hour sets. The DJ setup is my cubicle. I was an accountant for Ernst & Young, a lot less sexy than what I do now. But 2019 is when I got fired from my accounting job. I was starting to tour a little bit, playing 200-person clubs in other states. I was just a bad employee. Kind of how I am with relationships and shit, I started being a very absent boyfriend.

STOUT: What’s your DJing pet peeve?

SUMMIT: I don’t believe in the whole no-phones policy. When I come home at the end of the night, I’m by myself. I love to relive moments. But my other pet peeve is if you’re on it the whole time. It’s no different than going on a date with a girl to a movie theater or being at dinner with someone who doesn’t look up once.

STOUT: What’s your worst first date story?

SUMMIT: I don’t know. I don’t really go on dates too much.

STOUT: I saw a video of a girl behind the booth grabbing your 1942 bottle. It seemed like it annoyed you.

SUMMIT: Yeah, she was filming herself trying to grab it, clearly wanting to get a viral video. Everyone thinks I rejected her because she didn’t ask. But it was just because she was doing it for her phone. If someone wants a shot, I’m like, “Fuck yeah.”

STOUT: Does Don Julio sponsor you yet?

SUMMIT: I’m not an official partner. But when I do pop-up events, they help put it on. It’s like we’re fans of each other, an informal partnership. We have a situationship going on.

STOUT: Is that the only thing you drink?

SUMMIT: Well, I like vodka and gin, or basically anything in the form of a good mixed drink. But I feel menace energy if I drink vodka by itself. Like, what am I going to do? Rob a bank? But tequila is a fun, dance-y, sexy drink.

STOUT: Do you think you’re a good dancer?

SUMMIT: I don’t know if I would say I’m a good dancer, but I’m always dancing. I’m no Justin Bieber, that’s for sure. But I got a hell of a fist pump.

STOUT: What’s the longest set that you’ve played?

SUMMIT: 12 hours is the longest. Don’t recommend it. It’s too long. I counted my steps in Vegas a couple weeks ago. That was a two-hour set, and I did seven miles. So over 12 hours, that’s literally a marathon-and-a-half. Other marathon DJs, they kind of stand still, conserve energy. I need to learn how to do that. I jump around a lot.

STOUT: But it’s good because the crowd gets more into it with you.

SUMMIT: Oh, yeah. I think people send and receive energy. When the crowd’s energetic, I take that in.

STOUT: You started your career mixing in your bedroom, and now you’re playing in front of huge audiences. Your life has changed so much.

SUMMIT: I had the most comfortable but boring life ever, and now my life is literal chaos. I mean, that’s why my album title is Comfort in Chaos. I got thrown in the deep end, and I’m trying to find comfort in it. But also, I’m someone that loves chaos. I’m an adrenaline junkie.

STOUT: What’s your advice to girls who are looking to get behind your booth?

SUMMIT: My advice to girls looking to get behind the DJ booth is you can do anything with confidence. The second advice is never reach out to the DJ. I don’t look at my DMs. Figure out who the DJ’s team is—the photographer, the tour manager—and reach out to them. If you’re a vibe, you’re a vibe. But if you’re low-energy, stay at your table.

STOUT: Do you smoke?

SUMMIT: Cigarettes? Yeah. Do you have any on you?

STOUT: I do.

SUMMIT: Hell yeah. I always have a pack in my headphone case. But this is a rare instance for me. I can’t think of the last time I left the house without a headphone case.

STOUT: How do you feel about being interviewed?

SUMMIT: I used to hate it and really avoided it. I did a couple, and I felt so uncomfortable. It was like, “How can I perform in front of 50,000 people and not be nervous at all, but not be able to do a one-on-one interview?” I like doing it to get myself out of that comfort zone.

STOUT: So you don’t get nervous to perform?

SUMMIT: I’ll have a random occasional nightmare about the music not working. And I get anxiety how anyone gets anxiety. But it’s the same level of anxiety as when I had a speech class in college. When I’m playing in front of the fans, it’s fun as fuck. It’s actually more nerve-wracking when you do festivals and there’s people who might not know your music. It’s like a first date.

STOUT: What are your tips for surviving festival season?

SUMMIT: Stay hydrated. Try to sleep when you can. I’m the king of naps. Before every show, I’m taking a nap. People think I’m pre-gaming. No, I am in bed.

STOUT: I read somewhere that the ideal amount of time for a nap is exactly 23 minutes.

SUMMIT: I do a good 90-minute full REM cycle. But I also don’t sleep at night, so it’s a little different.

STOUT: Do you get drunk before a show?

SUMMIT: Oh, yeah.

STOUT: During a show?

SUMMIT: Yes.

STOUT: And after?

SUMMIT: Yes.

STOUT: Yes, yes, and yes. What did you do at Madison Square Garden?

SUMMIT: MSG, I had three shots before I got on stage, probably a few during my first set. And then I had a full cup of tequila on stage because I was so nervous. That sounds kind of bad, right? I was like, 10 drinks deep. But this is over five hours. I jump around a lot. So it’s all been burnt off by that point. If the show goes really well, I’ll party afterwards to celebrate. If it’s very bad, I’ll mope in my bedroom afterwards. But luckily, that doesn’t happen very often.

STOUT: Even when there’s a blip in your set, you really recover well.

SUMMIT: In Montreal, the music stopped in one drop. I was distraught afterwards, really upset, and went into my hotel room by myself and was pouting. But then finally, I manned up and read the comments on the video. And they’re all like, “It was actually so fun.” So I’ve got to learn to stop being hard on myself. Everyone I’ve talked to who’s famous always tells me not to read the comments. And one day, I’ll listen to them.

STOUT: Your comment section seems pretty good. It’s all “Daddy Summit.”

SUMMIT: That kind of stuff gasses me up a little bit. My confidence gets high.

STOUT: Do you ever go back and listen to your own music?

SUMMIT: Oh, all the time. I think the last four years in a row, my number one artist on Spotify has been myself. After I release a track, I’ll listen to it 50 times to make sure it’s all mixed and mastered right. Not to get too nerdy with it, but I go up to 200 tracks per song with drums and synths and effects and everything. There’s so many little things that I’m a perfectionist about, so I guess I’m listening through that lens. And I am my own biggest fan. I think to be a good artist, you have to be.

 

STOUT: Did you first release music on SoundCloud?

SUMMIT: SoundCloud, yep, and then Beatport. But I didn’t really share it with my friends or family. I shared my initial music with all the producer groups I was in.

STOUT: You had internet friends?

SUMMIT: Yes, exactly. Imagine if you’re writing a book and you’re in a book club. But my first song, I definitely wasn’t like, “Mom and Dad, check this out.” They’d be like, “What the fuck is this?” My high school experience was listening to Afrojack and Zedd and Calvin Harris and getting drunk in parents’ basements. Do you remember Taoi Cruz?

STOUT: Who?

SUMMIT: He has that song, “I got a hangover, oh…” The most on-the-nose lyrics of all time. Sometimes it’s fun to write tracks like that. I have a song called “In Chicago,” and it just goes “I’m drunk and I’m high.” All the Chicago fans are like, “Same.”

STOUT: What else is there to do in your hometown?

SUMMIT: [Laughs] Literally.

STOUT: When you go back to Chicago to perform, are you staying at your family’s house?

SUMMIT: No, I can’t do that. I like the after-party too much, and I can’t just drive to the suburbs like, “Hey, Mom and Dad, I got 50 people coming.” They normally get a hotel in the city too because they like to party with me afterwards.

STOUT: Do your parents drink from the bottle?

SUMMIT: Too much. I think they see it as, “He’s doing this, so he can’t be out-drinking us.” They’re from Midwest suburbs. It’s a very drinking culture, so I get it from them.

BAR PATRON: John Schuster! I love your music, man.

SUMMIT: Oh! Thanks, man. I appreciate it. [Laughs] That tripped me out because he used my full name. I thought it was someone who knew me from home.

STOUT: That’s funny. Do you see yourself doing this for the next 20 years?

SUMMIT: Drinking drinks and smoking cigarettes?

STOUT: DJing. But also, yes.

SUMMIT: I’m going to be in the music industry for as long as I can, which I think will be forever at this point. Kaskade is one of my big mentors and inspirations. He has a wife and kids and he handles it really well, actually. I don’t think I’m going to be partying till 7:00 a.m. every night. But he has a helicopter license. He lives in Malibu. He’ll fly to Vegas, play the day party, and then make it home in time for dinner with his family.

STOUT: I love that.

SUMMIT: I think it’ll be more of a balance. I have my own label called Experts Only, so I could just be managing the label and helping promote artists. It’s like how Tom Brady is still involved in the NFL even though he’s not playing anymore.

STOUT: Although I’m not sure Giselle was too happy about that.

SUMMIT: Football’s his life. Shout out Tom, he was at my show the other day.