Expert Opinion: How John Summit Conquered EDM

For a layperson, John Summit's rise to stardom came together haphazardly. The Chicago native's career timeline reads like that of a finance kid who produced some beats and sent them to his longtime friend from school, who also happened to be the son of an Atlantic Records executive.

The boring truth is that the 30-year-old's sudden fame is a product of hard work and long hours. Summit's musical roots stem back a decade, beginning at his alma mater, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he first learned to spin. What lifted Summit into the EDM stratosphere was building himself up after failure — a lot of failure.

"You're going to get rejected a thousand times until you get it," Summit tells New Times over Zoom from his Miami condo. London-based house label Defected Records, for example, rejected his demo submission nearly 100 times. However, the label did something other imprints didn't — it told Summit what he could do to improve.

Taking in the feedback, Summit crafted "Deep End," releasing it in May 2020 via Defected amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps it was everyone yearning for nightclubs and music festivals, but the track quickly amassed listens, helping launch Summit's career to unfathomable heights.

The six-trick track quickly surpassed 50 million streams on Spotify. The sugary vocal work and intense, undulating bass lines lifted Summit from just another DJ to an in-demand globetrotting producer.

"I think denial applies to anything in life. You get turned down, and it's like, 'Damn!' But you learn why, and you try again and again. You have nothing to lose," he says.

Chicago Backstory

There likely wouldn't be a Summit if it weren't for Chicago. Growing up in the Windy City suburb of Naperville allowed him to witness firsthand the city's greats like Derrick Carter, Gene Farris, and Green Velvet and dive into dance institutions like Spybar. At the same time, he attended Lollapalooza, where he saw Deadmau5 live for the first time, seeing how the EDM powerhouse augmented his music with a spectacular stage production.

"It's like family vibes," Summit says of the support he's received from old-school Chicago DJs following his rise. "It's not super competitive like other cities where people gatekeep."

Between his college classes and fraternity duties, Summit first gained experience DJing open-format sets. It was often impromptu. If a bar needed a DJ, Summit made himself available. After getting his bachelor's from Illinois, Summit began producing music while working on a graduate degree in accounting. Once he completed his studies, he moonlighted as a music producer after he wrapped up working his 9-to-5.

After a while, his double life as an accountant and music producer became incompatible. In 2019, he was fired from his day job. "I was showing up late, leaving early, being a terrible employee. I was mentally fully committed to music," Summit says.

Shortly after being canned, Summit began coming down to Miami. His debut appearance in the Magic City was at Treehouse in South Beach in 2019, spinning to a handful of clubgoers. "I thought it was an awesome party. I think I just showed up, and there were like 15 people there. I said, 'Screw it!' blacked out on tequila, and had a great night."

Lockdown Success

A few weeks later came the lockdown, which, in the case of Summit's career, might have been a blessing for the then-unknown producer. "Deep End" connected with listeners who yearned to go out and celebrate during the quarantine.

Summit's sudden success should have been a flash in the pan. After all, what's the point of big bass music without the dance floor? But "Deep End" and Summit's appeal only grew.

"I was always doing beat-driven music that worked very well in clubs, and I was getting pretty good DJ support before 'Deep End.' But when you're stuck at home, no one cares how good my rolling bass line is because you can't hear it on a nice Funktion One sound system. So I threw on a top-line and the splice vocal, which made it instantly likable to different audiences," Summit says of his breakthrough production.

As the lockdown eased, Club Space came calling, giving Summit his first Terrace gig opening for Lee Floss in 2021.

"I was all in on art, not only getting inspired going to the parties but playing the parties and meeting like-minded DJs and producers. That's why I ended up moving to Miami."

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"I came down to Miami, and I was like, 'Holy shit!' I didn't know the city had such a thriving art culture," Summit says. "At the time, I had nothing to lose. I was broke and didn't have a job. I was all in on art, not only getting inspired going to the parties but playing the parties and meeting like-minded DJs and producers. That's why I ended up moving to Miami."

From that show came Summit's penchant for marathon sets, allowing him to push music for over ten hours.

"I went to Space and did my homework as a fan and student of the craft, and really connected with the community. I proved myself through track selection," he explains. "It's a very culture-first club, and they'll recognize posers who go there. They judge on merits, which I respect."

Summit quickly saw his career go from small-time gigs to being booked at music festivals and nightclubs around the world, including sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.

Everyone's Got an Opinion

With success comes critics, especially in today's age when social media provides anyone and everyone with a soapbox to say whatever is on their minds. Summit certainly has his fair share of haters who argue that his firebrand party-boy persona pushes hedonism to unnecessary levels. So-called dance-music purists will say his productions dilute house music and attract people who are not there for the music, that his sets do bring the "bros"—fraternity brothers and young men in finance who want to dance to bubbly tech-house.

The fact that he is pretty active on X, where his past posts include "rosalia i am single and faithful repeat rosalia i am single and faithful;" "it's bender o'clock, baby;" and "benders keep u hot & skinny," certainly doesn't help.

Summit is well aware of what his critics have to say about him.

"I used to have a huge chip on my shoulder about the haters, but now I get introspective," he says. "I realize I'm a very polarizing figure, so I'm going to get hater comments. I was in a fraternity, so of course, they're going to call me a frat bro. I think the people who really follow me understand who I am and what I stand for. I don't mind the people who write me off because I was the same way. I used to talk so much shit about people until I met them. That was just young, dumb me, and I know I should not do that anymore."

A Self-Aware King

That inward introspection was certainly evident on Summit's debut album, 2024's Comfort In Chaos, a collaborative-heavy record featuring vocal work by Paige Cavell and Julia Church and production from Elderbrook and Kaskade.

The album splits the difference between Summit's persona as a tech-house carouser with on-the-nose titles like "Eat the Bass" and tracks begging to be played at a festival's main stage, while also shining a light on the weightlessness of his other productions, complete with silky pads and sun-drunk vocals. There are clear inspirations stemming from the melodic and stretched-out synths of Deadman5 and Kaskade's "I Remember," a track that inspired Summit greatly. There's even a touch of Chicago house music if you know where to look.

In past interviews, Summit has remarked that Comfort In Chaos's dichotomy is the point — the mainstream artist versus the underground DJ. There is the Summit the world knows, but then there is John Schuster, an introvert who wants to spend evenings watching anime, catching a Panthers game, and making beats.

"I feel like I'm rooted in the underground," he says when asked how he managed to traverse EDM-focused spaces like Ultra or LIV at the Fontainebleau as well as more traditionally underground-oriented venues like Club Space or Detriot's techno-focused bacchanal Movement.

"I started going to these warehouse parties and heard sounds I had never heard before and became fascinated, and that was the sound I was originally producing. Then, when I went out and went to festivals from college, my friends and I would go to Movement and see Richie Hawtin. It was blowing my mind."

Summit considers himself a tastemaker, showing what new sounds there are via his label as well as being the trend starter.

"Now, of course, since I make a sound that is more on the EDM stages, what is fun is taking these underground beats and maybe splicing them or bringing it down with vocals that can present it as a John Summit set. At the end of the day, it's production. I do everything from techno to dubstep."

Summit has achieved a lot in a short time, but he has already shown that he's devoted to his craft. Whether you like the music or the persona is not the point. John Summit's greatest ability seems to be his adaptability because just when you think you've figured him out, he's ready to prove you wrong.

"I'm more hungry and eager than ever. I'm still trying to learn new skills every day," he says. "The second you lay off the gas is when life is boring."

Ultra Music Festival 2025. Friday, March 28, through Sunday, March 30, 2025, at Bayfront Park, 301 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; ultramusicfestival.com. Sold out.

Find the full list of Miami Music Week 2025 events here.