TAKE A BREAK FEST: WITH JAKEGATEWOOD
If you haven’t heard of Take a Break we are about to put you on to a whole new venture in the EDM community of Dallas. We had a chance to talk with DJ JAKEGATEWOOD who is Founder and Creative Director of Take A Break and Take a Break Fest. A few things you need to know before moving forward; Take A Break is an EDM/House Music Community and Fest in Dallas, Texas with an upcoming show at Trees on April 1st. For more information and tickets you can go here.
THE HONEY: IN YOUR OWN WORDS WHAT IS TAKE A BREAK AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE PEOPLE TO VIEW IT AS?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “People view Take A Break as a festival, a show and a party but I also want people to view it as something new. A new environment, a place to be free, to laugh and to make new memories. I want Take A Break to be a place that is open to all people, from all walks of life. I want to continue building the community of people we have, who are super cool, creative and open. It’s an experience that I always wanted to have in Dallas but could never find anything like it.”
THE HONEY: YOU ALREADY TOUCHED ON IT A LITTLE BIT BUT WHY DID YOU START TAKE A BREAK?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “I always wanted a place like Take A Break. People could only see DJ’s in night clubs and places that revolve around bottle service and the patriarchy of money; I just feel like the experience is needed in Dallas. I feel like a lot of House Music DJ’s weren’t touring to Dallas because they didn’t think that scene was here. They didn’t think they could find that audience and could sell tickets here.”
THE HONEY: What’s it like to have the next take a break fest at a larger venue like trees?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “It’s a blessing and a huge accomplishment. I have been DJing for five or six years now, touring wise and I have performed at Trees numerous times but I have never been able to throw a show there. Not just anyone can throw a show there and I feel like having a show at Trees is a stamp of approval in Dallas for local, national and international artists. It’s one of those venues you have to hit and it’s an in demand venue. It comes with a lot of pressure and expectations. You have to prove yourself with the audience, the lineup, the visuals… But we wanted Trees and we got it. Next, I want House of Blues, Bomb Factory and eventually throw a large festival. These are stepping stones to that.”
THE HONEY: TAKE A BREAK IS EXPANDING AND GROWING FAST. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE MAJOR REASON FOR THIS WAS?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “It’s my first time experiencing this rate of growth; it’s crazy. We’re not even a year old as a company but in this past nine or ten months our logo has been seen by close to two million people all organically. The rapid growth has been insane. It has to do with people wanting something like this. Other people were doing it but what they were doing wasn’t what people were looking for. I think we stepped in and created a really cool atmosphere for the community and the scene and I think it’s our brand itself. We do it right from A to Z; from our first instagram post to walking into the venue and getting to the show to when you leave the show. Theres a lot of curation that goes into it.”
THE HONEY: DO YOU WANT TO KEEP TAKE A BREAK FEST IN DALLAS OR DO YOU WANT TO EXPAND TO OTHER CITIES?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “I want it to belong to Dallas and every single person knows it’s a Dallas thing… which also gives Dallas these cool points when people say they want Take A Break in their city. I think it would be cool to do different experiences in different states but we will definitely do different cities in Texas- we have a huge following in Austin, El Paso and San Antionio. Going out of state is something I would maybe do if it made sense for us.”
THE HONEY: YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SUPER COLLABORATIVE WITH YOUR MUSIC- HAS THIS BEEN FOR YOU A BIG COLLABORATIVE/COMMUNITY PROJECT IN ANY WAY?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “On a personal level, music wise, every artist that I am booking are artists I listen to on a daily basis and people I want to collaborate with in the future and am making music with now. I spend a lot of time during the day on our social medias and responding to questions and comments and collaborate with them on cool concepts and stuff and give curated invitations to people in the community. I am a very collaborative person, I like bringing a bunch of different people together and I think since these fests are parties it’s only natural- so yeah, I’m collaborative.”
THE HONEY: WHat makes take a break fest important/special to you?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “Its like my brain creatively kind of spit out into a six-hour event every few months. It’s me being able to put all of my fans, friends and family onto what I love, find inspiration from and enjoy. The same answer from beginning, it’s the community that we have built around it too. They have also fallen in love with it and want to share with their friends and family. They want to find out about the artists on each lineup and see what they’re like. It brings out the best sides of people. Every fest has been all laughing and smiles and dancing all night. It’s such an uplifting environment all night long. Everyone seems so accepting of each other and in todays world that’s so special to see. The team behind Take A Break also makes this so special. Without Josh, who knows were we would be… Vincent gives unconditional help when it comes to taking care of our artists. Our media team, Chance and Henney, they put together the video/photo recaps that everyone loves. Take A Break isn’t just about me… it’s not JAKEGATEWOOD and that’s the point. It’s a community of people who build each other up to create this amazing, unforgettable night every few months.”
THE HONEY: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT TAKE A BREAK?
JAKEGATEWOOD: “I am working on another concept for Take A Break. You can view April 1st as Take A Break Fest with national and international DJs but I am also working on a scaled down, secret venue, secret lineup type of party. Those will happen at least once or twice in between the big Take a Breaks.
We will be able to collab with local artists with Take a Break even more with this secret underground 90s feeling rave. It will be a secret address, secret lineup and cheap tickets. The address will be texted a few hours before and it will only be about 250 or less people versus the 800 people or more at Trees. It will be like a super exclusive version. So that’s coming.”
You can find JAKEGATEWOOD here and Take A Break here. The next Take a Break Fest is happening April 1st at Trees starting at 8:30PM! We will see y’all there!!
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