VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: DJ Blond:ish Reveals The Surprising Benefits of Performing Virtually

Canadian DJ and house music producer Blond:ish caught up with uInterview to talk about her headlining performance at the Abracadabra music festival – and the surprising benefits of performing virtually.

Vivie-ann Bakos, better known as Blond:ish, mused about how DJing virtually for the Abracadabra Festival through Twitch gave her the opportunity to connect with fans in a way that was never possible live.

“The chat on Twitch is very engaging. We can give instant feedback to each other and that’s something I never used to get from a dance floor,” she told uInterview‘s Erik Meers. “You would get smiles, they would be kind of far away, you would hear something from the background — but you wouldn’t actually get this conversation that you can have with your fans.”

Bakos explained that, to her, the experience of performing virtually was “equally as valuable and rewarding” as performing in person. She said, “Every day you hear how DJs miss their physical gigs and yes, we do, but there’s also a rainbow on the other side if you just open that door.”

The musician hopes to bring what she learned while performing virtually to live sets via virtual components. These performances are called “hybrid events” and allow fans who can’t attend a show physically to still participate.

Blond:ish is fresh off of a performance at the Abracadabra virtual music festival, which was organized in partnership with Parley for the Oceans, Lonely Whale, and Bye Bye Plastic to promote eco-friendly initiatives in the music industry. The artist talked about her own ambitious environmental protection goals and why the Abracadabra festival’s initiatives were so important to her.

“I feel strongly about so many environmental issues but the one I chose to concentrate on, because I feel like in the music industry I can actually help make a change, is single-use plastic,” Bakos said. “Bye Bye Plastic is my foundation that I work with like 10 other women on where we’re just trying to get rid of single-use plastic in the music industry by 2025.”