Pure House Music Festival featuring DJs, bands, more

His name is Jesse Saunders, and he started remixing loops and samples in his native Chicago in the early 1980s at the Warehouse nightclub – where the term “house” came from.

His 1984 record, “On and On,” lays claim to being the first house record.

“You were lucky if you made $25 for an entire six-hour” set back at the beginning of the DJ revolution, he says.

He marvels that contemporary DJs, such as David Guetta, earn millions of dollars.

“It’s tremendous, honestly. I can’t even believe we’ve come that far.”

On Saturday, Saunders, 50, will kick off his inaugural Pure House Music Festival at the Clark County Government Center (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; $20 in advance; $30 at the door; purehousemusicfestival.com).

The Pure music fest is not just a DJ show, however.

It’s an all-ages family affair featuring DJs, bands and singers, with headliner CeCe Peniston. Vendors will sell food, smoothies, beer and arts and crafts.

Saunders wants the fest to be as loving as music festivals he has organized in Chicago over 21 years.

“We have generations of families out there” at the Chicago fests, he says. “People aren’t necessarily ‘house heads.’ ”

When people bump into each other at his other festivals, they say “sorry,” he says.

“That’s the whole thing we’re trying to bring to this – music is love, and music is understanding. It doesn’t have to be harsh,” Saunders says.

When Saunders was young in Chicago, he was heavily influenced by electronic pioneers Kraftwerk, who launched electronic music in the 1970s.

But, like most DJs, he was also influenced by a smorgasbord of acts.

“I grew up on classic rock,” he says. “That simple lyric and melody, to me, was one of the most important” elements of music.

“That’s why I’m more adamant about bringing more live performers into this Pure Music Festival. It’s about the singers and the artists. It’s not so much about us DJs.”

After breaking as a DJ, Saunders moved from Chicago to the Los Angeles area. But several years ago, he relocated to Vegas because it’s “easy and cheap to live here,” and some family members had already settled here.

Saunders records and remixes under his own label, Broken Records. His new single is “Now That We Found Love.” He still DJs too, naturally, but not so much in Vegas clubs.

“I used to work a lot here, before all the clubs turned into bottle service and Top 40,” he says.

But bottle service is symbolic of higher prices for most things in Vegas.

“What happened to my 99 cent breakfast? You know what I mean?” he says and laughs.

Doug Elfman’s column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com.
He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.