Dance-music fixture Foshizzle heads back to James Madison Park

Four of the local crew's DJs revive a summer tradition on June 19.

Four of the local crew's DJs revive a summer tradition on June 19.

One of the highlights of a Madison summer is the chance to see a variety of high-caliber DJs and producers, from locally based artists to international electronic-music heavyweights. A lot of that is free, including the outdoor portion of the Musique Electronique series that ties in with La Fete De Marquette (which unfortunately isn't coming back until 2022). And usually, the summer is dotted with a series of laid-back outdoor dance parties from Foshizzle Family, a crew of young house and techno obsessives that formed in 2012. Foshizzle's customary gatherings at James Madison Park, featuring core members of the crew and guests from Madison and beyond, offer a good way to ease back into the dance music world. This summer might not bring a full series of James Madison hangs, but there will be at least one, on Saturday, June 19 from 4 to 9 p.m.

Foshizzle DJs UMI, Carrick, O2, and Scribe will all be spinning at different points throughout the evening. They'll be set up in the shelter at the east end of the park, and the setting allows plenty of room to spread out. Usually the Foshizzle crew would follow up these events with an afterparty at an indoor venue, but they're skipping that part this time. 

Max Wasinger, a Foshizzle co-founder who also DJs under the name Wangzoom, says there's "definitely some apprehension, but overall [it] feels great" as these and other electronic-music events around town get started again. Some of that apprehension is bound to come out in the music. In a recent mix for San Francisco-based Androids Dungeon Radio (which will also be featuring fellow Madison DJ Kitty Spit on June 25), Wasinger took a "heavier than usual" approach.

"I'm predicting that's going to be a theme with a lot of the DJs in the crew coming out of pandemic: A lot of us are getting into faster and harder music, branching out into electro and jungle and other broken pattern styles," Wasinger says. "I think house and techno will always be the common threads, but gotta shake off the pent up pandemic energy somehow."