Lit up

For years now, the Electronic Dance Music scene in Reno has been flourishing, and part of that fervent following has been stoked by independent promoters who put the fandom of EDM into action by making sure their favorite local DJ/artists can fill the clubs. One such group is the recently formed Litty Little City Committee.

“I see EDM like a small group, but a steady scene,” said Johnny Boy Vasquez, who founded the LLCC. “I don't think it really dies down. When there are the bigger shows, they pack the buildings out. I'd probably say that EDM is going to be part of Reno for a while.”

Vasquez is a California transplant who's liked EDM for most of his life. When he moved with his family to Reno four years ago, he decided to start getting more into the scene.

“My cousin took me to a Bass Camp festival, and I met a group of promoters, and that got me motivated to start promoting,” Vasquez said. “I've always had a passion for promoting or representing companies and mixing that with volunteer work over the years.”

he helped Bass Camp out with working the door and taking tickets, or putting on wristbands at events. All the while, Vasquez was observing and asking questions about how shows worked.

LLCC was made official in late 2017. It began when Vasquez and his roommates started up two different Snapchat groups to talk about EDM, “The Party After the Party” and “Litty Little City.” From that second group—which soon reached its limit of 100 members—the LLCC was launched.

The group's first show was this past February at 1up, 214 W. Commercial Row, “Litty City Asylum,” which featured local DJs as well as a group pillow fight/moshpit. From there the group sponsored a series of “Meet the Locals” shows at TheBlueBird, in which local DJ/artists got a chance to team up and perform for bigger audiences.

That's one of the LLCC's chief goals—to get more exposure for Reno DJs/artists. Vasquez named several locals that the LLCC has helped out, including Cancel, who Vasquez said is going to be touring Australia soon. He also mentioned two DJ teams that work both separately and together: Coma Tek and Grunge, and Howker and Kyu.

“I just want us to be a platform for everyone to turn to, to see what rising stars are coming out from Northern Nevada and Northern California,” Vasquez said. “I think it's really hard for people to gain support if they're not quite at the superstar status or recognized by other bigger artists. I always tell DJs that once you find supporters who work really hard, to hold onto them when they do find them. That's why I want to be a constant support for local artists.”

From that base of local shows, the Litty Little City Committee has been promoting more popular national artists, including L.A. artist Hypeitup and an Aug. 31 show with Miami DJ Nitti Gritti. The group also works in tandem with another new promoter, Bomb Squad Events, to do several of these shows.

“We've been showing [Bomb Squad] a lot about shows, how to run the door, how to make hashtags, just helping them out,” Vasquez said.

In the future, Vasquez and his committee want to bring more national acts to town, continue the local shows while trying to do shows in Sacramento, and also eventually work with other promoters to do an outdoor event.