Chris Wildr is a local progressive & melodic house DJ who has cemented himself as a staple of the Seattle scene, holding several residencies and playing at a variety of venues throughout the city’s musical history.
Over the course of his career, he has provided direct support for some of the leading names in dance music such as Gabriel & Dresden, Hernan Cattaneo, Sultan & Shepard, Jeremy Olander, Jaytech, and Roger Sanchez. Suffice it to say, his roots in the local scene are deep.
Like the journey of an artist, Chris Wildr has rebranded himself into something that can flow across genres. When he initially started, he was playing trance and progressive under the alias Chronus before slowly shifting to tech house and house music. He took some healthy time away from DJing to focus on other parts of his life but the passion of the craft drew him back.
He took the pandemic as an opportunity to rebrand himself, creating a Twitch stream that you can tune into here, and birthing a new alias: Chris Wildr.
Chris Wildr learned to beat match on vinyl and has prided himself on his technical mixing skills, evident by his smooth, fluid, and harmonic mixing and transitions that keep the listener intrigued and curious. We’ve seen him several times and he is incredibly locked in when he’s behind the booth. He’s also prided himself on his role as an opener.
credit: ChrisWildr
“I really view it as a challenge. A lot of planning goes into it because you have to really consider who is the artist, what their sound is like, and in extent, what am I going to build,” he told Dance Music Northwest. “But you also need to find a way to build that takes the club from zero to packed. I’m in charge of building that vibe, but not overpowering the the headliner to give them the ceiling room to take it to to the next level. I really enjoyed these challenges over the years.”
Lately, he has been given more opportunities as a closer. In this transition, he’s developed a craving for the experience and his focus has shifted into the mindset of a closer, with his recent experiences creating core dance floor memories for himself that have re-energized and reinvigorated his passion for the craft.
Chris Wildr continues his growth as an artist by ironically playing out less. But by doing this he is able to focus on aiding to elevate newer/younger DJs that have come into his circle. And what better way to give these DJs exposure than by creating an event that can showcase their talents? This is one of the great benefits of having an event production company.
Credit: Dazed
Dazed is an event production that is a creation of friends and local DJs Eliogold, Chris Wildr, and Interwave Surfer. This Saturday August 6 from 10PM to 10AM (yes you read that correctly), Dazed and De La Creme will be presenting Pixel, a 12 hour variation of their monthly Soft Option event, held on the first Saturday of each month.
The theme is pixelated graphics paired with Alice in Wonderland. The headliner will be All Day I Dream and Innervisions artist Jon Charnis. Tickets can be purchased here!
The idea of Dazed was brought to Seattle by Eliogold, who headed an event production company similarly named Dazed & Confused. The trio wanted to combine their different music backgrounds and interests to create events based on underground house and techno as well as creating something positive for Seattle nightlife. The concept of Dazed stems from such a simple, yet beautiful concept: having a fun group of friends that love to dance together and listen to music.
“Some of us have been friends for a long time, and some of us are new to each other,” Wildr described. “Regardless, it has been an organic growth of a group of people that would regularly go to various events and has morphed into a core group of friends. We always stressed the importance of creating a sense of community.”
credit: ChrisWildr
These friends have even become part of the team and have helped promote Dazed’s events. Wanting to touch on the old school aspects of the scene, Dazed has taken to physical promotion of their events. You may even catch them outside of the clubs handing out physical flyers, a refreshing thing to see in a world of saturated digital marketing.
Dazed is not just an event production concept, but a strong, safe, and welcoming community in the Seattle scene that is only at its beginning roots. We look forward to seeing more from Chris Wildr and the team at Dazed.
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
