Founder of Insomiac Events, Pasquale Rotella, is speaking out about life since embarking on a relationship with Live Nation. In an interview with THUMP, the legendary promoter also talked about a book and movie he is working on. Rotella also details his rise to fame and his thoughts on rival promoter SFX.
Let’s begin with 1992. That’s when Rotella threw his first illegal rave in Los Angeles. Since then, he has grown Insomniac into a global phenomenon. Rotella spoke about his company during the Amsterdam Dance Event a few weeks ago. He first launched EDC in 1997. 80,000 people attended EDC in 2008 when it moved from San Bernardino to Los Angeles. From there, the festival just exploded in popularity.
Rotella told the crowd at ADE that he wants to expand the Insomniac brand in Europe. He is looking at options and is waiting for the right moment to do so.
Europe is home to a number of festivals held by rival promoter SFX. They purchased ID&T and countless other festivals. Rotella doesn’t see SFX as competition. The parties they produce do not affect Insomniac. He went on to say that once European festivals like Creamfields came to the United States, they went back to Europe shortly after.
Cash isn’t king for the king of raves. Rotella refused a deal with SFX when they approached him. He says he saw it as a “Wall Street play”. SFX offered to pay between $120 and $150 million for Insomniac. Rotella says he received about 12 offers for his company. He ended up going with Live Nation.
Live Nation did not purchase Insomniac as a whole, they are just investors in the company. Rotella says this allows him to continue to be hands on in planning events. He added he loves the dance culture so much he couldn’t just sell Insomniac and walk away from it.
Rotella has a book coming out in May. It chronicles his rise to fame in the dance scene. James Frey from “A Million Little Pieces” is helping Rotella write the book. A movie deal with Fox is also in the works once the book is finished.
I attended my first Insomniac party in 1998. It is amazing to see what the company and brand has become since then and I applaud Pasquale and his entire team for not “selling out”, and instead becoming THE LEADER in the global dance scene. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
– Jared
