Win Butler of Arcade Fire reveals DJ persona following Coachella taunt of electronic artists

by: Valerie Lee Sep 24, 2014

Each year, Coachella invites the world’s top-tier talents to its many desert-sprawled stages. This year, the roster included a heavy dosage of electronic music standouts including Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix, The Glitch Mob and more. Though each of the acts’ stages were packed, lead singer of Arcade Fire, Win Butler struck up curious conversation in regards to his apparent dismay with the genre’s popularity. His statement, “Shout out to all the bands still playing actual instruments at this festival,” rang loudly across his main stage audience during the band’s Weekend 1 performance, and found a new life as the pinnacle of controversy – in even our own editorial – in regards to electronic music’s position within traditionally rock, folk, and indie festivals.

Though Arcade Fire attempted to make amends in good humor during the second weekend as ‘Paft Dunk,’ it seems that lead singer Win Butler has not only accepted, but personally embraced the DJ role. As early as February, the lead singer has also performed as DJ Windows 98. His most recent performance landed in Toronto’s Coda earlier this week as the singer put aside his “real instruments” to play along with a set list surprisingly dabbled with electronic tracks all throughout. Preview a short clip of Win Butler in action behind the decks in the video below.