The beloved electronic trio Levity is comprised of three best friends: John Hauldren, PJ Carberry, and Josh Tarum. They’re known for their infectious energy on stage and fun, viral bass tunes. Discover the group’s rise to fame and ties to the Electric Forest Music Festival in this May edition of MP3 MAG’s WAV Artist of the Month — where we highlight the impact artists are making in today’s North American music festival scene.

Hauldren and Carberry, who both currently live in Chicago, met during freshman year orientation in college. The two bonded over their love for music, became fast friends and started making music together after downloading Ableton’s free trial. However, the duo told MP3 MAG it wasn’t until a few years later, in January 2019, that they decided to fully commit to the Levity project. In 2022, they joined forces with Tarum — who they say was the missing piece.

“When we joined together [with Tarum], we kind of rebranded, and right away it felt like it was meant to be. We did our first shows together, us three on stage, and we were like, ‘Oh, this is so much fun, and working together is so much fun.’ It just felt right,” Hauldren said.

New fans of Levity may be wondering why the group often performs as a duo when there are three members. Tarum is a full-time medical student on top of his producing career. Even though he can’t make it on stage as often as he’d like during Levity’s rise over the last 12 months, he is still hard at work behind the scenes. 

Plus, Hauldren and Carberry teased to MP3 MAG that people will see a lot more of Tarum this year. He plans to take a break from school to focus on Levity, and they’re excited to operate at full force for the first time. 

Levity has thrived in the underground scene for the past several years. Last year, the group took their fame to the next level thanks to a viral moment at Electric Forest. 

It’s an opportunity that sounds like a pipe dream: Attending your favorite festival as a fan and suddenly getting the chance to perform because of another artist’s travel mishaps. For Hauldren, it was very real. He was in the forest for fun but got tapped to fill in when another artist’s flight was delayed and they couldn’t make their original set time.

After Hauldren was presented with the opportunity, he quickly called Carberry, who was in Chicago, and grabbed the USB he brought to the festival. Carberry dropped everything, left work early, and raced to Sherwood Forest, making it just 40 minutes before their unplanned set. 

“We bring our USB to every show and festival because that’s always the classic, ‘you never know what could happen.’ I feel like we’re now living proof of that,” Hauldren said. 

Levity had no clue what they were going to play or if anyone would show up to their surprise performance at the Honeycomb stage. At the start of their set, they noticed only a few dozen people were around. But as they continued playing their signature bass sound, hundreds of people started running toward them and surrounding the 360-degree stage.

6 months ago today was our last minute fill in @Electric_Forest set that really kicked all of this off. Very proud of the steps towards our goals and dreams we’ve made since, and beyond thankful for everyone that’s supported us since ❤️ Forest + y’all forever have our heart!! pic.twitter.com/CVKxtGWj7m

— Levity ☁️ (@LevityMusic) December 22, 2023

“It was probably the happiest, craziest moment of our lives,” Hauldren said. “I remember specifically tapping John and we stopped for a second just to look around and I was like, ‘Whoa, there are way more people here than when we started,’” added Carberry. 

RELATED — MP3 TAKES: Electric Forest 2023

Hauldren and Carberry said the moment was so special because of an indescribable energy in the air. Everyone in the crowd seemed truly happy to enjoy their music even if they didn’t know who they were. Carberry humbly said they were “nobodies” at the time. He and Hauldren think attendees having zero expectations for their performance is what set them up for success:

“Everyone had a very clean slate of, ‘Here are people playing music and I don’t know them, I don’t know what they’re going to play next,’ and I feel like that’s what made it so special for us, and everyone,” Hauldren said.

Fans caught the serendipitous experience on video and it quickly blew up online. The group attributes a big part of their newfound success to those videos and social media. They moved quickly to capitalize on the momentum and focused on creating more content to promote their music.“There’s never been more power in the artist’s hands,” Hauldren said about using social media to market music.

A compelling demonstration of social media’s influence occurred when Levity’s John Hauldren crafted a tune that initially seemed unremarkable to him. Despite his reservations, the group’s manager saw potential in the track. Hesitant but curious, Levity teased the song online to gauge fan reactions. The response was overwhelmingly positive, catapulting the track, now known as “Flip It,” to the forefront of the electronic dance music scene.

This online experiment not only demonstrated the power of social media feedback but also propelled “Flip It” to nearly 7 million listens on Spotify, significantly boosting Levity’s profile to nearly half a million monthly listeners. This instance underscores the transformative potential of digital platforms in shaping an artist’s career trajectory.

I’m like 15% of the way into making a super special, extra banging opener for Electric Forest and I already have CHILLS….I’m so mf excited ⚡️🌲 once the vision fully comes to fruition it’s gonna be insane…

— Levity ☁️ (@LevityMusic) May 14, 2024

To make Levity’s recent success even sweeter, they get to celebrate their accomplishments by returning to Electric Forest this year. But this time, they’re an official act on the iconic festival’s June lineup. The magic that started for the group on the 360 stage will soon come back in a full circle moment one year later. For the fast-rising artists, this is just the beginning.

FOLLOW LEVITY: SPOTIFY I TIK TOK I INSTAGRAM I TWITTER I WEBSITE I FACEBOOK