Make Time for Making Time

You’re in Philadelphia during the rise of a new millennium. It’s halfway through the year 2000, and Dave P., DJ, party promoter, and musical pioneer, has just introduced his newest venture: a night-long festival prioritizing indie rock and EDM performances, creating a futuristic event on par with the times.

Among those who have performed at Making Time over the years are The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, The Raptor, and Dave P. himself.

Now, in its 26th year and celebrating its third Montreal edition, Making Time is back at SAT for a night of transcendence, spanning techno, house and experimental electronic music.

A product of collaboration

Making Time hosted its first event in the city at Théâtre Fairmount, on New Year’s Eve 2023. In 2025, the occasion expanded over multiple floors of SAT, and it will again on October 3, with eight artists, a lineup of electronic music curated by both Dave P. and Alexandre Auché, the SAT’s Director of Programming.

“There wasn't really a division where Dave would bring ‘Making Time artists,’ and I would bring ‘SAT artists,’ said Auché. Instead, they exchanged names and ideas from their time in the business. They built the lineup together, and collaborated further with Ricardo Rivera from Klip Collective, who is in charge of making the visual installation and lighting in Espace SAT and the visuals in the Satosphere, for Making Time.

In that way, the collaborative process was, according to Auché, “about the entire experience: music, space, light and immersive visuals.”

A harmonious union in space and concept

Not only are the two longtime friends “both musically and in the way we think about electronic music,” as Auché said, “Dave has kept the spirit of the festival very pure. The programming is adventurous and uncompromising, but it never feels elitist.”

This philosophy is echoed in SAT’s own mission, which seeks to present and expand electronic music past the traditional club scene, and instead bring together music, visual art, and immersive environments. Both aim to democratize music and art through immersive, communal experiences, making the collaboration a natural fit.

“Montreal already has an incredibly rich electronic music culture, so bringing Making Time here isn’t about reproducing the Philadelphia festival; it’s about creating a meeting between Making Time’s identity, SAT’s spaces, and Montreal’s own scene and audience.”

Two rooms, one night

What results from a collaboration between two people like Dave P. and Auché, and their respective organizations, is a diverse list of artists playing sets across two large rooms, both utilized differently.