Mid Atlantic Monday: on the Ground With the Region’s EDM Scene

By Kayla Putman · April 20, 2026 · 2 min read read

Category: Music

Electronic dance music has shaped my life, guiding me from childhood memories to festival promotion and the communities that make the Mid-Atlantic scene thrive. Mid Atlantic Monday (MAM) is a field report capturing the people, places, and moments that bring this culture to life; giving a voice to the underground and documenting the scene as it happens.

Electronic dance music has been a constant in my life, even as everything else changed. Growing up in a military family meant moving cities, schools, and making new friends frequently. My mom, a fitness instructor, worked out to electronic music daily, and the rhythms of trance and progressive house became the soundtrack of my childhood. No matter where I went or how life shifted around me, EDM was the one thing that stayed consistent; grounding me, inspiring me, and eventually shaping my path.

That passion first led me into festival promotion and event work. I remember my first big moment vividly: joining the Steez Promotion team for the Moonrise Festival in Baltimore. Months of preparation, putting up ads and promoting shows across the city, culminated in stepping through those gates for the very first time. The energy was overwhelming. The bass roared, lasers danced, and the crowd’s enthusiasm was electric. I watched sets from DJs I had grown up listening to, like Above & Beyond, and experienced a wave of emotions….nostalgia, awe, and a sense of belonging I hadn’t felt anywhere else. That weekend cemented for me that this was not just music; it was a culture built on connection, creativity, and community.

Today, as a trained PR specialist who dabbles in Journalism, I’m bringing that perspective to Mid Atlantic Monday (MAM), a socio-cultural field report on the Mid-Atlantic electronic music scene. The project documents the people, spaces, and moments that make this scene vibrant . From underground shows to large festivals, intimate collectives to emerging artists. Every episode, every post, is rooted in on-the-ground reporting and storytelling, capturing the culture as it happens.

MAM isn’t just about spotlighting the music. It’s about highlighting the people and collectives that fuel the scene, the artistry behind the sounds, and the communities that make the Mid-Atlantic an often-overlooked hub of creativity. From Virginia Beach to Richmond and beyond, this series aims to give a voice to the underground and show what’s happening on the ground in real time.

With MAM, I want viewers to experience the scene as I do….fully immersed, deeply connected, and aware of the narratives behind the music. This is a project built on passion, experience, and the desire to archive a culture that deserves recognition. Thank you for seeing the vision. We’re just getting started.