Famous Festie: Kevin McAllister

You’ve probably seen him get down on the dance floor, or have seen his video circulating on various platforms! Who is he? He is Kevin McAllister.

I was able to get a Festival Squad Exclusive interview with the shuffler we have come to be fond of. Check it out below!

Who are you? What is the story of Kevin McAllister?

My Name is Kevin Troy McAllister Jr. (the Home-Alone Kid lol) and I am born and raised in New Jersey, USA. I love to go out almost every weekend and dance the night away in the beautiful city of New York. When it comes to dancing, I shine the most at Music Festivals, particularly with EDM. It’s an unexplainable feeling walking into a world where no matter what you do, you are not judged for being who you are. The aroma radiates with peace and love from a community of people that certainly shares one commonality, the love of the music. In all of my dancing videos, I make sure that my LIVE performances, come from the heart when I’m truly lost in the music I love!

Were you getting notice for your dance skills before or after your EDC Orlando shuffle video?

I would say people who attend/view EDM festivals, noticed me after EDC New York. At the time, “#RunningManChallenge” and the “Dab” was a new social dance that the younger generations would post many times. So I decided to change it up a bit and add new styles into my shuffle to make it a little more unique then most.

 How did you find out that video was circulating on multiple sites and platforms?

People from most parts of Europe, Australia, South America, and of course North America started sharing my EDCO video through Facebook and Instagram saying all kinds of comments. I’ve received private messages/DM’s from people thanking me and wanted me to provide Tutorial videos [Unfortunately I don’t have any tutorials]. The funny thing is, I saw people use my video and replace the original audio with their own to make it funny. [Merengue was my favorite one lol].

What festivals have you been to? What ones are your favorite and why?

I have been to –

  • Electric Zoo 13’/14’/15’/16’ [Deff going to 17’ ]
  • EDC New York 14’/15’/16’ [17’ closed ]
  • Ultra Music Festival 15’/16’/17’ [Deff going to 18’ ]
  • Governor’s Ball NY 15’
  • EDC Las Vegas 15’/16’ [17’ is almost here!]
  • HYTE 16’
  • Moonrise 16’

I love both Ultra Music Festival and EDC Las Vegas, however Ultra is my favorite and has more of a meaning behind it. Ultra was the first festival I traveled to and I took that learning experience and used it for other festivals I may travel to in the future. In fact, Ultra is the first festival I shuffled and recorded myself to share on Instagram/Facebook. I honestly feel without this trip, I would not be who I am today!

Top five artists you MUST see? Favorite?

  1. Low Steppa (Most Favorite)
  2. Oliver Heldens
  3. Adam Beyer
  4. Hannah Wants
  5. Flosstradamus (when they were together)

What got you into shuffling? Do you have any dance background?

My good friend Kevin (Kevo) was shuffling at every festival we went to and he told me to try it. So when I asked him to go to Ultra 15’, I was going to try it out and MANNNNNN did I love every minute of it. The beauty of this dance is that once you do it, you motivate people to dance with you, resulting in a big dance circle. For such a common dance within the EDM community, shuffling has definitely created unity among one another.

My dancing idols growing up (and till this day) are Chris Brown, Usher, and Michael Jackson. Their dance moves are very different then shuffling, but I do try and incorporate other styles in my shuffle to make it more appealing.

How did your alliance with Vibedration come about? (Aren’t they awesome?!)

So after my EDC New York video, Vibedration actually commented on my video stating “We need to get you in a @vibedration pack”. At first I didn’t think anything of it, but I got in contact with them and became one of their ambassadors just before EDC Las Vegas 16’ rolled around. After joining, I’ve been rocking their gear and I’m excited for the new arrivals they have coming soon. As for the people, you couldn’t ask for a better team. Vibedration’s enthusiasm drives festival-goers to stay hydrated while still having an amazing time. I am always dancing, and with the sun beaming throughout the day, Vibedration’s got my back at all times.

Life goals?!? Dance goals?! Festival goals?

My goal is to live life to the fullest by traveling to every country I could get my hands on. I will say traveling while going to a festival has taught me to be independent and plan for any necessities I may need along the way. One day, I will able to take my future family somewhere incredible in hopes they receive the same amazing experience I do every time I travel. As for now, I dream of going to Tomorrowland in Belgium.

Here’s some cool photos and stories!

The [cover] photo above is with Mark (CEO of Vibedration), my good friend, Paola, and myself at the main stage of Ultra Music Festival 2017. This was the first time I hung out with Mark the first day of Ultra. In fact, that was his first time going as well. We all catered to each other’s taste in music and awesome time.

 

This is me in the Miami Herald News where photographer Matias J. Ocner did a piece on me on the first day of Ultra 2016. He told me to check the website for my picture in the gallery and sure enough, I was there.

 

This is beyond legendary right here at UMF 17’. Beside me are two of the finest shuffle babes in the game: Elena Cruz [ecruz_n] & Vanesa Seco [vanesa]. I’ve seen Elena get down many times through social media, her works with 3LAU, and promotional videos for various products. As for Vanesa, her come up is only the beginning and her works with Flash Footgear has certainly shined throughout her social media. Overall, we all shared the dance floor giving each other a taste of our own style.

Be on the lookout for Kevin and his shuffle game! You can follow his Instagram here

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