Few groups have seen more wild and outlandish moments at B.C. festivals than Smalltown DJs—not least because, over their near 20-year partnership, they’ve played at almost all of them. Multiple times.

“It would be tough to pick a favourite,” says Pete Emes, one half of the DJ duo, speaking to the Straight from Calgary. “They’re all different, and really cool in their own way. The thing I like about festivals in Western Canada is that they’re always a labour of love for somebody, and you can really feel that in the vibe. Someone’s put their heart and soul into its organization, and the crowd gives that back.”

While some performers choose to stick to the tried-and-tested summer circuit, hopping between grassy fields and big-top tents, Smalltown DJs also keep the tour bus rolling during the country’s winters. Curating events like their annual Mountain Magic trip—a collection of dates designed to bring the party to Canada’s ski hills, which this year saw Emes and his partner Mike Grimes hit up 15 different locations before spinning their up-tempo, sample-heavy house set at Sun Peaks’ Snowbombing festival—the pair are no strangers to travelling from towns with a population of 5,000 to festival audiences of twice that.

As he gears up for the Salmo River Ranch’s Shambhala Music Festival—one of B.C.’s largest independent events, which the duo has been playing for 15 years—Emes hopes that, as well as showcasing the pair’s latest gritty house release with high-octane EDM duo Torro Torro, he’ll be able to relive some of the crazy events of past summers.

“We’re kind of the Fractal Forest residents,” he says. “They trust us to hold it down every year and attract people to that stage. Some of the early sets we played at Shambhala are still unforgettable—we would perform with guys like Vinyl Ritchie when we were just up-and-comers. Since then, we’ve learned to relax a bit, and some really funny things have happened as a result.

“A couple of years ago, for example, a friend of mine’s girlfriend was dancing,” he continues. “Some people don’t know this, but they originally set up the Fractal Forest booth in the trunk of an old-growth tree that had been hit by lightning. People would get pretty wild, and the girl was jumping around on the table where the decks were. She tripped and fell into the tree trunk, and was literally stuck upside down with her legs sticking out. My brother was in the booth behind us, but he didn’t see her fall because it’s pretty dark in there. A few minutes later, he turned his head towards the tree trunk and saw two feet kicking upside down, like a cartoon. He grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her out, and saved her from being stuck in there forever.”

It’s moments like that, Emes says, that keep DJing exciting for the duo—even if, after decades of performing, there are few high-profile venues in the region that the pair haven’t packed.

“Every year something new pops up,” he says. “After doing it for so long, if it was getting stale or we were disinterested, we wouldn’t mind moving on to different things. But new and fun and interesting things keep happening, so we keep rolling with it. That’s why we’re still doing it, basically. We still love it.”

Smalltown DJs play the Shambhala Music Festival on Saturday and Sunday (August 12 and 13).

Follow Kate Wilson on Twitter @KateWilsonSays