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 A couple months ago, independent event producers Brownies & Lemonade and prominent YouTube music promoters, Proximity, joined forces to present the first official virtual music festival in the face of COVID-19, Digital Mirage. The online festival featured 51 artists that performed over three days, attracted one million unique digital attendees and raised $300,000 for Sweet Relief Fund, a charity aimed at providing financial support for music industry professionals and musicians who experienced hardship in the face of quarantine. With the success of the first festival under their belt, the team revealed plans for Digital Mirage 2.0, set to take place on Proximity’s YouTube channel this weekend, June 12-14, but with a new benefactor in mind. Via their charity partner, Plus1, Digital Mirage felt it necessary to direct the proceeds to charities rooted within the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Equal Justice Initiative, and Color Of Change. We caught up with Chad Kenney, Creative Director and Kushan Fernando, Co-Founder, of Brownies & Lemonade, to learn more about their 2020 venture into the virtual festival space, and the benefactors of the Digital Mirage 2.0 festival profits. How do you think your experience with Digital Mirage 1.0 will translate to this second edition, are there specific things that you learned and will work to implement? Chad Kenney: Digital Mirage 1.0 was one of the first three-day online music festivals during the early stages of nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis, so there was a bit of an organic D.I.Y. charm to it. I think this time around we wanted to increase the quality of the viewing experience from start to finish and curate a lineup with even more cutting-edge sounds and representation from a wider variety of artists. Is there anything new we can expect from DM 2.0? We understand that you pushed the date back by a week in response to current affairs, was that a straightforward decision? Chad Kenney: Digital Mirage 2.0 will feature some of the most immersive sets we’ve seen broadcast on a live stream to date. Pushing the date back a week was a unanimous, straightforward decision from our team and artists that allowed us all to pause, amplify voices from the Black community, and focus on issues much larger and important than music. You've chosen to donate proceeds from DM to the Equal Justice Initiative and Color of Change. What compelled you to choose these platforms over others, can you give us some insight into their mission? Kushan Fernando: Both of these initiatives have a proven track record of meaningful results in fighting mass incarceration, racial injustice, and protecting basic human rights. We were driven with making sure we are donating to initiatives that will be able to directly help the Black Lives Matter movement. What actions will Digital Mirage be taking to be a stronger ally to the black community moving forward? Chad Kenney: Everyone adjacent to the Black community can work on being a stronger ally, and with Digital Mirage we shifted our charity partnership with PLUS1 for proceeds to benefit two very significant organizations combating social injustice: the Equal Justice Initiative and Color of Change. We also will continue to showcase and support Black creators that deserve a stronger platform for their art. Are there any other progressive/inclusive dance brands/labels you'd like to give a shout to for fans to support? Kushan Fernando: Recently, we worked with RL Grime’s Sable Valley label. We helped them throw their debut showcase in LA. The label is pushing the envelope in the trap, bass, and hard-hitting electronic world. Representation is very diverse too, with many POC artists making up most of the roster. Every release has been a smash and we’re excited to see where the label goes from here. Which DJs /producers is B&L really getting behind at the moment? Chad Kenney: There are a handful of incredible emerging artists that we are excited to showcase. 15 year-old Moore Kismet is one of our favorite rising Black voices in dance music at the moment, and genre-bending young artists like ISOxo, Knock2, and Montell2099 have already received heavy support from established figures like RL Grime and Skrillex. The next wave of dance music is always the focal point for B&L to highlight because without them we simply wouldn’t exist. In your eyes, how can the dance music community as a whole move toward more inclusivity? How can we hold each other accountable and ensure these new adjustments/motivations remain for the long term? Chad Kenney: Those with a platform in dance music as a whole should always have Black and non-Black POC artists, along with women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, on their radar, booking them and sharing their work. The B&L team is made-up almost entirely of individuals from these communities and we will continue to represent the entire spectrum of what dance music has to offer beyond just those artists with the most followers or Spotify streams. Anything else you'd like us to know? Kushan Fernando: We miss throwing events and we can’t wait to get back to the live space to see all these beautiful people in person.