This all may seem a bit contrived. A CEO DJing? On paper this approaches Federline-esque levels of bullshit; yet music snobs might want to holster their pitchforks on this one. Upon dropping out of UMass in the mid ’80s, Taylor’s first move wasn’t to revolutionize the job market. Instead he elected to work as a DJ on the Boston club circuit. Now, as he works the crowd like a veteran selector, perhaps the most fitting compliment would be that Taylor comes off as a DJ who just happens to be a CEO rather than the other way around.

This being said, 90 foot geodesic domes and mind warping soundsystems aren’t exactly free, and they most likely aren’t being funded by bake sales or car washes. Taylor is slyly evasive about the cost, but acknowledges that “somehow, and through no work of my own, people have found out that that I am ‘the Monster guy’ and this is ‘the Monster camp,’ but I think you’ll find that most of the things that are out here that become larger in scale have some sort of backing.” The lack of Eons banners isn’t wholly altruistic: festival rules bar all corporate branding, and even if they didn’t, it goes almost without saying that an anti-consumerist streak is among Burning Man’s most distinctive attributes.

Still, seeing Taylor in his element, it’s not hard to take him at his word when he says that his DJ sets are less marketing opportunity than extreme vacation. “At Burning Man, there is no Monster.com, or Eons or anything like that. Root Society is about connections. I was introduced to [Burnign Man] by someone, and I introduced it to seven other people, and we’ve grown from seven to 18 to 27 to 40 to 80. There’s often a line between your work friends and your individual friends, because we spend so much time at work. I find that there is definitely an outlet for work friends to become better friends outside of the office if you create the right venue.” Or, as Taylor is well known for saying, “It’s half about a better job, it’s half about a better life.” In the most unlikely of places, Taylor and his camp are realizing a little bit of both.