I’ve always been a big fan of hip hop. One of my favorite music genre combinations is house and hip hop. No doubt, they’re closely tied together in regards to early influences and production techniques.
Here’s my house remix of Aesop Rock’s None Shall Pass. He’s one of my favorite lyricists. I started with just the acapella vocal track only. I sped it up a bit and created all of the music and arrangement myself. I think I did the original track justice and made it into a high energy danceable banger!
Sorry, but there isn’t enough face palm in the world to match the cringeworthyness of this recent Carnage tweet:
Now, let me first say this: in certain contexts, what he’s saying isn’t completely wrong…that is, in certain, very specific contexts…
But the statement alone without providing more context is doing a huge disservice to beginner DJs who are still trying to get their bearings with DJ etiquette.
So this post mainly goes out to them. (They may not be able to properly discern the subtleties of his controversial tweet.)
For all intents and purposes, I think we can all agree that when he says “bang it out”, this pretty much means to play as hard as you can, using peak hour bangers your entire set, with minimal breakdowns. This is generally the accepted definition of that term.
Remember these words: Foreplay, lube and warm up! “Banging it out” is perfectly fine…but only after it’s welcome. Remember, when you’re the DJ, you’re the conductor of a train with many passengers. You’re in control of their experience. So do everyone a huge favor and don’t be this train conductor:
However, speaking in terms of festivals only, (not at bars or clubs), DJ’s are usually booked to showcase their unique sound. So if the sound you’re known for is heavy, abrasive, peak hour dubstep that melts faces…then there’s a little more forgiveness for “banging it out” at 8:00 PM in a festival situation.
But check it out: Even if that sound is your bread and butter, then guess what? You can still play dubstep.
But play dubstep that tastefully caters to a beginning timeslot. Draw the people in to your presence. Dig deep in places other than the Beatport Top 100 for your tracks. Don’t be a one trick pony DJ.
Maybe find some early dubstep style classics or some deeper cuts within the genre? They’re out there. Some great dubstep tracks focus more on 808’s, sub bass and melodies. You don’t have to only play the heavily compressed, midrange wall of sound that most modern dubstep is known for.
Going deeper as an opener will showcase your range and depth of situational awareness. In today’s instant gratification and self-centered atmosphere, it’s really easy to lose sight of your role as an opening DJ and swing for the upper deck.
As tempting as it is to play as hard as you can, you’ll make a bigger impact if you don’t go crazy and over do it.
And if there’s an important agent or promoter there watching as Carnage says there might be, then trust me, you’ll make a better impression on them by playing an intelligent, time-slot appropriate set. They know what’s up. So don’t try to be a headliner when you’re clearly not.
One of a promoter’s biggest challenges is finding local openers who will play time-slot appropriate and genre-appropriate sets.
Just know this: putting huge effort into an opening set and “giving it all you’ve got” doesn’t necessarily mean that the only variables allowed for doing so are BPM and energy level of the tracks. Please read that sentence again
Properly Playing An Opening Set
Imagine you’re a kid at a friend’s sleepover. It’s morning time. There’s a half dozen of you in your sleeping bags in the living room. A couple of you are awake already, and the others are just waking up, yawning and wiping the sleep out of their eyes.
Then in walks your friend’s older brother. He’s got a large metal ladle and a frying pan. And he starts banging it like a drum as loud as he can while screaming “Wake up you idiots”!
THIS is what an opening DJ who plays bangers is like! So don’t be that dick older brother who loves stroking his own ego at everyone else’s expense for a quick fix of douchey self-gratification.
Instead, draw people in. Interface with them and match the CURRENT mood of the atmosphere before trying to elevate it.
Very, very few people will be going hard at 8PM at a festival, (although we all have that ONE friend!) So if the vastly overwhelming mood of the space is more chill, then don’t come out from left field and try to cram something completely different down everyone’s throat. (This is the #1 common mistake of beginner DJs.)
You have to interface with the existing over-all energy level and match it first. Then, once you have people vibing with you and drawn in, then, AND ONLY THEN, can you slowly start ramping up the energy.
Remember: you want to draw people in to the dance area, not push them away from it. If I walked into a bar early in the night and this dude was playing, I’d immediately do an about face and leave:
Remember, it’s not about you showing people how hard you can play. And it’s not about the headliner’s “fragile ego or insecurities” as Carnage says. It’s about doing what’s best for the event. It’s about making the energy of the space the #1 priority, not any one individual’s gratification or career advancement.
“Ask not what you can do to get ahead from playing the event, ask what you can do FOR the event.” -JFK or someone
Enhancing the energy of the space should be the #1 priority for all DJs. The overall feeling of the room is the most important thing. And playing way too hard as an opener does not enhance or build the energy of the space.
Instead, you’re actually draining it and being an energy vampire if you do that. Your priority should be to first interface with, then augment and build the overall feel of the atmosphere, not detract from it.
A Few Pro Tips For Openers:
DON’T play any of the headliner’s original tracks! Just don’t…
Play an appropriate genre- or maybe some similar tracks from the label that the headliner is on.
DON’T over do it on the alcohol (or other) consumption. Nothing will make promoters not want to book you more.
END YOUR SET ON TIME! If the next DJ starts at 11:00 PM, then they need to be on the decks and mixing into your last track AT 11:00 PM!! Not 11:01…Not 11:02, Not after you “play just one more”…No! Respect the other artists’ set times.
So In Conclusion:
Go as hard as you can as an opener! But NOT by playing out of context, peak hour bangers. Go hard by showing how good of an opener you can be. Impress the people who count. Dig deep for the right tracks. Play appropriate, intelligent music that embraces and lifts the current energy of the crowd.
And present yourself to everyone as a professional with self-awareness and proper DJ etiquette. Show them that you can be trusted with control of the precious early energy of the night.
An opener has much more impact on the tone of the entire night than they might think.
Pull Up A Chair And Get Comfortable, This Dead Horse Is In For A Ride…
First things first, in order for you to know where I get my
perspective: I started playing on vinyl about 20 years ago. I love vinyl. And I
have a clean set of 1200 MK5’s that I love playing on. But I also play on CDJs
and controllers with computers too.
So why are some of my old school peers so adamant about this
purist, “real DJs only play vinyl” perspective? I’d say it’s due to several
reasons…some being quite legit actually!
But before you immediately discount the thought of me legitimizing vinyl purists by replying to this post with “OK boomer!”…I think you might be able to glean some new insight as to why there’s some legitimacy (and yes, fallacy as well) to that perspective… So, let’s dive in!
First of all, in order to determine what “real DJing” is, we would all have to agree upon one clear, concise definition for the term “DJ”. And that’s the problem. We can’t all do that.
But for all intents and purposes, I think we can all at
least agree that the term DJ is an abbreviation of the words Disc Jockey. You
know…back when music was actually stored on discs and played on phonographs and
record players.
Of course, over the years, the methods in which recorded
music is stored and gets played has changed. Physical discs are no longer the
medium most commonly used to save and play recorded music. So, there lies the conundrum…
Doing what disc jockeys have always done no longer requires actual discs.
So then…Is a DJ someone who plays physical discs specifically? Or is a DJ simply anyone who performs the act of playing or mixing recorded music, no matter the means? I’ll give you my detailed answer later. But first…
Allow Me To Don My Purist DJ Hat And Share That Perspective First:
Let me start off by shaking my fist in the air and saying:
Back in my day, it took months to get proficient at turntables and to be able
to pull off a clean set! And referring to yourself as a “DJ” before then would result
in being publicly ridiculed and labeled as a fake-ass wannabe within the scene.
Not good.
This was due to the huge amount of respect people used to have for the art of DJing. Remember, DJing (in our context) was born as one of the 5 elements of Hip Hop – a space where fakeness was not tolerated the least bit. You had to actually EARN your title to make it concrete…(Not just by listing it on some social media page!)
It’s much different today. Nowadays, who’s revered and lauded as a great DJ is determined more by marketing budgets and popularity on social media. (As opposed to who can do the most amazing things on vinyl.) A shit new standard if you ask me…DJ Mag’s top 100? Don’t get me started….
Today’s “DJ’s” don’t have to go through such a rigorous and dedicated journey in order to legitimately earn the title of “DJ”. Anyone with a laptop, no talent, and a free music program can now be a “DJ” and cleanly mix 90 minutes worth of music, amirite?
This, I think is one of the main reasons purists have some resentment towards today’s commonly accepted criteria for being a DJ. Not to mention, they see some of these young kids who have never even touched a piece of vinyl blowing up and supporting themselves through their music. A bit of jealousy perhaps? (Actually, I feel personally attacked by that question!) LOL But I do think that the talent bar has been lowered substantially over the years.
Now let’s talk about DJs acquiring their music: Back in the
day, we would congregate at the record shops on the days they got in new
shipments. Standing room only! We’d be flipping through the bins and throwing
records on the turntables, frantically auditioning tracks to nab the good ones
before the next person. The art of digging was real…and competitive!
We could easily spend $10 on one record with only one track on each side. Sometimes more! This budget issue forced us to choose our tunes wisely and curate our sets with more love, focused intent and purpose.
The vast majority of discovering and acquiring music is done online now. That feeling of community and physical contact with one another has diminished quite a bit. It has been replaced by the world wide interwebs of Photoshopped profile pics, fake followers and a sea of mediocre tracks that make it nearly impossible to find a gem.
Today’s DJs are burdened with information overload. When you have 40,000 tracks on your computer, (most of which you’ve never even heard), you never really get to know your music collection. Remember, less can be more. And knowing your tracks, (or at least a good number of them) intimately is a huge part of delivering a well programmed, technical and clean set. (Whether done on vinyl or not.)
It used to take knowing your tracks inside and out and hours upon hours of bedroom practice to be able to line up double drops and perfectly timed breakdowns throughout a set. Respect! No looping within tracks to change arrangement timing…no visual screen or cue points to use for crutches. Nope! Those didn’t exist.
Your only tool was pure planning, preparation and countless hours of love poured into every live performance. Not to mention, it took a constant intense focus to remain beat matched. And this magnetic, highly focused energy the DJ had to bring shined through in their sets.
Sync button / digital DJs lack the same requirement of constant intense focus in order to simply keep the mix going clean. And it shows through. That’s the main difference I see. With a click of a button, their tracks are perfectly synced for the whole mix and they can spend most of their time tweaking knobs, throwing up heart signs and doing Jesus poses!
Not to mention, watching a DJ stare at a laptop for an hour and a half, completely ignoring the crowd in front of them makes me scratch my head. (Sorry laptop DJs.)
I think DJs who do this are completely missing the whole
point of playing live. (Not that every single laptop DJ has Serato face their
entire set.) But many do I’ve noticed… Only laptop DJs at the highest level of ability
and performance can do their sets and still maintain a good degree of crowd
interaction and project that live energy vibe and feel, in my opinion.
One could even argue that when a computer or sync button is in control of the tempo and timing of each track, it’s not real DJing…If one’s definition of “real DJing” includes *must beat match live. So is beat matching an Ableton set at home before your performance still “beat matching”?
Here’s what I think: Beat matching is the act of dropping tracks into a mix and tuning their pitch and tempo BY EAR, LIVE, IN REAL TIME and making the adjustments on the fly with a physical pitch control in order to match BPM’s and mix the tracks together on beat and measure.
Lining up grids on a computer when you’re not mixing live isn’t beat matching in my humble opinion, sorry. But you don’t have to be offended by or agree with my perspective. After all…I’ll proudly admit that I have a fair amount of purist in me!
Unlike laptop mixing, with vinyl, (and even CDJs to a large extent) there’s more of a live and intimate connection with the people in front of you.
A human is in charge of the timing of the records. Not a computer. And said human is therefore subject to the real time flow of energy reflected to them by the crowd. This effects their presence, energy level and how they well they mix each track.
The subtle swaying of slight variations heard in the timing of the two tracks, and how they make small adjustments to bring them back in time tells a story in and of itself.
It’s all part of the live energy exchange between the DJ and the crowd. This subtlety of character adds color to the performance and is completely absent in most laptop or digital sets.
The vinyl DJ had to be much more tuned into this energy. The DJ and crowd mutually determined how the set went because they fed off each other more and effected one another to a larger degree. It was an equal exchange. Not to say that it doesn’t happen to some degree with digital DJs, it’s just diminished with digitally synced tracks.
DJs who don’t use pre-programmed sets can adjust the vibe on the fly to embrace the constantly evolving feeling of the room. This gives you more of freedom of expression than Ableton Live DJs, who give that up in exchange for a robotic, mechanical ease of performance.
As vinyl DJs, you’re forced to be more aware of and sensitive to the energy of the crowd. (And god forbid you lose your focus for one second and train wreck!) This performance standard forces you to have 10 times the amount of self-awareness that these damn digital kids today have! (*Shakes fist in air again.)
And speaking of the energy in the room: Nothing kills the vibe and constantly derails a smooth energy progression throughout the night like every single DJ having to set up their own controller to play on.
Old school DJs all shared the same set up: Technics 1200’s and a mixer. And stepping up to take over from the person before you was an excellent way to showcase how expert you were at embracing unfamiliar music and adapting to keep the energy flowing.
This was fun and a good challenge! Just doing it in a manner that took the torch respectfully and allowed the building of the energy of the room to continue was grounds for getting “the nod!”
It’s hard to keep smooth energy flowing throughout the night when everyone uses different gear to perform on. It’s very disjointed actually. Not to mention, you’ve got people plugging in these shitty, third-world audio cards on $150 controllers into high end sound systems. Kinda like converting a 96 kbps MP3 into a WAV file for more clarity. Amirite??!
One of my biggest pet peeves about controller shows is that there’s someone interrupting the last 15 minutes (usually the very peak) of the DJ’s set by fumbling around them plugging in their cords and gear, setting up their controller. Total buzz kill when a DJ is deep in the mix! (Not to mention, quite disrespectful to the person who is performing.)
Many of my laptop-dependent friends might argue that this subtlety is a minor inconvenience and completely irrelevant. But I would beg to differ.
Personally, I prefer when everyone uses the same gear. And there are no swap outs with equipment. CDJs are great for this.
And oh my god…hearing the music completely stop in between DJs is like listening to Freddy Krueger claws scratching a chalkboard! Hearing this at large festivals is bad enough, but inside nightclubs is way worse. It completely kills the vibe. Sometimes no sound is the worst sound!
I think that being brought up within this old school standard of prioritizing the vibe of the room often makes older DJs more sensitive to it. We HAD to be. It also provided better training grounds on how to continuously build the energy of the night.
Nowadays, it’s the norm for everyone to be completely oblivious to their surroundings and caught up in their own little world on some digital device. This cultural norm has infected the DJ scene.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen laptop DJs completely disregard the existing vibe and clear a dancefloor with an abrupt change…and not even bother making any adjustments after doing so. Sure, any DJ can do this….but I’ve noticed that it’s way more common with today’s digital DJs.
Also, it breaks my heart to see them open a show at 9:00 PM by
beating people over the head with a sledge hammer of peak-hour dubstep bangers!
Ugh…Zero situational awareness. Perhaps they should Google the word foreplay?
Back in my day…(*Shakes fist in the air one last time), it
was important to make sure the night was curated properly. Special attention
would be given to the genres and set times.
I think that all of these stereotypes combined: instant gratification, lack of beat matching ability, lack of self awareness, and disjointed sets and set ups make purists resentful towards the newer generation of digital DJs.
Sure, as an old school DJ, I would prefer to look out into a crowd and see countless smiling faces intently focused on our energy exchange as opposed to seeing the backs of 100 cell phones being held up…And as a party goer, I would much rather see a DJ fully embracing the crowd with eye contact and interaction as opposed to staring at a laptop the whole time…But hey…the damn kids these days will be saying something similar in 20 years about the damn kids of the future! </end rant>
Ok Now, Switching Hats To My Non-Purist Perspective:
It’s not the equipment, it’s the music you play and the vibe
you put out. DJ technology has developed so much at this point that there are literally
100’s of methods of DJing. And people should pick the one they resonate with
most to perform on.
I’m tired of you old school, has-been gate keepers stuck in
your ways, trying to get one up on younger DJs who are just trying to share
good music. Leave them alone. Just because you guys can’t manage to stay
relevant doesn’t mean you should avoid change with some fake-ass superiority
complex. (*Sips a low-fat, organic, sugar-free soy milk blonde latte)
The art of DJing has moved way past two turntables and a
mixer. The vast majority of music that people have is in digital form. And
digital players are what is relevant today. Electronic music has always been
about pushing the envelope of technology and music genres. So “real DJing” is
any DJing done with good music choice and solid execution.
And all the subtleties involved in playing vinyl are equivalent
to all of the subtleties and tricks you can incorporate with digital systems.
With a decent controller you can easily play four tracks at once with effects
added, loops going and do live remixes on the fly like nothing. This stuff is
literally impossible with just vinyl only.
Keeping the equipment standard among performers and only
having one set up to share prevents the uniqueness and variation that different
people can offer by mastering various mixers, programs and hardware. Stifling progress
by clinging on to antiquated equipment and methods is the exact opposite of
what electronic music is about.
In fact, most people listening today don’t even care about
the equipment being used. They just want to hear a great set by an amazing DJ
and get down on the dancefloor. Besides, a laptop and controller are much easier
to carry around compared to turntables or CDJs and a mixer. Furthermore, (yes, I
said furthermore), who has 5 grand plus to buy all that gear? I can get a
decent controller for a couple hundred dollars and hell, everyone already has a
laptop. And boom! I’m off and mixing immediately!
The massive growth of the electronic music industry in the
last two decades is largely attributed to the expansion and availability of DJ
technology and sound systems. All boats rise with the tide. So the fact that
the market for this stuff is way bigger than ever before is a win for all of
us. And encouraging new DJs to get started by any means they can is a good way
to continue fostering the scene’s growth.
A real DJ simply uses any and all equipment available that
allows them to perform the best they can.
People like A-Trak and Carl Cox have used controllers in
their performances. Does that mean they’re not “real DJs”? (*Sips a low-fat,
organic, sugar-free soy milk blonde latte again)
And what about CDJs? They have sync buttons. And they’re the
industry standard equipment supplied at all major clubs and festivals. But they’re
digital and have screens. Does that make them less than turntables? Or is
playing on them fine as long as you don’t touch the sync button?
There are far too many grey areas and personal preference dynamics
to draw any clear line for what constitutes “real DJing”. But hating on other
people is definitely not “real DJing”. And if you have to hate on others due to
their choice of equipment, then you might consider the notion that you’re not
much of a “real DJ” yourself. (*Guzzles rest of the low-fat, organic, sugar-free
soy milk blonde latte)
The “Real DJing” Conclusion
“Real DJing” is whatever the hell one wants to define it as…No
one person has the monopoly on determining what that definition is for everyone
else. Concurrently, no one has the right to force others to adopt their personal
perspective on it. After all, if the electronic music scene isn’t about
inclusion and acceptance of other lifestyles and opinions, then what is?
My personal opinion: Real DJing covers all of the above.
However…the letters D and J have different meanings. For people who use vinyl,
control vinyl and CDJs and beat match live: they’re DJs…as in disc jockey’s.
(Yes, even if they’re using flashdrives on CDJs rather than actual CDs, they’re
still disc jockeys.)
And everyone else using digital controllers, launch pads,
laptops and software: They’re DJs too…Only the letters DJ in their case is an abbreviation
for Data Jockey!
So I look at people’s performances in more of a sliding
scale of skill as opposed to a black and white, “real DJ”, “not-a-real DJ”
context. I’ve heard some amazing sets that have been done with laptops and a
simple controller by someone I consider a real DJ.
So here’s my personal sliding scale graphic of the varying
degrees of “real DJing”.
Both extremes have their advantages and hinderances.
Besides, no one is in the position to dictate the value of something so
subjective to anyone other than themselves. If I’m playing a silent disco, give
me a laptop and controller over vinyl or CDJs any day!
So I say listen to, support, book and promote the DJs you
appreciate most based on your own preferences and criteria. And allow others to
have their own preferences and criteria too.
We all have something to offer. I’m just thankful that I do have the experience and perspective of being around in the vinyl only days to add that extra layer of flavor and understanding to my sets. I consider that a blessing.
But those days are long gone now and they’re not coming back. And the people who missed out on them will never be able to gain that perspective and insight. So rather than faulting them for it, I simply choose to embody what I feel being a “real DJ” is.
I decided to remix Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence! Classic 80’s tune, ripe for a good remix. So here it is!
All I had to start with was the acapella. I built the entire track from scratch around the vocals. I did a little research on the key, melody and notes used and tried to keep the original feel and mood without changing things too much.
Old school raves of the late 90’s, early 2000’s were quite an experience to attend! I know, I know, countless others have beat this dead horse so hard that it died twice…
But relax, this isn’t another exhausting tirade from some burnt out, elitist has-been talking about “damn kids these days” while shaking their fist in the air. Besides, I’ve never been to Ibiza or Burning Man, so I don’t think you’d get the full effect of that type of dissertation from me anyways! 🙂
Nope…this post is about something else. I’m simply going to list some of the attributes of the earlier days of dance music from my own experience here on the west coast of the United States. Ah yes…good times indeed! I’ll also share some interesting observations and comparisons to what I personally see in today’s dance music scene.
Genre Wars And Elitism Didn’t Exist At Old School Raves
Although music snob elitism has always existed, it was very minimal back then. In fact, it was the exception, not the norm. People at old school raves were just happy to have a forum to go lose themselves in music and dance for hours on end.
Now days, it often feels like people are more concerned with being perceived as a “cultured audiofile expert” than an actual fan. Damn hipsters, I tell ya!
This hilarious Jimmy Kimmel segment from a couple years ago shows people at SXSW being asked what they think about bands that don’t actually exist, and their responses and priceless:
SXSW Attendees Faking Knowledge Of Bands
It Was More About Genre Inclusion And Openly Embracing The Different Types Music Back Then (Or at least it felt like it to me!)
In the 90’s and early 2000’s, there was a big push in society towards embracing diversity in general. For me, this was high school and college years. Think of the glory days of MTV. Rock, hip hop, electronic, alternative and more, all being served up on a buffet of diversity. And it actually worked!
I remember good people from several different scenes and crowds all sitting in the campus lounge watching MTV and enjoying different flavors of music together. It was inclusive. It was a learning experience for us all to say the least. As a society, we finally had readily available, commercialized, mass distribution platforms where this could take place.
With cable TV peaking and the internet taking off, people could be exposed to many different ideas, lifestyles and perspectives. And the dance music community was of course on the cutting edge of this transition within society.
Because of this pervasive ideology at the time, old school raves reflected it by generally having a set list and curation of artists that was very diverse. The music journey told a story throughout the night.
The set times and genres were purposely organized so the energy and BPMs would start off slow, rise to a crescendo and often let you back down gently at the end.
You’d see a night start off with some down tempo, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow / trip hop type vibes, then move into some vibey house or breaks, peak out with trance or drum & bass, maybe even some hardcore. Then it would often come full circle back down to some experimental or downtempo, as the sun came up. And everybody there loved and appreciated the entire journey!
Here’s a few recent tweets by dubstep maestro MUST DIE! about people pigeon-holing line ups and genre-hating:
Of course it depends on what the night is intended to be, what the promoter is trying to portray with the event, and how the line up is billed. Obviously, if you’re attending a tech house night at a local club and the opening DJ plays drum & bass, then yes, that could be a legit cause for concern.
But what about the responsibility of the fan to do a little research first on the event to find out who’s playing and when? If you’re only there for the headliner and genres you don’t care for are warming up, then go hit a damn bar for a couple hours before coming!
Also, there’s nothing worse than an opening DJ not playing their time slot. Walking in to a show at 9PM and being beaten over the head with the sledgehammer of peak hour electro or dubstep is a surefire way to kill the vibe of the entire night.
I see this all too often now days. DJs swing for the upper deck during their set without any self awareness or respect for the general flow of the night. Vomit.
Newsflash! You can still play electro, drum & bass, even dubstep as an opening set if your track selection and vibe are right. There are plenty of tracks in those genres that are more vibey, deep and laid back then the high energy, peak hour stuff they’re known most for.
Honestly though, I do miss the overall general intention of “how can we make this whole experience better for everyone”, as opposed to the current climate of “how can I personally benefit the most here” type of attitude. I’ve noticed this change over the years. But in reality, it’s just a reflection of society in general.
Like it or not, we’ve moved into the A.D.D., instant gratification era where it’s all about self absorption and how many likes you get on your latest Instragram pic. Peoples’ attention span and patience for anything that doesn’t fit their specific preference is quickly thrown to the side and ridiculed as lame. </end mini-rant>
DJs Were Real At Old School Raves
Most artists played vinyl. A few live PA acts would bring their gear and rock a nice live set, but for the most part, it was all about toting heavy record cases around and using the industry standard Technics 1200’s.
Here’s a picture of me playing techno to the crowd before DJ Swamp was about to perform, with Dig Dug in the background. Circa 2001:
This was an incredible night with a variety of different genres showcased.
You couldn’t fake the funk back then. You actually had to mix records live! No pre-made sets. (Pre-planned, yes. But not pre-made or pre-recorded.) No button pushing, no digital crutches to use…it was just you and the wheels of steel in front of a relentless crowd who would walk off the dance floor the instant you lost your focus and started galloping.
DJs embraced the one before them rather than completely stopping the music and getting on the mic. It was a test of skill and mastery to seamlessly transition from the DJ before you. Completely different genre? Get creative. Maybe play a couple tracks from that genre before making a smooth and seamless transition to a new genre. (Abrupt changes are definitely not the dance floor’s friend.)
Tricks of the trade were needed. Playing a drum & bass set after a breaks DJ? Try mixing in a DnB record at 33 RPM. It will be the same tempo as breaks, so you can mix the two.
Then hit the crossfader to the DnB track right when its breakdown hits while also hitting the 45 speed button at the exact same time. When the drop comes back in, you’re now in DnB tempo and people on the dance floor are scratching their heads wondering how the hell you did that!
Playing clean, well programmed sets could not be faked back then.
Nothing against the large corporate event productions employing “DJs” who play pre-recorded sets. I see there’s a market for this. And I know that a lot of people discover electronic music this way. So more power to them. (I just have no desire to give that machine any of my own money.)
I think the modern EDM culture is summed up in this clip of some guy apparently named Salvatore Ganacci “DJing” at Tomorrowland 2018:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s38WSfdZfLc
Ok, so in order to avoid jumping in the elitist, music snob toilet too far myself, let’s talk about squads!
Attending And Throwing Old School Raves With The Squad!
My original crew was called The Bomb Squad and I worked with a local production company in Southern Oregon called Digital Confusion Productions.
There wasn’t really anything like this happening in the local area at the time we started. We were certainly pioneers in a lot of ways. It was a lot of trial and error. Finding venues and overcoming the stigma of dance music hysteria talked about on the news was challenging.
We would put together local events and travel to bigger shows when we could. We had to drive a good 6 hours to either Seattle or the Bay Area to catch any big artists. Portland was a bit closer, and that was an easier trip to make as well.
We laughed, we cried, we helped each other through hard times. We loved, we learned, we grew as individuals. It was a journey of self discovery within this new and evolving culture called dance music. And this, I’m sure is the same today for the squads of the younger generation who are just getting into it.
I’m really glad to have had the experiences I’ve had over the last 20 some years. Others may disagree, but I don’t feel I’m particularly jaded or elitist about things.
I simply feel that the wonderful experiences I’ve been fortunate to enjoy over the years with dance music simply give me a different perspective on the scene than people who have missed out on what might be described as the golden era.
Respect the experience of the OG’s and fully embrace the young and new! Much love. 🙂
Sounderground Studios has launched! Sounderground has set up shop in Phoenix, Oregon on Bear Creek Drive. I’ve leased a 2 room office space with music production facility and DJ live streaming room.
I’m offering several services at the flat rate of $25 per hour:
Electronic Music Production With Ableton Live Instruction
Track Mixing
Vocal Recording
Full Track Recording And Production (Electronic Music and Hip Hop)
DJing Mentorship
DJ Live Streaming Session / Video Recording With 6 Camera Set Up
DJ Set Recording
Call ahead or text to book time: 541-643-8760. Studio hours available are:
Recent Comments