D-Jam

I say “it depends”.

I’ve played with live drummers, and loved it. I mainly liked it because I try to play WITH the drummer. That means I’ll toss on tunes that compliment his drumming, use drop outs and other tricks to let him go solo, and really make him entertain.

When it doesn’t work is when the DJ or the venue somehow wants normal big anthems WITH a live counterpart. So you might want or have to play “Call Me Maybe” and then you have some drummer or horn player going on top of it…thus you have a big mess.

If one wants to do live musicians…then the DJ needs to have the freedom to play a performance with said musician, not be forced to play the normal routine. The DJ should also talk to and work with said musician so things are fluid.

My buddy at Phunk Junk records would listen. They’re not anything big, but they can get you on Beatport.

I guess the record shop for me was mainly music. I never saw the ones in my area as ideal spots to network, simply because every DJ in there was in rough competition with one another.

I think when it became a big popularity contest, or I’d see the guy downloading loads of unreleased stuff off Kazaa and/or going out every night of the week to hang out at the smaller events…I lost touch with the idea of a record shop as a communal thing. I just went in, bought music, and went home.

If anything, I’ve seen more networking happen now at the weeknight smaller events…and more DJs get gigs who were willing to come out and support The Saturday promoter’s Wednesday night event. Now more than ever though it comes down to having a FB page with thousands of bonna-fide likes.

Bringing this around…I’m still happy there isn’t this push to get everything new every week. I hated having to find a way to get out of work on time every Thursday or Friday night in the hope of finding the new/cool stuff. Even when sites like Satellite Records (back in the day) or GEMM popped up, I loved how “limited” and “exclusive” stopped mattering in my shopping. I could simply buy said tune anywhere in the world.

Drive around the M25…find a nice field.

Set up speakers, lights, etc.

Become a legend…

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I used to get that song and dance a lot in the 90s and 00s. I would see guys literally spend $100 per week on vinyl to have “new stuff”, and then ridicule those who didn’t play new stuff all the time…or whine and complain how the clubs are so “behind” and how life is so much better in Europe.

I live by a saying: “Don’t rock a crowd with 20 new promos you just got. Rock them with 20 years of great music.”

Anyone can run out, but a ton of new tunes, and play them. A good or brilliant DJ can make music from different generations work together. Danny Teneglia was big at this with his DTourism night.

My last recent trance mix, Sensational, has music all the way back to 2008 and 2009. Music nuts would say I’m not keeping up, but I like to compile a solid, high-quality set for a mix I upload. I like having good tunes that I have not played in other trance mixes. I’d rather play a set spanning years over cramming together 12-14 “ok” tunes that have a recent release date.

Should you keep up? Yes…especially if you’re a mainstream music DJ. However, that’s really only so you’re ahead of the crowds. So you get a new Lady Gaga tune and then two months later the radio is pumping it and people are requesting it. You’re ahead of the game then.

HOWEVER, when you go outside of what the radio is playing, you can’t keep up. It’s impossible with the large amount of music being released every week. I generally shop once a month, and even then the shopping cart gets many tunes that are months or years old. I just buy what I come across that sounds good. I stopped looking at “release date” as a deciding.

Outside of the big anthems and mainstream hits…pretty much everyone isn’t going to know how “new” your music is. Not even DJs. I can listen to mixes and not know if something is 2 days or 2 years old. Your goal should be to make SOLID SETS and to play a nice variety to the crowd.

The “newness” thing was big when vinyl was dominant…but with digital there’s so much stuff released every week that everything ends up being “new” until the masses have heard it many times over.

Phil Morse, post: 28245, member: 2 wrote: Sync is a tool, but it doesn’t make the DJ. That’s my take on it.

Ditto…

http://www.d-jam.com/thoughts/2012/04/01/the-great-debate-sync

I think EDM is better than calling it all “techno” or “house”.

The only people I notice who get miffed at the EDM label are those who feel like they lost their “special individuality” by being lumped into the massive realm of it all.

Just because your favored music gets tossed into an arena with crappy cheese doesn’t mean your music took a step down or is any better/worse than it was.

People see long hair and guitars and immediately think “rock”. Only a few go ballistic and get mad that their deathcore group ended up sharing a “term” with the Jonas Brothers or Poison.

Just love your music and stop trying to fight to be “individual” or “unique”. It’s like I was told with hipsters. The true hipsters don’t run around letting everyone know they are hipsters.

Good thing…they are more solid/durable than any DJ headphones out there.

Bad thing…they aren’t very “fashionable”, and do not have as much bass as the DJ headphones out there.