D-Jam

If you can actually meet the promoters, meet them and gauge how serious they are. If they’re the types who start off strong, but then by the night comes they’ve lost interest, then you’re wasting your time with them. Plus you might end up doing loads of work for a 1-hour opening set and they’re walking away with the money made.

Secondly, really think about your scene and the venue. If metal heads come in, then find out where the indie folk are. Will they come to that venue? So you could get a big lineup, but if they think the venue isn’t “for them” then you’ll lose. Not to mention will the metal heads give you flack and want rock music played.

I personally think promoters not there or not caring is a big red flag. Find out about these guys personally, then go from there. They might be overwhelmed and need help, or they’re just lazy amateurs and thus a waste of time.

I think in many cases, the “DJ name” thing is falling by the wayside unless you have a name that just doesn’t ring nicely on flyers.

My real name is Alex Moschopoulos. Imagine trying to put that on a flyer. “D-Jam” is the name my friends gave me back in 1992 and I just stayed with it.

Others actually will just make “normal sounding names”. Junior Vasquez is a prime example, since his real name is Donald Paul Mattern. Paul Van Dyk’s real name is Matthias Paul.

Some just go for the abstract, like Skrillex or Fatboy Slim. I only suggest many DJs to go on a domain name service and find a web address for whatever DJ name you choose. I also wouldn’t worry if some guy out there has the same name. Judge it by how “big” that guy is. When DJ AM popped up in the spotlight, I didn’t worry…because he and I were two separate entities and different kinds of DJs. Plus I was already moving my way back into the bedroom while he was blowing up.

Use what feels good to you, but make sure it has a nice ring to it, can be easily spelled, and you can get a web address for it. Also reserve the twitter name on that too.

Wow…Im intrigued.

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I’m sure they have skill and talent, but that video doesn’t show me anything. It shows two kids doing plenty of fist pumping on a bunch of big room breakdowns.

OK, I read the two articles but skipped the explanation of what dubstep is.

The first one (the one EEngenious posted) is mainly about Skrillex and his sudden success, but the author is also displaying how the rise and mainstay of these yearly fests like EDC have made dance “mainstream”. I get a kick out of how the author has taken pot shots at the new pop dance craze, but I still think that music has a place. You turn on the radio and you hear a lot of dancey stuff now. Many will be content to just listen to Ke$ha, BEP, Guetta, etc…but others will see more. This is nothing new, and it’s what makes rave CULTURE grow.

I remember back when epic trance exploded on the scene in the late 90s/early 00s, I’d see loads of people who used to just go to trendy clubs and bars suddenly want to see more. They went down the rabbit hole. A year or two later they were dismissing trance and talking in-depth about progressive house and techno. It’s amazing how many trendy folk will go to DEMF over WMC even.

I don’t agree with the logic that “dance music was at a lull” the way some do. 2000-2010 IMHO was loaded with EDM. We had the rise and fall of trance, then electro house, and even the explosion of “new remixes”, covers, mashups, and loads of home-made remixer/producers. The clubs were going nuts over those ten years and I have not seen anything change.

The only big changes I see now is the death of the illegal raves. I know there are many who vehemently believe that it’s not a “rave” unless it’s illegal and full of drugs, but the promoters themselves know they can’t build success like they have if they stay “outlaw”. Europe seemingly knew it had to go legal years ago…which is why we had Creamfields and Global Gathering. I don’t think these new events are losing their “underground flair” simply because I don’t see them booking BEP or Britney Spears. They’re trying to stay true to the current cutting-edge sounds and aren’t going to waver. However, I do think it’s cool the authorities are now trying to find a happy balance as opposed to outlawing it all.

The other big change…and I know some of you will hate me for saying this…is the death of the “decks”. Look at these new headliners — Skrillex, Deadmau5, Daft Punk etc. They’re on computers, laptops, and controllers. No turntables…no CDJs. Even their sets are not intermixed tracks the way we traditionally did, but more taking on the spirit of Live PA that we’ve seen out of past acts like Orbital, Prodigy, and the Crystal Method.

It seems production and live performance have come together so well that the future headliners will be solid producers and nothing more. I’m not saying traditional DJing will become totally obsolete, but you might walk into EDC or Ultra in 10 years and barely ever see a turntable or CDJ appear.

Sign of the times.