Alex Moschopoulos

Look at David Morales’s Facebook page for an interesting opinion on this today.

Couldn’t find what you’re getting at. Any idea of what I should look for on his page?

Ross, you pretty much stated the sentiment of many who simply are not fans of pop music and/or “EDM”. I will admit in the 90s and 00s I carried that chip on my shoulder as well, and while in 2015 I’m still not a fan of pop music, I don’t carry the angst I used to hold on it all.

There’s a reason the underground is the underground. It’s not out of some conspiracy to hold back “talent” or “good music”. I use those in quotes because they are both SUBJECTIVE. In any case, the “underground” is merely the circle of music, art, talent, and creativity that isn’t widely embraced by the mass majority of society. That’s the simple viewpoint. In all this, it’s music and art that isn’t loved by the majority of consumers.

When I hear DJs and producers complain about what seems to be a lack of “talent” in the mainstream circle, I again try to reiterate that “talent” is subjective. However, I also like to point out two other factors:

1. If their beloved “underground” superstar suddenly was embraced by the mainstream masses, guaranteed a chunk of his/her fans would abandon him/her. They’ll claim how he “sold out”, even if he didn’t. What they’re really complaining about is how their “special thing” is now not their “special thing” anymore. They’re upset to see the office receptionist who listens to Justin Bieber suddenly dancing to the music said “underground people” embraced. It more shows how much they loved the perception of exclusivity as opposed to the music.

2. Most people do not go out to clubs or events for the same reason. So maybe the music nerd will go out to hear innovative stuff from what he sees as “talented performers”, but many more might want easily digestible music, funky costumes, massive crowd, loads of drugs, and a big light/pyrotechnic show. They want the EXPERIENCE over the music.

When I see the music of the top “EDM” acts, it is easily digestible, but that’s because they wanted it to be. When David Guetta was releasing his 2009 album One Love, he stated in interviews that he wanted to somehow bring dance music into mainstream America. He wanted it on Top-40 radio and in our lives as opposed to just in the clubs. I can’t blame him if he succeeded in that because it’s not like he hid that goal. He knew he had to combine the ideas of what he saw as dance music with what kinds of sounds and voices he knew mainstream America would get into. It’s why he went to the big pop/R&B singers and some rappers to make new tunes, and the people who normally never go into all this suddenly got into EDM.

Now as for the factors of pre-recorded DJ sets, faking it on stage, throwing cakes, big light/pyro shows trumping the DJ set, etc…that’s the music industry. I used to hear stories of 10,000-person events in Europe where they were playing minimal tech house on vinyl. I could buy it, but I don’t think that was as common as many want to believe. I’ll see video of events in the 90s and 00s and still see mainly poppy dance music played for crowds who didn’t make it as big a priority as the music nerds did.

In the end, DJs and producers need to realize that average people really aren’t as “into it” as they are. You could take the most talented techno DJ who can do 4-deck live mixing and remixing, and watch him struggle to get a decent crowd next to the kid with the top 100 pop tunes and a laptop. It’s mainly because the crowd liked the kid with his pop music. Now imagine if that techno DJ came in to play pop music in his more creative sense? Even then the crowd might prefer “easily digestible” over “wildly creative”.

I’ve been known as an underrated by many in my home town, but it doesn’t mean I “deserved” to play anywhere. It just meant that the community thought I was talented in my sets, but the hard reality was I didn’t have a big enough following to drive myself into bigger endeavors.

I’ll wrap up my rambling here. I think one should realize what “underground” really means as opposed to what they perceive it to be, and to be careful what they wish for in terms of mainstream popularity. I also think one should decide what they want out of DJing and producing when they embark. If they want to be a wealthy superstar, then they might have to pander to the marketing machine and water down their sound for people to digest. If they want to be an underground superstar, then be prepared to work even harder to go there. If they want to be “underground” and not work insanely hard, then accept you might not play the big events.

No one “deserves” or “doesn’t deserve” fame…but it’s not always going to come from what we think is “talent” or “creativity”. It comes from gaining a large fan base and audience. That’s the music business.