José Reach

Great topic!

I don’t like the prefix “DJ” in DJ names, it sounds ordinary and too 90’s techno for me. If I look at house music albums from, for example, Hed Kandi and Defected in the House, I see names like Ghosts of Venice, Tensnake, Treasure Fingers, etc. Realy cool dj names.

Further, there are some realy cool dj’s and producers out there who just use their own name: Russ Chimes, Carl Hanaghan, Patrick Wagenaar, Gregor Salto and Fred Falke to name just a few. I would recomend anyone who has a cool name of their own to just use that.

My real first name is Caspar. But I used my second name “José ” in my dj name. José is cool latin like and it is realy something of myself as it is my second name. “Reach” came from “reach to the stars”, from a pose I take with friends when partying (with one knee on the ground and stretched arms and face pointing to stars, as a joke) , and as a sign of my ambition. => José Reach.

Maybe I’ll change it later in a new name. Maybe I just go back to Caspar. But that I will see in the future.

I still don’t understand what digital dj controller haters are doing at a DIGITALDJ site.

I don’t think that you can find good (scratching) controllers for that price.

Yes I get your point Hessler and I must say, that I even agree with you, at least to some extent.
However, to put the blame a 100% on the digital gear, that goes too far. In the end, you are more bitching on the kids with few skills who doesn’t get paid.

Now I won’t pretend that I’m the one with so much experience, but climbing up on the hierarchical ladder of djs is not realy easy. I don’t think that kids just can buy a cheap hercules and after a month of practice can start mixing in any bar causing older more involved djs getting off the market. Most bars and clubs in my town realy prefer more experienced djs above kids, and often even want to pay more to get djs with a good reputation instead of cheaper djs with an unknown reputation.

I just don’t see anything bad in having a digital dj gear, which to my opinion will be the future of djing, which is of good solid quality, ranging between 500 and 1200 euros. If it got all the good functions and maybe even more, and has a great sound card with good scratching jogweels, and if you’re a dj with great mixing skills with its own style who gives the public a great time? That is just absolutely fine! It’s so much more compact and flexible. And it saves so much money which can actualy be put in other things like gears for music production. Because let’s face it: the best, famous and most wanted djs are the ones who produce great music.

DJing is not about themself, it’s about the audience. What does it actualy matter if you have gear that costed you 4000 euros, 50 cd’s with only paid music, worthy of some other 2000 euros? What does it matter if you actualy beatmatch or sync?
Sure, it may give you some feeling of “legitimacy” or sense of importance, it may make your job look more serious and technical which could add more fun.
Sure, quality of the gear is important. You don’t want to have something too crappy, you want quality and at least some investment in it.
But in the end, isn’t it the audience where it’s all about? You’re there and getting paid to give them a great time. People have a great time, the club gains more money out of it, you’re reputation is getting better.

If thanks to digital DJing more people getting able to dj, and more people having acces to gears, then there will be more competition. In the end, being a good DJ will not be about who has the best, most expensive and impressive gear, but about who gives the best parties. I think that’s the fear most CDJs are having now.