From dis2 Sent Tue, May 4th 1999, 14:54
From dis2 Sent Tue, May 4th 1999, 14:54
> The DJs who realize that they're carrying on a conversation with > the audience always do well. The ones who want to punish you, or > prove how cool they are, or show how big their dicks are are always > a disappointment no matter what they're spinning. I've got to agree with you there - when you DJ out you've always got to try and read the room. I went to this party a month or so back where the opening DJ pounded out hardstep at ear-splitting volumes while everyone there cowered in the corner and shouted at each other. Volume's also important I guess - especially if it's at the point of the evening where people have just arrived and everyone's sitting down. > I'm sorry to hear that the London club scene has kind of regressed > to the idiot mean. That means one thing to me -- it's time to go back > to basics, do it yourself midweek in a pub, and turn your back on > Peter Tong and Paul Oakenfold and all the other corporate geezers. > It's about the music, not about how cool you are or how much money > you make. I think the clubs in London are pretty good at the moment - I was at a wicked night out with the Deadly Avenger and a bloke from Stereolab last Saturday, and every weekend I go clubbing I ususally find something pretty good going on. The good thing about weekday pub nights is you can do them as well (if anyone's near the Mill in Kingston on Thursdays I recommend it - it's run by some guys who just signed to Nature playing mainly hip-hop and soul but sometimes all other kinds of stuff). When I play out I do eclectic sets, but I try to play styles that are relevent to the atmosphere of the place I'm in. > one other reason dj's aren't meshing more styles together seems to stem from > all these bullshit events that book hundreds of dj's. even if it's multiple > rooms, the longest set a dj will get is two hours. how much ground can you > cover in that alloted time without sounding completely schitzo? You'd be surprised - a while back I did a 2hr tape which included techno, breakbeat, trip-hop, idm, ambient and jazz and still had room for (ahem) What is love? by Dee-lite. Didn't sound too schitzo (at least I don't think it did), and apparently it went down very well when a mate played it at a bar in Thailand. 3 hour+ sets are more fun though, even if they do take ages to prepare. Dan.