DJ Times January 2015, Vol 28 No 1

DJ-Lighting Round-Up

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988

JANUARY 2015 $4.95 US $6.95 CANADA

djtimes.com

DJ

SHADOW

&

CUT

CHEMIST

HONOR

BAMBAATAA

PLUS: Paul Oakenfold * DJ Nu-Mark * Stephan Grondin * Modern MIDI Moves * IK’s Motion Control * A&H’s PA Solution * Focal Studio Monitors

Spinning at Schools: Opportunity or Annoyance?

2

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

INDUSTRY EVENTS…NOTABLES…MILESTONES

NEWS

Playground: Junkie XL on the mic.

New Gear: ADJ’s latest trio.

Chauvet DJ’s Funfetti launcher.

RUSH: Martin’s Wizard effect.

TECH & DESIGN DEBUTS LIGHT UP LAS VEGAS SHOW hardware and thick EVA padding. A removable front panel allows access to the front controls and headphone jack, and the case includes a rubber gripped metal tow handle and wheels.

At LDI, GLP celebrated its 20 th anniversary and expanded its impression X4 series of products. GLP showed the impression X4 Bar 10 and impression X4 20, both highperformance battens that incorporate 15-watt RGBW LEDs packed tightly to give a full line of light. GLP also debuted the impression X4 XL, a high-output, yet compact fixture that throws lots of light for long distances, plus the latest version of AirDMX, a WiFi-based wireless DMX system that runs from a standard Apple iPad. Related company Cosmic Truss premiered its U-Torm system, a flexible solution to the problem of suspending drop fixtures and finding

tormentor positions.

Denmark’s Martin Professional— a Harman International company—broke out three new lighting units from its RUSH Series. They included: the RUSH DC 1 Aqua compact, 75watt, LED water-effect light; the RUSH MH 1 Profile Plus moving-head LED light, which has two gobo wheels and two color wheels; and the RUSH Wizard effect light that includes a powerful “full-house” club effect that produces more than 80 chasing beams.

Kent, Wash.-based manufacturer OmniSisten introduced its new line of moving yokes—the OnyxPro Series. Four units highlight the line: OnyxPro40 (40W RGBW Quad LED); OnyxPro75 (75W White LED fixture with color wheel); OnyxPro101 (LumiEngin COB-2011600M-W LED); and the OnyxPro132 (OSRAM Sirius HRI 132-W discharge lamp).

www.SoundPro.com

Your DirecT Source For

JANUARY 2015

with transparency film; the Funfetti, a wirelessly controllable confetti launcher that does not require CO2 or compressed air to run; and the EZwash Hex IRC, a mini LED colorwash fixture that uses versatile 6-in-1 RGBAW+UV LEDs. U.K.-based manufacturer elektraLite—distributed Stateside by Group One Limited—introduced three products at the show. They included: the elektraBar, a 43-inch linear LED fixture that can be linked end-to-end or side-to-side for seamless, continuous coverage; the Dazer RGBA fixture, which features 36 5-watt LEDs; and the MJ Parcan, available in 200-watt output in Warm White or RGBAW color options.

Another Group One company, the U.K.-based Avolites showed its Quartz console. The latest addition to the Titan Mobile family, the Quartz measures 16.7 inches wide and features onboard processing and a bright 12.1-inch screen.

The Montebello, Calif.-based Epsilon Group of Companies showed a slew of lighting fixtures, including the high-power CREE LED movinghead beams, like the first Linear DUO Q-BEAM BAR with single-cell control. Epsilon also debuted the PixBeam, an ultra-compact, 100-watt, beam fixture that produces pure color mixing and individual LED cell control, and the Mini Z-Beam, a compact Zoom LED moving-head fixture.

Largo, Fla.-based Flutter FETTI introduced its Baby Gerb continuous-flow confetti gerb launcher that comes with a push-button launching-control unit. Its hopper can hold one pound of Flutter FETTI and can launch 25 feet.

Lutz, Fla.-based Gator Cases pushed several new products, including custom-fit G-TOUR Road Cases for Pioneer DDJ-SZ and Numark NS7II DJ controllers. These heavyduty wood road cases provide protection with laminated panels, sleek

Sound BeTTer. Save Money. Sound ProducTions.

DJ TIMES

By Jim Tremayne Las Vegas – According to organizers, over 9,700 show-technology and design professionals converged at the Las Vegas Convention Center this past Nov. 17-23 for LDI, America’s top entertainment-lighting exhibition/convention.

The show presented six days of instructional seminars and three days of exhibits, which included the EDM@LDI track of workshops and exhibits, which focused on the eventtechnology side of the exploding EDM scene.

Of course, lighting-product debuts for DJs and nightclubs were plenty.

Los Angeles-based supplier ADJ introduced more than 25 products at LDI. They included: the 12P Hex LED par fixture, which offers 6-in-1 LEDs and an innovative “lie-flat” design that makes it perfect for lighting dancefloors; the Illusion Dotz 3.3 movinghead wash fixture, which includes nine 30-watt COB pixel-controllable TRI LEDs; and the Fog Fury Jett highvelocity vertical fog machine that mixes color into the fog from 12 3-watt RGBA LEDs. Related company Elation Lighting released a number of new products, as well. They include: the Sniper 2R scanner/laser simulator; the Platinum SBX 3-in-1 luminaire; and the Platinum BX beam luminaire.

Waukesha, Wis.-based Blizzard Lighting debuted: the Lil’ G mini moving-spot head, which includes a 40-watt light source with nine gobo patterns and seven colors; the G70 moving-head fixture that includes an LCD 4-button control panel; the Nova multi-beam LED moving head, which offers pulsating effects, rotating narrow LED beams, and split beam colors; and the SkyBox Chroma up-light fixtures.

New products at LDI from Sunrise, Fla.-based Chauvet DJ included: the EZgobo, a battery-powered, wireless projector that allows DJs to create their own removable gobos

3

VOLUME 29

12 Back to the Old School

NUMBER 1

DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist’s “Renegades of Rhythm” Tour Honors Afrika Bambaataa’s Legacy

BY ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY

20 Let’s Go to The Hop

Many Mobiles View School Dances as Fodder for Newbies. But Some See a Resurgence—And Opportunity

BY JEFF STILES

22 Legendary Moves

As He Preps for Perfecto’s 25th Anniversary, Paul Oakenfold Looks for a Big 2015

BY CHRIS CARUSO

24 Thoroughly Modern MIDI

Newer, Innovative Uses of MIDI Help Jocks in the DJ Booth & the Studio

BY WESLEY BRYANT-KING

DEPARTMENTS 7 Feedback

As Always, the Answers to All Your DJ-Related Questions

26 Making Tracks

Focal Alpha 50 Monitors

28 Sounding Off

A&H’s ZED60-10FX & IK’s iRing

30 Mobile Profile

For Connecticut DJ, Country Is Cool

32 Business Line

How Audience Insights Can Drive Loyalty

34 Gear

New Products from JBL, Chauvet & More

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

38 Grooves

4

SAMPLINGS 8 DJ Nu-Mark

Turntablist Tales

10 In the Studio With…

Stephan Grondin

Phat Tracks from John Tejada, Blue 6 & More

40 DJ Times Marketplace

Shop Here for All Your DJ-Related Supplies

41 Club Play Chart

The Hottest Records, As Reported

by Our Top U.S. Record Pools

Cover Images By Derik Dailey & Ken Carlson. Contents By Joe Conzo.

FROM THE EDITOR

Bam & The Renegades of Rhythm This past fall, a former DJ Times co-worker—himself a genuine hip-hop head—reached out to me, wanting to hit up one of the two New York shows on the Renegades of Rhythm tour. Knowing that we were in store for an evening of Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow rocking Irving Plaza with Afrika Bambaataa’s massive vinyl collection…, I mean, what’s not to like?

Hell yeah, let’s go!

The evening was certainly epic. The two DJs not only showcased their considerable turntable skills, but they really brought the party. Breakdancers and head-bobbers united on the floor, while overhead in the VIP, Bambaataa himself was offering his blessings to the stage and the dancefloor. Whether it was grooves from James Brown, the Incredible Bongo Band or The Mighty Mocambos, the hits and obscurities stayed in my head for days—thanks, fellas.

And lucky for us, Motor City scribe Ashley Zlatopolsky was there for all the action and she connected with Shadow to discuss what Bam has meant to him and the entire DJ culture. A few weeks later, I caught up with Cut Chemist for some of the same, plus a little conversation about the modern notion of “DJ authenticity.”

In keeping with the turntablist theme, Ms. Zlatopolsky also connects with DJ Nu-Mark— Cut Chemist’s DJ partner in Jurassic 5. As the J5 hit the Detroit area, Nu-Mark reminisced a bit with Ms. Z and explained how an old-school DJ has to work a little harder to make his way in the digital world. In other music-related features, our Chris Caruso caught up with the legendary Paul Oakenfold, who will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of his Perfecto label in 2015. As he mentions in the interview, look for a big celebration during Winter Music Conference in March. Also, Duanny Medrano grabs a few minutes with longtime Montreal DJ/producer Stephan Grondin, who has become a mainstay at circuit parties and festivals, like Mexico’s upcoming Arena event (Jan. 28 – Feb. 2).

In tech world, Wesley Bryant-King’s “Thoroughly Modern MIDI” feature concentrates on two products—Mixur for Lemur and Zivix PUC—that benefit DJs and remixer/producers.

In the Making Track column, Wes tests out the Focal Alpha 50 studio monitors and explains how they provide a vital service for producers working in tight confines. For the Sounding Off pro-audio column, Josh Harris reviews IK Multimedia’s iRing motion controllers and Paul Dailey shows how Allen & Heath’s ZED60-10FX audio mixer can benefit mobiles looking for more flexibility.

Also, in the realm of the mobile entertainer, Jeff Stiles asks DJs: Do you regard the booking and playing of school dances to be an annoyance with little return? Or, as a whole, do you see them as a unique opportunity? As you might imagine, answers are mixed. The Mobile Profile department concentrates on Connecticut DJ Alan Kohn, who has won big by spinning country music for the past two decades. In Business Line, we explain how audience insights can drive loyalty for your DJ business.

In the News section, we also take a look back at Las Vegas’ LDI show, which introduced a slew of new lighting products for DJs and nightclubs. And speaking of trade shows, stay tuned for next month’s issue, which will offer a proper preview of Anaheim’s Winter NAMM— America’s biggest gear bonanza.

editor-in-chief Jim Tremayne jtremayne@testa.com

art director Janice Pupelis jpupelis@testa.com

editor-at-large Brian O’Connor boconnor@testa.com

production manager Steve Thorakos sthorakos@testa.com

chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Jody Amos Tom Banham Joe Bermudez Wesley Bryant-King Ally Byers Chris Caruso Shawn Christopher Paul Dailey Reed Dailey Chris Davis Michelle Fetky Josh Harris Robert LaFrance Michelle Loeb Duanny Medrano Lily Moayeri Phil Moffa Natalie Raben Scott Rubin Julia Sachs Jeff Stiles Emily Tan Phil Turnipseed Curtis Zack Ashley Zlatopolsky President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO ORDER SUBSCRIPTIONS, CALL 800-937-7678 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.djtimes.com

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

Cheers,

6

Jim Tremayne Editor, DJ Times

DJ Times Sound & Communications The Music & Sound Retailer Sound & Communications Blue Book America’s Best DJ The DJ Expo IT/AV Report Convention TV News VTTV Studios

brand design & web development manager Fred Gumm fgumm@testa.com assistant editor Chris Caruso ccaruso@testa.com advertising manager Tom McCarty tmccarty@testa.com art/production assistant Vito Gelo vgelo@testa.com Circulation circulation@testa.com Classifieds classifiedsales@testa.com operations manager Robin Hazan rhazan@testa.com Editorial and Sales Office: DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, New York, USA 11050-3779. (516) 767-2500 • FAX (Editorial): (516) 944-8372 • FAX (Sales/all other business): (516) 767-9335 • DJTIMES@TESTA. COM Editorial contributions should be addressed to The Editor, DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, NY, USA, 110503779. Unsolicited manuscripts will be treated with care an d should be accompanied by return postage.

DJ Times (ISSN 1045-9693) (USPS 0004-153) is published monthly for $19.40 (US), $39.99 (Canada), and $59.99 (all other countries), by DJ Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 110503779. Periodicals postage paid at Port Washington, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DJ Times, PO BOX 1767, LOWELL MA 01853-1767 Design and contents are copyright © 2015 by DJ Publishing, Inc., and must not be reproduced in any manner except by permission of the publisher. Websites: www. djtimes.com and www.testa.com January 2015

visit our website: www.djtimes.com

FEEDBACK

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTAB-

DECEMBER 2014

$4.95 US

$6.95 CANADA

Report: Amsterdam Dance Event DJ/Entrepreneurs Sell Up $4.95 US

$6.95 CANADA

PL US: Po r t e r Ro b i n s o n * Ol i v e r He l d e n s * An n a L u n o e * Ro l a n d T R- 8 * We b s i t e Ti p s * Al l - Vi n y l Mo b i l e

Mackie Thump Battles Burning Man

1990, we feel more than confident that we won’t skip a beat in 2015. Again, stay tuned.

As for the Winter NAMM show—set for Jan. 22-25 at the Anaheim Conven‑ tion Center—it’s true that the show sees loads of product introductions to the DJ world. Whether they’re pushing playback, pro-audio, studio, lighting or accessory gear, most DJ-related manufacturers and distributors are there with lots of new products. As al‑

ways, DJ Times will be there to report all the introductions.

However, unlike DJ Expo, NAMM isn’t really an “end-user” show; it’s intended to create business between the retail stores (brick-and-mortar or online) and manufacturers/distribu‑ tors. Again, unlike DJ Expo, a DJ can’t just buy a badge. In order to score a NAMM badge, you need to be a NAMM member (as a retailer, manufacturer or rep), a media outlet (like DJ Times) or

have a legitimate connection to one of the above. And don’t try to borrow a friend’s badge—a pretty stout security team checks IDs at all the convention center’s entrances.

NAMM is a great show—and with over 95,000 attendees, it’s one of America’s biggest—but it’s not really for DJs who want to walk out of the venue with boxes of the newest gear. Again, that’s why DJs should attend DJ Expo.

– Jim Tremayne, DJ Times

www.djtimes.com 048DE14_p001-044.indd 1

11/13/2014 12:50:26 PM

This is Feedback, a monthly feature that fields questions from you, our readers, and funnels them out to in‑ dustry professionals. If you have any questions about DJing – marketing, mixing, equipment or insurance, any at all – drop us a letter at DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Ave, Port Washington, NY 11050, fax us at (516) 944‑8372 or e‑mail us at djtimes@testa.com.

If we do use your question, you’ll receive a free DJ Times T‑shirt. And remember, the only dumb question is the question that is not asked.

DEAR DJ TIMES, Two questions for you: First off, in light of all the changes in Atlantic City since the last DJ Expo (August, 2014), where and when does DJ Times expect to hold the 2015 show? Will DJ Expo move venues?

Would DJ Expo move cities?

Also, I’ve read a lot about the NAMM show in California this Winter, and all the new DJ gear that’s introduced there. Is that a show that DJs should at‑ tend? I looked at their website, though, and it doesn’t sell passes. Why not?

Thanks, – Fred Toney, Chicago, Ill.

FRED, Thanks for reaching out.

First off, we’re well-aware of the rapid changes and property closings that At‑ lantic City is enduring at the moment.

Yes, it appears to be a fluid situation.

However, at presstime we’re not yet prepared to make any announcements.

Suffice to say that we are engaging in talks with city representatives and various properties in the event that DJ Expo requires a new venue. We certainly expect to make an announce‑ ment in time for the upcoming NAMM show. As for the dates, we expect to present the show at the same time of year—middle of August.

But no matter the time or the venue, DJ Times and Testa Communications remain committed to presenting the very best trade show/exhibition for professional DJs. As we’ve been pro‑ ducing the industry’s top show since

[WINTER ISSUE COMING 2015]

Get Your Free Subscription http://cbwd.us/CWSubs

Phone: 516.767.2500

If you have questions or need more information, please contact: Advertising/Sales Tom McCarty: tmccarty@testa.com, ext. 507 Editorial Chris Caruso: ccaruso@testa.com, ext. 515

SAMPLINGS

DJ NU-MARK: TURNTABLIST TALES 5 Favorite Albums:

Breaking Atoms

by Main Source [Wild Pitch, 1991]

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

The Chronic

by Dr. Dre [Death Row, 1992]

8

Midnight Marauders

by A Tribe Called Quest [Jive, 1993] In the Jungle Groove

by James Brown [Polydor, 1986] UTFO

by UTFO [Select, 1985]

With DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist working the decks, Jurassic 5 was a seminal part of hip hop’s underground movement in the ’90s. But since the six-piece outfit split in 2007, both the music market and the DJ scene have drastically changed—dance music now outpaces hip-hop and its turntablists have diminished in popularity.

But recently, after a nearly seven-year hiatus, J5 members have put their differences aside and joined ranks once more for the Word of Mouth 20th Reunion Tour. So when the tour hit Detroit, we spoke with Nu-Mark (aka Mark Potsic), who gave us some insight on the current state of the hip-hop DJ and how electronic music has impacted the scene.

DJ Times: In your view, how has the hip-hop scene changed over the years?

Nu-Mark: Wow, it’s changed completely. It doesn’t even resemble what it used to be, in my opinion. On the art side, I don’t think it matters much to be dope anymore, or to be good.

I know that’s kind of a negative thing to say, but I mean it with sincerity. I think being dope only counts for 20- to 40-percent [now]. It’s more about shock value and how beautiful you are onstage, your image. I just find it hard to believe that a major label would sign someone like Janis Joplin today, or like Stevie Wonder, because they’re so concerned with how they look and their sex appeal.

DJ Times: What’s the effect, then?

Nu-Mark: It’s bothersome to me because there’s been really good music put out that just hasn’t seen the light of day because labels are only interested in 360 deals. I also think with the advancements of YouTube and the Internet, attention spans have shrunken quite drastically, so if you don’t hit people in the first minute and your songs [in whole] aren’t three minutes or less, you’re not going to captivate an audience. Your live show has to be impeccable now because that’s really the main source of income for musicians these days, whereas back in the day we’d have some residuals.

DJ Times: What about the musical side?

Nu-Mark: On the musical side, the producer has gotten

bigger and there have been a lot of advancements in technology that are really positive. The beats sound really full now, like courageous and contagious, whereas lyrics have become really dumbed down and ignorant in a lot of ways. I’m spoiled because I grew up on Kool G Rap, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and Chuck D—and to go from that to what I’m hearing lyrically now is just a drastic drop off. I own 35,000 records; I know what’s happened. I’ve seen what’s happened. I don’t know if people are purposely trying to dumb down their lyrics to cater to the masses, or if hip-hop has become a little bit lazier.

DJ Times: Does a hip-hop DJ have to work harder nowadays?

Nu-Mark: This is the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life.

And I come from a house-party background—I’ve carried my own amps, speakers, turntables and seven crates of records to every party I’ve done, and would average two-to-three gigs every weekend while I was in high school. I know what it is to work, but I’ve worked harder in the last five years than I ever have in my entire life. There just isn’t the market there used to be for urban, hip-hop music.

DJ Times: How has electronic music’s recent boom affected the market for hip-hop DJs? Nu-Mark: Electronic music has swallowed up all the genres and mass appeal for the DJ. You could take the lowest-paid electronic DJ that’s somewhat known, making $25,000 to $50,000 a night, to the highest paid nonelectronic DJ—like someone in my genre, hip-hop—making maybe $7,000 to $15,000 on a good day, $20,000 on a great day. Electronic DJs are making upwards of $750,000 a night, so there is a huge difference in income and popularity [between electronic and non-electronic DJs].

DJ Times: Quite a difference…

Nu-Mark: It has changed quite a bit since [December 2002, when] Cut Chemist and I were on the cover of DJ Times! But don’t get it twisted: hip-hop DJs are the illest in the world. They’ve got it the hardest… the blends, the dipping of the genres, incorporating what has been sampled into the hip-hop songs, the fluctuating tempos in just four bars—only a skilled DJ can handle that.

– Ashley Zlatopolsky

Meet

new r u o y

n o i n a omp

c

www.martin.com

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

IN THE STUDIO WITH

10

Whether he’s playing major circuit parties, club dates across his native Canada, Pride events in NYC or festivals like Mexico’s upcoming Arena (Jan. 28 – Feb. 2), DJ vet Stephan Grondin continues to build a loyal and lasting fan base. Spinning tunes that, by his own description, are “a blend of house, tribal, tech-house and vocals—a bit of everything,” Grondin knows what gets the party jumping.

Additionally, his studio work— both remixes and productions— for artists like Ceevox, Superchumbo and Xaviera Gold have livened up dancefloors worldwide. Recently, he’s been working with Celeda, and he expects to release the Chicago diva’s thumper “To the Floor” on his deeperBPM recordings in early 2015.

We caught up with the Montreal-based Grondin to discuss DJing and his approach in the studio.

DJ Times: You started DJing in the turntable era. Do you miss it?

Grondin: It’s been over six years since I’ve used a turntable. I miss it sometimes because there is a special feeling dropping a needle on a vinyl and also the sound of a vinyl can’t be matched with digital. I also miss going to the record store every week to hear new releases.

DJ Times: What are your methods—in the studio and in the DJ booth?

Grondin: For the studio, I always start by listening to the vocal I have to remix—then I upload them to my sequencer and start sequencing music to it. For the DJ booth, preparation is the key! I now use USB keys along with the Pioneer CDJ players. So I make sure all my music is well organized in folders; then I go with the flow of the night. When you are well-prepared, you can face any live situation that comes in front of you.

DJ Times: Your studio-gear choices?

Grondin: In studio, I use Cubase 7.5 because I have used Cubase since the first version. I feel 100-percent comfortable with it and I know the software inside and out. I am also a beta tester for Steinberg, so I use in parallel Cubase 8, which has great new

Stephan Grondin: A deeperBPM

features. I also use Reason along with Cubase. I also have a lot of physical gear, like compressors, reverbs and keyboards that I use along with software instruments. My favorite plug-ins are all the Waves plug-ins—quite expensive, but so worth the money.

DJ Times: How often do you rework a track from its original version before you play it?

Grondin: It is safe to say that 95-percent of what I play has been tweaked or reworked or edited in some kind of way. It goes from very simple edits to a more complex thing, where I add synths and percussion, or change the arrangements. I also spend a lot of time doing personal mash-ups with older, vocal a cappella tracks I have.

DJ Times: Tell us about “To the Floor” and working with Celeda.

Grondin: I am so grateful that life put us together. Celeda, of course, was a huge inspiration from all the classics she’s made with Danny Tenaglia and Peter Rauhofer. So, when I got the chance to work with Celeda I was beyond excited! From the first time we met to this day, we get each other. We became good friends and the time we spent in the studio was so easy and fun. We did six tracks together and I can’t wait to share our work with everybody.

DJ Times: What’s your advice to young DJs, looking to move up in the game?

Grondin: It has to be from within your heart. You got to love what you do first. Don’t seek popularity or fame because that is not what it is all about. Fame only exists through the eyes of others.

DJ Times: You have built a very loyal fan base. How has that fueled your work over the years?

Grondin: That is exactly it—I owe my career to all the club goers that are still showing up at gigs. I’m so grateful that I’m still able to do what I love after all these years. The payback for me is when someone comes up to me and says, “I love what you do—it means a lot.”

This is such a blessing for me to have the opportunity to have this. That is what gets me going.

– Duanny Medrano

Party Started Get The

Full Compass offers DJ gear and accessories from leading manufacturers

Top Brands Including:

800-356-5844•fullcompass.com Leading The Industry For Over 35 Years

Follow Us Request your FREE 540-page catalog

Renegades of Rhythm Honors Afrika Bambaataa’s

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

Legacy

12

“

“

DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist’s

Tour

New York City – This past September at Manhattan’s Irving Plaza, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist played a pair of triumphant shows as part of their ongoing “Renegades of Rhythm” tour. Meanwhile, in the top right corner of the venue’s balcony, Afrika Bambaataa sat and observed festivities, essentially two evenings decidated solely to his legacy.

A hip-hop legend who blended classic beats for 1982’s “Planet Rock” with (at the time of its release) an emerging electro sound, Bambaataa’s renowned 40,000some collection of vinyl records was placed in the hands of DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist to spin for this tour. The collection contains Bambaataa’s released (and unreleased) material, as well as music that influenced his decades-spanning career. (Editor’s Note: As the tour’s 24-date Stateside leg wrapped in late 2014, a new round of 17 European dates was announced for early 2015.)

Old School

By Ashley Zlatopolsky

Photos By Ken Carlson

DJ Shadow (aka Josh Davis), who is best known for his direct contribution to the development of instrumental hip-hop and for his groundbreaking 1996 album Endtroducing…, sat down with us before the show to discuss the ways in which Bambaataa influenced his sound, as well as how he came to discover “Planet Rock” in his youth. He also describes how both himself and Cut Chemist (aka Lucas MacFadden) carry Bambaataa’s message, which is vital to continuing the hip-hop movement Bambaataa and others pioneered in the ’70s and ’80s.

DJ Times: Tonight is the second New York City show of this tour. How was the first show last night?

Shadow: It was an amazing honor. Bambaataa was there and it was New York City. It was a culmination of not only a year of talking about doing this, and looking through the records and setting the records aside and going through the records, but distilling what we needed from the collection and actually creating the set… to finally get to do it here and see his [Bambaataa’s] reaction just felt like a real indication of so much time and energy. It was totally rewarding as well.

DJ Times: Did you know Bambaataa would be at the show?

Shadow: I suspected he might be, but I wasn’t 100-percent sure. Being who he is, he’s kind of revered everywhere he goes.

I didn’t want to just assume he would want to make the time to come and see something like this, but I was really honored that he was here.

DJ Times: What was your reaction when you first encountered him?

Shadow: I first saw him when he was DJing in the late ’90s. Because of his personality and because he’s so humble, Luke [Cut Chemist] and I both felt at ease when [Bambaataa] came in [to Irving Plaza]. He came in during sound check. Later during the show, he was seated and we were able to introduce him to the whole crowd, who cheered for him as I think they should.

It was a nice moment. I still can’t really believe that after first hearing his music 32 years ago, and all the benefit I’ve gotten from his wisdom and the music he’s made… all the things he’s

“The sharing of newly discovered old music is the most authentic thing you can do when DJing.”

— Cut Chemist

ONE MIGHTY BOX ONE MIGHTY BOX

8 Performance modes Sampler, Slicer, Cue, Hot Flip, Hot Loops,Pad FX 8 velocity-sensitive RGB-lit drum pads with after touch Mighty 4-Deck & bank control

2 endless push encorders for navigation & looping Support for brand-new Serato FLIP MODE

Powerful deck- and DVScontrols including shift layer 5 Status LED‘s for each Sample Pad

www.reloop.com

Special Offer!

RP8000-Ad.pdfPurchase 1 12/9/14an8:26 AM RP-8000 Get a Free reloop by Ortofon Concorde Black Cartridge!

Now Through December 31st!

Good Times: (from left) Cut, Bam & Shadow.

Cut Chemist

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

On Bam, Gear & DJ Authenticity

16

After the “Renegades of Rhythm Tour” wrapped up its 24 U.S. dates, it was announced that Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow would be taking the show to Europe in early 2015 for 17 gigs in 13 countries. So we caught up with Cut to discuss the tour and a few other DJ topics.

DJ Times: Your take on the Irving Plaza shows?

Cut Chemist: Amazing. Having Bambaataa in attendance changed it from a show to a Romanesque experience. Having him in the balcony waving like the hip-hop royalty that he is was very surreal. I would say it was a career highlight for me. I think that energy transcended with every record we played.

New York is proud of its hip-hop heritage and they let that be known all three nights that we played.

DJ Times: Gear-wise, what are you using?

Cut Chemist: Six Pioneer [PLX-1000] turntables, two Pioneer [DJM900SRT] mixers, one 1967 Vox Percussion King drum machine and one [Yamaha DTX-MULTI 12] MIDI drum-pad drum machine.

DJ Times: In the digital-DJ age, there’s so much discussion of authenticity.

Do you think that talk offers some subtext to this tour and its popularity?

Cut Chemist: People might use the word authentic when it comes to us because the era we come from is thought of as such. We started collaborating in 1998-99 when the turntablist was at an all-time high. Also, our collaborations focused not only skills, but music. The sharing of newly discovered old music is the most authentic thing you can do when DJing. That is what Bambaataa was doing in the ’70s and ’80s. When I asked to pair up with Shadow to do Brainfreeze [in 1999], it was to highlight both turntable and digging skills.

Back in the ’90s, there weren’t many mix tapes combining crab scratching with deep crates. Certainly none that placed the limitation on themselves of using all 45s. Now it seems every town in the world has an “All 45 Night.”

DJ Times: Do people get too bent out of shape over the evolution of the DJ and its technology changes?

Cut Chemist: Evolution will always be challenged no matter what the context is. There will be a day when USB sticks will be defended as superior to whatever newer technology replaces it. It’s never ending because technology keeps changing. Do we want it to stop? No. That’s a ridiculous notion. I invite all methods of performance by DJs whether it’s vinyl, software-based, or CDs. I feel most comfortable with vinyl because that was the only medium available when I learned how to DJ. A kid learning today most likely would not be the same case, and that’s fine. You do the best you can with the tools you have. The tool of this generation is software-based DJ programs.

DJ Times: What was your initial reaction to the digital revolution’s changes?

Cut Chemist: I embraced it pretty heavily. I was able to play my own productions on Serato as soon as I made them. In the vinyl days, I used to have to cut acetate dub plates, which were heavy and expensive. It also made it easier to bring hundreds of songs, as opposed to lugging crates around the globe.

The bad side is that my computer might crash and I would lose everything.

There’s always a price to pay for convenience and that was it. I learned to bring a little bit of every format in my sets—vinyl, CDs and hard drive.

DJ Times: For some of the younger DJs and fans especially, there’s a real educational element to this tour.

Cut Chemist: There is an educational element to every aspect of this tour. The academic world now recognizes hip-hop culture and these records are the artifacts that lie in the same vault as the Gettysburg Address and ancient Mesopotamian tablets. That’s just the records. The arrangement of the set is somewhat of a timeline of how hip hop progressed from playing records with breaks at jams to a recording industry—an industry largely due to Bambaataa’s vision and productions in the early ’80s. The arrangement of the set handles each section faithfully to each era to where I think it serves as good examples of what songs were played together from era to era. I can speak for the ’83-’84 era section, first hand. I was there in the clubs at that time in L.A. and I get a little misty that it’s so on point of how things sounded back then.

DJ Times: Your fondest memory of that time?

Cut Chemist: DJing with Shortkut in ’96 at Future Primitive in San Francisco. We had just met that night and it was all improvised. The crowd was amazing and I had just got the “Open, Close” record from Cool Chris at Groove Merchant that afternoon. I ended up whispering to Short, “I’m gonna throw on this kids record where the beat speeds up and slows down, just follow along...” And he killed it. To this day, it’s still a routine in the Jurassic 5 live shows that I now do with DJ Nu-Mark.

– Jim Tremayne

passed on to other DJs that inspired me… it’s just pretty amazing that last night happened.

DJ Times: How did the idea of this all-vinyl tribute come about?

Shadow: The link between Bambaataa and us is a guy named Johan Kugelberg. He’s known a lot of the Zulu Nation guys for a while and he helped broker the sale of Bam’s collection to Cornell [University Library’s Hip-Hop Collection]. And then I think from knowing Cut and I a little bit throughout the years, he just suddenly went, “Oh, you know what would be really dope? Instead of the collection just going into a vault somewhere, we have an opportunity to take at least a portion of this collection on tour.” Somebody in the last interview asked, “How do you feel about him adding more wear to the records?” And I was like, “Well, we’re doing with the records exactly what is supposed to be done.” They’re supposed to be enjoyed and people are supposed to rejoice around that music. Whether there’s pops or warps or whatever is wrong with the vinyl… I mean, that’s how it was back then. This [show] is 100-percent Bambaataa’s collection.

DJ Times: Is any of the vinyl in his collection unreleased?

Shadow: Yeah, there was stuff in his collection that was massively and historically significant, like unreleased old-school rap tracks from the very beginning that we didn’t know existed outside of Bam and a few other people. There were demos of his own songs that have never been heard by anyone other than him… just all this stuff where Cut and I constantly couldn’t believe what we were seeing and hearing.

DJ Times: With all those records, how did you (continued on page 42)

N ov em be r1 – De ce m be r3 1, 20 14

SIMPLE SETUP. SERIOUS BASS. BOSE® B2 BASS MODULE & L1® MODEL 1S SYSTEM Presenting the two latest additions to the Bose L1 family. Our high-performance B2 bass module delivers more bass than you’ve ever heard before from an L1, and our L1 Model 1S offers the portability and flexibility of the L1 family — with a new level of performance. With the proprietary Bose 12-speaker articulated line array, the L1 Model 1S provides 180 degrees of clear, even, room-filling sound. And with no speaker stands and fewer connections, you’ll spend less time setting up and more time giving your customers a party they won’t forget.

To learn more about Bose L1 systems, visit Bose.com/L1systemsdj or call 888-367-2073.

L1 Model 1S with B2 bass ©2014 Bose Corporation.

Discount not to be combined with other offers or applied to previous purchases, and subject to change without notice. Offers are limited to purchases made from Bose and participating authorized dealers.

CC014363

Let’s Go to

THE HOP Many Mobiles View School Dances As Fodder for Newbies. But Some See a Resurgence—And Opportunity.

By Jeff Stiles

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

Over in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, DJ Jody Amos says school homecoming dances are going big and DJs are cashing in.

“We do five or six of these every October for the schools,” says the owner of the multi-award-winning Amos Productions.

Meanwhile, in the same Bay Area, Brian Doyle of Denon & Doyle Entertainment says his company reluctantly does only about a dozen school dances per month.

What’s going on?

Polling mobile DJs from around the country, we found differing perspectives when it comes to the value of doing school dances in the 21st Century.

In New York City, Carl Williams says school dances present an opportunity to showcase both

20

his knowledge of new music as well as his mixing abilities—as a middleaged man who loves to play their types of music.

And sometimes a school’s deep pockets can make these events quite profitable. “Depending on their budgets,” says DJ Carl, “some schools have their homecoming dances in decorated gyms or cafeterias; however, many of the events that I’m doing lately have been in luxury hotels.

“The kids are fundraising yearround so that they can have nice events that classmates will want to attend. They realize that having their dance in a nice hotel with a photo-booth—and, in some cases, a live band—can be a real treat for all those who attend.”

Another way DJ Carl is able to generate revenue for school gigs is through upsells, though often that extra money goes to other vendors who make these events more excitable for students.

“Up-lighting is an easy upsell, be-

cause female student planners and their advisors [moms] love it when the room can be pretty,” he explains.

“I usually serve as the agent, so I typically sub-contract the lights, videos, live bands, and photo-booths from the experts.

“I find that one cannot just have music at these school events. Most kids today do not really dance at homecoming events unless it’s a line dance; however, they do like the slow dances. What’s funny is that most music they do like is not danceable music, so adding amenities is very important to keep them involved for the three or four hours.”

Williams says homecoming committees typically give out awards, plus they add lighting and video and ensure the students have access to WiFi, so they can share the experience with family and friends in realtime.

“The ability to share content live at the dance,” he says, “will ensure that future classes can get the same unique experiences at nice hotels with lots of cool things to keep the

students from getting into trouble.”

JR Silva of Silva Entertainment in Orlando, Fla., says he could talk for hours on the current state of school dances, and especially high-school dances.

“I marvel at the schools that ‘get it’ and the ones that don’t,” says Silva.

“The ones that ‘get it’ have budgets that truly delivery the ‘wow’ factor for guests. The schools and administrators that don’t have disproportionate budgets that only support mediocre events—promoted as spectacular, but leaving the guests asking themselves what they just did with their $60—and the only thing that truly is stunning is the revenue that ends up being generated for the school.”

In addition, Silva says he’s amazed at the over-promising and underdelivering that occurs by some DJs— those who seem to just want to capitalize on the four to six weeks of homecomings or proms.

“It helps if your salesperson is young and hip,” he adds, “even if he or she won’t actually be present at the event.”

Over in the Northwest, Adam Tiegs of Adams DJ Service in Seattle, Wash., says he wouldn’t touch school dances with a 10-foot pole.

“I won’t waste my time or money trying to earn business from schools,” says Tiegs. “Don’t get me wrong—I’ll gladly take a school gig if the circumstances are right, but nine times out of 10 they aren’t right.

“First, because of competition, prices for DJs for school dances have stayed low–and thus schools expect to pay low rates to anyone. Most schools only care about price, not how good the DJ is at mixing music or how many lights or other production elements they bring to the table.”

For example, Tiegs says he recently received a phone from a student looking to pay between $300-$350 for two hours of music for 300-plus kids—and for a Saturday night.

“My minimum for any event on a Saturday night is $1,250,” says Tiegs, “so for the most part, the good DJs in the area are doing other events like corporate gigs and weddings.

“We leave the school dances—the

rather not give up a prime Saturday night for a school dance, especially during the wedding season. “In the off-season,” he says, “there are other plenty of other opportunities—such as church dances, non-profit events, corporate events and winter weddings—that I can pursue with a reasonable rate of return.”

Meanwhile, in the Midwest, Blake Eckelbarger (aka DJ Sticky Boots) of The Music Place in South Bend, Ind., says he still does quite a few homecomings and fall/winter semiformal dances, although he can remember three decades ago when the typical (and cheaper) school dances were his bread-and-butter source of income.

“Today, the trend in my market seems to be much more towards big semi-formal homecomings and other semi-formal dances,” he says, “and away from the simple after-game dances that traditionally schools held in the gym or cafeteria after a football or basketball game. That’s good

for us, because we’re able to get higher rates for bigger production for these special dances versus the ones for which kids just roll in after a sports game.

“A decade ago, homecomings in this area were always right after the homecoming ballgame and they were casual. Now, like many other parts of the country, they are the night after the game—usually on a Saturday— and feature three hours with the kids all dressed up.”

As a result, Sticky Boots says his company is able to do very well with upsells. “Up-lighting is big, of course, as are larger sound systems, turntables, and also text-to-screen video messaging plus step-and-repeat photo backdrops,” he explains. “These are all typically things we could not sell easily for a 90-minute after-game dance. Schools’ budgets are higher for homecomings now, and we definitely market towards getting as big of a piece of the decorating budget as we can, in addition to the music budget.”

Although Sticky Boots says his production and gear for schools are some of the largest in his market, they’re not doing the huge, concertlevel productions that some companies do for homecomings in larger

markets.

“Still, we’re bringing in powerful moving heads, haze, trussing, and lots of LED washing and up-lighting—as well as about 20,000 watts of sound, with the larger setups. Decks are either Pioneer CDJ-2000 Nexus or Technics 1200s with a Rane 62 mixer. For sound, we’re using RCF on the top and Yorkville on the bottom.

We’re trusted by schools that know that quality has a price and realize the difference is worth paying for.

“I know there’s a lot of other guys doing much bigger things than us, but I’ve been focused on schools for the last 27 years—my very first gig ever, at age 13, was actually a prom—and they’re still my absolute favorite gigs to do.

“In fact, I’d do only schools if I could!” n

JANUARY 2015

time and money to go after this business,” he explains. “I’m not going to trip over a dollar to pick up a penny, so therefore I don’t choose to go after this business. Every once in a while I’ll get an inquiry from a school that’s serious about upping the ante and going with someone who’s independent, but that’s only once every two or three years.”

In Ogunquit, Maine, Jerry Bazata of DJ Jaz Music & Entertainment says most schools have turned homecoming and winter dances into events to raise funds for the school.

Therefore, he says, most are looking to book a DJ at rock-bottom prices, which includes an extravagant light show.

“On average, a Saturday-night school dance can pay between $150300, while average prom committees have been budgeting $500,” says Bazata. “This is over a 50-percent decrease over the past two years, and for that reason many veteran DJs are no longer soliciting that market.

Instead, the schools are looking to

either students to provide the music themselves, such as renting a sound system and allowing one or more students to use iPods and laptops.

“To take it a step further, he’s now seeing advisers or teachers themselves getting into the act and trying their skills as a DJ.” Bazata says quite a few in his market have taken the time to learn and understand what it takes to entertain and control a student dance, but for the most part he’s hearing stories of dances going horribly wrong.

“For the most part, the issues that still continue to plague the school dances are inappropriate dancing and music with questionable lyrics,” he says. “The administration has continued to place blame on talent or DJs for this issue and, as a result, a DJ now has to have their playlist approved before any event “I agree to a point with the safeguards being put in place, but the additional work and not being appropriately compensated for it results in myself no longer pursing this source of income.”

In the end, Bazata says he would

DJ TIMES

scraps—for the younger, more inexperienced DJs.” Tiegs says another thing about his area of the Pacific Northwest is that there’s one multi-op and one “agency” (a company that subs out all their gigs to other DJs) that have the attentions of all the schools and districts.

“These two companies have the resources to market to and sell themselves to schools and school districts, and have succeeded in getting a majority of that type of business,” he says. “There are quite a few independent DJs here in the Seattle area who have worked for either of these two companies at one point in their DJ career. Heck, even I did!

But these are stepping stones to get experience.”

Another challenge about marketing and selling to schools and districts, Tiegs says, is that every year PTAs constantly change, administrators change, teachers change and, of course, students change.

“Your clients always aren’t the same, and therefore it takes a lot of

21

Legendary

MOVES

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

By Chris Caruso

22

It’s difficult to adequately convey the importance of Paul Oakenfold’s career on electronic music and its crossover into pop culture.

After bringing the acid house sound from Ibiza to England in the late 1980s, Oakenfold went onto much bigger things, like founding Perfecto Records in 1989 and eventually opening for U2’s “Zoo TV” stadium tour in 1992-93. Later, his stint as resident DJ at Liverpool’s Cream from 1997-1999 was nothing short of legendary, and he even crossed the pond to American stardom throughout the 2000s.

A pair of studio albums (2002’s Bunkka and 2006’s A Lively Mind) cemented his place as a legendary producer, plus his later work with Madonna and his 2009 Las Vegas residency at Rain—well before anyone dreamed of calling the city “The Ibiza of America”— drove it home.

Despite the dizzying heights he’s reached over the course of his career, it’s readily apparent that Oakenfold refuses to simply rest on his laurels. There’s a firm commitment to pushing the envelope, whether it’s sonically—his 2013 track “Venus” with Azealia Banks was a deft combination of trance, EDM, hip hop, and ’90s house—or commercially via the underground-focused Perfecto Fluoro counterpart to his Perfecto Records label. With more than 30 years in the dance-music world, Oakenfold knows better than anyone how to continually reinvent himself without sacrificing his identity.

DJ Times recently connected with Oakenfold shortly after the release of his new We Are Planet Perfecto compilation. The legendary DJ dished on the differences between Europe and America, finishing his long-awaited Pop Killer LP, and his plans for Perfecto’s 25th Anniversary in 2015.

DJ Times: The fourth volume of your We Are Planet Perfecto compilation series just came out. It’s dubbed FullOnFluoro. What does the compilation aim to showcase?

Paul Oakenfold: It’s the fourth in a series of compilations that we put out every year. It gives people a taste of what the label is doing, both from Perfecto and the more underground sound of Full On Fluoro. It showcases the music that I’m into from traveling the world and playing these kinds of tunes to the world, really. It’s pretty straightforward.

DJ Times: What went into picking the tracks for the compilation?

Oakenfold: The process takes a while, actually. We reach out to our favorite producers, various record labels, people we’ve been working with for a long time, and other artists and ask them to submit their new music. From there, we start to work on which tracks we like and are going to use. If there’s a track we like, but think the mix is wrong, we then go out to third parties and get them to remix the track into a style that I’m known for and that I would play. There’s a whole process that takes a lot of time. I think what we’ve tried to do overall as label with these compilations is stand for quality music since there’s so much music out there. We hear the same record on radios a lot and we hear the same record played by DJs at festivals a lot, and this is to share good music with the fan and the clubber.

DJ Times: You’ve also got some exclusives on the record. Who are they from?

Oakenfold: The exclusive tracks come from a lot of that. We go to in-house producers, fellow artists on the label, and collaborators and we ask them for exclusives to give the album some substance and make it a bit more special than your average compilation.

DJ Times: What goes into running your Planet Perfecto and Perfecto Fluoro labels, and what direction are you trying to take them?

Paul Oakenfold Looks for a Big 2015

JANUARY 2015

Perfecto’s 25th Anniversary,

DJ TIMES

As He Preps for

Oakenfold: I’m very fortunate to have a good team of people around me who work at Perfecto. Perfecto is the main stable for the more commercial artists, while Full On Fluoro showcases the cutting-edge side of electronic music. It’s much more popular in Europe than the rest of the world and the [United States]. So that plays an important part of it. For instance, the music I played on three-week tour of Amsterdam, Israel and Budapest that I just finished is very different than what I’ll play in Las Vegas next Friday.

DJ Times: How are they different?

Oakenfold: It’s more commercial in Vegas. It’s more commercial in America—we know that. I mean, that’s understandable. There’s not anything wrong with that, but I think we’re all at a stage now— the journalists, the DJs, the promoters, and, most importantly, the clubber—of looking deeper for more meaningful music. We’re all aware that we’re just hearing the same things over and over again. I think that’s where the change is going to come for electronic music in America. I think you’re going to start to see the shift from the new, younger DJs who are trying to find their own sounds and moving away from the commercial moments that are out there now.

DJ Times: You spoke on the “Gamechangers” keynote panel with Arthur Baker, Daniel Haver at Amsterdam Dance Event recently. How was your ADE experience overall?

Oakenfold: My ADE experience was good! The “Gamechangers” panel was a great one. I ended up being roped onto another panel, which was strange. I ended up sitting on a panel with Disco Donnie. Junior Sanchez didn’t show up, so I sat on this panel with Dave Clarke and a big promoter from India who runs Sunburn, which is one of the best festivals out there. I was also a judge at the cook-off where all the DJs compete against one another.

DJ Times: You spent the earlier part of the year touring and promoting your Trance Mission album. What was it like to revisit your roots and has it had any effect on your current creative approach?

Oakenfold: Trance Mission did incredibly well, and obviously— first off—thank you to the people who supported and bought the record. That came about from a small tour we put together last year. I wanted to get back to playing small rooms and playing cutting-edge music, but people who attended were asking for me to play classics. I really didn’t want to, but through that came the idea of taking these classics from back in the day and giving them a modern twist with a 2014 sound. The reaction has been incredible.

It was a good idea at the time, but we’re all about moving forward with new music. I don’t want to get stuck in an area of taking old classics; they can remain where they were.

DJ Times: For your latest single, “You Could Be Happy,” how’d you find your singer, Andrea McCluskey?

Oakenfold: Andrea McCluskey is an incredible vocalist. She has this haunting, wonderful sound, and she’s done a bunch of music for film and TV. I was a fan of hers, so we got introduced through a friend. The idea of working together really appealed to me, and I am really happy with the song. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to listen to the downtempo version with no drums, but it really showcases her talent and how good she is.

DJ Times: And among all of this, you’re still working on Pop Killer, correct?

Oakenfold: Pop Killer is finished. It’s just now when we try to release it. I’ve still got to do a few mixes, but all the songs are there.

That’s not until next year, so we’re not in a rush for that.

DJ Times: What other projects do you have in the pipeline?

Oakenfold: There’s a movie based on the electronic world that they asked me to play myself in, which I did. There are a few other colleagues of mine in it, as well. I’ve been working on the music for it, so I’m looking forward to that coming out. It’s Perfecto Records 25th anniversary next year, so that’s going to be a big moment. It revolves around Miami Music Week, so I’m sure Perfecto will be doing a big party then. n

23

Mixur: Lemur template/Traktor control.

MIDI

Thoroughly Modern

By Wesley Bryant-King

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

It is indeed a pretty rare technology that has true staying power that spans decades.

The telephone comes to mind. While many have cut their landlines in favor of cell phones, for many of us, copper wires still connect us to the voices of our friends (even if it does happen more frequently with a cell phone), and it’s fully possible to connect a rotary dial telephone from 1947 to those copper wires today and successfully place a call.

And so it is with MIDI—or Musical Instrument Digital Interface—the interconnection standard devised some three decades ago by the legendary Dave Smith and collaborators like Chet Wood, and introduced to the world by none other than Robert Moog clear back in 1982. A huge range of devices still come fitted with one or more of the ubiquitous 5-pin DIN connectors with labels like “MIDI IN” or “MIDI OUT” screened above them. Modern operating systems know MIDI. Your smartphone knows MIDI. Your tablet knows MIDI. And provided you can sort out the physical connection issues, a MIDI-capable synth from the 1980s can still be controlled today by a modern DAW running on a computer more powerful than most could imagine back then.

The coolest part about MIDI is that clever developers and engineers are still finding ways to leverage its ubiquity in innovative new ways. As any digital DJ knows, MIDI is the standard that was bastardized—er, leveraged—as the basis of most DJ controllers on the market today. And it’s a core piece of most musicians’ and producers’ studios in one way or another.

In this double review, I take a look at two innovative uses for MIDI—one for DJs, and one aimed more toward producers and musicians.

24

Mixur for Lemur Lemur began life as hardware—a multi-touch, glass-faced music controller from French company JazzMutant. But the rise of the iPad specifically, and tablet computing in general, arguably began raining on its parade, leading to its eventual discontinuance.

The Lemur name is now attached to an iPad app, produced by Germany-based Liine, BV, which has many of the same capabilities.

Using hardware-based MIDI connectivity (such as the devices from Canada’s iConnectMIDI), or by leveraging ad-hoc WiFi or Bluetooth, the Lemur app running on an iPad can use MIDI to control virtually any MIDI device—from sound modules to DAWs to DJ software to lighting (via MIDI/DMX bridges).

The Lemur app’s ability to be fully customized has led in turn to a cottage industry of commercial Lemur templates—basically customizations for particular use cases and/ or target applications. One such commercial template is Mixur, from Desert Sound Studios, designed to transform an iPad with the Lemur app into a full-function DJ controller for Native Instruments’ Traktor.

Getting everything set up can be a bit tricky, frankly—not because it’s difficult, but because there are so many moving parts. First, you need the Lemur app. Next you need the Mixur template. Then you need the Lemur desktop software to install the template into the Lemur app. Then you need the TSI configuration file for Traktor (included with Mixur). Then you need to install that. Then you set up an ad-hoc WiFi network and establish a connection from your iPad to your desktop. Then…

Thankfully, the Mixur folks provide step-by-step directions that make it simple, and once it’s up and running, I discovered a capable, well-thought-out interface that provided a very responsive, very low latency, wireless controller for Traktor. Split into six primary interface “pages,” Mixur delivers control options for the full spectrum of Traktor’s capabilities. Giving the solution an extended spin in my studio was, frankly, a kick in the pants. Even on my iPad 2 (which is otherwise starting to feel a little sluggish in daily use with current generation

Newer, Innovative Uses of MIDI Help Jocks in

the DJ

come a bit moot.

Now that I’m familiar with the Lemur app, and grasp how to install templates and set up ad-hoc WiFi with my Mac, I can see myself using both Mixur in my DJ sets, and other templates for other touch-control applications (notably with my DAW of choice). Perhaps I’ll even venture into the territory of creating my own Lemur templates.

The Mixur template is $14.99 from Desert Sound Studio’s web site, and requires the Lemur app, which is currently priced at $24.99 in the Apple App Store.

Booth & the Studio

Summary After three decades, MIDI continues to prove that its inventors were on the right track. And with innovations like these, it’s nice to see that it’s destined to have a very long life ahead when it comes to hooking our musical devices and software together in ways that back in the ’80s couldn’t have been envisioned. Now that is true staying power! n

JANUARY 2015

apps), the combo of Mixur and Lemur with Traktor running on my Mac were snappy and instantly responsive.

Mixur’s designers approached things pretty logically. The six pages I mentioned are implemented in three groups of two, with a toggle button switching between each pair. They are: decks/mix, EQ/effects, and BPM/ loop, making any of the six screens a maximum of two taps away. Between the six, you can access virtually anything in Traktor for which you’d ordinarily need the mouse or a dedicated hardware controller. I was only left wishing for a larger iPad so more controls could be shown at one time.

(How ’bout a 24-inch iPad, anyone?)

About the only real negative I came up with is that Desert Sound Studios exclusively used text-based control legends; browsing Liine’s “freebie” template library, it would appear that graphical legends are within the app’s capability set, and perhaps usability would be improved by tasteful use of such graphics (for example, a triangle graphic for the play button, vs. the word “play”). Once you get used to using the Lemur app and the Mixur template, however, such things be-

DJ TIMES

PUC: Wireless iPad link for DJs & producers.

Zivix PUC Not everything happening in the iPad + MIDI space is an app, however. Minneapolis-based Zivix recently introduced an innovative solution that’s the reverse of Lemur. Instead of using the iPad as a controller, the Zivix PUC lets you use a MIDI controller with the iPad—wirelessly.

Supporting iOS’s CoreMIDI standard and leveraging WiFi approaches in an innovative, highly usable way, the PUC makes it dirt simple to hook any standard MIDI controller to an iPad via 5-pin DIN. The PUC, true to its name, is roughly the size and shape of a hockey puck. With a battery door on the bottom, a single 5-pin DIN connector on the side, and nothing more than a power button on the top, it’s a model of simplicity.

To make it work, you must download the PUCApp app from the Apple iTunes App Store; the app is free. To establish a connection between your MIDI controller and the iPad, simply turn the PUC on. From the WiFi connection screen on your iPad, choose the PUC’s WiFi network from the list of available networks. Load PUCApp to confirm the connection and form a CoreMIDI hand-off, then connect your MIDI device. After that, switch to whatever iPad MIDI-enabled app you want to use (e.g., your favorite synth, perhaps), and you’re off to the races. There’s no messing with setting up networks or dealing with ad-hoc connections.

Zivix calls the underlying technology “Z-Fi,” and claims that it’s more efficient than traditional RTP MIDI methodology. Whatever the case, I found it to be simple, fast, and effective; getting things going for a work session takes mere seconds start to finish, and the connection was maintained perfectly until I was done and turned the PUC back off again.

The path of the PUC to market was interesting.

Zivix started out to bring their JamStik, to market—a simple, five-fret, string-based MIDI guitar controller for the iPad. JamStik combines innovative, patented sensing technologies along with the company’s Z-Fi wireless connectivity. From their work on JamStik, Zivix sensed an opportunity in the marketplace to peel-off Z-Fi, and provide a more general purpose MIDI connection— one more flexible and one with more freedom (from wires, specifically) than the usual USB + Apple Camera Connection Kit that many manufacturers have leveraged to crowbar wired MIDI hook-ups to iPads. PUC is the result.

Priced at $129.99, the PUC seems a bit spendy, especially when compared to the $29.99 price of a Camera Connection Kit from Apple. But the wireless simplicity, coupled with support for true 5-pin DIN MIDI connections (vs. supporting only USB-based MIDI controllers), it seems as if it’s worthwhile for many potential users.

25

MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…

By Wesley Bryant-King Earlier this year, I made the decision sell the small bungalow I’ve called home for years, and build a new home in the ’burbs. That meant moving into a small apartment for the first time in a long time, and revisiting what it means to be “space constrained.” (As I write this review, moving in is still two months out, and I’m still struggling with those constraints.)

FOCAL’S SPACE SOLUTION

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

Alpha 50: Great sound in tight environs.

26

While the new house will include the realization of a long-awaited dream—a dedicated space for a true home-music studio—figuring out how to make music in the small apartment bedroom that serves as both studio and office has had its challenges, and that led me to finally evaluate near-field monitors of more diminutive size—sizes I wouldn’t normally consider due to the spectral trade-offs. That, in turn, led me to the Focal Alpha 50.

Focal-JMlab may not be that well-known to some in the United States; they are of French origin, based in Saint-Étienne in east-central France. The company manufactures a wide range of speakers for a wide range of applications, from multimedia, car, HiFi and powered studio monitors.

Focal introduced its new Alpha monitor

line at MusikMesse in Frankfurt, Germany, this past March, and like many monitor lines in this price category, they come in three flavors reflecting the size of the main driver. The Alpha 50 has a 5-inch main driver, the Alpha 65 a 6.5-inch one, and of course, the Alpha 80 sports an 8-inch driver. All three sport Focal’s trademark “inverted dome” tweeter. For this review, I looked at the compact Alpha 50.

The Basics: On the power handling side, the Alpha 50s include an integrated 35-watt Class AB amplifier to handle the low-end, and with a 20-watt amplifier for the high end. The wattages go up considerably across the family (the Alpha 80s have 100-watt and 40-watt amps, respectively, for example).

On frequency response, the entire Alpha family covers up to 22 kHz, with the bottom end going as low as 35 Hz on the 80s, 40 Hz on the 65s, and just 45 Hz on the tested Alpha 50s. That 10 Hz spread between the 80s and the 50s doesn’t sound like much, but at the low end of the spectrum, it makes a pretty big difference, and especially for EDM, it would be pretty difficult in my view to accurately master a track with the usual thumpy, deep kick drum that’s felt as much as heard when using the Alpha 50s. But that’s not to suggest that the low end is absent; the drivers are large enough to deliver some low-end punch, accentuated by the front-facing ports, and they’d be more than up to the task of general production work.

Across the midrange and high-end, the Alpha 50s were crisp, and when listening to tracks and projects I know well, I found them to be accurate, delivering audio that seemed even and free from added “color,” just as you’d expect from a proper studio monitor. (I’m quick to point out that my comments are based on empirical observation, and not laboratory evaluation.)

Speaking of frequency response, I did like Focal’s choice of putting continuously variable adjustments for low and high end on the back to tune the monitors to your listening environment.

Many monitors in this price range have fixed-selectable switches that sometimes don’t deliver the boost or cut you actually need.

On the low end, you can dial in up to a 6 db boost, or 6 db cut; on the high-end, it’s 3 db in either the boost or cut direction— adjustments that should cover most bases.

While we’re looking at the back panel, we can see the two available input options: XLR balanced, and RCA unbalanced, and nearby is a sensitivity switch to control overall gain between 0 db and +6 db (the former working best for my environment).

Also on the back panel is a small red “standby” LED indicator.

Perhaps one of my favorite features of the Alpha 50s is their autostandby mode. After roughly 30 minutes without an audio signal, the monitors automatically go into standby, consuming less than half a watt of power. One quickly gets into the habit of slowly raising the master outputs from zero when getting down to business; as long as there’s audio to heard, the monitors will power up quickly on their own. While I’m not sure just how much juice a pair of monitors might consume toward the monthly electricity bill, I’m interested in saving everything I can, so this simple, elegant feature is particularly welcome. (It’s worth noting, too, that the Focal logos on the front of the monitors are illuminated when the monitors are out of standby, and go dark when standby mode is entered, just as if you’d turned them completely off.)

Finally, I have to give Focal kudos for an attractive offering. Monitors are monitors, I suppose, but the combination of vinyl-covered ½-inch MDF with molded plastic side panels give the product a sleek, modern look I really liked.

Conclusions: I found the Focal Alpha 50 studio monitors to be a great choice given the limited space in my temporary apartment situation. With a nice, even sound and compact size, I was rather hoping the company would let me keep them until it was time to move to my larger digs. In any case, at $299 each (MAP), or about $600 for a pair, they start touching the higher end of the price range for monitors in this class, but small differentiators like automatic standby mode and continuously variable frequency tailoring, may make the bit of extra spend justifiable for many users.

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

PA SOLUTION & MOTION CONTROL

By Paul Dailey & Josh Harris

This month’s column explores a pair of unique products that may not be the first items that DJs specify when putting together a mobile rig or studio—but, as our reviewers attest, they’re worth the effort and money. Boston’s Paul Dailey tests Allen & Heath’s ZED60-10FX audio mixer, while St. Louis’ Josh Harris reviews IK Multimedia’s iRing motion controller.

“How many inputs does the average mobile DJ need? Often the answer is ‘one more,’ which is not what you want to hear in the middle of an

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

important gig.”

Allen & Heath ZED60-10FX Based in the seaside town of Cornwall, England, Allen & Heath is one of the most highly regarded audio companies in the world, and has been for over 40 years.

Initially recognized for its exceptional audio mixing consoles, A&H has expanded its product offerings in recent years to include a line of DJ mixers, headphones and software controllers. It’s currently distributed Stateside by the Newbury Park, Calif.-based American Music & Sound.

Over my 15 years here at DJ Times,

28

A&H Mixer: Offers flexibility & portability.

I have had the honor of reviewing a number of standout Allen & Heath products from the Xone 92 mixer, which still sits at the center of my DJ workstation, to the Xone XD53 headphones, which go out on the road with me every weekend.

About six months ago at a private event, I was asked to plug an acoustic guitar and microphone for a duo playing during cocktail hour–and literally did not have enough inputs on my mini mixer to accommodate the request. The following day, I began my search for a new mixing board, to serve as the nerve center of my sound system. I needed a unit that provided enough channels to run my controller, wireless and wired microphones, back-up sound source and still provide additional channels available for last-minute challenges, like the one I was unable to meet the night before.

Serendipitously, an article landed in my news feed discussing the recently released ZED line of mixers from old friends, Allen & Heath. The ZED-10 certainly fit the bill.

But knowing that for only a few dollars more I could land a mixer with the same features, in addition to 60mm faders, the Allen and Heath ZED60-10FX entered the picture and ended the discussion.

Built with the flexibility to handle live mixing, studio work, and recording via the highquality, stereo USB output, this mixer offers features on par with competitors at two or three times the price. Offerings like Aux and FX send, built-in filters and an impressive group of onboard effects provide previously unavailable features at this price point.

If this were a trade mag for guitars, I could go on and on about the versatile EQs and high-impedance jacks that eliminate the need for DI boxes. But from the standpoint of

a DJ, let’s talk about why you should consider this mixer.

With four mic inputs, including high-pass filters, two stereo input channels and a ton of output options from XLR balanced master output to RCA record out and monitor out, ¼-inch Aux out and dual ¼-inch stereo main mix inserts, the ZED60-10FX is ready for anything you can throw at it. But really, how many inputs does the average mobile DJ need? Often the answer is “one more,” which is not what you want to hear in the middle of an important gig.

Versatility is good, but what about sound quality? The more components you add to your signal chain, the more the sound suffers, right?

In my experience with the ZED6010FX, it was just the opposite. Not only did it offer all the inputs and outputs I needed, but it warmed up the sound and gave my entire system a level of depth and presence that was not present running straight from my controller to my speakers or using my old mini-mixer.

The unit has been available in the States for more than a year, but Allen & Heath has really hit a home run here, as it’s a terrific solution for many mobile entertainers. From the general look of the mixer to the build quality, right through to the feel of the faders, it represents remarkable value for the money ($499 MSRP).

IK Multimedia iRing The iOS and music-making worlds are now firmly entrenched in one another, and no company has led the charge quite like IK Multimedia.

This past year found the Italianbased company introducing a new motion controller for iPhone and iPad music-making apps called iRing.

With a $24.99 MSRP, iRing uses the iOS device’s camera, along with patented image-recognition technology to locate the ring, which is wearable

“DJs may find iRing an invaluable addition to their rigs, especially if they’re already using Audiobus-compatible apps for their live sets.”

IK’s iRing: Gestures control parameters & more.

ProX

Live Performance Gear

...with our

BLACK on BLACK

hardware option!

JANUARY 2015

less. The iPad’s camera immediately detected iRing and, within minutes, I was controlling the filter’s cutoff by moving my hand. It should be noted that it does take a few minutes to become comfortable controlling effect parameters in this fashion—and, you do want to make sure that you’re not too far away from your iOS device. I stayed within one to two feet.

You will see yourself on the iOS device’s screen, since the device’s front camera is what’s communicating with iRing. You will also see images of your iRing(s) on your iOS device within iRing FX/Controller, making it easy to follow your iRing’s movement along an X-Y axis.

The iRing does come with an app called iRing Music Maker, which is somewhat similar to IK’s GrooveMaker 2—so right out of the gate, you will have a compatible app to use with your iRing. For those of you who are already using iOS apps for music-making, iRing should fit nicely into your collection. I love real-time control of audio effects, so for me, this is a very useful tool, especially for performing.

DJs out there may find iRing an invaluable addition to their rigs, especially if they’re already using Audiobus-compatible apps for their live sets. IK continues to impress me with its ability to stay in touch with the direction mobile music making is heading, and iRing is no exception.

If you have any questions for Sounding Off, please send them to djtimes@ testa.com.

DJ TIMES

on your finger.The three dots located on the iRing allow you to control various parameters within your compatible iOS music app. One side of the ring has three dots in a linear pattern, and the other has three dots placed in a triangular pattern.

Here’s how IK’s iRing works: Once your iOS device’s front-facing camera detects iRing (using a compatible companion app), iRing’s movements are converted to MIDI control data, which is then used to control certain parameters within your iOS app.

Sound cool? Well, it is.

For this review, IK’s GrooveMaker 2 and iRing FX/Controller were used with two iRings on an iPad 3. When using iRing FX/Controller to control another app’s effect parameters, Audiobus serves as the bridge between them, allowing the two apps to effectively talk to one another.

The iRing FX/Controller comes with a filter effect, and the other effects are available as in-app purchases. Up to 16 effects are available, ranging from delay and compression to DJ effects like stutter and twist. To purchase all of the 16 effects, it will cost you less than $20. Also, iRing FX/ Controller is a free app.

I quickly assembled a sequence in GrooveMaker 2, using some of the IK library along with some imported content. I wanted to focus on using iRing, so that’s why I set up a sequence ahead of time, thereby allowing me to concentrate on hand gestures and positioning.

The whole process was very seam-

29

MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

this? I started asking questions about this country dancing, and the guests told me that a venue in Milford called Ellery’s was doing country dancing a few times a week.”

That Tuesday, he went to Ellery’s and walked inside as Clarence Carter’s “Strokin’” blasted from the club speakers. “I thought, ‘This can’t be hard to do,’” says Kohn. “As I sat through the night and witnessed…, it was very interesting, to say the least. The DJ was playing music I had never heard before. There were not a lot of country dances in 1991.”

The next day, Kohn called country radio station WWYZ in Waterbury, and asked to speak to a sales rep. “I was very impressed with the number of households listening to country music,” he says.

Kohn set an appointment with El Torito, and on that Friday he pitched the GM on his country-music idea. The GM, fearing that the idea would turn his restaurant into the laughing stock of Danbury, was skeptical. Kohn asked him to try it for 30 days.

On opening night, Kohn hired a country band (The Texas Outlaws), a dance instructor and a DJ. “That first night,” he recalls, “we had 450 people—that was my start.”

Since then, Kohn has been a Connecticut cowboy, an ambassador of the belt-andboot boogie, not only booking 70-percent of Premier’s gigs in country theme bars and restaurants, but also organizing more than 40 country-dance weekends in the Catskill Mountains and the first Country Dance Cruise (in 1992). He’s even opened concerts for the likes of Brooks and Dunn, Hank Williams, Jr., and Marty Stuart.

“Believe it or not,” says Kohn, “Connecticut is the country-line-dance capital on the East Coast—hard to believe, but true.”

Kohn says country music has been on the rise for the last five years. “It has gone mainstream, thanks to artists like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and Florida Georgia Line,” he says. “Reality shows on TV have really helped and, of course, social media.”

Kohn points to a club in Stamford called BarBQ. “There may be 500 to 600 customers ranging from 22 to 35, and they are singing the lyrics to [Frankie Ballard’s] ‘Sunshine and Whiskey’ and [Luke Bryan’s] ‘Play It Again’ and many more country tunes. BarBQ is surrounded by four bars and it happens to be the No. 1 bar in Stamford.”

Granted, there are still challenges to being a country DJ in Connecticut. “There is still the perception for brides and grooms to back off from hiring you for their wedding,” he says. “Sometimes the first thought is, ‘I don’t want that Yee Haw at my wedding.’ But country is mainstream enough today where that’s not a big deal.”

Premier, a multi-system operation that Kohn started in 1983, books about 15-percent weddings and 10-percent corporate, in addition to 70-percent of the bar/restaurants—in which he leads dances like All About the Bass, Timber, Dem Jeans, Talk Dirty, Bye Bye Bye and Shoop.

“The latest country-dance phenomenon is Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off,’” says Kohn. “It is the hottest dance that I have seen in a long time. It was choreographed by a member of the Premier Entertainment Dance Team, and I actually have venues

By Bill White and crowd shaking the club’s foundation singing the song.”

Kohn says most of Premier’s bookings come from word-of-mouth—and also Danbury, Conn. – It all started in 1991. At the from a crafty idea, a publication called Alan’s Gazette. “It’s a continuation of The time, Alan Kohn, operating as Premier EntertainCowboy Beat, a country newspaper I owned in the 1990s,” says Kohn. “The Gazette ment, was working for an El Torito in Danbury, has a life of its own. It’s a weekly newsletter that reaches thousands of people supplying DJs for the Mexican restaurant/bar. The throughout the world. It’s a breakdown of all our events by dates and venues, and Top-40-format venue was looking for a new club we have gotten quite a few gigs and signed club venues because of it.” promotion, so Kohn suggested a “Dirty Dancing” Premier’s gear includes Virtual DJ software, a Denon MC-6000 controller, Shure theme. Management liked the idea, and ran it sucPGX4 wireless system with SM58/PGX2 mic, and lighting packages that include cessfully for six months. After running its course, various ADJ and Chauvet units. His active PA system includes a dbx DriveRack the GM asked Kohn for another promotion. He said PX optimizer, two JBL EON 515 speakers and an Electro-Voice ELX118P sub. His he needed a few days to think about it. passive system includes two JBL MR925 speakers and a Crown Power Base-1 amp.

That weekend, he was DJing a wedding in SouthAs a country-DJ thought leader, Kohn has helmed seminar panels/workshops bury, Conn., when a few guests came over to his at the past two DJ Expos—produced by DJ Times each August in Atlantic City, N.J. console and asked for Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Last year, he brought in Danny Williams (Entertainment Director for the Electric Low Places.”

Cowboy nightclub chain), a pair of radio/party jocks and members of his Premier Kohn’s reply: “Who’s Garth Entertainment Dance Team. “I wanted to give fellow DJs a look of what the country Brooks?” industry has to offer,” he says. “The dancers taught a dance lesson and I explained A guest went to his car and DJ Vet: the possibilities of making extra money in the field of country DJing. My goal was retrieved a cassette. “I played the Kohn started for everyone in the audience to say: ‘I can do this and it’s fun.’” song and I noticed that 40 guests Premier When I ask Kohn where he sees Premier in 10 years, he’s got a ready, if not were doing a couples dance Entertainment specific, reply. “Premier Entertainment has a 10-year plan at the moment,” he says. called the El Paso,” recalls Kohn. in ’83.

“We are exploring different avenues to grow in the country and mainstream areas.

“A light bulb went off in my head.

DJ Ali’s turntable sets create of difference.

Our goal is to grow every year. Keep an eye out for us.”

Could there be something to a point

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

FOR CONNECTICUT DJ, COUNTRY IS COOL

30

REGISTER TO ATTEND

Next deadline: January 16

music gear expo March 19–21 | 11am to 6pm Austin Convention Center Visit sxsw.com/music for info and exhibiting opportunities

Brought to you by:

BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

By Hannah Cooney Your DJ business is profitable, but maybe you feel like the entrepreneurial spark that originally inspired you to start your own company has dimmed a bit.

How can you tell? It’s been ages since you last reached out to a former client. It’s what happens when businesses grow—the people who interact most with your customers are your DJs and your office staff.

What you’re missing is an opportunity to learn valuable insights that can help drive more business—especially through content and messaging on your website.

Know your audience. For your brand to truly resonate with your target audience, you need to understand them. Take a handful of your customers and call them on the phone to begin to understand the role that your DJ service has played in their lives. Or, stage a “customer development day,” and task everybody in your organization to bring in a half dozen customers—serve refreshments and offer a discount for a future party as an incentive—and schedule time for everyone in your company to interview those customers. Ask them about what their fears were related to their event—their pain points—and then apply these insights to your content, either on your blog or website messaging.

“We created an infographic highlighting results from a survey on the general sentiment of travelers’ desires for more choice and control over their travel experience,” says Mary Beth Parks, senior vice president, Global Marketing at Hilton Worldwide. “That included pain points they experience with traditional room assignments as well as their desire to choose their own rooms. We shared the infographic in a press release, on our website and in our social media posts. We made this one piece of content work hard—driving a broad reach across platforms.”

How can this translate to your DJ business? Through your “customer development day” you’ve found the three biggest pain points for a bride: wedding-party names pronounced incorrectly; a missing DJ at the first dance; and a request for overtime that can’t be fulfilled. Hire a graphic designer to make an infographic related to these pain points, with a link back to your site, and then share it on your social channels. If you’ve got a fair amount of catering facilities and venues in your Facebook or Pinterest feed, they’ll be likely to share it with their followers—some of whom will be shopping for a DJ.

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

HOW AUDIENCE INSIGHTS CAN DRIVE LOYALTY AND BUSINESS

32

Craft a content strategy that supports your business goals. People will engage with your DJ brand in different ways at different times, so mirror your content to each phase of the buying process.

“At Hilton, we strive to serve guests along each step of their travel journey,” says Parks.“We shape our content that resonates with them when they’re dreaming about and planning their travel, when they book and are on-property with us, and, finally, when they seek to share their experiences upon returning home.”

By creating content that has true meaning to your prospects, you’ll provide value and drive loyalty. Think about each phase of the buyer’s journey, presumably a bride, for a wedding: at first, she’s doing research, so this is an opportunity to discuss broad topics related to weddings, such as news, or the infographic described above that discusses common pain points. After that, she’s in the consideration phase, comparing your service to the three or four others she’s considering. This is an opportunity to provide blog posts that describe the factors that differentiate your company from the competition—a good place for a testimonial from a client who had the single greatest day of their life because of you and your DJ company.

Format your content in bite-size pieces. We know audiences don’t

really like to read long pieces of text, and we also know they won’t watch a video for more than one minute. Keep your audience engaged with content that’s short and succinct. Break up pieces of text with graphics and visuals. Also, be sure your content can be easily viewed and digested from a desktop or a mobile phone.

“Our HiltonWeekends.com website, for instance, is easy to navigate from a variety of digital devices,” says Parks. “It delivers text about specific weekend destinations, weekend offers and the content needed to entice visitors to plan their next getaway.”

And your website should, too. Make sure it’s optimized for multiple devices— ask your developer to make sure it’s designed responsively, as more brides are doing their research on smart phones and tablets. If you don’t, you might be giving away a lot of ground to an inferior DJ who simply has more digital chops than you.

Use #hashtags. Hashtags are a way for brides to follow conversations on social media channels. Take advantage of them. “This year, we’ve been using imagerich content and our hashtag #BeAWeekender to drive our followers to HiltonWeekends.com,” says Parks. “Within nine months, our Be A Weekender campaign drove growth within our social media communities with more 176,700 new followers, and resulted in 267,250 page views to our website. By providing interesting and valuable content on the channels consumers use the most, your brand can better connect with your target audiences by attracting their attention to the pages that will have the greatest ROI for your business.”

Does your DJ business have the mojo and heft of Hilton Worldwide? No. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t work with a partner venue or facility on a dual hashtag promotion. Are they having a venue anniversary? Are they celebrating their best year ever? Find out what these “Tent Poles” are and offer to do a social media “hashtag slam” on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram with the venue. Corral other vendors who have a social media imprint to participate. Create a blog post or infographic and link back to the venue’s site as well as your own. The idea is to create value for everybody.

These are just some of the ways that audience insights can help drive revenue.

Get started tomorrow!

Twitter

@djtimesmag

Facebook

/djtimesmag

Instagram

@djtimesmag

SoundCloud

/djtimesmag

YouTube

/djtimesmag

Google+

+djtimesmag

LinkedIn

/djtimesmag

Foursquare

/djtimesmag

Subscribe to the DJ Insider email newsletter or signup for the tablet edition of DJ Times for free. djtimes.com/subscribe

www.djtimes.com

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

34

Don’t Inno You From Somewhere?

Blue JBL Way

ADJ Products 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 582-2650 www.americandj.com

Harman International 400 Atlantic Street Stamford, CT 06901 (203) 328-3500 www.harman.com

ADJ’s Inno Beam LED is a moving head powered by a bright white 80W LED. Drawing a maximum power of 129W, the product utilizes a six-degree beam angle and eight colors, plus white, to deliver a wide variety of mid-air beam effects. The Inno Beam LED comes equipped with an independent color wheel, four GOBO patterns, four beam reducers and an eight-facet prism for aerial effects. Additional features include Pan/ Tilt Inversion mode, strobing, pulsing and three operational modes: DMX Controlled, Sound Active and Internal Show.

Harman’s JBL Professional EON 206P portable PA system is designed for use in clubs, coffeehouses, band performances and other applications.

The unit features an integrated six-channel mixer with two stereo inputs and two balanced mic/line channels with XLR/quarter-inch combo jacks.

The EON 206P includes a pair of 6.5-inch passive loudspeakers, each featuring a 6.5-inch woofer and a one-inch neodymium black nylon dome tweeter, powered by a 160-watt power amp section. Features include internal cable storage and a 36mm pole socket.

In & Plug-Out

Name in Lights

Roland Corporation U.S. 5100 S. Eastern Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 890-3700 www.rolandus.com The SH-2 PLUG-OUT Software Synthesizer is the first complete reproduction of Roland’s classic SH-2 synthesizer from 1979. The SH-2’s dual VCO plus sub oscillator configuration delivers bass, leads, and effects via software specifically designed for the SYSTEM-1 and Mac or PC hosts. The software offers seamless integration and unique capabilities for SYSTEM-1 owners, including the ability to be used as a dedicated controller or a stand-alone, hardware SH-2, with real physical controls without the need for a computer.

American Music & Sound 22020 Clarendon St, Suite 305 Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (800) 431-2609 www.AmericanMusicAndSound.com The Reloop NEON is a pad controller for Serato DJ that features eight ultra-low-latency and touch-sensitive RGB drum pads with aftertouch.

One NEON can access a total of eight power modes with up to four decks, including Sampler, Pad FX, Slicer, Looped Slicer, Cue, Flip, Hot Loop and Manual Loop. In addition, there are two endless push encoders for track navigation, volume control and loop editing. Two NEON controllers can be connected via smart link function.

AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

GEAR

Golly G-TOUR Wiz Gator Cases 18922 N. Dale Mabry Hwy Lutz, FL 33548 (813) 221-4191 www.gatorcases.com Gator Cases expanded its G-TOUR line to include the G-TOUR DDJSZ, a heavy-duty road case custom fitted for the Pioneer DDJ-SZ controller. It’s a traditional wood road case with thick EVA padding on the interior. The front panel is removable to allow full access to the front controls and headphone jack. Features include laminated panels, heavy-duty twist latches, a rubber-gripped metal tow handle and wheels at one end.

On the Gobo Chauvet 5200 NW 108th Ave. Sunrise, FL 33351 (800) 762-1084 www.chauvetlighting.com Chauvet’s EZgobo is a battery-powered and wireless projector designed with a 10–watt single cool white LED light source that has a 50,000 hour life expectancy. It comes with a magnetic base for attaching to metal surfaces and a scissor clip with an eye loop for attaching to the ceiling. The unit comes with an IRC remote with on/off and dimming capabilities, ten built-in wedding-ready gobos ad with transparency film that allows DJs to create their own removable gobos.

Native Instruments announced the availability of Komplete 10, which includes 39 instruments and effects, as well as the Komplete 10 Ultimate, which has 75. Both come with six brand-new instruments, including Rounds, Kontour, Polyplez, and The Definitive Piano Collection, which is comprised of three new sampled pianos. These include The Gentleman, which is based on an upright piano from 1908; The Grandeur, which is based on a concert grand piano; and The Maverick, which is based on a 1905 concert grand made for the Prince of Prussia.

DJ TIMES

Native Instruments North America 6725 Sunset Boulevard, 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 (866) 556-6487 www.native-instruments.com

JANUARY 2015

Perfect 10

35

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

GE Drop It Like It’s Hot algoriddim GmbH Königinstr. 33 80539 Munich, Germany www.algoriddim.com Algoriddim collaborated with General Electric to release the GE Drop Science Pack for its djay 2 app. The GE Drop Science Pack allows users to access 12 sounds created from General Electric’s partnership with musician Matthew Dear. These sounds can be used to remix or mashup users’ own songs for both iPhone and iPad. In addition, djay 2 has now become compatible with Spotify, allowing users to mix in key from their Spotify library.

On The Right M-Track M-Audio 200 Scenic View Drive Cumberland, RI 02864 (401) 658-5765 www.m-audio.com M-Audio announced upgrades to its M-Track and M-Track Plus audio interface products. Both models now come in a new rugged all-metal chassis and they feature improved preamps and input audio performance. These products come with AudioTrack, Eddie Kramer Effect Channel, and TrueVerb Plug-ins, as well as Ableton Live Lite. In addition, the company announced an expanded software suite for the M-Track Eight, which adds the L1 Ultramaximizer and Manny Marroquin Delay to its software suite.

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

Slate of Affairs

36

Gemini 107 Trumbull Street Building F8, Floor 2 Elizabeth, NJ 07206 (732) 346-0061 www.geminisound.com Gemini introduced its first USB DJ controller for Serato DJ Intro in two models—the two-channel Slate and the four-channel Slate 4.

Both models feature two full-featured decks and two rows of large performance pads. The plug-and-play controllers lets users access effects, SP-6 sample player, Hot Cues, Slicer and an assortment of Loop modes. With an in-app purchase, both Slate and Slate 4 are Serato DJ Upgrade Ready.

RADIO

JUST PRESS PLAY Featuring exclusive DJ mixes from • DJ Dan • PeaceTreaty • Coyu

• Bright Light Bright Light • Dirty Vegas • Destructo

and more!

http://djtim.es/DJTRadio

GROOVES TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

Blue 6

John Tejada

Jody Wisternoff

Kevin McKay

SIGNS UNDER TEST u John Tejada u Kompakt Whether he’s dropping blissed-out grooves (“Two 0 One”), nervy breaks (“Y 0 Why”), rolling bass bombs (“Vaalbara”) or smoother vibes (“Rubric”), Tejada’s techno soundscapes offer intricate textures and evocative melodies. Equal parts head music and deep dancefloor fare.

– Jim Tremayne GLASGOW UNDERGROUND 2014 COMPILATION

u Various Artists/Kevin McKay u Glasgow Underground

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

This fantastic compilation of 32 full-length tracks from the likes of Romanthony, Claptone and more, plus two DJ mixes from label chief Kevin McKay, will take you on a journey through the very best underground house. Great stuff. Top cut: Romanthony’s “Let Me Show You Love (Gerd’s Crooklyn Full Vox Mix)”

38

– Tommy D Funk “SNAPDRAGON” EP u Ilan Bluestone u Anjunabeats Bluestone continues to prove why he’s the brightest star on the Anjuna roster now. All three high-energy tracks carry huge, expansive melodies, innovative and smooth builds, differing drops, working in an amazing fusion between house and trance.

Luca C & Brigante

Dillon Francis

– Evan Maag

“INVISONS” u Luca C & Brigante feat. Róisín Murphy u Hot Creations Murphy delivers lush, alluring and soulful vocals, while Luca C and Brigante lay down the track with edgy, mesmerizing keys, a tasty bassline and an unforgettable breakdown on this classy, infectious house piece.

– Shawn Christopher “ONLY YOU CAN TELL” u Croquet Club u Anjunadeep The first track off Anjunadeep 06 finally sees the light! A truly relaxing deephouse groove, incorporating ever-growing elements that build to a beautiful release. A real winner.

– Evan Maag “TRUTH BE TOLD” u Flunked u Numb Records An edgy, inspiring two-track house piece. “Truth Be Told” has a techy vibe, with a bulging bassline, gritty, glamorous groove and a breakdown that’s off the wall. “What do You Want” has a soulful vocal, alluring keys and enticing bassline.

— Shawn Christopher

“BLUE” EP u Rudi Botha u Friday Fox This four-tracker offers funky, jazzy vibes with a U.K. garage sound. All cuts kick dark, yet laid-back electronic rhythms, plus some sexy sax and breezy melodies. Top Cut: “Blue (Christian B & Lavvy Levan Rebuild).”

ing with horns and an insistent piano melody make this a great early set dancefloor warmer.

“PARAMOUR” u Jody Wisternoff u Anjunadeep

– Evan Maag

Wisternoff drops a tight, booming bassline, some rolling piano melodies and a dusting of percussion on top. For his remix, Clancy pulls out a moody, introspective, and atmospheric effort to complement Jody’s tasty dish.

– Evan Maag “DANCE, COME ON” u DJ Dan & DJ PP u InStereo The duo adds a dollop of disco to house by transforming Kool & The Gang’s “Get Down On It” into a modern-day club weapon. The hi-hat groove may be the star, but the blazing guitar twangs and handclaps will turn out your dancefloor.

– Chris Caruso SIGNS & WONDERS u Blue 6 u Naked Music On this exquisite full-length, Blue 6 (aka Jay Denes) brings us soulful vocals with heartfelt lyrics blended with polished productions that blur the lines between house and R&B. Ethereal and funky basslines, chic and playful percussion, elegant guitar licks, gripping pads and emotive keys wash over you on this luxurious musical journey.

– Shawn Christopher

– Tommy D Funk “SAY YES” (JAMIE LEWIS CLUB MIX) “DIAMONDS” u Lane 8 feat. Soloman Gray u Anjunadeep

u Two Kings feat. The Queen u Purple Music

Lane 8 has a knack of pairing ultra-catchy melodies with deeply emotional lyrics, creating a powerful song. “Diamonds” is a perfect example—simple melodies drive the song forward, gorgeous lyrics paint a picture. Additional track “Without You” drops a slow-groove kick. A bouncy bassline intertwin-

More great work from Lewis’ label, Purple Music, and it’s everything you’d want in a club track: superb vocals, catchy hook, funky bassline, with a splash of deep, funky, disco house. It’s another great vocal-house track which will be staying in my record box for a while.

–Tommy D Funk

These are DJ Tees The Fabric Of Our Lives

Questions Grey

these are dj times

Property of DJ Times

Pulse

S-XXL

S-M-XL

Smalls Only, Sorry

S-XXL

All Tees

$10

Contact 800.973.7678 ext. 500 or vgelo@testa.com

FOR ADVERTISING RATES AND DEADLINES CALL 800-YES-7678 X507

MARKETPLACE

SUPPLIES

LOOK FOR DJ TIMES STORE

@ DJTIMES.COM

HOLIDAY SALE UP TO 78% OFF

Markus Schulz Marcus Shulz Talks Americas Best DJ Win

Markus Schulz

Marcus Shulz Talks Americas Best DJ Win

Markus Schulz

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

Marcus Shulz Talks Americas Best DJ Win

40

WATCH WATCH IT IT NOW! NOW! WATCH IT NOW! http://djtim.es/DJTTV http://djtim.es/DJTTV

DJ Gear | Lighting Effects | Live Sound | Recording | Stage | Performance

http://djtim.es/DJTTV

Fast FREE Shipping | idjnow.com | 1.800.355.7746 Se Habla Español | Showrooms Open 7 Days | We Rent Locally Queens, NY 718.762.0100 | Babylon, NY 631.321.1700 © 2014 I DJ NOW. All Rights Reserved. NYS Department of Consumer Affairs #1387598

DJ TV 2014 Shulz.indd 1

DJ_Times_September_2014.indd 1

DJ TV 2014 Shulz.indd 10/31/14 11:37 AM

12/15/2014 1:23:51 PM

1

12/15/2014 1:23:51 PM

white>>>>>

IDJNOW • Holiday Ad • 4c, 4.125” W X 4.375” H • Ad Runs in DJ TIMES for November 2014 •

DJ TV 2014 Shulz.indd 1

white>>>>>

12/15/2014 1:23:51 PM

MP3s in 6

Compiled As December 10, 2014

NATIONAL CROSSOVER POOL CHART

NATIONAL URBAN POOL CHART

1 Jennifer Lopez 2 Calvin Harris F/ John Newman 3 Katy Perry 4 Alina Artts 5 Amy Grant F/ Moto Blanco 6 Lee Dagger F/ Inaya Day 7 Ariana Grande 8 Duke Dumont 9 Taylor Swift 10 Iggy Azalea F/ Rita Ora 11 Jesse Jay 12 Annie Baltic 13 Natasha Ashworth 14 Gia 15 Eden XO 16 Mary Lambert 17 Alesso 18 Aretha Franklin 19 Nick Jonas 20 David Guetta F/ Sam Martin 21 Charli XCX 22 Tove Lo 23 Erasure 24 Anything But Monday 25 Pitbull F/ John Ryan 26 Jennifer Hudson 27 Charlie XCX 28 Meghan Trainor 29 Gorgon City F/ Jennifer Hudson 30 Gali 31 Enrique Iglesias F/ Sean Paul 32 Zhu 33 Kim Cesarion 34 Dupree 35 Cathy Tramontana 36 Aki Starr 37 Bastille 38 Salt Ashes 39 Erika Jayne 40 Tydi F/ Melanie Fontana

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Booty Blame This Is How We Do High Enough Every Heartbeat Shelter Me Break Free Won’t Look Back Shake It Off Black Widow Bang Bang Low Key Back To You World Too Cool To Dance Secrets Heroes Rolling In The Deep Jealous Dangerous Boom Clap Habits (Stay High) Elevation I’m Still Standing Fireball It’s Your World Break The Rules All About That Bass Go All Night Tomorrow Never Dies Bailando Faded Undressed I Found Love Talk To Me Illusion Bad Blood If You Let Me Go Painkiller Redefined

Capitol Columbia Capitol REC Capitol Radikal Republic Capitol Republic Def Jam Universal Global Groove Global Groove Global Groove Virgin Capitol Universal RCA Virgin Atlantic Atlantic Republic Mute ABM RCA RCA Atlantic Epic Capitol Ryal Universal Mind Of A Genius RCA Chastity Records Global Groove Renegade Virgin Radikal Pretty Mess Robbins

Go All Night If You Let Me Go It’s Your World World There Is A Light Heroes Drive Uptown Funk Too Cool To Dance That’s Me Right There

Capitol Radikal RCA Global Groove Branch Universal Side FX Atlantic Virgin Interscope

Most Added Tracks 1 Gorgon City F/ Jennifer Hudson 2 Salt Ashes 3 Jennifer Hudson 4 Gia 5 Rainie 6 Alesso 7 Kim Cameron 8 Mark Ronson Bruno Mars 9 Eden XO 10 Jasmine V Ft / Kendrick

REPORTING POOLS

n Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n Chew Fu - Woodbridge, CT; Chew Fu n Dj Stickyboots - Goshen, NJ; Blake Eckelbarger n NW Dance Music - Shoreline, WA; John England n Fusion Radio - Chicago, IL; Manny Esparza n DeeJay Creativity - Los Angeles, CA; KSXY KPAT n Next Music Pool - Los Angeles, CA; Bob Ketcher n Pittsburgh DJ R - Pittsburgh, PA; Jim Kolich n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool - Levittown, NY; Jackie McCloy n DJ Rafy Nieves - San Juan, PR; Rafy Nieves n WPTV-Prty 105FM Frd MdMx - New York, NY; Mike Rizzo Looking for these titles? You can hear them and buy them at www.dancekings.com. Just click on the links in the chart.

DDK has limited memberships available for qualified DJs in the US. We service CDs and MP3s in dance and urban formats. Feedback and membership dues required.

770-740-0356

Ilove Makonnen F/ Drake Chris Brown F/Usher & Rick Ross TI F/ Young Thug Dj Khaled F/ Chris Brown & August Alsina Rich Gang F/Young Thug & Rich Homie Q Bobby Shmurda Drake Trey Songz F/ Nicki Minaj Migos Rae Sremmurd Disclosure F/ Sam Smith Kendrick Lamar DeJ Loaf Wale F/ Jeremih Snootie Wild F/ K Camp Kirko Bangz F/ August Alsina Usher F/ Juicy J Beyonce F/Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Jeezy F/ Jay Z Wiz Khalifa F/ Snoop Dogg & Ty Dolla

Tuesday Warner Brothers New Flame RCA About The Money Columbia Hold You Down Republic Lifestyle Republic Hot Boy Epic 0 To 100/The Catch Up Republic Touchin, Lovin Atlantic Handsome And Wealthy Quality Control No Type Interscope Latch Interscope I Interscope Try Me Columbia The Body Atlantic Made Me Epic Rich Atlantic I Don’t Mind RCA Flawless Columbia Seen It All Def Jam You And Your Friends Atlantic

Most Added Tracks 1 T.I. F/ Jeezy & Watch The Duck 2 Beyonce 3 Travis Scott F/Young Thug 4 Nicki Minaj F/ Drake 5 O.T. Genasis

G’Shit 7/11 Mamacita Only Coco

Columbia Columbia Epic Republic Atlantic

NEW NATIONAL LATIN DANCE POOL CHART 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

Vein feat J Balvin & Belinda Rigu The Bello Boys feat Kat Deluna Dasoul feat Maffio Miratti J Balvin Luis Vargas Juan Luis Guerra Enrique Iglesias feat Gente de Zona Marlow Rosado Luis Enrique DJ samuel Vs Adassa Patrulla 15 Zawezo Ricky Martin Yunel Cruz Karen Martello Hector Acosta Limit 21 feat Jowell Froilan Jay

Translation Dame Una Oportunidad Last Call Vamos Pa’ La Calle La Noche Provoca (RMX) Ay Vamos Alejate Tus Besos Bailando Quiero Que me Noche De Copas Ole Ola El Moreno Drink Up Adios (RMX) Ay Amiga Besame Asi Ojala El Gallo y La La Suegra

Paradigm Warner Radikal Roster Music Trigg Ent. Universal Chocoalte Prod.

Universal Universal Big Label Top Stop Music Kult Records Ringo Digital Launch Sony Machete 47 Music Dam Latin Inc. Sony Bungalo/Universal

Most Added Tracks 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Gente De Zona feat Pitbull Grupo Karis Chino y Nacho Renzo NG2

Yo La Quiero La Persona Ideal Tu Me Quemas Volver A Empezar Y Ahora Me Voy

Universal Grupo 360 Universal Mayimbe 360 group

REPORTING LATIN POOLS n Latinos Unidos Record Pool n Salsamania Latin Record Pool n Lobo/Bass Record

Pool n Urban Tropics Music Pool n North East Record Pool n Mixx Hitts Record Pool n Ritmo Camacho Record Pool n Ritmo Internacional Record Pool n DJ Latinos Record Pool n Mass Pool n Record Pool Latino n V.I.P. Chicago Record Pool.

Renegades Of Rhythm

(continued from page 16) pick which ones to play? How many were you even given?

Shadow: We were never told an exact amount when we were going through them, but people have been using the figure 40,000. That seems about right. I mean, it took us about 20 hours just to go through the records and pull the stuff that we wanted to use. A lot of it was that Cut and I feel like we are disciples of Bambaataa and we felt like we knew a lot of the records that he made famous and that he liked a lot based on the amount of times that he played them back in the day.

So we went through those records, but we also wanted to tell a broader narrative about other music that was important to him as a youth in the ’70s in New York, like salsa, calypso, soca [the soul of calypso], dub… we wanted to really reflect that at least a little bit throughout the set, you know, some of the more outlined genres that made him who he is and gave him his vision.

DJ Times: So it’s more than just his music—you’re celebrating his life and history.

Shadow: Well, we feel like in honoring him and in telling his story, by default, we’re also telling the story of hip hop. His collection and his taste is one of the [most] prime [in hip-hop]… you know, if it weren’t for him, hip hop wouldn’t sound the way it does. Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and several others are responsible for the sonic tapestry that is hip hop, and that became very apparent going through his collection. Like, it was all there.

DJ Times: What were some of the most interesting records you

found in his collection?

Shadow: Definitely some of the unreleased stuff, and there were all these acetates [discs] Bambaataa cut for himself to listen to that tell the story of how “Planet Rock” got made.

“Planet Rock,” I think by no means, could ever be understated. I think it’s one of the 10 most important songs of the last 50 years. And to hear him [Bambaataa] conceiving it on these different acetates… it gets more and more realized and closer and closer to what it eventually sounded like.

You can hear on one really early version a certain bassline going through it that was really interesting, but it was totally wrong for the song. And you can hear how Bambaataa obviously realized that himself because on the next version, it was gone.

Something else had replaced it and other things were being tried. To hear that was amazing.You know, it’s like… if you were a Beatles fan and you got to hear the different stages leading up to the final version [of “Strawberry Fields Forever”].

DJ Times: How has Bambaataa’s sound affected your own sound?

Shadow: It’s like being a rock-nroller and saying how Elvis Presley influenced you. It’s simple—if there were no Bambaataa, I can pretty much say there wouldn’t [be me]… he’s responsible for me doing what I do. The first rap song I ever heard was “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and the second was [Bambaataa’s] “Planet Rock.” And it was really with “Planet Rock” where it began to dawn on me at 10-years old that there was something happening that was very different from the other R&B/soul I was listening to. It was obviously a million

miles away from the rock records that were on the radio, and [“Planet Rock”] was profound enough for me at that age that I began to seek out the culture and music [associated with that sound]. Because of where I lived in California—I didn’t live in Los Angeles and I didn’t live in San Francisco—I lived in a small town and I had to seek the information. There was no Internet, obviously, so it set me on a path of… “I gotta know what this is.” I felt like I was missing something and I felt like there was a revolution happening and I couldn’t find it. It became kind of an obsession that stayed with me my whole life.

DJ Times: How were you accessing the hip-hop sound and music?

Shadow: Starting around ’83, I was seeing little news reports. I remember seeing at 11-years old a national news story about Disco 3, who later became The Fat Boys. They were just standing on a street in New York City and The Human Beat Box [the late Darren Robinson] was demonstrating the beat box. Somebody on the news deemed it worthy of being transmitted to the entire nation and I saw it, so I filed that away in my head and started hearing music in cars.

My dad would take me to Pier 39 in San Francisco and I would watch the pop-lockers and listen to what was coming out of their radios, boom boxes… then I’d try to go to the record store and remember what the hook was and see if I could figure out what the record was. It was that kind of a game back then, this constant search [for a sound].

DJ Times: Do you still continue

that search today?

Shadow: Yeah, definitely—on the Internet, on Soundcloud… I’m always looking for new music and new ideas and new beats.

DJ Times: How do you think the world will remember Bambaataa’s legacy, let’s say, 10-20 years from now?

Shadow: In the same way that people remember Muddy Waters’ legacy, or Chuck Berry’s legacy. He’s essential to the building blocks of American music. He towers, and I don’t think that’ll ever be diminished.

D J T i m e s : A re yo u a n d C u t Chemist going to continue pushing Bambaataa’s legacy once this tour wraps up?

Shadow: I think in little ways. One of the things that registered with me is [how this tour/collection affects] hip hop as a movement. I’ve always tried to carry myself in a way that benefits the movement and tried to represent the movement well. But more than anything, I think the greatest gift Bambaataa gave me is the concept to try to be brave and just be yourself, and to try not to listen to the more conservative voices. Always be searching and always be looking… that’s what I felt he’s done his whole career.

DJ Times: Do you feel like you’re passing on Bambaataa’s message?

Shadow: Certainly. In moments of doubt when I feel like I’m not doing what people want me to do or if something is maybe going too far… there have been so many moments where little quotes I’ve read from Bambaataa have reassured me that as long as I’m being true to myself, and in a broader sense, true to the movement, then things will work out. n

42

“Fries With That?”

Yup, that’s my new CD. But after this one…

We’re done with the food jokes, OK?

Eats Everything, Next Month in DJ Times

Photos: Dan Reid

DJ TIMES

JANUARY 2015

DJ Digest: Dan Pearce aka Eats Everything

EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE

PRO FULL VERSION VERSION

THE BEST CONTROLLERS

DESERVE THE BEST SOFTWARE NEWS PIONEER DDJ-SZ NOW SHIPS WITH A FULL LICENSE FOR VIRTUALDJ 8 PRO

Because of its impressive features list, VirtualDJ has always been the most used DJ software on the planet, with more than 150 million downloads so far.

But now, with VirtualDJ 8’s brand new HQ sound engine, VirtualDJ is becoming the reference for the top professional DJs.

WHY SETTLE FOR LESS, WHEN YOU CAN DO MORE! GET VIRTUALDJ 8 TODAY AT WWW.VIRTUALDJ.COM