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The game has changed. Over the past few years, the role of the DJ and the art of DJing have evolved almost beyond recognition. In our first ever DJ special issue, Mixmag takes a look at the state of the DJ Nation in 2009, asks the most influential names in the game how they stay on top, charts the history of DJ technology, explores the DJ booth of the future, examines the new DJ species – zoology style – and identifies the ten DJ sets that changed the world forever. Cue it up...
suzy del campo, adam weiss, shab notghi, davide bozzetti
Words Ed Karney
t’s the final night of Minus’s 10-year anniversary ‘Contakt’ world tour, in the cavernous hall of Club Phazon in Tokyo. Minus frontman and techno pioneer Richie Hawtin stands silhouetted in front of an LED curtain costing £10,000 a square metre. In front of him sit a pair of laptops running Traktor Studio and Ableton, linked to a pair of MIDI controllers and his own personally customised mixer as well as the ubiquitous pair of 1210s. Tonight he’ll be using this fearsome array of technology to construct a set made up of tracks from his Minus and Plus8 labels, digital downloads, parts of tracks split especially for live remixing plus cuts submitted via bedroom producers shared through MySpace. He won’t need to bother actually beatmatching records during his performance, as his software does it for him, leaving him all the time in the world to loop, filter, flange, phase and beatmash his way through hours of futuristic techno. This is the modern face of 21st century DJing, the technology-savvy superstar with his own label, cast of supporting artists and all the trappings of two decades of dance music success, headlining his own showcase event. DJing has come a long way since that night in 1943 when Sir Jimmy Savile held the world’s first DJ dance party, playing jazz records one after another for 12 people. The game has changed remarkably, even since the advent of disco in the 70s saw DJing developed into an art form by DJs like David Mancuso at the Loft, Larry Levan at Paradise Garage and, later, Frankie Knuckles at The Warehouse in New York. Between them they took what had previously been the mainstay of weddings, bar mitzvahs and mainstream nightclubs and pioneered structured, extended club sets, along the way developing something called ‘house music’ (‘house’ being an abbreviation of the word ‘warehouse’). David Mancuso also created the ‘record pool’, a system whereby established DJs could receive pre-release record promos. In 1973, Jamaican born New Yorker DJ Kool Herc invented the break, which spawned the birth of hip hop and Grand Wizard Theodore kickstarted what is now know as turntablism, which turned the scratching and cutting of records into a carefully-measured science. A decade later, across the Atlantic the acid house explosion in the UK in 1988 caused club DJing to spread out of London to warehouses and eventually into provincial clubs everywhere from Stoke-on-Trent to Skegness. The rise of rave culture and the sudden proliferation of the dance music scene in the UK, mainland Europe and America saw the demand for DJs skyrocket. The result was the ‘superstar DJ’, a bloated, often cynical species who commanded increasingly astronomical fees, first-class travel and accommodation and came with massive riders and egos in tow. These DJs maintained their elite status via an old-boys’ network forged in the early days of acid house. They had access to the latest exclusive vinyl promos and built strong relationships with www.mixmag.net
Danny Tenaglia What makes a great DJ? “Being humble, original, persistent, patient, and by realising that this career is full of many changes and every DJ has to be prepared for every event to be different. Musical styles change, new generations come through and there are great differences between playing at global festivals as opposed to hometown venues or big cities like New York and London. This career is all about change, and DJ’s have to be prepared to embrace it.” Key DJ tip? “My suggestion is for DJs to spend a lot of time editing and mashing up their favourite tracks and delivering them back to the audience in a way that no one else is doing. The element of surprise is what today’s music is all about: dare to be different!” What’s the biggest change in the art and culture of DJing since you first started out? “When I started in the early 70s it was all live bands and big orchestras and there was a major sense of composition and arrangement. It was much more theatrical. Today it has mostly gone all techno and there is a lack of true musicianship. Thank God I love techno!”
Carl Cox What makes a great DJ? “Being consistent and believing in what you do. You need to be happy with what you’re doing. Doesn’t matter if you’re famous or not, or playing trance or house or whatever, as long as you’re happy with what you’re doing, it represents you and you’re being true to yourself. If you’re doing
that, you’ll end up playing the best music for yourself and everyone listening.” Key DJ tip? “Enjoy what you do. I am a believer in showing your emotions, and the audience can see this in every one of my performances.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started?
“The world of DJing has changed so much since I started out. I’ve been doing it for over 20 years. But probably the biggest thing is the move from turntables and vinyl to digital music files. If you’d have told me that would happen ten years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it!”
Riton What makes a great DJ? “Playing music that isn’t just to impress their other DJ mates but to make the people who have paid to come out have a great night.” Key DJ tip? “Do something nobody else can do like you, then let everyone know about it. A lot harder to do than say.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “Mixing used to be pretty difficult with records. Now to be OK at it is easy. But this means the focus isn’t on the technical any more – now it’s on the creative side. Good!”
february 2009 [[2R]]
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ooking back on the development of DJing, there are two key changes that affected the DJ’s role more than anything else. The first was the extinction of the personality/MC DJ – with his comedy hat, jokes and wet T-shirt competitions – in the late 1980s. The second was the advent of digital online music distribution in the early 2000s. The internet means a DJ can release a track that will be available globally overnight and which will never sell out or be deleted. While this does wonders for getting your music into the hands of as many people as possible and quickly building your profile, it caused the DJing playing pitch to level drastically. Suddenly a kid in Bogotá gained access to an entire record label’s back catalogue that might have previously had a leading DJ in London or Berlin trawling secondhand record shops for years to find. Record shop search engines like Discogs and GEMM accentuated this – now even rare vinyl releases that weren’t available as digital downloads became readily available, albeit at a price. Gone are the days where elitist access to music [[1l]] february 2009
What makes a great DJ? “An ability to be versatile and play different styles of music is a must. Many DJs are associated with certain styles and sounds, but I think that being able to adapt and bring different styles to a set helps to keep it fresh, and that’s what people want to come and see you for. Above all, commitment and dedication to the DJing world are definitely needed if you want to succeed.” Key DJ tip? “Know your tunes inside out and back-
to-front! I spend at least 20 hours a week going through my music. It gives me confidence when playing out as I know which tunes work with others – this helps me change the direction of my sets depending on the crowd and the atmosphere.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “Changing from vinyl to digital not only changed what you can do with the tunes, but also made for a completely different sound.”
Greg Wilson
SLA M ’ s Stuart McMillan
Alex Ridha aka Boys Noize What makes a great DJ? “Obviously it’s so easy to rock any party by playing the hits, but that’s really boring and doesn’t make you a good DJ at all. It’s more interesting to play a record that everyone thought wasn’t a hit, but bring it in at the right moment so it turns out great. It’s important to find the right balance: you can be a DJ that plays new, surprising, fresh music and has the balls to try out new things, but people who go out to party want to have
fun, so you have to rock the party, too. To have a feeling for the right moments is the secret key.” Key DJ tip? “The most important thing is to find your own sound. Ninety-five per cent of all DJs worldwide orientate on what other DJs play or what records work for other DJs. You have to find your own sound and not go with the flow (man, I was the uncoolest when I started!). You will be more interesting for a longer time if you are able to surprise
people with fresh stuff every now and then. Also, DJing should come from a passion and not because you want to be famous and rich.” What’s the biggest change in DJing since you started? “Music and mixing has changed radically for me since mixers with FX and CD players with loop functions came out. To play two records together for a minute or two isn’t hard, but bringing in different FX at the right moment made mixing way more interesting.”
What makes a great DJ? “The love of music and the hunger to find the tracks you want to play. These days more than ever, it’s important to have patience, and sort the wheat from the chaff. Lazy DJs will just play what everyone else is playing.” Key DJ tip? “It’s a cliché, but it works: be true to yourself and your taste because that’s what will make you an individual and not one of the crowd.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing? “Digital file formats – WAVs and MP3s. Wherever you are on the planet you can receive a promo or buy the track you’re after. It’s meant that DJs have to tour more to get paid, though, as we can’t rely on income from producing due to easy thieving of music by the people who used to buy records.”
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adam wiess
independent record shops that would supply them with limited pressings of highly sought-after records. Eventually the bubble burst as the superclub phenomenon became increasingly stagnant. It got to the stage where you could only guarantee a sellout gig with a heavyweight line-up of A-list DJs with a price tag that ran into the tens of thousands. Musically, prog and deep house had become increasingly bland and navel-gazing, whereas hard house and trance had hit a creative brick wall. The inevitable backlash spawned a new breed of underground heroes taking their place and the simultaneous rise of nu-rave, indie dance and minimal house and techno. Here were DJs with bulletproof musical backgrounds who’d arrive at gigs carrying their own record bags, hang around and party afterwards and lacked the apparent ego or trappings of their forerunners. But the new breed have to work much harder to stay ahead of the game. Gone are the days where novelty stunts like Judge Jules playing his trumpet while mixing or Jon ‘Pleased’ Wimmin DJing in drag would get you gigs. The quickest way to become a star overnight was through producing records and technological innovation. The danger was that the performance aspect, the charisma that defined DJ culture, would be lost.
FranÇois K
Lisa Lashes
vincent dolman, shab notghi
“prog and deep house had become bland, whereas hard house and trance had hit a creative brick wall”
What makes a great DJ? “The ability to continually gauge the mood of the audience they’re working with so there’s room for spontaneity, rather than setting in stone what they’re going to play and then blaming the crowd if the night doesn’t go as well as they’d hoped. A great DJ knows how to adapt and manoeuvre from different angles.” Key DJ tip? “Remember that, first and foremost, you’re an entertainer, not an educator, as many DJs misguidedly believe themselves to be. It’s great to introduce new records to the dancefloor, but the overall vibe of the night is paramount and not something you should lose sight of. DJs who talk in terms of ‘educating’ their audience are, more often that not, playing records to impress other DJs, forgetting there’s a room full of people who are dependant on them for a good night out.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you started? “When I started out, back in 1975, the 12” single had still to emerge – it was all about the 7”. I got £6 per night back then and thought I was on to a good thing! The mic was then an essential tool; later, a DJ’s ability on the decks became more valued than their verbal dexterity. But the most important aspect of a DJ’s armoury is the same now as then – their skill in programming the music they play on the night.”
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What makes a great DJ? “For some, an uncompromising attention to the utmost audio quality and details of the sonic soundscapes. For others, a very direct, almost entertainer-like quality of teasing crowds and making them react wildly, speaking to them on the mic rather than just shyly being the person behind the decks. It also may have much more to do with selection than mixing, and can be more about weaving a wondrous journey through many styles and time periods, rather than restricting yourself to playing the most recent hyped promo tracks. Or just as much, it can be a mesmerising display of technical wizardry. But punters are usually pretty capable of spotting those who are able to communicate their passion
for the music they love, and can share it with the audience. That’s one of the key differences between someone who’s a technically competent DJ, and a truly great one: the ability to inspire, to communicate and to share.” Key DJ tip? “Besides staying completely clear-headed, and not driving the equipment into distortion? In my experience, the only thing that also matters is to keep looking at the crowd, to truly understand what they are expecting, and to not think too much about what should come next: the obvious answer is usually right in front of you, if you can relax enough to listen to your own inner voice. And staying spontaneous, adapting to changing conditions fast, rather than pre-planning everything.”
What’s the biggest single change in the art and culture of DJing since you first started out? “When I started, it felt like there was maybe about a couple of hundred people who called themselves DJs around the world. Now it seems like there are in excess of several hundred thousand of them, with major clubs, venues and festivals in about every country, as part of a global culture that has arguably helped change the face of music in the process. I’d say that’s a pretty successful turn of events! The technical stuff about the evolution of the gear used, formats of choice, and styles played feels somewhat less relevant when compared to the basic reality of how much it has grown and what it has developed into.”
allowed a DJ to maintain an edge in an increasingly competitive market. Or maybe not: instant messaging means that a DJ like Felix Da Housecat can tap up friends like Soulwax’s Dewaelle brothers for new tunes over a plate of sushi and a shot of tequila prior to a gig. At the same time, file sharing has, over the last five years, decimated the record industry by eroding profits from record sales and causing numerous small independent labels to go under. In actual fact this has had less impact on DJs than on mainstream bands and musicians, since the main component of a DJ’s income comes from performing rather than record sales. But once again the digital, connected world cuts both ways: just as making tunes has become more important to maintaining a DJ’s profile, making a living from making music has become much more difficult. Still in the online world, the arrival of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook has led to a seismic shift in the flow of information and contacts between DJs, promoters, fans and their peers. Suddenly, clubbers the world over could have a one-degree-of separation hotline to their favourite DJs. Promoters from emerging territories like Eastern Europe and South America have instant access to DJs they want to book. Gone are the days of DJs recording mixtapes to get gigs; now mixes can immediately be uploaded to the web for all to share. “MySpace is the single most important tool I have for getting new gigs,” explains rising underground house star Jamie Jones. “It allows me to get my new tracks to anyone I want and allows promoters all over the world to offer me gigs. Only last week I received a gig option from a new club in Romania.” Jamie embodies the new face of modern DJing. Having cut his teeth working as a bar DJ in Ibiza, he’s rapidly clawed his way up the DJ ladder via a string of underground hits and association with leading record labels like Crosstown Rebels and Cocoon and gigs at clubs like Fabric, Avalon and DC10.
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o how does the modern DJ stay ahead of the game? While putting out records is a quick way to build your profile, there are some DJs like Damian Lazarus and Eddie Halliwell who have never released a record. The real secret to 21st century success in DJing lies where it always did. If Simon Cowell and his ilk haven’t completely devalued the phrase beyond
“it’s the ‘x-factor’ that still separates the great and the good from the mediocre” february 2009 [[2R]]
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“the advent of laptop djing has illuminated the expectations that audiences have of djs” [[1l]] february 2009
“the new breed of superstar djs sit at the head of their own business empires”
DJ Sneak What makes a great DJ? “I guess the best qualities are staying true to the music you love and captivating the attention of people while educating and having a great time doing your job as an entertainer.” Key DJ tip? “Technical: practice and enjoy what you are doing while doing it. Career: stay away from the ‘fakeness’ of this industry and especially from drugs (like cocaine) that often cloud your judgment and eventually take away the joy from playing music.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “This is going to sound negative, but it is really the killer of this music industry: DJs really believe they are
Edd i e Halliwell
Jojo De Freq What makes a great DJ? “Work ethic: because it’s freelance work and a lot of late nights, and no one telling you how or what to do. Individuality: for every DJ that finds success, there are about 10,000 others that try but don’t have the vision to do something unique. You’ll never stand out if you try to imitate, and you’ll never be fully true to yourself. Put the time and energy in to find your own approach and angle. It’s also far more satisfying. Physical and mental stamina: to be able to be the axis of the party when you’ve had little sleep often for several days, and the added stresses of
travelling. This means making it all look effortless, even when you were asleep in the taxi on the way to the club and your ears feel like they’re bleeding from the distorted hi-hats in the monitors. Creativity: the DJs who play around with new ideas, sounds, styles, and techniques, even with limited gear, and keep pushing things forward, keep the whole culture exciting. Skin as thick as leather: there can be some bad nights when people are not receptive, they’ll be asking for the latest Britney remix or worse all the tracks that you had played out last year. Lairy drunks will be
falling on you, minging, sweaty e-monsters trying to hug you,100 mobile phones held up in your face distracting you. NOT glamorous. You have to be able to believe in what you’re doing, even when it gets ugly.” Key DJ tip? “Know your records.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “The rising taste for a more non-linear, eclectic sound (again). And the technical advances in digital DJing. Oops, Is that more than one? I don’t think one would have happened without the other though!”
What makes a great DJ? “Obviously a DJ needs good technical ability and great musical selection, but with this it’s essential to have stage presence along with a strong connection and interaction with the audience.” Key DJ tip? “Don’t run before you can walk. It can take years to develop musical knowledge and technique. You need to know your scene and be aware of who you want to target. I meet people all over the world that hand me mixes when they are not technically ready. If you take your time and develop something really strong and unique, when that big opportunity comes along you will have the confidence and ability to see it through and make a success of it.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “The biggest development has been the digital changeover. I’ve seen the transition from vinyl to CD with the introduction of the Pioneer CDJ 1000s, which revolutionised a DJ world that is now ever-evolving.”
Pau l va n D y k
davide bozzetti, laurie fletcher
recognition, it’s having the ‘X-factor’ that still separates the great and good from the mediocre – that means individuality and innovation, be it in the studio, through forward-thinking choice of records or mixing skills behind the decks. “I’ve always tried to do things differently from other DJs,” explains Damian from his new home in LA. “I try to source weird and wonderful records that people won’t have heard before”. Meanwhile, Eddie’s appeal boils down to a level of pure technical skill which has A-listers like Tiësto and Armin gawping in disbelief at his cuts and scratches between four CD decks. There are certain ‘un-killable’ DJs like François K, Sven Väth, Andy Weatherall, Carl Cox and Laurent Garnier who have ridden the changing winds of dance music and have stayed at the top of their game for two decades or more. All have done so by striking the knife-edge balance between musically sticking to their guns and not trying to follow fads, while also staying relevant and pushing the envelope of their chosen sound through regular reinvention. In the heyday of the glam house mid-90s, the old-boys’ network of DJs would often play similar sets of all the big hits. These days DJs are expected to stamp their own character and musical background on everything they do. The danger is that this can lead dance music to turn increasingly retrospective – no one wants to see a return to the stagnant prog house spoddiness that prized the studio over the club. DJs like Erol Alkan and Paul Woolford maintain their edge by doing special re-edits and remixes of old records, while Ricardo Villalobos, who still only plays vinyl, does so by playing mainly rare and deleted vinyl releases that can be anything up to 20 years old. But Villalobos is an anomaly. As more and more DJs switch to buying and sharing their music digitally there have been massive advances in DJing and mixing technology spearheaded by the release of digital mixing solutions like Ableton and later Traktor Scratch and Serato, run from laptops rather than record bags. The advent of laptop DJing has also illuminated the expectations that audiences have from a DJ as a performer. To begin with, pure laptop DJing got a lot of flack – “might as well be checking their emails” was the refrain. Final Scratch, Serato and current market leader Traktor Scratch went some way towards redressing the balance – now DJs could simulate the act of playing records using time-coded vinyl linked to a laptop. The simple logistical advantage of having all
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What makes a great DJ? “A good DJ most of all needs a clear idea of his own sound, and the ability to interact with the audience.” Key DJ tip? “Don’t take yourself too seriously as far as music’s concerned!” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “It started as a small subculture, where the DJ was the geek in the corner, and has developed into the biggest youth culture in the world.”
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‘rock stars’ or can become ‘pop stars’ by selling out and embracing the fake energy that people often get when looked up to by fans that appreciate what you do for them. At the end of the day we are playing music to spread the word of joy and to feel happy when going to have fun with friends while drinking in a bar, nightclub, or event. DJ Sneak always keeps it real!”
Mauro Picotto
Andy C
What makes a great DJ? “Firstly charisma, a great taste in music for any time of night and day, a few great productions of their own, a good technique – and being good-looking can always help!” Key DJ tip? “First you need to gain a lot of experience for music and DJ life, always be yourself and if you have
What makes a great DJ? “Hours and hours of dedication and passion for the music, but you also need the ability to let go and enjoy yourself so that you feel the vibe of the dancefloor.” Key DJ tip? “Learn your tunes inside out!” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “The internet, without a doubt. Tunes used to grow over a long time. Nowadays they can be big and gone within matter of weeks. DJs get sent dozens every week, sets get recorded and before you know it they are on websites being discussed, downloaded and rated.”
the quality people will catch on to you.” What’s the biggest single change in DJing since you first started? “For me a big change was when I started to use the laptop. It changed my attitude completely, and I’m still not sure how much I like it.”
your tunes on an A4-sized laptop and not lugging around bags of vinyl or burning piles of CDs, coupled with the simplicity of installation, has made Traktor Scratch de rigueur for most leading DJs. But perhaps most importantly, Traktor, Serato and their ilk mean that a DJ, while performing, can still look the way a DJ is expected to look rather looking like someone watching YouTube. It seems the crowd like to see the DJ sweat even if they have already done most of their work before they get to the club. However, there is currently heated debate in clubland about software which allows you to automatically time-sync all your tracks, removing the need to actually beatmatch records. Those in favour argue that beatmatching is little more of an inconvenience that gets in the way of a DJ being creative; naysayers complain that it strips away the key element of DJing. There are obvious echoes of the debate 25 years ago about DJs who ‘just play records’ versus DJs who entertain the crowd with jokes and organised games. Label association and being attached to a collective of artists operating under a well-known brand has become integral to success in the current DJ market, and has in turn spawned a new breed of superstar DJs sitting at the head of their own business empires, complete with record labels, DJ agencies, franchised club nights and tours. It’s ironic that history is repeating itself, as the truly global nature of dance music in 2009 once again pushes DJ fees into the stratosphere. But there is no denying that the 21st century DJ has to work a lot harder to stay on top of his or her game than their forerunners, marrying the business and technology aspects of their career with increasingly punishing international gig schedules. Even so, while DJing is a more serious business than it ever has been, DJs are still doing exactly the same as they’ve been doing since Jimmy Savile first played those records one after another in the upstairs room of the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds club in Otley. There’s still really just one thing that a DJ has to do, and it’s something that all the technology in the world will never change. Make ’em dance.
february 2009 [[2R]]