In the past month I think I've had no fewer than three conversations that have all included something to the effect of:
quote:
You're a good DJ, but you'd be great if you produced.
quote:
If you only applied yourself [to production], you'd go so much further.
etc.
To which my reply has been: "Oh well."
I know the industry in general has turned towards favoring producer DJ's because they can sell something beyond a night in a club - but I don't think I'm alone in saying that the amount of mediocre DJ/producers littering the scene has only grown exponentially as the ability to produce music has become easier and easier.
That's not what I'm here to talk about. What I'm wondering is when it became such a bad thing to only want to be a good DJ?
I have no real interest in producing music, especially the music I play. I like that I can find stuff by guys who don't perform their stuff live, I like painstakingly crafting promo mixes, I like getting loose on the decks in a club, and in general, I just like to DJ, and to learn as much as I can to make myself better at it.
Perhaps I've just encountered the wrong folks, but it really seems like there isn't any value placed on this anymore (at least in a broad sense).
I'm definitely open to the possibility that I'm just totally wrong here and basing this on my own experience - but meh, the thought of why the value of a DJ may have gone down seemed at least a bit interesting to me.
You should produce because you're inspired to, not because the market pressures you to. Sure, it's a good marketing tool - but so is dying your hair green and mixing with bare tits. Fuck that.
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Aug-27-2008 18:49
KiNeTiC ENeRgY
t3cHn0_43ad
Registered: Oct 2003
Location: Boca Raton
there's no value in a guy that just plays records. He won't be able to bring out a crowd without some name or recognition in the producing world. Get used to it.
Aug-27-2008 18:50
Mr.Mystery
Static Guru
Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Vantaa
Re: DJ vs. DJ/Producer
quote:
Originally posted by RJT
What I'm wondering is when it became such a bad thing to only want to be a good DJ?
I would say it happened around the same time the whole EDM "scene" jumped into the Sarlacc pit creatively.
Originally posted by KiNeTiC ENeRgY
there's no value in a guy that just plays records. He won't be able to bring out a crowd without some name or recognition in the producing world. Get used to it.
Isn't that the question I'm asking though? Or rather, why there isn't any value in that anymore beyond the question of finance?
I'd say I'm quite used to it at this point, but that certainly doesn't mean I also won't question the trend.
I go to concerts to hear people play their own music, I go to nightclubs to hear a variety of electronic music. Not saying that's how it is for anyone else, and it's clearly not what happens.
Registered: May 2006
Location: Eisenstein's laboratory
quote:
Originally posted by KiNeTiC ENeRgY
there's no value in a guy that just plays records.
There just aren't that many people who would appreciate that anymore, and also many DJs probably don't have the patience to slowly gain reasonable amount of respect just by playing records, when they have the opportunity to make it happen with yet one another Faxing Berlin overnight.
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Aug-27-2008 18:57
Mr.Mystery
Static Guru
Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Vantaa
It seems to work the other way around too, though - if you're "only" a producer and don't DJ/perform live you're nothing. Sure, someone might play your track a couple of times but it gets tossed aside after that.
Originally posted by paulandrews
There just aren't that many people who would appreciate that anymore, and also many DJs probably don't have the patience to slowly gain reasonable amount of respect just by playing records, when they have the opportunity to make it happen with yet one another Faxing Berlin overnight.
I suppose this is all fairly obvious, but that doesn't make seeing it in writing any less irritating.
There's just so much "here today, gone tomorrow" bullshit out there, that really the only guys I see with staying power are people who've been playing Chicago/Jackin' house here in the Midwest for a decade or so. Those fellows have worked a long time to carve out their niche, and regardless of whether or not I like the tunes they're playing, I can respect the effort they've put into what they're doing.
Sure, every year or two there are a few flavors of the moment who are play regularly for a while in any given scene - but 9/10 times they're forgotten once whatever trend they're seizing upon at the moment moves on to the next thing.
Originally posted by Mr.Mystery
It seems to work the other way around too, though - if you're "only" a producer and don't DJ/perform live you're nothing. Sure, someone might play your track a couple of times but it gets tossed aside after that.
Also a good point - which I think probably lends credence to the whole "the world of electronic music is homogenizing at an unreal rate" argument.
I'm definately with you on this one. I remember listening to a James Talk interview a couple years ago and he had pretty much the same sentiments, IIRC.
