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Luck and success...how the greats got their foot in the door of this industry
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| Dojomaster26 |
I've been thinking lately, "I wonder just how much 'being at the right place at the right time' contributes to how successful we are?"
The Basement Jaxx got their start by throwing house parties throughout the early 90s. Masters At Work was started when Kenny Dope bumped into Louie Vega in New York in the late 80s, and decided to try producing a track together. I'm sure that there are countless other examples that you guys can come up with.
On a personal note: I got a spot on a new weekly in Charlotte because I was at another club at the right time and a friend bumped into a guy who books the nights at the place. I went to a career fair two weeks ago, and ended up with an in-person interview that I wouldn't have had if I didn't go. I can say that I played a small part in these new opportunities opening up, but I can't completely throw away the notion that these things would have never happened if I didn't go to that club or make that trip to the Career Fair.
What would have happened if Larry Levan lived in Oregon instead of New York City? What if no one showed up to those Basement Jaxx house parties? Was there another Frankie Knuckles waiting in the wings, who was maybe living in North Dakota instead of in NY?
So the question is: How important do you think location and timing are to a DJ's (or anyone's) success? How much control do we really have over our own futures? Are our fates shaped by the cities where we were born? |
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| Schadenfreude |
who you know > what you know.
location is obviously important, how many big djs do you know fromm rural alabama? |
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| 19503 |
| going to school (right place) for 16 years (right time) got me a nice job so yeah its definitively true in my case. many of my friends experienced the same. i think this applies for music too. ive usually been at the wrong place at the wrong time when it comes to that, and it got me nowhere (wanted to be a superstar dj, ended up as a bedroom hobby-producer). |
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| BradMiller |
| IMO, I tend to think that people buy into the whole 'it's all about who you know thing' a little too much sometimes. Not saying it doesn't help, not saying it's not important, but I really believe that people who work hard and put themselves in the position to make things happen set themselves up for success. |
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| RebeL9 |
| I think the term for those kind of speculations is "contrafactual theories". Historians usually think in those lines, merely or fun. For example "what would had happened if Hitler hand't dropped out of the art class in his youth and istead of joining a political movement?" |
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| Chimney |
| quote: | Originally posted by 19503
going to school (right place) for 16 years (right time) got me a nice job so yeah its definitively true in my case. many of my friends experienced the same. i think this applies for music too. ive usually been at the wrong place at the wrong time when it comes to that, and it got me nowhere (wanted to be a superstar dj, ended up as a bedroom hobby-producer). |
Going to school, studies per se, are something that are of individual nature and something you can shape by yourself and receive the proper reward, whereas music is something that most of the time is the exact opposite. To become great, you have to have an audience, and if you don't have an audience it will never matte how good you considered yourself to be. |
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| Mr Game+Watch |
| quote: | Originally posted by Schadenfreude
who you know > what you know.
location is obviously important, how many big djs do you know fromm rural alabama? |
Robert Hood :D |
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| Mattinsanity |
if my historical knowledge serves correctly, all that major trance dj's (the four horsemen: avb, pvd, ferry, and tiesto) all got their jumpstart thanks to armand van helden. kewl!
also watch out for me one day. my techniques on the turntables are much more abstract than james zabiela's. I can play with that little sliding switch thing at the bottom of the mixer, more skillfully than anybody. my potential as a world class dj is limitless. |
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| 19503 |
| no all of them actually worked their asses of. |
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| Dojomaster26 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Chimney
Going to school, studies per se, are something that are of individual nature and something you can shape by yourself and receive the proper reward, whereas music is something that most of the time is the exact opposite. To become great, you have to have an audience, and if you don't have an audience it will never matte how good you considered yourself to be. |
Exactly. I'm sure you all can come up with tons of guys that have "made it" who have produced little musical value.
Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber
"His performances on YouTube were seen by Scooter Braun, who later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher,[9] and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.[5][10]"
I wish 19503 was correct, but it seems like the winning formula is:
1. Work hard
2. Have something unique
3. Get noticed/lucky
I agree with this:
| quote: | | people who work hard and put themselves in the position to make things happen set themselves up for success. |
What position did the "big 4" Trance DJs put themselves in? Where were they to be noticed by Armand Van Helden? Were they in a certain club, or did they do something special that all of the other DJs weren't doing? I'm wondering how important #3 in that formula really is. |
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