What is a DJ?

[DJ PSYCOSMILEY]

Here's an article by DJ A Trak; After reading kindly express what you feel a DJ is.

There's a new buzz-word in the world of DJing: "Button Pushers." As the DJ moves from club booths to festival stages, the equipment has become increasingly varied. And as the lines continue to blur between a DJ who mixes and a producer who presses play, questions of authenticity have been raised. I should mention that I am a DJ myself. I won five world DJ championships (yes, there is such a thing) at a young age, and this has been my career for 15 years, so I feel a certain responsibility to weigh in on the subject.

Traditionally, a DJ spun vinyl records on turntables and would change his set every night. So what about guys who play on laptops? Those who spend more time raising their hands than mixing? Or those whose presence is lost behind intricate light shows? Esteemed electronic producer deadmau5, who recently graced the cover of rock bible Rolling Stone wearing his namesake, robo-rodent mask, decided to blow the whistle himself with a refreshingly frank tumblr post entitled "We All Hit Play." Explaining how his pre-planned stage show works, he admits that the term "live" is an overstatement. But his tone is strangely defensive and he unjustly lumps DJs into the argument, reducing their craft to mindless beat-matching: "I had that skill down when I was 3."

Coincidentally, the same week the DJ world was set a-twitter (literally) by SNL-worthy videos of Paris Hilton's inaugural DJ set. In fact, this DJ-as-Milli-Vanilli debate started simmering last summer with the emergence of a YouTube clip entitled "Steve Angello -- How To Fake Your Fans." It showed the Swedish House Mafia DJ playing 15 minutes of a pre-recorded set from a single CD deck. He later explained that this was the finale of a show where fireworks, pyro and CO2 were timed with certain cues and that it was impossible to perform this segment while mixing live. Having seen Steve mix in front of me many times I can attest to his (actually remarkable) DJ skills. But let's back up a bit: fireworks, pyro and CO2 with house music? Something new is going on here...

A large part of the attention that DJs are getting at the moment is due to the Electronic Dance Music explosion. There's another buzzword for you: EDM. For better or worse, this rising genre is dominated by laptop production whizzes who do not play live instruments. Thus, there are inherent challenges to what an EDM performance can be. Look no further than this year's Grammy Awards: the way David Guetta and deadmau5 were lumped with Chris Brown and the Foo Fighters seemed like an awkward foreign exchange, didn't it? But Guetta and Mr. Mau5's music is catchy and hugely successful. Fans want to experience it in large venues, so there is a need to build a show around it.

Festivals started spending millions equipping their stages with the biggest LED panels and brightest lights, competing with rivals all in the name of this "experience." Now we are in the middle of an arms race where every DJ tries to out-do the next one with shock and awe. As the performance aspect becomes predominant, a paradigm shift is underway. Crowds used to come see DJs for a musical journey. Now they expect to hear specific songs and furthermore, they want to see a show. I can attest to this myself: the craziest crowd response that I get in my sets is when I play my own tracks, and I built a huge, illuminated A-shaped structure that I bring to my biggest gigs. But one has to wonder, when so much emphasis is put on hit records and mise-en-scène: is there still room for DJ skills?

I come from the most technical tradition of hip hop DJing, known as turntablism. I practiced daily for years with monastic discipline, learning and creating intricate patterns of scratching, beat juggling and trick mixing. To me there is a certain romance to this arcane craft. To me this is DJing, an art that fascinates because it's a subversive way of playing music. In any genre -- whether it be hip hop or electronic music -- DJing is equal parts technique and selection. A good set is like a convincing speech: the message is as important as the delivery. The magic happens when the tracks are assembled in front of (and in reaction to) a given crowd. When a DJ mixes, his creative effort takes place on the spot. In contrast, for a performer like deadmau5, the creative tour de force takes place ahead of time, in the conceptual stages of his show, and he is then able to execute it like a theatre play. Good theatre is entertaining, it is moving and certainly has value. This is a classic dispute of apples and oranges, and deadmau5's only mistake in his tumblr post is trying to compare the two. I happen to know him; he's a smart guy and he can take a joke. I also think he doesn't fully understand -- or care for -- what DJing is at the core, but that doesn't take away from his talent.

Recently there was a very cogent editorial post on the EDM blog Dancing Astronaut entitled "Dance Music Has Gone Mainstream But It Doesn't Have To Sell Out." It accused EDM DJs of becoming complacent in their selection. The writer states: "What worries me is not that DJs are simply 'pressing play', but that they're pressing play on the same tracks in the same order night after night after night." This is very true and might be the source of deadmau5's confusion. For the DJs who bounce from venue to venue, playing the same set without the redeeming quality of a personalized stage production, there is no excuse. This laziness is actually giving "live" performances more value! After any big EDM festival, look up the DJ playlists. They're frighteningly similar. This scene is turning into a caricature. Explosions, private jets, standing on tables (I plead guilty to the latter), and now carbon copy playlists... The hair metal soap opera of EDM risks devaluing a culture that has waited for its big break for 30 years.

Real DJing lives when you witness someone play for hours and take risks, reading the crowd and surprising them at the same time. On festival stages, it makes sense to use fool-proof equipment and put together a spectacular show. In today's context, wouldn't it be fair to say that the holy grail is a live performance that has the flexibility to integrate true improvisation? That is the ultimate win-win. To the DJs who choose to bypass the LED screen arms race and stick to their decks, I respect that too. Just make sure you give your audience something new every night. If you want to play David to deadmau5's Goliath, earn it. Challenge yourself to challenge the crowd. And to all the new fans just discovering this genre, come to the shows with an open mind. Don't just wait to hear the songs you already know. There's a reason you're not watching a band. DJing is still at the cutting edge of new music. Let yourself be surprised.

WHAT IS A DJ?

[ikeaboy]

Well worth a read, totally on point.

[Linear Phase]

Well worth a read, totally on point.

+ 1

I so agree. This is excellent bitching and complaining about the state of the music industry. The state of live music. The state of live shows. The pathetic sound at festivals I don't even bother going to. Just all around, "excellent complaining."

I'm giving it an A+

[starving student]

DJing is equal parts technique and selection

exactly what edm-ist don't get. it can't be made any more simple, they think it's all about selection and selection only and don't give a fuck about what else the person doing the selecting is doing, yet they feel some entitlement for people to come see them and respect their non-show. There is no better selector than a cd player, djing is not only about selection, and deadmau saying he could beat match at 3 is ridiculous unless when he was 3 they were making records that did nothing but played a kick drum on every fucking quarter note for 10 minutes…. I'd like to give all these motherfuckers saying beatmatching and juggling takes no skill a pair of congas and I bet for their very lives they couldn't shit out a groove that made your head nod.

thank goodness all edm artist aren't the same

[andydes]

Original comment removed due to misreading above post.

By referring back to the button pushers all the time, he sounds like he's doing a deadmu himself and putting all in same category. Should be more clear, this applies to actual djs only.

But my biggest problem is when djs put out interesting mix albums, yet when you see them live it's the same ploddy uninteresting shit for kids on ket that everyone else does.

In many cases I'd prefer it if I did know they were going to do something I liked.

In many ways over here, we passed through the commercialism of dance music stage about a decade ago. Now everyone wants to be more undergroundwhich often means less fun.

[cmcpress]

WHAT IS A DJ?

A glorified jukebox.

[beats me]

Good read. I think it’s a painful truth that most people don’t care about live skills, how the music is delivered, or how much is preformatted. It’s the Industrial Revolution of DJing where people are being replaced by machines. It’s not that people don’t respect old school skills. It’s that they don’t see it as important to the end result and it’s far too new of a transition to be past the bitterness and into where people actively seek out DJs doing it the old or hard way.

[andydes]

I think I'm done with worrying to much about all that myself. Sometimes it's good to see someone who can just get the party started with their name. Other times you want to see someone with real technical skill.

When someone has both, you can feel smug satisfaction that you can tell the difference even if most others in audience can't.

I'm sure it's irritating for the quality DJs though.

[beats me]

I'm sure it's irritating for the quality DJs though.

Exactly. And even for some who aren’t quality DJs but are short on things to be mad about in life.

[LoopStationZebra]

tl;dr.

But thank GOD for the crib note replies!

[ikeaboy]

I'm sure it's irritating for the quality DJs though.

Exactly. And even for some who aren’t quality DJs but are short on things to be mad about in life.

True dat!

[d.reamonn]

Too much judging going on here.

A DJ is a bloke (no girls allowed) who plays music live w/o conventional instruments such as violins and shit.

Whether he hits play or recreates Richard Devine's Helix Stair Helve live is irrelevant. If people dig the vibe and get jiggy with it, he's a good DJ. If they don't he's a bad DJ.

Sorted.

[d.reamonn]

For the record, I'm a bad DJ.

[Mint Invader]

For the record, I'm a bad DJ.

Shame on you, go get better.

[Sage]

Recently there was a very cogent editorial post on the EDM blog Dancing Astronaut entitled "Dance Music Has Gone Mainstream But It Doesn't Have To Sell Out."

Does this guy still think its 1990 or something? I haven't known a time in my life when EDM wasn't mainstream! The battle of putting on a show and the flexibility to improvise is something everyone who performs "live" has to deal with. Pressing play is just the new miming in the mainstream which only exists for 14 year olds, life will go on, maybe its time for EDM to find a new angle.