Which DJs are currently inspiring you?

[beats me]

Hip Hop isn't drawing very well out here in Colorado. In fact most of the clubs in Denver, especially the bigger ones, will not book it.

There are still some decent underground hip hop concerts, but the top 40 hip hop usually gets played at the bars full of douche bags.

Commercial EDM is fairly dominant out here, but there are still some good DJ's that come through and pull a decent number of heads. Lee Burridge will be at Beta on the 12th. Stoked for that. Pezzner was just out here a few weeks ago too.

I need to get out of the house/city/state more often.

..and spend less time at the bars with douchebags.

And it can somewhat differ in what constitutes a club, at least mentally. I know some places that would probably be considered a bar (square footage?) but still have a dance floor area that is packed. I'd say on any given night there would be more people crammed into bars with DJs than clubs..strictly going by total headcount. So while there may be 4 large clubs that don't support Hip Hop, there's 20 bars that do and they collectively have a bigger headcount.

[caaflex]

Hip Hop isn't drawing very well out here in Colorado. In fact most of the clubs in Denver, especially the bigger ones, will not book it.

There are still some decent underground hip hop concerts, but the top 40 hip hop usually gets played at the bars full of douche bags.

Commercial EDM is fairly dominant out here, but there are still some good DJ's that come through and pull a decent number of heads. Lee Burridge will be at Beta on the 12th. Stoked for that. Pezzner was just out here a few weeks ago too.

I need to get out of the house/city/state more often.

..and spend less time at the bars with douchebags.

And it can somewhat differ in what constitutes a club, at least mentally. I know some places that would probably be considered a bar (square footage?) but still have a dance floor area that is packed. I'd say on any given night there would be more people crammed into bars with DJs than clubs..strictly going by total headcount. So while there may be 4 large clubs that don't support Hip Hop, there's 20 bars that do and they collectively have a bigger headcount.

Word. Denver used to have top 40 hip hop at most of the bars downtown but there were a lot of fights and bar owners felt they were attracting the wrong crowd so almost collectively the bars in Downtown Denver stopped playing top 40 hip hop. Mash ups got real popular though, that seems to be replacing it.

If you ever make it out to the mile high let me know, it's pretty fun out here, little city with a big city attitude. Beta is acclaimed to be the second best club in the country and the only club with a funktion 1 sound system. It's tits.

[SubFunk]

........... used to have top 40 hip hop at most of the bars downtown but there were a lot of fights and bar owners felt they were attracting the wrong crowd

sad, this accounts to many, many european cities as well, i believe that hip hop is generally still very popular, but there are hardly clubs or DJ bars left playing it because of the large amount of utter violence, stabbings, shootings and all that. like berlin had an amazing club under the legendary mr. spock (about 15-17 years ago), great great hip hop parties, but just a few month, then the rival started 14 year old prostitutes, guns and knifes, club closed down, sad, real sad. and that is just one of many many stories around hip hop clubs and bars... always the same shit.

[caaflex]

truth.

it's bittersweet for me though. the lack of hip hop in the clubs is generating more interest in shows and the really good hip hop artists like People Under the Stairs, Talib Kweli, and Atmosphere are starting to get better support when they come through here. Which I can appreciate because then the environment is one that is more appreciative towards the music rather than the image of the hip hop scene.

Plus i don't have to hear Lil Jon and Lil Wayne and Lil other shitty rapper singing the same top 40 hip hop songs every time i go out to promote a show.

[beats me]

People gave me tons of shit a year ago for starting a post on here about Hip Hop listeners being shady. I guess I should have polled the world's bar and club owners to prove my point.

[squelcht]

[ChiDJ]

none

[SimonPHC]

very few DJs are inspiring, and that's just sad if you ask me.

Optimo are rare exception, those guys have 20 yeas experience and play stuff that blows my mind, every time.

Other than that it's mostly DJs that are in fact producers or even musicians that get my attention going, like Surgeon, Ben Klock, Scuba, Dixon or even Amorphous Androgynous (aka The Future Sound Of London).

And there's a few people in my local surroundings that make amazing selections and have decent mixing skills but they're not know anywhere but amongst friends, but they rock most of my dancing socks. Joke, Sine, Jan, Dennis, but you wouldn't know them...

[Mint Invader]

Not a DJ. But just saw Jackal and Hyde in Tampa memorial day weekend. TORE IT UP on a DAS system.

http://www.myspace.com/jackalandhyde

Coincidentally ableton live performers.

[SubFunk]

People gave me tons of shit a year ago for starting a post on here about Hip Hop listeners being shady. I guess I should have polled the world's bar and club owners to prove my point.

well i did not agreed with you, but yes they are (the majority) and also extremely stupid (the majority, especially the listeners of hip hop, as well)

there used to be times of real clever and intelligent lyrics, school of hardknocks, etc. or fun stuff, digital underground and the lot, michael franty one of the intelligent guys as well, to name a few, but those are minorities in that genre, definitely.

worst are the none english mother tongue hip hop listeners, they just go mad about the beats and image, i always wonder, but they defo don't understand a word of the shite most hi hop artists saying. otherwise they surely wouldn't listen to this crap.

but what i said earlier is really true, the end (in london) as well, they had great hip hop nights, until a shooting in front of the club with a casualty, stopped promoting hip hop altogether. in europe definitely that happened across all major cities.

[djsynchro]

I like DJ DJ

[supamonsta]

I'm not inspired by DJs, but by bands, producers...

dunno how a dj could inspire me, I listen to lots of DJ sets, and I'm allways searching for the playlists at the end, to find "WHO THE FUCK MADE THIS TRACK"???

and then find everything I can about the producer / band...

Djs around me don't even know which artist made the tracks they DJ... 'eeeh, it's a Mau5trap record...", "eeeh, it's a Level 75..." , "eeeeh, it's a this-or-that-label"...



If for a name, the DJs I listen to the most, are PAN-POT (but rather as producers..), and POPOF (also producer who mixes his own tracks)


so few DJs make sets I really like from beginning to end...

cheers

[S4racen]

Watched James Zabeila the other week and he rocked..... Oh and Fatboy Slim i still enjoy just cause he doesn't care about anything but the PARTY!!

Cheers
D

[alex.the.forge]

I'm not inspired by DJs, but by bands, producers...

dunno how a dj could inspire me, I listen to lots of DJ sets, and I'm allways searching for the playlists at the end, to find "WHO THE FUCK MADE THIS TRACK"???

yeah but that's the point - there are SO MANY people making music now, and so many labels putting it out that it helps a lot to find DJs that consistently pick the cream of the crop out of the thousands of mediocre tunes out there

I know for me it takes me a good month to trawl through all the labels and artists I normally like and whittle the selection down to a top ten. That's why there are still full time DJs who don't know the first thing about production - because DJing itself is a full time job.

TBH I'm really surprised that there is still an attitude that DJs are not real artists or whatever

and on top of that, people I know who are the most prolific producers are often the people who were DJs first - because to be a DJ you have to listen to A LOT of music, which means getting a really good overview of what works and what doesn't

[SubFunk]

I'm not inspired by DJs, but by bands, producers...

dunno how a dj could inspire me, I listen to lots of DJ sets, and I'm allways searching for the playlists at the end, to find "WHO THE FUCK MADE THIS TRACK"???

yeah but that's the point - there are SO MANY people making music now, and so many labels putting it out that it helps a lot to find DJs that consistently pick the cream of the crop out of the thousands of mediocre tunes out there

I know for me it takes me a good month to trawl through all the labels and artists I normally like and whittle the selection down to a top ten. That's why there are still full time DJs who don't know the first thing about production - because DJing itself is a full time job.

TBH I'm really surprised that there is still an attitude that DJs are not real artists or whatever

and on top of that, people I know who are the most prolific producers are often the people who were DJs first - because to be a DJ you have to listen to A LOT of music, which means getting a really good overview of what works and what doesn't

absolute +1

also to add, mistress barbara has nailed it once very nicely in an interview (remembering from my head) "the point of good modern house / techno DJs is that you give 10 of them the exact same record box and everyone of them will create a totally unique sound and listening experience."

i could not agree more, that loads (not all, but more then ever) of young DJs today 'just playing tunes and adding 4 bars to 4 bars" is another thing, and that is sad and annoys the hell out of me.

also the major amount of work is in the selection / prep.

into a proper 4 hour gig go easy 40-60 hours selecting / prep work.

even if you don't need to shop much anymore, getting tons of demos, etc... it is wednesday and i have already alone for this week about 30 tunes in my download folder to go through... that is eating up a lot of time and is work.