I’d like to bring the concept of the DJ to the table.
The first forms of electronic music I became familiar with were things like Richard D. James album, Squarepusher, Luke Vibert, and others who i consider “artists” as they compose their own music. When someone like this hits play on stage then dances, i still feel as though i’m hearing an artist.
The concept of the DJ is very popular and has been for a while I suppose. I don’t seems to put a DJ on par with an artist for the following reasons.
- they don’t make their own music, at best they are making mashups with little-to-no original content.
- with the internet, mp3, and myspace/ipod generation, everyone has distinct tastes or identity-associations with the particular artists they listen to (or fill up their ipod with) which seems to cheapen the selections a DJ makes to merely what-this-person-listens-to, or what image they would like to convey.
- the majority of DJs seem very passive (i.e. put on a tune, then walk away or dance).
- then there are radio DJs who exclusively play what’s popular, putting them on the bottom rung.
sidenote: people like richie hawtin have artists make music FOR him to DJ. which i find really confusing.
I bring this up because I’m finding it rather easy to get nights at a local bar in my town. I’ve played there before doing original tunes with lots of effects (instajungle/bitcrush/filters/reverbs/crossfading) and feel like i’ve payed much attention to the “performance” of it all. I’m going to be DJing on new years, and just wanted to know how you (the only online forum I associate myself with) feel about DJing.