Say anything: More straight talk from the DJ roundtable

by Heather Bouzan, 04-07-2008

DJ Melee: The better the party, the better the vibe, right?

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Eli: I think most of us here probably use some aspects of the new technology in everything we’re doing now. But it’s really to try to push new things and open up new doors.

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DJ Knife: I know that Adidas has embraced DJ culture; they have DJs there every weekend. So, it works for us — I mean, obviously they give us clothes and that’s a good thing. But it is crazy to think that within the last six months we’ve seen five or six specialty sneaker stores pop up in the area. I just don’t know if DJing has anything to do with it, to be honest with you.

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DJ Die Young: DJs are always flashy. Or, some of them, you know? You want to look good; you want to get noticed.

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Eli: I feel like that connection between fashion and DJing has gotten stronger and stronger, and that retail stores want to have DJs because it helps increase the atmosphere, it helps make their branding more exciting, and for us it’s exciting because we can match our music with whatever style the store is trying to go for.

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DJ Die Young: We had a party at Make It New; this guy was coming up asking us to play “Texas House.” I don’t know what Texas House is. He was so mad at us, and then I was like, “Dude, if you don’t like what’s playing, just leave.” I see him a half an hour later standing on a chair, like, “Yeah!” We didn’t play Texas house; we didn’t play anything Texas. But we just kept him there.

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DJ Bruno: When I first started, if I were to play a single hip-hop song, I would’ve been fired, okay? Because being black here is like, people have a stigma. You are going to play hip-hop only. Me, I love everything. I play hip-hop, reggae, R&B, house, rock, ’80s, ’70s, the whole nine. If it works, I will play it. But, it’s just that now, the big thing is hip-hop.

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DJ Bruno: I will say this: everything now is starting to change. Everyone is tired of just hearing rap. Everyone is tired of just hearing house. They want to hear everything now, you know? So I think it’s slowly starting to change, but it’s going to take a while.

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DJ Bruno: I just think that ever since the Euro students showed up, that changed everything. That changed the whole scene. Because, then, it was just about money. ’Cause they would come in and buy the magnum bottles of Champagne, you know?

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Eli: Before there were blogs and Internet message boards, it was like, there were e-mail lists that you could be invited to or sign up for and basically talk to each other. Boston Parties was an old one. And it was just shit-talking all the time. But that hadn’t happened for years. So now I feel like people care a lot again.

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DJ Bruno: Boston doesn’t have its own sound, but, at the same time, Boston is such a small city. Everybody knows everybody; everybody knows everyone’s business. I remember guys fighting over guys handing out flyers in front of clubs. It’s such a small scene. Everybody just needs to work together. Here, I just don’t see everybody working for the same goals.

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DJ Knife: I think that this is probably an obvious statement, but where the DJ culture is heading in Boston is dependent on technology and the music industry, and I think that basically, within five or six years, CDs might be obsolete, and technology will change. Ultimately we’ll see the death of vinyl — not that we haven’t already seen it, limping into its grave right now.

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Charlie: I’ve got something to get off my chest. I want to go on record as saying: raves, raving, rave party, raves, let’s go to a rave, let’s throw a rave, raving, nouveau rave, raving.

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DJ Bruno: I stopped drinking, but I never did drugs. I was just vibing off of the music. I never smoked or did anything.

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Eli: Yes, it’s impossible to deny that drugs are a part of dance music culture, but you know, there’s a lot of people that go out because they want to dance.

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April 11, 2008 5:05 PM

Rico Soiree said:

DJs are like chefs with no taste buds. They are blind folks trying to drive formula-1 cars. That is, they lack an essential key to their trade: A sense of acoustics.

They play music at just one level: TEL (Too Effing Loud). They never take decibel meter readings on the dance floor (Try being a professional photographer an not take light-meter readings!). Apparently conversation is not allowed in clubs. Certainly DJs never leave their booths to see how music actually sounds on dance floors. They don't "get" that bodies absorb sound, but other surfaces reflect same.

Things won't change until owners get sued by patrons who've lost hearing and/or the health department/cops visit. Until then DJs will remain arrogant, isolated in their booths, thinking they are stars instead of enhancers of patrons' experiences (which they obviously disdain).

April 13, 2008 12:50 AM

Steve said:

IMHO:

A nightclub is place where people gather to dance, and with this is an expectation the sound will be loud, the lights intense and the sub harmonics orgasmic. There is no such things as “too loud”, unless of course you are placed in a situation where there is not enough bass complimenting the stack of mid range speakers but I will not get into that. As stated by the above commenter is seems logical and easy to speak to the shortfalls of a dance club, primarily how they are too loud. This is understandable because it is a dance club where people go to dance and not play Bingo. If a balance of conversation and dancing is desired we have the world of lounges, (or ultra-lounges if you prefer) which are suitable alternatives for those who are concerned about decibel readings.

It is easy to point blame and threaten the ever so common day lawsuit against club owners, why not? Its America right? A better alternative would be to not attend nightclubs where the sound is “too loud”. The last time I checked the ADJA (American DJ Association) was not kicking your door down forcing you to patronize these clubs. If it is simply too loud then don’t attend, if you don’t think this is fair then possibly open your own nightclub (or lounge) to which your personal beliefs on how the club should be run can be meticulously overseen by only you.

April 14, 2008 9:13 PM