Look what I didn't make
If you don’t know a lot about a subject, you shouldn’t get involved in an argument about it, right? That’s like the most obvious concept that very few people seem to adhere to. I guess people just love a good fight. But I will tell you, that I am truly cautious about what I’ll argue, if I really don’t know that much about it. Like if you want to get in a heated discussion about who’s the better Soccer club, Leeds or Arsenal, well I’ll leave that one alone. Not really my bag. Besides, you’re in the wrong bar, buddy; back off, I’m trying to watch the baseball game.
This is true as far as music goes as well. I’m a rock ‘n roll guy by trade and preference, but my soul-compromising day job requires me to have a working knowledge of all genres, even those which would never make it to my i-pod. So I constantly find myself asking others about styles, like hip-hop, electronica, DJ’s, etc…..so I can still exhibit some relevance at work, should one of those genres come up. Also, I just want to understand what the fuss is about sometimes, you know?
A close colleague of mine spins in his free time, and…well…I don’t know what that means. DJing is so fascinating, simply because there’s so many ways to do it. There are so many different kinds of DJ’s. There’s the ninja record scratching dudes that look like their trying to get their craft into the x-games with all that physical spectacle. There’s the dudes that create their own beats and meld them seamlessly from record to record. Then there’s the most common dudes: the guys (or girls) that choose different pre-existing pieces of music and play them for listeners/dancers, fading one in and the other out to keep the party rolling. Sometimes, as a bonus, they’ll throw a different beat underneath a familiar track, but the concept is the same. They are truly Disc Jockeys, mastering the art of cleverly cuing up a playlist of what they think is cool.
So what’s wrong with that? In theory, nothing. I mean, it is an art form right? It’s communicating through creativity, albeit a “shared creativity,” and most importantly, it’s creating a soundtrack to an evening which makes people happy. I can get on board with that. But here’s where it bugs me. When people start going off about how amazingly talented a particular DJ is, or how bad another one might be. I never argue these points because A) I know nothing about it and B) it’s a bullsh*t argument.
95% of most DJing (this is the aforementioned third category) is not about talent at all. It’s about TASTE. It’s preference, complete biased opinion. DJ Snufalupagus (or whatever) has chosen a lists of songs and is asking for your acceptance through them, or at least your agreement that they are fun to dance to. Does he deserve praise for achieving this goal? Certainly, but how much, really? I mean anybody is capable of cuing up a playlist of his or her favorite tunes, and most people could find a way to fade them in and out. Hell, I bet you that anyone with the slightest musical ear could even master the art of “Beat Matching” as they call it, so the groove doesn’t stop. I mean we’ve all slowed down a record, even if by accident at some point.
Maybe DJ’s are on to something here. What if I took some pictures of a lot of really classy art work, created a slide show, and presented it as a performance piece at a gallery? How would that go over? I could even figure out some clever ways to fade one painting into another. If everyone liked my taste in art, would they call me talented? Or better yet, I’ll order a bunch of really delicious dishes ‘to-go’ from a variety of tasty eateries, have everyone over to my house, and slickly serve them course by course until everyone is full. I can even mix some of the dishes together if they have complimentary flavors. Now am I a really talented meal jockey? Why does the music equivalent of this get such a free pass?
Look, I’m not trying to be a hater here. I know I couldn’t step into a club right now and spin, but if you offered me that gig, vs. having to play a guitar solo at a rock venue, I take the DJ gig every time. And why is that? Because I could fake it. And there it is. That’s the point I think I was driving at before I even started writing this. When you’re relying on someone else’s pre-recorded, professionally produced art to be your foundation, you sort of got a head start, don’t you? Some clever smoke and mirrors and at night’s end, everyone’s leaving happy, and you just hogged all the credit that so rightfully belongs to Michael Jackson.
I guess what bugs me is that, the most impressive part of the sonic experience (at least to me) is the creation of the original song. Someone wrote that bass line. You know the one that made you piss your pants with excitement when it came on at 1AM. The one that got that girl to move in a little closer on the dance floor. And now you’re going home with her. And later you’re at breakfast with your boys, and you say, “Man, what a night. That DJ was so good!” And you don’t even realize, it was Quincy Jones that got you laid, fool.
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Hmm, interesting pov.
Now I come to think of it, yes, whenever anyone says I’m a DJ, they expect (and get, but not from me) kudos for merely playing the music made by others.
I also dislike them for being pretentious.
I think the best DJ I ever saw was Claude VonStroke at the winter music conference in Miami. That guy was awesome and knocked my socks off. At the time I was on vacation and having a grand old time gettin rocked and partying, so that might have something to do with it. But I think where the buzz comes from is similar to the buzz with live music – people get excited about something they’re not capable of doing.
Me for example, I can’t spin records, or at least haven’t really tried hard enough to give myself a fighting chance. As a result, I’m somewhat inspired by seeing someone else do it, since I can’t. Great, fun.
But I’d have to acquiesce if there were a stand off between original music and that of a DJ’s hodgepodge of different sounds. In the end, the original song is the root of it all.