“An Under the Dirty Hat thought for the 13 year old out in the world
experiencing Techno for the first time and the seasoned veteran of the Techno
and Rave scene:”
I had a discussion through private message with Pat Fontes
a month ago on a post he made about DJing today, Pat can correct me but it
started off with a post he had about how DJ's today are promoting
themselves. My conversation and thoughts
stretched into how today's music promotions for DJ's & Producers are a new
beast one that is in its infantile state to say a seasoned Veteran. I’ve elaborated on my thoughts of the future
and what it holds from this chat conversation and with support by Pat nudging
me to elaborate and share. Below is my
initial response to Pat:
“Hey
Pat I agree with you, I've been DJing for a long time but not to any degree of
fame, I've been doing it strictly as a hobby and for fun, I've not promoted
myself as a professional DJ because people who run nights want to have people
who will draw a crowd so they can make money so they can keep a club night open
or a monthly party going, so why lie and inflate my worth. I feel I'm realistic
about my status as a DJ maybe I even under value my worth, anyway. These DJ's
are trying to sell themselves to a very big community. The biggest difference
today to me is the fact that kids today are going to schools and majoring in
EDM taking 4 years to learn software, tools and learn club promotions, etc.
It's maybe nothing new to say a person who majored in music but it's very new
to this scene, it's an infant. This isn't a problem with me, I think it's great
but it is certainly a different beast then say handing a tape out to people for
four years at raves. These kids are leaning about the music business and
building an entire new field for education. The product that will be the
outcome to me is what intrigues me the most. Will a DJ/Producer who took 4
years of electronic music classes who has a bachelor degree for it be worth
hiring over a kid who spent 4 years working as a wedding DJ who did side
electronic music events etc. This is truly a new era for the music genres. Will
fame be based on your likes on your DJ page or by the skills on a live
performance? Will people really care who the fuck is DJing as long as they hear
the newest sounds from the DJ who plays the one genre they like? Will we see
more a producer doing live acts instead of sitting in a studio making tracks
for DJ’s to play out? Where is this scene headed? Is the large festival truly
recognizing this as just a fad and cashing in or are they really building a
larger more major league stage, that maybe your favorite DJ who has played to
crowds and has put out solid music for 20 year may never look out from that
stage upon the crowd but in the end only be a part of the crowd? Life of the DJ
is more then just one thinking we have many new levels of what it is to be a
DJ. I say good luck to those who strive to be a superstar but I also feel sad
for that as the dream is so over valued.”
Today
being schooled is not just a lesson in slang but is an actual scenario playing
out at some colleges. Students are
majoring in EDM. You laugh out loud, you
snort, you think how redonkulous. It’s
true skool man, it’s here and it’s our future.
Questions, questions and well question everything you know.
I wonder will
schools be creating a scene all their own, with the absence of the inventors
and godfathers of this music or could they deepen the love for the music and
scene by providing classes with guest speakers from these major players? Let’s hope this is the case.
Will the College Educated
DJ/Producer be the over the top ridiculous selfish promoter, who will over
value his worth and shamelessly promote his/her Facebook Page and or Soundcloud
site while paying for Facebook ads and YouTube advertising. Isn’t this already
happening?
What will happen of labels who are
digital? Is it possible that labels by
college students funded by a bachelor degree and a college be the next best
label to be dancing to out in the club?
Will these college labels pop up and be like the kids of my day who put
out Fanzines? While some Fanzines had
substance and were worth reading and some were not. Will the college own a label, like colleges
own Radio Stations? Speaking of Radio
Stations will these kids get more play because the radio station will put
students into rotation over a kid who is making beats in his room? Depending on the college radio station and
how it’s run will obviously answer this question.
Oh so many questions and very few
answers at this time only because of how new this College DJ/Producer degree
programs are. The Professors who are
teaching these classes have a long road ahead of them, not only must they be
proficient in the newest of technology and hopefully be established in the
electronic music scene in some facet for a superior classroom experience. They are charting a new curriculum not just
future chart musicians. What will the
classes look like and who will be teaching?
I think teaching student’s music theory by a guitar/piano teacher could be
worth while. However you don’t want to
be taught Turntabalism 101 by the Wind instrument professor or Professor who
can’t hold his own at a Turntable Contest.
Searching out a degree program to be in the Electronic Music Industry may
not be simple now but as the demand grows for this field more schools will be
offering classes. Some will be cashing
in on the popularity of the genre and others will be taking the steps to really
make this a worth while endeavor for the future students.
My hope is that people who are
currently involved in the scene from minor to major players keep the future
musicians aware of what to look for in a school. These future students, these children who may
not even be born yet will not be joining us in the club scene as a first
experience anymore, they will be experiencing electronic music through a
computer, from a book, something bought and pre-packaged for them to study. I feel it’s important to reach out to
children and communities about Electronic music, find a community center in
your area, volunteer and teach a workshop.
Start writing blogs now for the future, pointing these kids in the right
directions. Speak about the inventors
the pioneers to great sounds and tracks of our times. If you are filled with knowledge of any genre
of music I suggest starting a blog and sharing that knowledge. Who knows it could lead to a great job. It’s the work we put in on our end that will
inspire a generation to do this right to keep the music strong within its
roots. Point the children to good schools;
inform them on what to be looking for in a school that teaches electronic music
as a major. Support these schools that are teaching this because it’s how we
can build the future. Most important to
me is so that we don’t find ourselves with an over saturated industry of
mediocre mindless soulless music to have to dig through while shopping online. Shit has this happened already? It’s not worth complaining about either, it’s
here, it’s like complaining about vinyl vs. CD; that is so over. It’s not worth your time to bitch about
it. Getting behind this future is only
going to add substance to it. It’s on us
to keep the future of electronic music moving forward pushing the envelope and
searching for the sounds that I hope mainstream seeks out for inspirations
rather then seeking out inspiration from mainstream music, although finding
inspiration in general is a good thing and is tough to find sometimes.
With that said, I’ve only found myself asking more questions: Where is
the music going and what will it sound like in the future. Will we have the many genres we have? Will pop eat up the underground? Will the underground be saturated with college
EDM bachelor degree students who play kick ass music or soulless sounds?
I’ve been listening for over 20
years and I will continue to listen until I go deaf, sadly closer then I’d like
and when that happens, I’ll sit on a speaker and feel it, so basically until I
die I’ll be listening to this music. I
hope the students of EDM take the time to experience the many levels of club
life and many different parties, festivals and underground scenes, the many
genres, the many instruments and platforms for a full experience of this music. How lucky to possible have it all at your
fingertips while in a classroom. However
it will be important for them to build a scene where they live because you
can’t just do it with a piece of paper.
There is something special and something to revere of the DJ/Producer who
has put in the years equivalent to a PHD, clubbing, raving, record shopping,
making beats and traveling the world. I’m
excited to hear the future of electronic music and all it’s genres.
I’ll end with a conversation by
Derrick May that was sampled into a drum n bass track by the EZ Rollers called
Retro that I’ve always loved and that expresses a very important message:
“It’s sad… In the
20th century, in the 1990s we have to still go the same bullshit route that
other artists have to go to get acceptance.
If it wasn’t for the independents, if it wasn’t for the
small little cities, and the few little ghetto guys trying to make music it
would have never happened. Some of these
guys will never make a dime. Some of these guys will be poor and die alone. But
in the process, they’ve been the true renegades. And the true rebels
always walk alone anyway….
And if you think school is cool here is a story about one
such school going this route:
Written from:
Under the Dirty Hat
