I've been DJing for what at this point almost feels like forever. And don't get me wrong - I love it as much today as the first day I stepped behind the decks. As my friend George once said, "I'll stop DJing the moment after I stop breathing, and not a moment before." That's as true today as it was back in 1992. But still....
Something feels like it is... missing. Or more accurately, like somewhere along the way it got lost. And I'm not happy about it. But rather than complain, I've decided to do something about it. I've decided to shut up, step up, and see if there isn't something I can do.
In the beginning, vinyl was the everything and the only thing, and what separated one DJ from another could be found in the answer to two simple questions: What's in your box? And what are you going to do with it? That was it. Nothing more.
But then DJ culture began to grow, and as it did so too did both its art and its industry. Vinyl became CDs. Mix tapes became studio productions. Turntables became MIDI controllers. DJs became nomads. Producers became rock stars. And the music of the underground became the sound of Madison Avenue.
Don't get me wrong here... the changes have been phenomenal, and on balance I wouldn't change a thing. Without a doubt this life has been everything I've dreamed and more. But for all the changes I've seen, for everything we've all shared and done, I can't help but feel that something important has been lost. And that something is this:
Surprise.
Once upon a time, you would walk into the club and not know what was going to happen next. Maybe it was the venue that surprised you. Maybe it was the promoter. Maybe it was the theme, or the crowd, or the style of the kids throwing down on the floor. Maybe, on one of those rare, once in a lifetime nights that seemed to happen just about every week, maybe it was all of them at once. But one thing was for sure - no matter who was on the decks, whether their face and their name was new or old, you never knew where the music would take you next.
As much as I hate to admit it, and as much as it pains me to say, in most clubs, in most cities, on most nights, that element of surprise is gone. Surprise has been replaced by formula, something to which both the DJ and the crowd know how to play. And sad to say, at times I've been guilty of following that formula, too.
So... you can consider this my apology. My fault. My bad. And my time to do something about it...
100 days. 100 tracks. 1 track per day, none selected more than an hour or two in advance.
Always forward, never backward. Layers can be added, but they can never be removed.
Old songs, new songs, electronic music and more. Where will this mix take me? How will it evolve? Read the day-by-day account, then download Part One of The Relentless Pursuit of Progress
