I know most of us here have very broad diverse taste in music and many of us even spin several genres. For those of us who are bedroom DJs, unsigned artists or those of us who don’t hold major residencies I think there is a certain freedom that big name DJ/artists probably don’t have.
I spin a lot of what the UK would call “Big Room Trance” (Above & Beyond) sort of style. However, I also spin lots of other stuff from minimal, banging techno, acid, prog house, deep house, funky house, breaks, tech house, techno, deep trance, tech trance, etc.
Depending on what I feel like spinning, sometimes I can create a set that fits together with all of it…sometimes I want to play a set that is much more geared towards on direction rather than the other.
I don’t think the big name DJs/artists have that same freedom unfortunately. Imagine going to see Richie Hawtin and ended up playing a 2 hour set of fluffy trance. Better yet, you go to see DJ Rush and he played a complete chillout/downtempo set. You’d probably be pretty confused, disappointed, pissed off…maybe you’d like it or maybe you wouldn’t. I think the fact is though that in the state of EDM today...the usual suspects wouldn’t dare do this type of thing which kinda sucks for many reasons.
Im sure most of them have very diverse tastes too but feel they have to stick to the same ol same ol…or at least the same genre that everybody is expecting.
So what brought this up? I was actually thinking about the bad rep. that DJ Tiesto has had for some time now. I was also remembering how he used to be actually very GOOD (IMO) but now is simply hype and plays mostly shit music. I wonder how much of this is his choice and how much of it he has to play to support crap he has to promote. How much of the stuff he plays is actually stuff he wants to play and how much he plays because he feels he is expected to. I wonder if he ever gets tired of playing the same kind of music.
Some big name DJs/artists are lucky enough to have stayed true from the start and built a career
on playing sort of unpredictable sets but now many. I think its much harder especially for up-and-comers to spin with this freedom if they are trying to establish a name for themselves.
How do you deal with this. Those of you who are lucky enough to have “made it big” or those who play out quite often? Do you feel you’ve been pigeonholed (are you often booked as “the House DJ” or “the DnB DJ)? Do you care? Are you comfortable playing completely different sets one day to the next. Do you feel you have this freedom? What advice do you have for up-and-comers in regards to sticking to one genre or developing their signature sound?
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