Deadmau5 hands down. His older progressive style tracks still gives me the chills!! When he first emerged and I discovered him my house music obbsession got much deeper and I wanted to persue DJ'ing. Plus hes from Canada where I am from aaaaaand he is like a super digital DJ, So I have mad props for the guy.
Where to start:
Groups - Straight up neck and neck fight between Prodigy and Chemical Brothers. Had "Exit Planet Dust" and "Music for the Gilted Generation" from when I was about 12-13 and played them both solidly, seen them both live and both were literally the two best gigs I have been to. Chems live in Trafalgar Square in London and Prodigy in Birmingham NIA - Truly Awesome!!!
DJ's - Have to agree with Fat Limey - Coldcuts - 70 minutes of madness definitely ignited my love of cutting and chopping all sorts together, 1993 it was made and still sounds pretty fresh!!! He also had the same upbringing in Torquay and Exmouth in Devon - England and I remember going to see Sasha at Scream in Plymouth. Do you remember Monastry in Torquay Fat Limey? I got my 2 year fill of Hardhouse while everyone loved it late 90's-2000.
Fat Boy Slim for giving me the ultra party attitude as all his mixes have that Sun going down, got a beer, with my friends vibe, on the floor at the big beat boutique is one to remember. Saw him on Brighton Beach when 250,000 people turned up, largest free party in Engladv ever i think!!!
Daft Punk as so many haver said before me as they just rule, loved all of their stuff so much!!!!
There's som many Dj's I have taken influence from but that's the great thing, so many styles, so little time!!!!
Edit - Had to add Mr Scruff for bringing out Get a move on as this was one of my favorite tracks for ages and i love his style anyway.
im actually more influenced by mix albums than dj's performing live....
from the 90's: scott hardkiss' yes mix album
http://www.discogs.com/image/R-150-2...251930466.jpeg
from last year: L.A. Riots fall 09 mix
http://foolsgoldrecs.com/images_web/riots_cover.jpg
I posted in here earlier, but I wanted to add something. As much as some old school DJ's got me into Electronic music, there's one song that got me into Dubstep. And I bloody love Dubstep now more than I have ever loved another genre of music.
TC- Where's my Money? (Caspa Remix)
That song made me say what? What is this "DUBSTEP" and who is Caspa?
And then my brain turned into a filth magnet.
In terms of DJing I have to drop names like Fatboy Slim, Armand van Helden, The Chemical Brothers or Felix Da Housecat. I'm just a huge fan of DJs who are not scared of dropping old funk/disco/old school hip hop tracks or similar during their sets. It's not that I'm against DJs who play only one genre in their sets (except when it sounds like they play the same loop over and over for 2 hrs or longer.), but playful versatility at the right moment is just much more fun!
Jazz... mainly satchmo and dizzy gillespie. I have played trumpet for 13 years, leading me into hiphop. And don't get me started on hiphop producers I love. New school hiphop is amazing too like Free the Robots. Blew my mind. Armand Van Helden got me into house along side anything under DimMak. DJ AM and DJ Shadow and RJD2 are the main people to get me into DJing. Moldover got me into playing with midi a little deeper. And Ean helped me pick my soundcard haha
i've been actively listening to electronic music for 10 years now. never had any intentions on DJ'ing. I always thought, a DJ puts deck A into deck B, wash rinse repeat. How creative of an outlet could that possibly be? Then i saw bassnectar, my mouth hit the floor with the things he does as a DJ. Him and Z-trip are my two biggest influences. No Genre Limitations!