“I wish house music made these people feel the way it makes us feel”
Here are some thoughts I wanted to share. I hope it’s not too convoluted. I would love to hear if any of you can relate or have any opinions on this. The reason I wrote this is because every time I see an article on electronic music, it's almost always talking about drugs, sync, whether djs are actual musicians, etc. I see very little talk of the actual culture and importance surrounding the music itself.
Like a lot of you guys, over the last few months I’ve been in the studio for several hours every day, finishing off my EP, making routines and gigging consistently. Basically investing a pretty serious amount of time into DJing and house music. Like many musicians I’ve had a bit of a dilemma; I want to make things that are meaningful and have a lot of substance. I want my gigs to have more meaning than just being the place to go get “turnt” while some weird guy pushes flashy buttons. I don’t want the sole purpose of my productions to be charting, getting more followers or whatever. I want there to be some meaning, purpose and substance behind it.
I went to go see a Common show recently (legendary and socially conscious Chi-town rapper for those that don’t know), and was blown away. The showmanship was amazing, he had an incredibly positive message he was promoting through his show and I can honestly say it was a bit moving. If anyone is familiar with his music, he has really pushed to try and make a positive change with his music. I’m certain his music has made people more aware of certain issues, changed the way they view things and overall contributed to that which is good and positive.
It got me thinking, would it be possible for me to deliver that level of substance through DJing and house? I spend an embarrassing amount of time lurking on hip hop forums and there is always so much discussion on artists, what they stand for, etc. I never really see that sort of discourse surrounding electronic music.
When a Kerri Chandler record comes on, I will literally sit there, do nothing and just listen for six minutes. I was playing a gig the other day and I had a person come up to me when I’m playing that same record. They said “can you stop playing techno, I don’t know how to dance to this”. A soon as she left, my friend turns to me and says: “I wish house music made these people feel the way it makes us feel”. It sort of hit me right then; this person is missing out on one of the most amazing feelings I have experienced. That feeling when you first heard your favorite house record and were like just blown away. She’s never going to know what its like to have Jamie Jones or Steve Lawler take over your world for a few hours.
I have friends whom I have literally nothing in common with besides the fact that house music triggers some sort of excitement inside us. And I suppose that’s really where the substance and meaning comes from in house music. Its not about “what DJs do really do”, or “guetta tripping at tomorrowland”. It’s not even about being able to deliver a Commonesque social commentary. It’s about triggering feelings and taking people on a journey. Its about making ups and downs. When it comes down to it, I think the most meaningful part of DJing is that it lets you pass on that feeling you get when you hear an infectiously hot record for the first time.
