After awhile on Roland’s vdrums.com forum, I am bringing this to you guys. I’m a 15 year gigging acoustic drummer who listens to equal parts EDM. (Hyper, Apollo 440, Pendulum, The Prodigy, etc.) I go to dance clubs, hear the DJ and think “I could seriously rock my e-kit with this.”
I think your average drive-in DJ would indeed not be interested in this, I think you’ll have more succes directly contacting experienced DJ’s from your area instead of an craigslist ad.
I turned up to a gig once and was told as i stepped up to the decks that someone was going to be playing live bongos whilst i mix. Gotta say i wasnt best pleased about it, even more so that i was asked to play a progressive synth heavy set, i couldnt see how it was going to work. I did so anyway as i was getting paid for it but it put abit of a wierd vibe on the night as i was doing the warm up, it didnt really fit as i was being followed by a breaks DJ who was being followed by a turntablist… go figure - some promoters just dont know what they want. I begrudgingly returned to play another night for them but turned them down flat for the rest of the gigs, the night was dead within 6 months. Funnily enough i drove past the venue a couple of weeks back and it has been demolished to make way for petrol station and supermarket. That said i have seen and heard sets that work really well with some live percussion layered over it but i guess it takes alot of rehersal and trial and error to make it work and find that right balance, the art of DJing is being able to change course at anytime and i guess playing with a drummer calls for alot of stuff to be pre-planned with certain set pieces worked out. Dance music or EDM has alot of focus on the drum beat and groove and sometimes too much of a good thing kills what was good in the first place.
IMO, this kind of thing works better with a “Live PA” approach. As a drummer myself, I’d also love to get in on some live electronic action; I’ve dreamed of an opportunity to do so for a long time. I live in a rural area in the Northeast though, where something like that just wouldn’t fly, aside from finding other musicians/djs who would be into it too.
I have to agree with Chael, in that, adding electronic drums to fully mixed EDM tracks is rarely going to enhance the songs. However, I’ve seen a few KJ Sawka videos where he apparently reworked full stereo tracks (EQ, etc) to make room in the mix for his drumming. As mentioned above though, this obviously requires prep work and your average DJ probably wouldn’t want to be a part of it, as they’d typically prefer to rock the crowd solo and with plenty of opportunities to change the course of the music on a whim.
Have you considered doing something like this on your own? Michael Schack is sick, I’ve seen him do stuff with his V-drums and an SPD-SX that are pretty awesome, basically dj’ing with his kit. Another to do something similar is Josh McKenzie (DJ McNasty). If I were a much better producer, I’d love to try something like what Nigel Sifantus (DJ Seap) typically does with Ableton.
I don’t think you’re going to have much luck soliciting Craigslist asking DJs to come gig with them to play e drums..
I’m not saying you have a bad idea or anything, I just feel that people won’t be turned on by it. If I were you, I would start DJing, and add your own personal touch to it and see where it goes. You’re only 15, you have quite some time to develop an act for this.. And if done right, I can see you having some success.
You’re not going to get a quality DJ in Chicago from Craigslist. There is a group here in Chicago called ion 47 doing something similar… although a bit more advanced. All of the songs were reworked to remove vocals and drums. The DJ is a good friend of mine and their performance is amazing.
