Of course JD and I are going to discuss this in our Weekend Recap, but after finishing the Weekend Weapons, I couldn’t help but weigh in real quick!  Our friend Dennis C of The Scene Kings alerted me to this on Thursday, and I’m sure most of you have heard the news as it was all over facebook the last couple days.   The topic here is Al Walser getting a Grammy nomination for Best EDM Song of 2012 along with Avicii, Calvin Harris, SHM, and Skrillex.

First off, it makes me laugh when I read in these articles that he is “virtually unknown”.  I don’t really think that phrase even does this any justice.  There’s a good amount of guys in the Beatport Top 100 that non-hardcore house heads might not be familiar with and you could call them “virtually unknown”.   Good, talented producers, but still trying to build more of a name.  Pedro Ciriaco is a Red Sox player that I’m very familiar with, but again, in the scheme of things, he’s “virtually unknown”.   I guess what I’m trying to say is that the phrase doesn’t even cover how much Al Walser does not belong in that group.  Those Top 100 Beatport producers and Pedro Ciriaco — they are all in the major leagues.  I’m a huge fan of certain non-big name producers, and they do great work, but they know they aren’t beating out “Levels” or “Don’t You Worry Child” in any popularity contests.  Pedro Ciriaco knows he wasn’t gonna beat Miguel Cabrera for the AL MVP Award this year.  But again, they are still on the same playing field as those guys.  But as for Al Walser, he is a “virtually unknown” producer the same way that any of our parents, who made us mac and cheese as kids, are “virtually unknown” cooks.

So after hearing this, the first thing I did was to check the video Al made for his song.  For a review, I will copy and paste what Guzie of The Mighty Rock-It! Scientists had to say on our Facebook Page:

“For lack of a better word this song, is not on the same “level” as levels and those other tracks…

First off- the vocals sound like they were recorded in a shoebox- they suck hairy pygmy balls- neither of the 2 can sing their way out of aforementioned shoebox either.  The video is utter garbage- and the whole premise that they’re old at the end is so cliche! I think they had a 5 yr old scribble the plot on a Dennys kids menu and used it like it was friggin Inception screenplay!  And the production is sub par- granted we don’t produce the most commercial sounding tracks, but even our production is eons beyond this slop. I could teach anyone to use logic in 1 hour and make better nonsense than this synthy mess!  Other than that,  I generally enjoyed it:)”    —- Guzie

So that’s that.

P.S.  THE ROCK-IT! SCIENTISTS ARE BACK ON REMIX REPORT!  Peep the post from earlier today!

P.S.S.  Cheap plug I know.

Anyway, the thing that really amazes me here is Mr. Walser’s thought process.  I know I’ve said this before on the site, but I can’t believe that some DJs actually try to win these “over their head” achievements.  As a DJ, we all wanna spin at the best gigs, produce the biggest songs, and be referred to as the top 1 percent of our profession.  Well that leaves 99 % , and that 99 % is working hard striving to get there.  On the way there, you definitely have to act like you belong.  We all have shout outs from artists calling us their friend, even though they forgot our name the second after they did the drop.  We all list the biggest places we spin on our resume while conveniently leaving out some of the small bars.  And we a embellish how great a club night was from time to time.  We all do that and that’s expected.  As a DJ you do need to pull out some tricks to shape your image.  But only to a certain point.  If DJ Mag told me they would make me #1 on their list for a one dollar bill, I would turn that down in a split second.   Then if they threatened to do it anyway, I would actually empty my savings to try and get them not to.  I like to consider myself a decent club DJ, who had a few good mash-ups during that period, but I understand I’m not Guetta or Avicii.  For me to be included with those names wouldn’t be an honor, it would be an embarrassment.  I’m still somewhat young enough to have dreams of becoming big time, and I do have some production in the works, so who knows.  Obviously a long shot, but I do have some hope  For now though, I understand my place in the game.  It still amazes me when I see a DJ I’m not familiar with get 20 votes in a row for DJ Of The Year in our Remix Report Awards.  Obviously, he put up a facebook message for all his friends to vote and some did.  But does DJ ABCDEFG really want to win that over a Vice, Scene, Enferno, etc?   There are those who say “No publicity is bad publicity”.  Maybe some of you share that view.  ”Hey, let people hate, but you just did something to get your name out.”   I just have trouble seeing it that way.  Maybe Al Walser just did this as a joke, or to prove a point, but if not, I can’t imagine this is good for his career.

One last thing that really made me laugh was how one article pointed out that Walser provided consulting services for other up and coming producers (for a fee of course).  The same article said something along the lines of “Normally, we’d tell artists to steer clear of these kinds of offers, but hey, maybe this guy actually does have some secret formula”.   I wish I could remember which article that was in, but still that thought gets me everytime.  I mean, we all know the old modeling agency scam.  Pay us and we’ll turn you into a huge model.  That’s one of the oldest scams in the book.  But what Walser accomplished with the Grammy’s and him perhaps being able to pass that secret on to others?  That would be like a girl paying a modeling agency their small fee, and waking up to find yourself on the cover of the SI Swimsuit Edition.

Here’s some articles on this whole debacle…

MTV.com
Spin.com
HuffingtonPost.com
Vice.com (Including Al Walser Interview)
Another HuffingtonPost.com article (Includes theory on how Walser did it)

And if you thought it couldn’t get any better, we present this gem:

It just dawned on me that our site is now your “Official Al Walser Grammy Nomination Headquarters”.   Maybe we can follow him to the top.

– Spring

April 15th, 2011 was a very sad day for those of us who enjoyed/profited from online poker. That’s the day the government arrested the head honchos of all the top sites which lead to US players officially being banned from playing. That day is now referred to as “Black Friday” in the poker community. Well, a little over two months later, it looks as though the same thing may be happening in the DJ world. First Beezo, and more recently YourRemix and StrictlyHits have all been taken down. Some of us took advantage of these sites more than others, but you can’t deny that they were all very useful. Beezo was huge for exposure and the remix sites give us tracks, that if used properly, helped us out a lot in the clubs.

We can’t really go into detail about why this is happening now, because we don’t know the specifics for sure. The question is, what’s next?? As DJ Deville asked, “Are they trying to destroy DJing altogether???” I guess time will tell, and the way it’s going, we will know soon just how bad things are going to get.

Recently a 45 page “blacklist” of websites was posted by an ad agency, GroupM, which services many top record labels. This blacklist forbids ads to be posted on any of the listed sites. The recently blocked StrictlyHits was one of the listed sites. So, what does this “blacklist” mean? Will GroupM attempt to get ICE to shut these sites down like many counterfeit goods sites, selling knockoff purses and DVD’s, have been recently? This leads to many questions and very few answers at this time. Hopefully we will have some details of exactly what has caused these sites to disappear.

What’s your take? Take our survey AND see the 45 page “blacklist” after the break!

UPDATE #1:
While it’s still unclear who exactly is behind our favorite sites being removed from the internet, it’s becoming more and more clear that the internet as we know it is under fire. An article that came out on Wednesday on CNET explains how the RIAA & MPAA are close to finalizing deals with some of the top ISP’s including Comcast, ATT & Verizon in which the ISP’s would punish users who are accused of piracy by the RIAA or MPAA without going through any legal process. They don’t have to prove anything! Only accuse.

This could be a bumpy ride for us DJs. While new services like Rdio, Moog, Amazon Cloud Player & iCloud may be great for the masses and are definitely good for the recording industry as a whole, they don’t help us DJs AT ALL! We can’t mix music with these services. Will this lead to the labels releasing fewer and fewer songs in a non-streamable format? Will we be able to get MP3′s in 5-10 years? Pretty scary stuff!

This brings a cause to light that’s near and dear to my heart. That’s Net Neutrality. We really can’t just sit back and watch our free and open internet disappear before our very eyes. For more information on Net Neutrality please visit savetheinternet.com.

UPDATE #2:
As this discussion continues I’m sure some people are wondering what exactly motivates record labels to go after the very people that promote their music. A source with inside knowledge of UMG had this to say.

“Universal is trying to buy out some of the strongest Distribution Companies and record labels. You dont know it, but about 70% of our music today is released by UMG except under sub labels. Basically they are trying to take over the music industry and run it the way they want to. They are banning radio Djs, reputable club Djs and even going after bars who play music that has NOT OFFICIALLY been released yet by UMG or their sub labels. They are going as far as making it possible to FINE these people. They are trying to have all outlets that can leak music shut down because it takes away from how they put out the music and ultimately takes their control. They want to take on full control of ALL music and how it is presented to the general public, taking us back to how it was in the 90s when they based all their money on record sales. They have the backing of the government now and they are trying to implement laws that would make sites such as blogs and mash-up sites completely illegal. If they can have shares in the companies and receive some royalty then they will not be attacked since again it would be a part of UMG group. Many companies out there are UMG’s property except they keep it low key enough that we think they are their own. In reality more then half of the music industry is owned by UMG including entertainment companies that promote and host club events.”

Read more…

I recently visited my parents and during that time I was reminded of my humble beginnings as an aspiring DJ/Entertainer. My parents desks and shelves yielded the time capsules of my rookie years of rocking high school fundraisers in cafeterias and gymnasiums. It was after seeing those mirrors of myself from the past that I saw that I was just as hungry for success then as I am now. Naturally, my definition of success has changed over the years but I think that goes for anybody that has a concept of reality and walks upright. I think back at what I wanted to be when I first started out as a DJ and what it required… face smashing, window-cracking speakers, some flashy party lights from Spencer’s Gifts, super cool tray-loading CD players that glowed in the dark and a truck load of the newest CD’s that included Destiny’s Child, Will Smith’s “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, Venga Boys Greatest Hits, and a little throw back action with the likes of the Bee Gees and the ever popular ABBA hit, “Dancing Queen” that the senior girls in my high school so desperately wanted at every school dance and fundraiser. Oh yeah…I was going to take over the DJ world with that kind of musical knowledge.

But just like any naive delusion of grandeur, that dream was put in its place and new ideas and technology developed to my creative advantage. I realized the power of turntables and how they allowed any mortal man to manipulate and mix music. Scratching, juggling, and effecting vinyl records in a way that no ordinary CD player could. And I realized there was music that was much more powerful and profound than the overly regurgitated radio hits that polluted the airwaves and minds of the average consumer on a daily basis. I harnessed the power of my parents Gateway 2000 Pentium II computer 28.8khz dial up modem and AOL 6.0 to find DJ Q-bert scratching, Funk Master Flex juggling and Bad Boy Bill blending. My mind was opened to what it really meant to be a club DJ and also what it took to be the best. I saw the light… keep in mind that until this point I thought the epitome of a DJ career was wearing a Read more…

Those of you who regularly tune into our site know that on Mondays (sometimes very, very late Monday) we either discuss a really dope mix, or we will run down the hottest mixes of a particular song. Well this week, we did the latter, and it was actually quite an experience.

Here’s how the process usually works: 1) JD and I decide which mix we will talk about. Usually, it’s whatever the hottest song of the moment is. This week was “California Gurls” by Katy Perry ft. Snoop. 2) We head over to each record pool and remix site one by one, and search for the song to see what mixes pop up. Sometimes this can be difficult if the title doesn’t contain a unique word. For instance, going to a site and searching for Luda “How Low” mixes will probably be a hassle, because both words in the title are common and you will get a ton of results. Searching the words “California” or “Gurls” wasn’t as bad. (Just for the record, big props to DjCity.com because their site is the easiest to search on. If you want to see what other mixes there are of the song you are looking at, you just need to scroll down a little bit because they always list them under the song you are at!!)
3) We listen to all the remixes that come up, and write them down. 4) We choose the best of what we find and put them on our site for you guys to check out. Needless to say, this week was quite an adventure.

What JD and I found this week bordered on insanity. If you watched Mondays vid, then you know the problem. Wayyyyy too many mixes. Absolutely nuts. No, really.

Maybe, this song was just the perfect storm. Maybe since it’s really the only big upbeat pop song to come out in the last couple months, and because it has the name of an older hit song, there was destined to be lots of mixes for this. But I’m scared to think this is just the direction that the remix game has turned. “OMG” had a lot of mixes, but this was three times as much. Lots of DJs did remixes incorporating the Beach Boys or Mamas and Papas. Some DJs did either House or BMore redrums. Other DJs blended the acapella over an electro beat. Quite a few DJs made transitions. And most scary — a decent number of DJs seem to do all those!! Alot of the big names on all sites did three or four Cali Gurl mixes. It was a nightmare going through all these.

I remember the early days of Crooklyn Clan when you could still be the first to remix or redrum a certain song. All the rock acapellas that are out now, we’re slowly being released, and not everyone had access to them. Plus, It seemed as though DJs at this point, didn’t even want to do something another DJ had already done. “DAMN!! DJ _____ just did a redrum to the song I was going to do. No biggie, I’ll just find another one to do.” Obviously, those days are long gone. There’s alot more sites, and alot more DJs. And more importantly, there’s money to be made. Everyone knows peeps are looking for remixes of Cali Gurls to play, so who’s to say only DJ _____ should be able to remix it. When JD and I did our search, there were sooooo many electro blends, and many done by newer DJs we hadn’t heard of. It made me think, “How in the world is this DJ gonna get noticed by doing this? 1000 other guys did the same thing.” But then again, it’s the same answer as before. “Why should only Deville, BeatBreaker, Clubheadliners, etc be able to remix this song?” So you have to consider that. I mean, if you’re a DJ on the site, there is pressure to sell. And if you wanna keep your sales up, then you pretty much have to remix a song like this, and maybe even put up three or four mixes, like many DJs did.

Perhaps some would look at this as a good thing. More remixes = more choices. But not me. With all the choices, I think many people will skip the daunting task of going through each one, and just settle for one of the first few they happen to hear. That’s the first problem. The second problem is that even more likely, they will just look to see what the big names have done with the song. That’s cool because those DJs have earned that respect. But the problem is that its gonna be nearly impossible for up and coming DJs to get noticed.

While it hasn’t been a secret that the remix game has been changing, this is the first time that I’ve been a little worried about it. If this trend continues for every big song that comes out, I’m not sure exactly how it will play it. I just know I’m not very excited to see.

Spring
http://facebook.com/jayspringfans

A few weeks ago, in a game against the Yankees, the pitcher for the A’s was extremely upset as he was walking toward his dugout.  He was throwing a fit because between innings, A-Rod has chosen to walk over “his” mound, in order to get back to the Yankee dugout.  The pitcher, Dallas Braden, was screaming at A-Rod because he had broken an “unwritten” baseball rule.

Like most guys, I played a bit of baseball when I was younger.  Little League, Babe Ruth, and some High School.  Yet, this was a rule I’d never heard of.  However, it did make a little sense.  I don’t ever remember walking over the pitchers mound to get back to my dugout.  Thinking about it, it just didnt seem like a natural thing to do.  At the same time though, I wouldn’t think of it as a big deal.  And apparently, A-Rod felt the same way.  He’d never heard of it either, and didn’t understand what the fuss was.

Ever since JD and I talked about the whole “Opening DJ” thing, we’ve gotten quite a few emails from younger DJs who are worried that they may end up in the same predicament as A-Rod — getting yelled at by their peers for breaking an unwritten rule they didn’t even know existed.  First off, I’d say it’s a good thing to be concerned.  It just shows that as a DJ, you care about the culture and etiquette, and would like to be respected within the DJ community.  Really though, many DJs worry way too much about this.

As you start thinking of the Do-Nots that exist in the DJ World, you’ll start to see that there’s a theme.  They are all common sense.  Do NOT play all the hot songs early as you open up for a headliner.  In reality, you wouldn’t play the hot songs at that hour even if you weren’t just opening.  Having a headliner shouldn’t make anything different.  DO NOT start the night off blasting heavy Hip Hop at 10 P.M. when the club just opened and it’s only the workers there.  It’s gonna be a long night, and no one wants to be blown away by the music before they have to be.  DO NOT go to clubs trying to undercut other DJs and steal their nights.  You wouldn’t want other DJs to do this to you, so it makes perfect sense.

There’s a good reason that these rules are “unwritten”.  They are logical enough that no one really has to write them down.  As long as you’re a good person in other aspects of life, you shouldn’t have to stress about breaking the unwritten rules of DJing.  Treat other DJs the same way you would wish to be treated and you shouldn’t have any problems.

—-Spring—

www.facebook.com/JaySpringFans

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to be brought down to Pittsburgh to play at S Bar with the homes Dj Zimmie & Dj Nugget for www.TheSwitchPittsburgh.com.  I ended up playing for a room full of DJ’s, and it got me thinking, do we play differently in front of that kind of crowd?  For most of us I’d say the answer is some degree of yes.  If you say you don’t play any differently, I’d say you probably change something up on an unconscious level.

It’s not easy playing for the competition without feeling a little extra pressure.  You probably feel like you need to show more of your technical skill.  You break out your 2-click orbit flare or your crab more than you normally would.  You try to be just a little more creative.  Push your song selection limits.  You play that song you never play because you think it’ll impress the DJ’s.  You fly through tracks to show you can quickmix with the best of em.

Some of these things are great for pushing yourself to the next level, but I’d argue some of the tendencies are having the opposite effect.  You might find yourself catering to the DJ’s and taking the focus off of the crowd that’s actually there to dance.  Those extra scratches may not have been placed well in the mix.  That song you played for the DJ’s, nobody else knows, and maybe it slowed or cleared the dancefloor.

Maybe none of this happened.  Maybe you held your composure and just did you.    In my experience over the weekend I don’t think I changed up my style too much, but I did feel some of the pressure of playing in front of a group of DJ’s I hadn’t met before.  For me, the biggest factor was being told to play whatever I wanted.  There was no format to the night because it was service industry night.  I ended up playing more oldskool hip-hop and more of my older remixes than I normally do and it seemed to go over well.  Having no boundaries like that can make your mind race in all sorts of directions.

At the end of the day it was a great experience!   I got to meet a lot of really dope DJ’s and make some new friends.  Pittsburgh is a fun city and I hope to get back down there soon.

–Dj JD–
www.facebook.com/therealdjd