Death of the DJ?

Over the last year is when I really started to notice it. It’s been gradual, but at the same time it seems to have come out of no where almost over night. There’s a change happening in nightclubs around the world and it’s the biggest thing since Disco. No, it’s not a new drug that’s killing teenagers and it’s not a hot dance move that’s sweeping the nation. It’s a shift in the core of what we all consider to be nightclubbing… I think the DJ is dying. In his place comes a new breed of Electronic bands that bring higher energy, more creativity and a longer lasting impression to the nightclub experience. For the DJ, it’s time to adapt or get left behind like the 12” and the 8 track.

It’s been about 30 years since the DJ was first introduced to the nightclub. Back in the 70’s, the DJ brought disco to the masses in a way they had never gotten it before and basically made the live performer obsolete. Club owners were happy, Dj’s were happy and the crowd seemed happy or atleast didn't seem to care. Over the years, the DJ became more of a main stay at clubs and venues around the world and dance music evolved to incorporate the DJ more and more. It’s actually gotten to a point now where a lot of “dance” music is made strictly to be played by DJ’s in nightclubs. It’s an interesting evolution in music when you think about it, but the real interesting evolution is the re-birth of live performance in the nightclub scene.
I first started paying attention to it a couple of years ago when one of my favorite DJ’s of all time, Sasha, decided that he was done DJing pre-recorded music and shifting to performing at his shows using Abelton Live to remix music on the fly and produce a unique version of each song every night. It became even more noticeable though when I started seeing some of the popular “Indie” bands performing at venues like Mezzanine and DNA Lounge here in San Francisco. Acts like Mylo, The Presets, MSTRKRFT, Ghostland Observatory, Bloc Party and countless others are now basically playing the electronica music that we have all been hearing from DJ’s for the last decade. Their bringing live music back to club culture.

It all kind of came to head for me this weekend while at the Booka Shade show at Mezzanine. I was listening to these guys up on stage rocking the crowd and playing truly good live electronica and I started thinking to myself that it’s time for the DJ to bring something new to the table or risk becoming replaced by the performers that he initially replaced 30 years ago.
There are some DJ’s out there like Steve Porter and James Zabiela who have gotten this message and have decided to step up their game by breaking down genre barriers and bringing new elements and sounds into their show. There are DJ’s like D:Fuse who are taking it a step further and incorporating instruments like full drum kits and electric violins into their show. The vast majority of DJ’s however are still sitting back comfortably behind their turntables and CD players and playing the same old tracks like nothing has changed in the dance community. Something has changed though and it is about to redefine nightlife culture.

Just take a look around at what’s going on at major concerts and festivals around the country this year. The Presets headlined a party at WMC and played SXSW basically in the same week, MSTRKRFT is playing at Coachella and touring with John Digweed, Sasha is playing at Bonnaroo and doing a full international club tour and the list goes on. The merging of DJ and live music culture is happening at lightning speed and the artists who will survive are going to be those that adapt and change to appease both audiences. It’s a very exciting time in my opinion. Club culture in its current state has reached a level of staleness and uniformity. This new era might be a re-birth of the nightlife party experience and now it’s up to the DJ to decide if he wants to be a part of it.




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