by deadmau5 on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 11:46am
Listen, first of all… let’s keep this in mind… a concept like this, and it’s predecessors are. Entertainment. We’ve seen alot of shows like this, american idol, dance off, dancing with the stars, blah de blah, we’ve seen it all. And it sure seems that EDM has been deemed fashionable these days to warrant it’s own long overdue primetime slot to the masses.
Theres just no way in hell im going to come out guns blazing with an attitude like “f*ck this, this isnt real DJ’ing, or has nothing to do with anything and blah blah blah” This concept, if anything, is going to catapult the awareness of EDM through the roof. People dont have to embrace this as gospel… nobody’s asking anyone to.
Im guilty as charged, i’ve occaisionally stumbled on some “talent show” here and there and found myself locked into it simply due to it’s entertainment value…. whether it’s some total f*ckhead faceplanting on live television, or some lil kid singer who’s actually pretty damn good. both eqally entertaining… but you wont see me sitting there thinking “OH GOD, THEYRE RUINING EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE” they arent.
A show concept like this new DJ one im hearing about is going to effectively do one thing, raise awareness to EDM. Yup, our poor little coveted secret cool underground society will be thrown into the masses. Is this a bad thing? i dont think so, let me explain why:
For the past couple of decades, weve had tons of amazing and talented DJ’s, and were all very grateful for that, and there is a HUGE influx of new DJ’s and producer hitting the feilds… so… with this new avalanche of new blood spilling ino the pot, that certaintly leaves the “scene in general” vulnerably to becoming very stagnant. Meaning, the same old stuff, done a million times over, sounding all very similar, looking all very similar, thus thrusting the culture into this “ive seen and heard it all before” phase.
Well, say we took on and embraced an idea such as a DJ talent show (which would no doubt become a smash hit) and used this as a conduit to see / hear / experience new things? Give the underdogs a shot, see what happens… and EVEN IF no massive worldwide careers busted out of it… well sh*t, sure would be entertaining to watch wouldnt it?
A few years ago, I felt i was in this spot that was just not going anywhere… i’ve played virtually every major nightclub in the world, and of course i felt very accomplished… but at the same time, i thought… well sh*t! this is it? now what? what happens after this? I could count the number of “DJs” or Producers on ONE HAND who could fill an arena, and put on a massive show. So i took a leap forward, put in millions into what you guys now know as that “cube” SHOW type thing…. not some dude mashing a crossfader and a play button. I wanted something more immersive than “a guy on a picnic table, playing songs together with an LED screen”
Funnily enough, the millions we put into that production didnt come out of my ass. It came from years of touring, playing clubs, and just having this vision with this whole mouse head thing. Fate just so happened to strap a rocketbooster under my mousey ass, and it literally took off to the moon. It’s more organic than anything else, or at least more organic than winning a talent show.
HAVING THAT SAID. My first gig was in Halifax, all i had was a picnic table, a handful of my own productions, and an ugly ass mouse head that only cost me $500 to make. In front of an audience of 100 that i gave my all too, and well… here we are now.
So ask me if im against a kid standing in line with a brilliant idea and a worldwide audience. nope.
All i hope is that we can all tune into a show like this, laugh at the failures, and recognize and embrace originality / creativity / showmanship and passion. and for the purists and self proclaimed elitists out there, feel free to keep your noses in the air while were all VERY much pressured to compete or collaborate with all the new talent that will arrive from the bowlful of hype the EDM “scene” will receieve.
i, for one, am very much looking forward to having to work harder, be more creative, and come up with new and insane off the wall ideas to keep my own “deadmau5” project afloat. As for the rest of the artists out there hoping to keep theyre non-eveolving ideas afloat by doing the same things over and over and over again… well… good luck.
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