staying in touch with the club scene as a producer

[JasonNeumeyer]

I am 30 years old now and i've been making music for about 7 years, I have found that as I have become a better producer over the years the less I have felt like mingling with the 'punters'
As I have gotten older, the excitement of clubbing has diminished and these days i find it very hard to cough up big bucks to see some big shot superstar DJ when they come to play in my area. To the average 18 year old crowd, they don't mind lining up outside the club for half an hour in the rain, then pay a cover charge to get in the club, then pay money for the cloak room, then pay heaps of money for drinks, but I'm kind of getting over the scene. It's kind of an interesting feeling since I am so passionate about the music, and at the end of the day this is my 'target audience' and yet I have nothing in common with them, i'm older, wiser and don't get excited about the concept. The weird thing is how can i possibly make club music without actually being part of the scene? what will i do when I'm 40? etc.

I feel your pain, I'm exactly in the same boat. I've even have to compete with school, full time job, and I'm a full time dad to top it off. I honestly have no time to dork around at a club just to hear the latest and greatest. I even do a monthly gig and that's pushing it. I'm about ready to lay down my gloves and stick to the studio until I have more free time. I hate to admit it that Beatport has helped keep me in the loop for the past 2 years. I just listen to the trend setters and make a self determination of where the style is heading. Cheers! Happy Holidays!

[Atheory]

with the exchange rate, paying artists in euros for small venues its getting near impossible. could make for a difficult year for everyone but the bigger clubs, which is a shame, cause they are a bit crap mainly.
plastic people is probably the only club i really like in london but they don't have much stuff on that gets me excited.

back to the warehouses?

[livecollective]

the reason i feel less satisfied with the EDM experience these days, is that i remember dancing in my bear feet on grass as the sun came up to the sounds of the future with thousands of beautiful people on one wavelength before the Criminal Justice Bill (in the UK) forced our music into the sanitised and sterile environment of inner city clubs, at the mercy of

Do they really push that bill? In 2005 when I was living in london there were quite the lot of squat or outdoor parties going on just outside of the city.

I do remember some violent confrontations with police though.

[WYRL]

I agree with Steevio on this. The (uk)CJB is stiil pushed big style!Here in Brighton and the surrounds there is a zero tolerance attitude taken towards "free partys".It's always been pretty active around here and they still happen but you need to have the party up and running with quite a few people there already for them not to stop it straight away.Even then sometimes they'll wait for the party to finish then nick the gear and people in some cases.Now what usually happens over the last few years there have been really big one offs with people coming from all over.I know it's pretty much the same in a lot of places in Europe and the authority's focus on all the negatives rather than than positives. it's very frustrating not to be able to celebrate life in an open , free environment .On the other hand it's so sweet when you do make a plan and it works out.[/quote]

[steevio]

the reason i feel less satisfied with the EDM experience these days, is that i remember dancing in my bear feet on grass as the sun came up to the sounds of the future with thousands of beautiful people on one wavelength before the Criminal Justice Bill (in the UK) forced our music into the sanitised and sterile environment of inner city clubs, at the mercy of

Do they really push that bill? In 2005 when I was living in london there were quite the lot of squat or outdoor parties going on just outside of the city.

I do remember some violent confrontations with police though.

it depends which police authority you're dealing with, and where you do it.
after the CJB came in, they set up a fast response special raves unit which all but stamped out the big raves over night, but you could still get away with smaller parties on private land, but gradually they hassled those out of existence as well in many places.
we used to put on big warehouse and forest parties in Newcastle, and while one Police chief was in office he couldnt see much harm in it, and let most of them go ahead, but when a new guy came in, he wanted to stamp his authority, and he came down hard in his first week in office.
he stopped a techno party of 3000 people with a helicopter searchlit raid, and heavy handed riot police. they confiscated our 25K rig, and all our records and equipment.
nowadays its very risky to put anything on, unless youre very clever at keeping it quiet, and the site isnt really affecting anyone locally.
but it just takes one phone call.

my belief is there should be dedicated sites with infrastructure for free festivals and parties, throughout history in britain since the Bronze age and probably before, this has been a natural feature of society.
its a sad comment on modern western civilisation that our third world brothers and sisters still dance and sing and celebrate being alive together in nature, while we are herded into controlled environments under constant surveillance, with your personal space being permanently invaded.
i cant breath in most commercial clubs.

[MINIMALTECHNOHOUSE]

Ive been to a few "illegal raves" and they were shockingly sh!t!

There was about 40 people, all out of their faces on K, and some skinny white 17 year old playing hardcore gabba speed breaks or someshit.

We also threw our own once, but poeple were asking me to play madonna and the killers; fck me!

Tbh, if the free party scene is going to get revived, we all need to pull our fingers out and get something done; ive got some spare decks, and can get hold of a PA?

The only down side is; if commercial clubbing wained in popularity, there would be no finanical incentive for people to give up eveything and make music; its the gigs that earn the bread unfortunatly.

So lets no slate commercialism, most of the producers we like dont spend their weekends paying to get into clubs, im sure if they wernt working theyd be in a pretty french resturaunt with the mrs wondering how they make their next buck.

Im happy watching from affar, oh the joys of life.

[steevio]

The only down side is; if commercial clubbing wained in popularity, there would be no finanical incentive for people to give up eveything and make music; its the gigs that earn the bread unfortunatly.

there shouldnt need to be any incentive to make music.
if your incentive is financial, you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

commercial clubbing has been responsible for the cheesiest music and the inflated egos of not particularly talented DJs over the years.

the ideas come from the underground, and always have, in all forms of music.

you can completely by-pass the commercial clubbing scene, and you wont have missed a thing, other than being milked by gangland and big business.

its been proved that the optimum number of human beings interacting successfully with one another in a harmonious way is 250.

as long as the environment is seductive, then thats the perfect party.

so that counts out paying big bucks to overpriced prima donnas.
we dont need them.

[JCH]

If people don`t like it, start your own club.

Ref:

Berghain
Robert Johnson
Redrum in Helsinki
Cielo


It costs a lot of money, but that what it is all about.........Dedication