staying in touch with the club scene as a producer

Atheory · Post by **Atheory** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:20 pm

no cool, i wasn't talking about your comments.

yeah too much local scene is no good,and no going out, for me, is no good also. once again, the answer is probably to be found in some sort of balance and compromise.

its like if you only listened to the type of music you produce, it makes you lose something.

and not just going to techno gigs also. going to watch someone spin 60-70s cuban records makes me want to go home and make funky loose records with loads of heart.or going to watch free jazz music can be really refreshing. and thats not even considering the side of supporting types of local culture that maybe dont generate the column inches of big techno nights. or, heaven forbid, you might meet some people you have stuff in common with when your out and end up getting wrecked with them and talking about tracks and productions back at a party and making friends.

victorgonzales · Post by **victorgonzales** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:11 pm

Atheory wrote:i can't believe some of the stuff i'm reading, it crazy. the idea that someone shouldnt go out to clubs to hang out, get messy, meet people, dance etc cause they think its harmful for their productions is, to me, shocking.

can anyone give a few good reasons why? really not convinced by the arguements put forth so far.

Im not saying it hurts you to go out and mingle. Im just saying that NOT going out doesn't necessarily hurt your productions. It's not as if the only way you can possibly be inspired id if you hear a dj playing the music at a club or rave.

I for example listen to different types of music and get inspired all the time by even just random things I see or hear throught the day. When I go out to hang with friends it is almost never at a dance music event because we don't really have any here that I enjoy. I simply don't like overpriced happy hardcore shows or electro house.

Maybe once or twice a year there is something worth going to for me and I do go to that show.

All in all though music doesn't have to be inspired by going to edm shows and not going to edm shows isn't going to spiral you into obscure experimental sounds that don't move the dance floor.

Torque · Post by **Torque** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:22 pm

I'm not saying you should go lock yourself in a cave either. What i'm trying to do is tell people a secret to this sh!t. The people that stay on top for a very long time are the people that forcefully remove themselves from the scene. Most of them don't even listen to techno at all if it's not their own work. This a reason why somethings that are so different in electronic music can come out of one place like Detroit. There is nowhere else that i can think of that could have made Ghettotech, Techno, Minimal etc.....

You know why? It's because we've never had a very large "techno" scene to support it. All of that stuff survived because it got big in the Ghetto at the Caberet parties first where there wasn't sh!t for money and there was more than just techno being spun. You would hear sh!t like the b52's being spun right next to "No Ufo's" and "Strings Of Life". You didn't get patted on the back for making good "Techno", people either thought your sh!t was funky and danced or it got played once, cleared the floor and found itself in the bargain bin at Buy Rite records the next day.
I'm not saying the "scene" is bad or the people are bad. I'm not saying you should stop hanging out with friends. You need to realize though that in it's current form in Europe it is set up in such a way as to stop innovation from happening. There is too much money flying around and the people that cut the checks are not about to let somebody else change the game on them because their ship is to big to turn so quickly and they would lose their asses. These labels at the top of the game in minimal right now are starting to act like majors because they don't want to even hear anything that doesn't fit directly into their box.

What the world really needs from you right now is for you to go out there and believe in your vision with enough conviction to put out your music on your own. I'm not talking about just an mp3 label either. People in the business know now that if digital is the only realm you're willing to take on that you don't have enough confidence in yourself to do what really takes risk and a giant set of balls which is to release vinyl. Think about it this way, can you think of even 1 digital only label that sells as much music as one who releases on vinyl? I can't........

The scene is centered around a digital medium right now and make no mistake about it, mp3's will limit competition because they are allot easier to just throw in the recycle bin. Somebody that buys a vinyl is more likely to play what's on it.

steevio · Post by **steevio** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:15 pm

Torque wrote: I'm not saying the "scene" is bad or the people are bad. I'm not saying you should stop hanging out with friends. You need to realize though that in it's current form in Europe it is set up in such a way as to stop innovation from happening. There is too much money flying around and the people that cut the checks are not about to let somebody else change the game on them because their ship is to big to turn so quickly and they would lose their asses. These labels at the top of the game in minimal right now are starting to act like majors because they don't want to even hear anything that doesn't fit directly into their box.

i think you have to be careful hitting on europe mate, and seeing detroit as the centre of the world.
europe is not one big city, its an increadibly diverse continent with thriving music scenes of all varieties, its a hotbed of innovation and a lot of new styles are spawning on a regular basis.
while i have connections with berlin for instance, i dont feel the need to look to it for inspiration, i get enough inspiration from the other artists in my own country Wales and the rest of the UK, most of whom you will not of heard of.
theres underground scenes all over the world and has been for 20 years now.

What the world really needs from you right now is for you to go out there and believe in your vision with enough conviction to put out your music on your own. I'm not talking about just an mp3 label either. People in the business know now that if digital is the only realm you're willing to take on that you don't have enough confidence in yourself to do what really takes risk and a giant set of balls which is to release vinyl. Think about it this way, can you think of even 1 digital only label that sells as much music as one who releases on vinyl? I can't........

The scene is centered around a digital medium right now and make no mistake about it, mp3's will limit competition because they are allot easier to just throw in the recycle bin. Somebody that buys a vinyl is more likely to play what's on it.

here i have some sympathy with your feelings.
we've been down the vinyl vs digital road many times now and got nowhere, but here's a bit of interesting info; a friend of mine told me yesterday that his DJ agency (a well known one) will not take on anyone using a laptop for DJing. they told him that they cant get anyone gigs unless they are using turntables (of course that doesnt stop you using serato for instance)
as a result he has started buying vinyl again.

lauschpegel · Post by **lauschpegel** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:46 pm

here i have some sympathy with your feelings.
we've been down the vinyl vs digital road many times now and got nowhere, but here's a bit of interesting info; a friend of mine told me yesterday that his DJ agency (a well known one) will not take on anyone using a laptop for DJing. they told him that they cant get anyone gigs unless they are using turntables (of course that doesnt stop you using serato for instance)
as a result he has started buying vinyl again.

I also think that's the only acceptable way. mixing on a laptop is just to easy and has nothing to do with djing at all in my opinion.

but of course there are guys like hawtin using turntables just for show. he doesn't even touch them..

so ridiculous
http://vimeo.com/1655321?pg=embed&sec=1655321
on the opposite side there are people like steve bug buying vinyl, digitalizing (+ remastering) and mixing them with serato which is great.

MINIMALTECHNOHOUSE · Post by **MINIMALTECHNOHOUSE** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:30 pm

lauschpegel wrote:
here i have some sympathy with your feelings.
we've been down the vinyl vs digital road many times now and got nowhere, but here's a bit of interesting info; a friend of mine told me yesterday that his DJ agency (a well known one) will not take on anyone using a laptop for DJing. they told him that they cant get anyone gigs unless they are using turntables (of course that doesnt stop you using serato for instance)
as a result he has started buying vinyl again.

I also think that's the only acceptable way. mixing on a laptop is just to easy and has nothing to do with djing at all in my opinion.

but of course there are guys like hawtin using turntables just for show. he doesn't even touch them.. so ridiculous
http://vimeo.com/1655321?pg=embed&sec=1655321
on the opposite side there are people like steve bug buying vinyl, digitalizing (+ remastering) and mixing them with serato which is great.

wrong thread but +1 - i havnt downloaded anything in ages, infact ive been buying more early 90's releases than anything; pure buzzing

oblioblioblio · Post by **oblioblioblio** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:16 pm

steevio wrote:

What the world really needs from you right now is for you to go out there and believe in your vision with enough conviction to put out your music on your own. I'm not talking about just an mp3 label either. People in the business know now that if digital is the only realm you're willing to take on that you don't have enough confidence in yourself to do what really takes risk and a giant set of balls which is to release vinyl. Think about it this way, can you think of even 1 digital only label that sells as much music as one who releases on vinyl? I can't........

The scene is centered around a digital medium right now and make no mistake about it, mp3's will limit competition because they are allot easier to just throw in the recycle bin. Somebody that buys a vinyl is more likely to play what's on it.
here i have some sympathy with your feelings.
we've been down the vinyl vs digital road many times now and got nowhere, but here's a bit of interesting info; a friend of mine told me yesterday that his DJ agency (a well known one) will not take on anyone using a laptop for DJing. they told him that they cant get anyone gigs unless they are using turntables (of course that doesnt stop you using serato for instance)
as a result he has started buying vinyl again.

that's quite weird and slightly horrifying really. especially considering that serato is considered acceptable. I suppose it's good that it's gotten people buying vinyl, but it seems to be for all the wrong reasons. I don't get that ableton etc. style digital djing is considered innacceptable when guys like Optimo have been rocking parties in innovative & passionate ways for however long, but that's a can of worms that isn't worth opening again.

About digital as a medium generally... sure if you treat it as a cheap medium and just throw out tracks then that's how it will be received, but I think you can imbue the process with the same kind of magic that makes great vinyl labels great. Quality control, passionate decision making and great music. These things will shine reagradless of which media is being used.

I'm in the process of starting up a small all-digital label myself and certain things are really amazing me. There's a lot of room to just do your own thing and not worry about any bullshit. All that matters is whether you're feeling the music or not.

(though obviously I'm not knocking vinyl at all, I'm just sticking up for something that I believe is valuable).

::BLM:: · Post by **::BLM::** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:48 pm

on the opposite side there are people like steve bug buying vinyl, digitalizing (+ remastering) and mixing them with serato which is great.

Where did you hear that? I heard from a good source that he buys mp3's, then remasters them through some vintage gear to make them sound better. I have it all written down somewhere, I can look if needs be.