DJ’s have your sets got a little stale and predictable? Non-DJs do you find DJ sets are often stale and predictable? No problem we have the answer: ‘J Tijn – ER’.
The legend that is John Digweed was recently quoted saying…
“If you’re the biggest DJ in the world, you’re in a position where you can play stuff that people don’t know and blow their minds. But if you just choose to play stuff they know, just to get a reaction, thats just being lazy”.
We think he has a point, with the vast majority of sets we’ve heard over the years often lacking any sort of guile or imagination as the DJ slogs through an often seamless sequence of seemingly unremarkable records. There maybe the odd bass drop, CO2 cannon or AV manoeuvre thrown in to inject a little fervour into proceedings, but really these tricks should attenuate a moment rather than be the moment. As a result, like a magician who has just the one illusion, their impact quickly becomes inconsequential and uninspired.
Now a bland DJ set doesn’t necessarily have to ruin a good night out, assuming you’re with the right people. That said we can all attest to the fact that when a DJ truly smashes it, a decent night can quickly become a memorable eulogy to bore our sedentary work colleagues with. So why is it so many DJs leave us cold? Is it laziness as Diggers suggests, or could it be a crippling fear of failure if they try something a bit different, or is it just simply a lack of ability?…Who knows, most likely a combination of all three in many situations, but one thing is for sure, as ‘DJ Spooky’ famously stated – ‘You are only as good as your record collection’.
Therefore in conclusion, if you’re an aspiring or even a well established DJ, our number one recommendation would be – at minimum, to diligently build your record box, be it digital or physical. Don’t just settle for what everyone else is playing, dig deep and search out those hidden gems like todays feature track ‘J.Tijn’s banging ER’.
J TIJN – ER [In An Instant] Out Now