Scuffed Deejays

Last week, @WileyCEO DM-ed [Dan Hancox] to tell [him] The Godfather Part 3 would be his last album. Here's the exclusive story of a wild year of headline-grabbing beefs, industry betrayal, and where he thinks grime has gone wrong.

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RR: I’ve noticed a tendency in myself and others where you can easily think that if you do something complicated it’s good, because you know you found it difficult – whereas in reality the simple stuff we do is often the best. And that can be hard for the individual to see in themselves, because if it came out easily you might not recognise that it’s good – that it’s better than something you've laboured over, sometimes.

Over the past 10 years, DJing has undergone seismic transformations in technology and process. New styles of DJing have emerged, and some have had huge impacts on dance music culture — even birthing new genres and music production techniques. [DJ Mag] speak to four artists who have embraced these transformations to discover what the last decade of DJing has achieved, and what it could all mean going forward.

The title of Entertainment! was meant to be ironic, but—ironically—it was absolutely apt. “You can’t change the actual status quo, the power structures,” Gill continued. “But you can change the way people think.” Gill’s guitar may not have killed any actual fascists (although legend has it he once whacked a fascist skinhead in the audience front row with his guitar neck at an early gig). But its serrated edges seemed to slice through the staleness of received ideas, just as Gang of Four’s abrasively innovative approach to sound, song construction, and lyrics felt like the promise and herald of a new way of living.

Since his death, the record collection belonging to Tony Wilson – co-founder of Factory Records and the Haçienda – has been stored in an archive. [...] DJ and writer Dave Haslam gained exclusive access to the archive to share a few highlights.

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Enjoy!

What was your practice regimen like? You're down in the basement... No, it was in my bedroom. On the cabinet, where you keep your clothes. I'd close the door, I had speakers from Radio Shack, and I'd practice all night long. At first it wasn't dance music, because where would you get that? I wasn't old enough. It was a lot of progressive rock. When the drummer would break it down, I'd get a copy of that and a copy of something else, and practice mixing rock, blending things together to make smooth transitions from one rock record to the next. I was mixing Grand Funk Railroad. Stuff I had enough money to get, two or three dollars per record, just to practice.

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Conceptual electronic music still draws sustenance from dance music at its most mental and mindless—beats purpose-built for druggy all-night bacchanals. But although it uses the rhythmic tools of body music, it doesn’t primarily aim to elicit a physical response. It’s music to contemplate with your ears, to think about and think with. In that sense, it’s closer to an art exhibition of photographs or video taken at a bygone club than actual club music. 

This mix by Tristan Da Cunha has to be a strong contender for mix of the year. It’s such a simple and obvious idea for a mix it’s kind of mental that no one had already done it but he has basically taken all the random 2-step sounding tunes being released on the minimal deep tech / minimal groove scene and put them all into one mix. The end result is unique compared to any other mix we’ve heard for a while. Is it a blueprint for a whole new musical style?

Wiley tweeted "interview me now, let's go", so she did just that.

T: I was on a hiatus from music when bassline was blowing up – I was just doing some BS job and dying inside everyday [laughs]. So then I jumped back in between 2008 and 2009. That was the first time I actually jumped on Beatport and started to try and build a set – before my hiatus, I didn't really consider myself a DJ, just a producer playing my own stuff out.

Penelope Spheeris: I think what it means to me is different than what it means to most people. To me, it means having a deep sense of values, and integrity and honesty, and treating people equally... there’s so many different areas it touches. Early on, in song lyrics, you can see the beginnings of these concepts coming out. For me, even though I was older than most of the kids in my movie, it really kind of solidified my identity. What it means to me is: to not compromise, not sell out, and not give a shit what other people think. To do whatever I need to do on my own. It’s the DIY ethic.

Prolific tech house producer Josh Butler has collaborated with some of the biggest names in house music and released records on labels like Green Velvet’s Cajual and Chase & Status’ More Than Alot Records. We [Future Music Magazine] met him in his home town of Warrington to find out how he created the soulful roller Right Time, and learn more about his eclectic musical passions.