sasha and dillweed

i've been a dj since 1992. currently i dj at a restaurant here in brooklyn called planet thailand. it's a good gig, one of the better ones in new york, where djing is more a pain in the neck than anything else.

it's a good gig for several reasons. one - it pays. i get $120 a night, which is great. i have played countless gigs where i could barely get $20. two - while it doesn't have a dancefloor, i can pretty much play whatever i want. i've played loop, ? and the mysterions, chris and cosey, happy mondays, jeff mills, and robert owens. i've even tried to play thomas koner, but it was too quiet.

lately i've been playing alot of house and disco, with some jazz. very ron hardy and larry levan. stuff like gaz nevada, eddie harris, womack & womack, murk, etc.

the great thing about this is that the music is obscure enough that i typically don't have people come up and start talking about michael jackson or whatever, but it's still accessible to the general public in it's mood and flow.

generally, the only people who approach me are folks who actually know the music, of which there are very few. this isn't some sort of conceit on my part - that is playing music that's too obscure for anyone to figure out, it is simply the music i enjoy. and when i am approached by someone who knows who arthur russel or gwen guthrie is, it makes me happy. people who know that music love that music.

another reason why i enjoy playing there is because the only people who ever approach me are people who know what i'm playing and actually like it. and the only requests i get are good ones. someone requested rufus recently. djing in bars, i would be in the middle of an epic minimal techno set, with a chain reaction record on and have someone walk up and demand that i play led zeppelin, or better yet guns and roses. chain reaction and guns and roses, that makes for a fantastic transition.

i've been noticing something more and more lately. i always try to ignore it as it is one of the most nauseating parts of the job, but people look at djs now as being some kind of rock and roll superstar, or they assume that that is what i so desperately aspire to be. this unfortunate reality is even worse in new york city, where every aspect of life can be rolled up into a coca-cola commercial. you play basketball over at west 4th and 6th avenue, you belong in a commercial. you ride a fixed gear over the williamsburg bridge, we need to put you in a commercial. when people walk by and look at me, i can see out of the corner of their eye them thinking "like oh my god, this is so rad, didn't i see this in a movie or something?" or "look at him, he thinks he's so cool."

i come from a different era and mindset of what a dj is. for me, a dj is an anti-rock star. jeff mills being the perfect example. the best clubs for me are the ones in dingy basements, with one light on in the corner, where you can't even see what the dj looks like. techno clubs were like that. i'm not trying to be "cool" or get chicks or whatever. i don't care about any of that. i love nothing more than to share my music with people and see people get off on it. yeah i know, "how boring." sorry.

link | rss | share | posted: 2007-02-11 10:17:44