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SAVAK BLOG

​What makes a good Industrial DJ?

2/21/2017

1 Comment

 
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This questions comes up time and time again and just like any other topic of discussion there are always many valid answers. What skills should someone that spins Industrial music have in order for them to be "good"? What style should they spin? What BPM? What do they spin on? Are they a "shitty DJ" if they use digital? Are they "archaic" if they spin on CD's or Vinyl?

My first experience with an Industrial DJ was going to a now defunct club in Seattle on a Saturday night and hearing the DJ there spin. It was a popular night and he always had folks on the floor dancing. I enjoyed the night and thought the DJ was pretty damn good. At the time I knew nothing about DJ'ing, especially what it is to DJ Industrial music. As I continued going to the nights I started realizing something. He was spinning the same songs every fucking weekend. "But its fine because he has people dancing and they are coming to the nights. This is good exposure to the music" I told myself. 

I got more into going to Industrial club nights and so started checking out other nights around town and found out that the DJ's at the other nights also play the similiar sets. At around 2008 I started learing how to DJ with a friend of mine who had a background in spinning Trance. He taught me beat matching and fading. I started to mess around with these techniques and went back to the club. To my amazement the DJ that had everyone dancing was not even remotely fading and/or beat matching to save his ass. "This guy fucking sucks. What a hack!" 

So now that I have been spinning for some time, I ask myself the same question. Does an Industrial DJ that doesnt beat match suck? And yes, this question is only for folks that spin Industrial. Not Trance, EDM, polka, etc. The short answer, to me, is NO. Ultimately the goal of a DJ is to entertain the crowd. When you first become a DJ you have to ask yourself: "What is my goal?". What are you trying to do? Are you an old school DJ? Are you a progressive DJ focusing on new music and exposing it to the crowds? A little of both? To me, doing what you set out to do is ultimately what makes you a great DJ.
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Being able to mix and beat match is great. I think any new DJ that wants to spin (Industrial or not) needs to know how to do it. But it is also icing on the cake. If you spin, get the crowd into it, and are successful but don't mix worth a damn then all the power to you. I want to have the technical skills and I want to be able to play new music. That's me. The other guy might not have the same idea. If you are solely calling someone a "Crappy Ass DJ" because of a technical level then fine but that doesnt mean that they are a bad DJ if they can play and keep the crowd going.
1 Comment
seraphim link
2/21/2017 03:57:47 pm

I think it depends on what your end goal is. Are you wanting to hone a craft? Be the best you can be, so that you're putting something out there that is part of yourself, what you want to express? Or do you just want to play what the people want, because, lets face it...the people in the industrial scene aren't the pickiest of people when it comes to hearing their music played in clubs. Ask 100 industrial DJs what makes a good industrial DJ, and you'll get 100 different answers. I'm sure they're all valid. For me, it's the ability to take a handful of songs, and make something out of them that showcases who the DJ is. Having the skills and knowledge of how to beat and key match is important, as is knowing just when you can sacrifice one for the other, without it hindering the mix or flow. However, there are a lot of lazy DJs out there that just phone it in, because the crowd doesn't expect much by way of an industrial DJ. Which should just spur one on to be better, not for their sake, but for your own.

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