Re: To DJ or not to DJ - that is the question

[Mark Sottilaro <sine@zerocrossing.net>]

I, for one, am very interested in hearing the results.  When ever I 
play a dance show I notice that DJs seem to get much the same response 
that I get, yet lug much less.

I guess what I'm saying is, if I play out I want to entertain the 
audience.  A huge part of that for me *is* having fun while I'm doing 
it.  When it's a struggle to hear what you're doing, or move your gear 
in and out of a venue, your fun can be squelched.  Matthias mentioned 
that "... I just cannot imagine having fun without holding a string or 
touching some sensible surface... but thats me..."  What do you mean by 
"sensible surface"?  The Pioneer CD player I spoke of ( 
http://www.djtools.com/pioncdinstoc.html ) seems to be a sensible 
surface in my opinion.  I've spent hours "performing" my Roland MC-307. 
  One of the reasons I bought is was because it was designed to be 
played (as are the trend in such devices).  If you spent some time with 
the Pioneer CD player I spoke of, you'd see the same possibilities.

I *love* playing my guitar.  I do it every day.  Do I need to do it in 
a performance situation?  I don't think so... or at the least, I should 
be more discrimination in when it's appropriate to bring it into the 
world.  If the performance is the focus, I say yes.  If the focus is 
socializing and dancing, I maybe think no.

Mark Sottilaro

On Sunday, March 16, 2003, at 10:29 PM, Gareth Whittock wrote:

> Funnily enough, at my next gig I'll be opening in DJ stylie. I've been
> umming and ahhing for ages about the pros and cons of a DJ approach so 
> I've
> decided to give it a go and see what happens. I'll be playing chill out
> music from others as well as myself and filtering, delaying - LOOPING 
> of
> course. Later on I'll be playing my own bizzarre guitarre ambient 
> ethnic
> stuff as usual. I'll keep the group posted on the results.
> Incidentally, I agree about watching a guy with just a laptop - boring 
> as
> hell if he's not doing anything else.DJ's are not particularly 
> watchable -
> the focus is elsewhere - on the feet or in some rarely visited part of 
> the
> brain.
>
> Gareth
>
>   Should I become a DJ of my
>> own music?  I think people are doing this.  Anyone here doing this?
>> Could be a good way to go for this type of event.  (where dancing and
>> socializing are the focus)  When it's more of a show (like Loopstock)
>> then you go for performance mode.  What do people think?
>>
>
>