Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/526998
7 13 Issue 76 / 2015 GUESTLIST guestlist.net These topics were further raised in another panel, 'The Art Of DJing', which debated what makes a great DJ in 2015 and beyond. Host Mick Wilson, Tech Editor of DJ Magazine, and panellists David Eserin, Marketing Manager at Native Instruments, Icicle, DJ/Producer with Shogun Audio, Justin Robertson, DJ/Producer with Skint, and Martin Dockree, UK Sales Manager at Pioneer DJ, discussed the effects that discussion on the effects of the advances of technology have had on DJing. Pioneer has recently released a vinyl turntable, so the traditional methods are coming back into fashion, whereas Stems from Native Instruments represents one of the latest advances in DJ technology. This new kit doesn't complicate DJing, instead it offers component control over every element of the track, meaning they can be remixed on the fly. However the panel did reach a consensus that music selection and set programming is the most central thing to what being a DJ is, not mixing techniques. Icicle and Justin both admitted that they don't prepare for sets, aside from what's in their music collection for that event, explaining that doing something in the moment keeps it fun for both the DJ and the audience. This circles back to what was mentioned in the previous panel about some DJs pre-recording sections of sets. It's clearly an issue that is at the very heart of the industry – what does is mean to be a DJ? Is there a right, or indeed a wrong way to do it? Some very interesting threads were teased out in these panels, and it's clear that this will be an on-going issue, especially as DJs continue to rise in profile and the lines between DJs and live acts continue to blur. The various Academy panels were centred more on providing advice for the next generation of talent more than debating or discussing a topic. We dropped into the 'BIMM Presents: How To Start A Label' talk to see what advice we could pick up. Matt Abbott, Co-founder of Label Worx, Ralf Kollmann, Co-founder of Mobilee Records, Stuart Knight, Director of Toolroom, and Trevor McNamee, Owner of Jalapeno/Floorplay/Lost Tribe began by discussing how they got their various starts as labels - Toolroom initially began as an outlet for Mark Knight's music whereas Mobilee grew out of all the music Anja Schneider has access to through her radio show. The guys also spoke about the nuts and bolts of the label business, stressing the importance of identifying revenue streams, feeding back to artists and pushing the vision and positioning of your business. It was great to hear panellists from all areas of the electronic music scene – journalists, artists, promoters, club owners, tech manufacturers – tackle the pressing issues of the day and speak so passionately about the industry. This is exactly what we need more of in the UK, we should be celebrating our electronic music scene because it is one of the best in the world. On that front, the future certainly looks bright for BMC. considerable interest from attendees. Hartnoll, half of pioneering electronic music duo Orbital talked through the equipment he now uses for his 8:58 project. The set-up is a smaller version of what he would use with Orbital, consisting of two keyboards, two synths and Novation LaunchPads with LimA software. Although it's a scaled down configuration, Hartnoll is still able to get a rich, fat sound from the equipment. As he explained, "it's not about having five synths on the road, it's about having the synth you need at your fingertips." Having dipped in and out of the technology exhibits, we focused on the professional conference panels. The topics ranged from revenue streams to digital broadcasting, the relevance of music genres to monetising songwriting skills. 'Clubs, Festivals and Events: Is It A Level Raving Field?' tackled why dance music events matter more than anything, from grassroots club nights to international festivals. With Dolan Bergin, Director of The Hydra, Dave Blackgrove, Lead Agent at Coda Agency, Danny Beer, Founder of Back To Basics and Reece Miller, Director of We Are FSTVL on the panel, host Carl Lebon, Deputy Editor of DJ Magazine kicked things off with the issue of exclusivity. With more and more festivals on the calendar, agents and promoters don't want artists spread too thinly, as this detracts from ticket sales, but exclusive sets also come with a hefty price tag. Reece Miller spoke about how exclusivity works for him as a festival director – he does do exclusivity contracts in terms of both calendar and radius space, but he did stress that these are artist dependent. Dolan Bergin explained that exclusivity is still an issue for smaller events and venues, although you do get more flexibility because artists can play for longer and they have more freedom in terms of what they can do. This has resulted in a split in terms of which events DJs actually want to play – some only want to play clubs and others only want to play festivals, with some artists being so big, with fees so high that they can only do the big shows. But what began to be a discussion about the merits of club nights and festivals evolved into one on the very craft of a DJ. As shows get bigger and bigger, the issue of programming rears its head. Reece Miller argued that DJs shouldn't be tarnished for programming certain sections of their sets to allow for light and pyro effects because bands often operate in a similar way, they play the same set, with the same effects, on every stop of their tours. But as the panel questioned, is pre-recording DJing?