A-Trak Warns Against 'Hair Metal Soap Opera of EDM,' Says He's Not Like Deadmau5

Posted on Jul 24th 2012 3:00PM by Aaron Brophy
Comments

Terry Richardson

With electronic music's third wave -- known to the kids as "EDM" -- fast upon us, everyone has been weighing in on what this scene explosion actually means.

Deadmau5 has been warring against "button pushers" and Madonna, Caribou's Dan Snaith is competing against what he calls a "barfsplosion," Simian Mobile Disco have been pining for the old days, and Kaskade figures that if Paris Hilton wants to try doing his job, it'll just make him look better.

Montreal producer, DJ and multiple time DMC World DJ Champion A-Trak has a more reasoned perspective on the whole thing.

In a lengthy blog post for the Huffington Post the man born Alain Macklovitch mostly wants people to respect old-fashioned turntablists, and to, y'know, not just play the hits.
DJs playing only the "hits" and sets that vary little from night to night goes against what he believes is proper DJing.

"A paradigm shift is underway," he wrote. "Crowds used to come see DJs for a musical journey. Now they expect to hear specific songs and furthermore, they want to see a show. I can attest to this myself: the craziest crowd response that I get in my sets is when I play my own tracks, and I built a huge, illuminated A-shaped structure that I bring to my biggest gigs. But one has to wonder, when so much emphasis is put on hit records and mise-en-scène: is there still room for DJ skills?"

A-trak goes on to explain that the type of performances a producer like Deadmau5 creates are far different than what he does as a turntablist.

"For a performer like Deadmau5, the creative tour de force takes place ahead of time, in the conceptual stages of his show, and he is then able to execute it like a theatre play. Good theatre is entertaining, it is moving and certainly has value. This is a classic dispute of apples and oranges, and Deadmau5's only mistake in his tumblr post is trying to compare the two. I happen to know him; he's a smart guy and he can take a joke. I also think he doesn't fully understand -- or care for -- what DJing is at the core, but that doesn't take away from his talent."

For A-trak, the worst offense in the new EDM era is probably lazy DJing.

"For the DJs who bounce from venue to venue, playing the same set without the redeeming quality of a personalized stage production, there is no excuse," he says. "This laziness is actually giving 'live' performances more value! After any big EDM festival, look up the DJ playlists. They're frighteningly similar. This scene is turning into a caricature. Explosions, private jets, standing on tables (I plead guilty to the latter), and now carbon copy playlists... The hair metal soap opera of EDM risks devaluing a culture that has waited for its big break for 30 years.

Instead, he believes DJs should play adventurous music, and fans should be prepared to experience more than just the hits.

"Real DJing lives when you witness someone play for hours and take risks, reading the crowd and surprising them at the same time," he says.

"To all the new fans just discovering this genre, come to the shows with an open mind. Don't just wait to hear the songs you already know. There's a reason you're not watching a band. DJing is still at the cutting edge of new music. Let yourself be surprised."

Duck Sauce's 'Big Bad Wolf' Video

Follow @Spinner on Twitter | Like Us on Facebook | Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Download A-Trak Songs | Buy A-Trak Albums