Re: "Death of the Nightclub"
recent chat with Paul Louth on this very topic..
Yeah I still play bits here and there, not chased it as much as I probably should, but you know how it is. This mix was actually a warm-up for a gig that following weekend. But yeah, the music scene has changed quite a lot in the past 5 years or so. It's no longer enough to be a good DJ, you need to produce, and do PR, and have a facebook page, and blah blah... all the stuff not related to DJing. I always did it for fun and for the love of it, a lot of what's needed now isn't the opposite of that.
I dunno what it's like in your part of the world, but London at the moment is pretty dull music-wise, it seems most people are happy to settle for 'average loopy house'. I did a few parties with amazing line-ups (like Alex Smoke, Swayzak, etc.), nobody came, and I lost a ton of cash in the process. Losing cash I can handle, but when you put on epic line-ups and nobody bothers, something's wrong.
It goes in cycles though. Music that I thought was super underground 10 years is now mainstream to an extent. Once the haircut and shades brigade find something else to latch onto, it'll return to being interesting again I reckon.
Still, the music buying session that I did to record this mix was a real surprise. I was on Juno going through tracks and wanted to buy nearly everything. That never happens, normally I have to wade through a ton of shit to find the good stuff - even with buying vinyl only, which used to be a decent filter. This time was gold. Like 2005-2007 gold. So perhaps the fun times aren't that far away :)
Anyway, thanks for the continued support. It's good to know someone still has working ears ;)
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I think it's more subtle than that. It's a symptom of the digital era. I think 'the youth' haven't found a way to be individuals with music. They haven't had their acid house or their punk 'moment'. I think so much about the way music is consumed now is purely as a throwaway commodity, so a lot of kids have very little attachment, or build a character that's intertwined with their music scene like I and many people of my generation did. I was lucky enough to start going to raves in 1990 and I bought my first acid-house record in 1987. I feel blessed to have been part of that era, and so much of what I play now is a reflection of what I listened to back then.
I have some friends who have just turned 20 and I've had quite in-depth conversations with them about this. Some of them get it, but if I do a gig at one of their parties you can just tell there's a lack of involvement. I'll play some stuff that I know will get them going, then maybe test them with a cool as fuck Levon Vincent track, and they're off the dancefloor. It's kinda crazy really, I feel sorry for them. Not because they don't like Levon Vincent, but because they don't really like anything.
The ones that do get it do disco nights, or play 90s house. But that's not their music, that's the previous generation's music. They have very little of their own to attach themselves to. What do they have? EDM. Commercial pre-packaged shite.
The clubs in London are busy, they're just average, safe, run by kids with money, doing parties cos they want to be cool, but again having no emotional link with what they're doing.
I'm sure it will fix itself at some point, music always does. I'm eternally optimistic when it comes to music. I think when the kids have their punk moment it will be incredible because it's been such a long time coming, it'll just be utter carnage (in a good way!).
mix in question:
[SOUNDCLOUD]https://soundcloud.com/paullouth/paul-louth-lux[/SOUNDCLOUD]