John 00 Fleming: The Forgotten Role of a DJ

Prompted by legitimate concern for his profession as a DJ, veteran Trance producer, DJ and label-owner John 00 Fleming took to his Facebook to share his thoughts on the subject.

“I often fear we’re going to lose a generation of DJs, in today’s world a producer makes a few popular tracks, gets signed to a management company then heads on the road touring having the DJ tag slapped on them,” he begins, already laying the foundations for what is driving him to share his thoughts.

He then went on to explain what an “authentic DJ” is in his books, “I was part of a 90’s rave culture, many DJ’s worked tirelessly against the mainstream machines to create new musical experiences. DJ’s were the foundation that created many scenes on a local level that in return built actual musical movements such as Chicago House, Detroit Techno, Spanish Baleric, Belgium Nu Beat and more. DJ’s worked hard getting this music onto radio to give more exposure thus helping these scenes grow and flourish. Eventually when a certain scene got embraced by the commercial masses, DJ’s were already two steps ahead creating the next scene.”

These days, however, John is extremely worried about the state of his profession, despite recognizing some beacons of light from the techno and progressive genres. He specifically took a hard look at Trance, and had this to say about the genre so dear to his heart, “When I look at the Trance world, I worry it’s predominately producer driven, heavily weighed around self promotion, as a result things are going stale musically not moving forward and the next generation are heading to other places to experience forward thinking music. Again looking back, the most successful Trance brands were run and programmed by authentic DJs, today the musical curve and set time is dictated by an artists manager, then hijacked into it being their ‘mini concert’ focused around them. There’s no collective input, no union focussed on investing back into the Trance scene as a team. Self promotion is the theme.”

John ended his blog post with a note that resonates with us at 6AM, for we have always championed for collaboration and the supporting of your local scene, “Take a moment to discover your local DJ’s. Take a moment to look around at the DJ’s whom run labels and offering a different take on the masses. Take a moment to discover those local parties and support them. Go get involved and support and enjoy what they bring musically.”

Read the full statement below: