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Talent Buyer at New Brooklyn Venue Schimanski Resigns Following Pro-Trump Comments

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Schimanski

It’s been a busy week in politics since last Tuesday’s US Presidential Campaign came to an end. Business and estate property tycoon Donald Trump is now the country’s President-elect, news that was welcomed with a lot of criticism from DJs and producers in the dance music industry.

It has just been revealed that New York promoter Thomas Dunkley has stepped down from his position as talent buyer at the brand-new Schimanski club in Brooklyn, the venue that opened up at the location that once hosted the beleaguered Verboten. The building, purchased by former Pacha NYC owner Eddie Dean at a bankruptcy auction this summer, re-opened over Halloween weekend with a fine selection of artists booked for its first series of weekends of fall 2016.

Around the date of the presidential election results, the club’s talent booker took to his Facebook to show his support for Republican candidate Donald Trump, claiming to approve of the magnate’s views on immigration, marijuana legalization and foreign policy. The post received public and private criticism, including a number of DJs such as Umfang, Turtle Bugg and The Long Count Cycle canceling their gigs at the recently-opened venue.

Dunkley apologized at first the following day, but was then forced to resign publicly following the continued backlash provoked by his support of Trump. “My statements painted an inaccurate picture of the club,” he wrote in his resignation announcement, “and caused much harm for all involved.”

A statement was released by Schimanski’s director and head talent buyer Andrew Inomata to Resident Advisor, “Due to recent circumstances, Tom Dunkley has voluntarily resigned as a member of the talent buying team because he was no longer able to perform the job he was hired to do. We have since resolved any booking conflicts, and we are working on a makeup event with all talent who had canceled their gigs.”

He concluded clarifying that the venue has “zero tolerance for hate and discrimination of any kind.”

Resident Advisor provided information on the canceled performances: “Since the resignation, all the artists who initially canceled their gigs are either back on the bill or re-scheduling for a future time, says a representative of the club. There will also be a makeup date for the Umfang and Henning Baer lineup, which will instead happen at Bossa Nova Civic Club this Wednesday, as a fundraiser for charities that benefit social equality.”

This isn’t the first incident of its kind in the United States. Detroit venue Populux was forced to shut down and re-open under a different name and format when tweets were sent from its account blaming liberals for the Dallas police shootings earlier this year.

H/T: RA

DJs React to Donald Trump Winning US Presidency

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Last night the US Presidential election delivered an unexpected result: Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States, a historic victory for outsiders that represents a stunning repudiation of Washington’s political establishment for some, but a win for hatred, prejudice, ignorance and misogynism for others.

The naturally more left-wing faction of dance music’s industry took to social media to express their thoughts on the news. Most were obviously shocked and appalled, while others dejected and sad, making predictions for a bleak four years of politics ahead of us. Others decided to focus on music, sending a message that together and united we are above Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and any other politician running or holding office:

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Moby on Donald Trump, “He Is The Worst Of The Worst”

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Donald Trump Moby

It’s no surprise to see Moby voice strong opinions on politics. After all, the American DJ, singer, songwriter and producer is known for his electronic music, veganism and support of animal rights, always quick to speak up for beliefs he holds true to his heart.

After earlier comments on the subject of Donald Trump, Moby once again went on record labeling the Republican Presidential candidate as “the worst of the worst,” although he is noted that he is satisfied that at least Trump’s divisive antics have seemed to unify the Democratic party under the leadership of Hillary Clinton.

In a recent interview with Best Fit, Moby stated, “He is a cancer scare for cigarette smokers – he has got Democrats and progressives and the left in the United States motivated and united in ways they have never been before. He is a one man Vietnam War. I’m grateful for that – for being so terrible. If he was less terrible he would be scaring us less and we might be less motivated.”

He went on to say, “Donald Trump is the worst of the worst of the worst – he’s an entitled, ignorant sociopath who maligns women, minorities, veterans, disabled people, and just look at the recent debate. The only world leaders he praised were Putin and Assad.”

Trump’s outlandish and controversial claims have often landed him on the front of newspapers, with a divided country both supporting and denouncing his every word. Regarding that, the LA-based artist stated, “this feels like bizarre, mescaline-inspired, weird, Hunter S. Thompson-esque fiction. I just can’t believe that this is real, but then he just keeps getting worse. He keeps digging himself further into this trench of manure. It’s mind boggling.”

With Election Day in the United States on November 8, Moby is definitely not the first electronic music artist to speak up with his views against the Republican candidate.