music and politics by frankie knuckles & daniel wang
saw this interesting read and thought id repost.......
FRANKIE KNUCKLE AND DANIEL WANG SCHOOL HERBERT
May 2004
Dancing on the Front Lines
Since it is true that the culture of DJing is indeed a global one, it's no surprise that a crisis of conscious can arise, based on your venue of play. In the essays below, noted Producer / DJ Daniel Wang weighs in on this very relevant topic and shares some of his IDEALISM as it relates to the on-going strife in Israel and his recent gig there. Following that, are some comments from house legend Frankie Knuckles who serves his thoughts on the same platters of honesty that he spins from, even in Israel . It's just been confirmed that controversial artist Madonna has cancelled her dates there but if asked, what would do? Read on and tell us (info@undagroundarchives.com) what you're thinking.
Dancing on the Front lines – A Discussion
Daniel Wang - Berlin , May 2004
I went and DJd in Israel a few months ago, and the promoters there wanted to invite a certain well-known producer of electronic music [Matthew Herbert], who is a close friend of a close friend of mine. So, I sent an email to him with the contacts, but his response surprised me: he wouldn't go because he felt uneasy about "entertaining an occupying power."
It really got me upset somehow. There was a certain righteousness about his tone, but it was something more than that which bothered me -- this absolutist, simplified view of the situation. First, I responded, if it's out of fear for personal safety, I can understand; but you're not going there to DJ as a court jester for Ariel Sharon -- you're going to share your music with young people like yourself, who might (in fact, mostly) agree with your position on Sharon's policies, and who, moreover, hope that your performance brings some inspiration into their lives. So we ended up in an e-mail discussion (our first in years) -- in which this fellow producer also discussed a boycott of America by European artists, since America was now also occupying Iraq . (Japan, Germany, Central America, Cuba, Vietnam... when, since World War II, has America NOT been an occupying power somewhere, or been meddling in other countries' affairs?)
There was a similar boycott of South Africa due to apartheid in the early 1980s, with that dreadful single "I Ain't Gonna play Sun City " as its anthem. I will confess that I never quite understood this boycott. If it was about black artists not going to play as minstrels for rich segregated white audiences, fine. But could the reality ever have been so simple? Any nation is a complex mixture of people who might agree or disagree with its dominant national policies; I wonder if one can simply "boycott a nation", wholesale, by refusing to play there.
If, in the 1980's, I were a black American musician, or of any color really, I'd at least like to have gone there and seen the truth of apartheid with my own eyes. Moreover, I think I'd like to have found a chance to play for black audiences, and to look around for more than just apartheid -- it would have been a chance to learn something about African traditions in general, and build a bridge, no matter how ephemeral, with people who very much needed music and contact from the outside world.
Well, that's all very dreamy and idealistic! The reality of DJing in Tel Aviv was in fact much more banal. It wasn't exactly the Gaza strip or Jerusalem . I had a posh hotel room for 3 nights; I strolled along the beachfront at dawn. The only hint of the risk of terrorism was a lone security guard in front of a shopping center, who scanned everyone with a metal detector before they entered.
- Daniel Wang
At the end of the day, like the record says "it ain't nothing but a party, y'all." Leave your politics at the door. Your personal opinion doesn't rate on any dance floor that I'm playing for. The world we live in is a very ****ed up place. And the most some folks can hope for is just a little escape, once a week on a dance floor, listening to a DJ that they believe can help them achieve this. Me personally, I'd rather help them (the punters/crowds) do exactly that instead of leaving them with the thought that I'm much too grand to be a DJ of the people. This is why I've never believed in DJ booths that elevate DJs so far above the crowd, that they are playing on another level. For that matter they might as well be playing in the building across the street.
It's far more important to bring a smile to the faces of the people who so admire what you do that you are looked upon as a Superstar. People that put so much faith in what you do that it's nothing short of a religious experience to them. There's no place for politics when people need a rest from the daily bullshit that is handed to them left, right and center – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; everyday of their lives.
I've learned over the years [of] traveling back and forth to Europe [that] Europeans (and I don't mean to generalize) are just too grand for their own good sometimes. Especially people like Mr. Herbert. They will bitch and complain about the environment, capitalism and the ugly Americans that bring major tourist dollars to the cities where they live, but they forget, if Americans had not conquered the Germans in WW2 and the Nazi's had won, what kind of life would they have right now? These are also the same people that stink up just about every place with cigarette smoking – I'm sure Mr Herbert perhaps chokes on the occasional fag every now and again [ no pun intended, I'm sure! – editor ], and has built a career with the vinyl that has supported [him] to date and probably refuses to give credit where credit is due when it comes to his livelihood being inspired by some ugly American from Detroit. This is all too much for me.
Thank God, I'm a realist about the world I live and play in. Before I stand on a soapbox and try to preach about what's wrong with someone else's world, I'd at least try to make a difference in my own. If someone needy can benefit from my celebrity, it's a good thing and I'm the first to offer it up. After all, what good are we doing if we continue to take and not put back. There are children in this world, outside the lovely cities of Chicago , New York City or Berlin that live on a small fraction of what we do, daily. There are monies that need to be raised to help someone else's lives [be] a little better. Europeans as a rule don't tip for service the way most Americans do. I for one have no problem sharing the money I make with the people who help make me comfortable in the hotels I sleep in, or the restaurants I eat in. Money is supposed to circulate. I don't look down on them like they are subhuman the way I've witnessed so many Europeans do.
But I digress here.
Mr Herbert doesn't ever have to go to Israel . He won't be missed. I was just there and I showed the Israeli people exactly what real music is all about. They cheered to every SONG I played. Remember, I said song! They cried to every beautiful melody that played through those speakers. They danced hard and continuously for hours, embracing each other as if they were just discovering life for the very first time.
Trust me, he will be hard-pressed to make a better impression on these people now. But I guess to say something like this I would be politicking, no?
- Frankie Knuckles
:cool:
