mixing genres on the same stage

[The Overfiend]

Are you referring to the days of storm raves, nasa, and column of knowledge parties?

[dirty_bass]

I have found difficulty with certain crowds, when I play Deep, Pounding Minimal Techno with Country and Western.
It`s a shame because Dolly Partons` "There ain`t no real men left" go`s so well with pounding grooves 23.

Also I have had heckles when I have wacked on some Burt Bacharach Classics over the top of a broken beat techno set I was doing.


Philistines.

[Evil G]

i don't want to hear 8 hours of the same type of music, no matter what it is, so for the most part, i'm all for having different styles represented through the night.

i did have a terrible outing one time though due to lack of planning by the promoter. i was booked to play techno at prime time, but all the other dj's booked were local hard house dj's, and they were all competing with each other to be the hardest and fastest. so there was 4 hours of hard house, then me playing techno for an hour, then 3 more hours of hard house. nobody in the croud liked techno. i ended up playing acid techno pitched up to +8 and the dancefloor looked bored out of their minds the whole time.

i'm not trying to dis hard house specifically. it's just that when dj's play off each other too much, they all get in "the zone" and then anybody who plays anything different sounds "off". i've seen it happen with deep house, drum & bass, etc, etc.

[Agent Orange NYC]

Are you referring to the days of storm raves, nasa, and column of knowledge parties?

Columns yes, nasa was mostly breaks and storm were mostly techno.
But ya your on the right track, northeast raves...

Think "Whisle"

[The Overfiend]

Pennsauken Nj, No doubt, first time I ever jumped the rafters and pumped my fists for T-1000 and Carola.

T-1000 played City music by Samuel L Sessions and I couldnt contain myself, and Carola played the Technasia remix to The Start It Up by Joey Beltram. Be as it may I know some members of the board may find those tracks sucky, but back then it was an energy missing in the Northeastern techno scene for so long that I went apeshit.

[romelpotter]

When we started subsonica we only had one room. Me and dave had many talks about what line up/who to put on and at what time. In my opinion although you can mix the styles, and it can seem to work as a promoter it is best keeping them apart if possible.

[dan the acid man]

When we started subsonica we only had one room. Me and dave had many talks about what line up/who to put on and at what time. In my opinion although you can mix the styles, and it can seem to work as a promoter it is best keeping them apart if possible.

i have to agree here, iv'e been to a few night's that have had a really varied line up music, and on each occasion, one group of people would be on the floor for one style, then most of them would leave the floor when the next set started and another group of people would come on the dance floor.
On a few occasions, when the drum n bass dj came on, the floor emptied (although 1 of those times, it was the mc's fault).

as a result, the atmosphere never stayed

[sash]

There's a difference between being eclectic and being unfocussed.

Well said.

Maybe it's all got to do with the dreaded hoover sound. It seems to divide the dance world.
Yeah for sure i love nights that r mixed with tek, tek house, electro, house, deep house, acid techno, psychadelic trance, but once the dance floor starts soundin like a swarm of mosquitos are attackin....i'm out.

[djfurness]

well i played a set last week on my birthday upstairs @ the zanzibar in liverpool with my friend dj venom and our special guest dj dolphin....
the night was a dnb night downstairs and we hosted the upstairs room....
the night went on from 11pm - 3am and the upstairs room held about 80-100 people....
it was rammed.....
me,venom and dolphin had 1 hour 20 minutes each.....
i swear this is no lie....in those 4 hours me,venom and dolphin managed to play all these artists between us...


2 unlimited, technotronic, grandmaster flash, eric b & rakim, barrington levy, nirvana, cypress hill, MOP, a guy called gerald, orbital, underworld, peaches, dee-lite,
a tribe called quest, the rebel mc, SL2, kicks like a mule, the ratpack, quadrophonia,
avalon, glenn wilson, chris noise, surgeon, matt m maddox, marco zaffarano, mauro picotto, amok, arkus p, pounding grooves, total science, baron, splash, dred bass, azzido da bass, hellfish, producer, joshua, knifehandchop, venetian snares, squarepusher, aphex twin & loaaaaaaaddddddss more dance tunes....

we even found time to fit in tutti frutti by little richard which sent the whole room beserk....
the atmosphere in that room was awe inspiring....everyone jivin to 1950s rock n roll 1 minute....then goin mad when we'd put hard techno on....
then everyone brockin to dnb.....**** mixing up the djs at a night so its like...

9-10- trance
10-11- techno
11-12 - nu hardstyle nrg acid (or whatever pigeon hole it is this week)

just get djs that can mix it up all in one....that way....instead of people havin to wait an hour for their preferred style to come on they can just wait a few tunes....
at a night like that...even if u dont like one tune...your bound to like one of the next ones!

[Komplex]

The best bet is to group styles according to the vibe and feel and most of all to have some sort of quality control. Also some tempo pacing is good. As in, start of slower and build it up.

Its when you start mixing cheesy type stuff with quality music that you get problems.

For example:

techno and hard trance = wrong

minimal house and techno = right

and so on.

But thats just my own oppinion...

[MangaFish]

The best bet is to group styles according to the vibe and feel and most of all to have some sort of quality control. Also some tempo pacing is good. As in, start of slower and build it up.

Its when you start mixing cheesy type stuff with quality music that you get problems.

For example:

techno and hard trance = wrong

minimal house and techno = right

and so on.

But thats just my own oppinion...

totally agree with you.
that said there are good hard trance records out there just as there are crap minimal house.

imo the difference between a good DJ and a baoring DJ is the ability to listen to EVERYTHING and only play what works well (regardless or genre)

[DEVICE]

Shit in California, almost all events mix genres of music and it’s hardly ever any good “TECHNO”.

I prefer genre specific events i.e. all “TECHNO”. Who wants to go out and hear a type of music they don’t like [nu nrg] just to see one act or dj. To reach an elevated state of mind through dancing or just burying your head in a speaker, you need to be able to sink into the music longer then 1 to 2 hours of one dj set. Maybe I am a freak but if I go out to an event I want to go inside my mind and get down.

I not much of a hugger or a socialite but I do like to speaker freak.

[serox]

Down here in sunny melbourne, this hard nrg/ hard trance crew have put on a few events and have mixed up dj's ranging from techno to hard nrg to hard trance and so on on the same stage.

This crew put on this party and had Dave the Drummer as the main act.
I couldn't wait to see another Drummer set but i gotta say, id rather chew my left arm off than listen to nrg/ trance. Anyway i hung around and left after Dave's set.

On one side of the coin u got people sayin "aah who cares about all this genre crap it's all dance music" but on the other side of the coin u got people lookin for a specific sound like myself.
I don't mind mixin genres but i think hard nrg/ hard trance followed by an acid techno dj is not a good formula (not for me anyway and judging by the crowd at that party i went too, not for them either)

Just wonderin what people's thoughts were on this topic.

loads of uk techno and london acid techno is not far from trance/nrg tho

i often mix genres, if they go well and u can beat match them fine etc its all good.

no rules.

[davedogg]

I'd love to mix hard techno with underground hiphop and dark drum'n'bass... but I just don't see how, or maybe I don't posses the skills yet.. hehe

[rs1800]

I think events like Antiworld are successful because they mix genres.

I know that isn’t mixing genres on the same stage which was the original post, but these events are very popular and I enjoy walking around the different genres (usually 5) depending on how im feeling.

[MangaFish]

its all dance music at the end of the day. most of me fav tunes arnt steriotypical techno/house/break/whatever tracks. they combine lots of elements from other styles so could work well in a variety if different sets

[fatcollective]

its all dance music at the end of the day. most of me fav tunes arnt steriotypical techno/house/break/whatever tracks. they combine lots of elements from other styles so could work well in a variety if different sets

totally mate, i think music is coming closer together, with all this cross genre n stuff, but hey its cool with me.

[jonnyspeed]

don't do it if it unless its only 1 set in amongst 6-8 different DJ - hip-hop, funk, techno etc...

I went to a great party in East London a few weeks back in a semi-squatted social centre. Started with a band, mixed up funk and d&B and ended with a banging techno set. mix it up but not 90% one genre and 10% another. equal weighting and a complete mix-up is the way, imo

[dazstay]

To hear how all genres of music can work on same night get your funky booties down to 'The End' for one of Laurent Garniers 8 hour sets. He drops Rock, Hip Hop, House, Funk, , Breaks, Techno etc...... AND IT WORKS.

[penthesilea]

my humble opinion: it depends on what kind of night you want as a punter...
Sometimes go out to listen to dj sets, am pretty open to what am gonna listen to
Sometimes just want a massive night out, jumping around and then am happier if can have the music I like
And let's be honest, it also depends on what chemicals (if any) you've ingested...