“Those few seconds where things don’t work are a millisecond to the audience; to you it’s like an eternity,” he told online arts magazine Scene360.com.
’I’ve seen so many younger guys get caught up in the technical problems and they let on and then it’s all over,” he added, “When you’re not happy; the audience isn’t happy. The old saying in the business is don’t let them know if you have a problem.” (Scene 360: http://bit.ly/cwqEYt )
20-something international DJs Fergie and Koolwaters chief Marc Vedo chatted to Skrufff about their own DJ nightmares.
DJ Fergie:
Fergie’s debut album DYNAMITE & LASERBEAMS’ is out shortly: for more information, click here: http://www.excentric-fergie.com/
Skrufff: What's the worst technical experience you've had at a gig? what happened,
DJ Fergie: “Hey, I have certainly had quite a few and they started happening a lot more often when I switched from playing CDS to using laptops, with Serato or Traktor. I am all for embracing the future but when it starts to have a negative impact on your set then you have to question it. One incident that stands out is when I was just about to play at the Sunrise Fest in Poland. The stage manager made me aware that I would not be allowed to go on stage or set up until the act that was on before me had finished leaving me a 3 minute window to set up in while they played an introduction they had made for me.
3 minutes isn’t nearly enough time even, if you are competent in setting up Traktor with 2 midi controllers and a laptop. It was tense and like Derrick said, a few seconds feels like an eternity.
Sometimes even when you are doing just a routine set up and have checked and double checked, something so small can go wrong and you won’t know what it is. And it’s tough not to become moody when that happens though of course you’ve got to get on with it. In fact over the past year, I decided to move away from DJing with a laptop and Traktor because I felt it wasn’t really enhancing what I was doing and actually damaging my performance as a DJ. In a way, it robbed me of that confidence you need when you play.
For example I found myself worrying about whether it would work before my set and feeling like that for most of the set, and I felt that audiences were picking up on that. So I went back to playing CDJs and now I use the new Pioneer 2000s witch are excellent and have everything I need. I feel that I have been enjoying my sets more than ever.”
Skrufff: Have you ever been sabotaged by jealous DJs or sound people? (or thought you have been?)
DJ Fergie: “Nope this has never happened but when I played my first ever set at Trade in 1996 I had to play in the Trade test lounge in front of Tony (De Vit), the owner of trade Lawrence Malice and all the other Trade resident DJs. When I started, the needle on the right hand deck kept jumping and I was so annoyed and worried that I just froze. I was 16 at the time. I remember a big tranny (drag queen) came over, took the needle off the record, popped out some gum she was chewing and stuck it on the top of the needle cartridge. Everything went very well after that.”
Skrufff: How much has the situation with technical problems got worse with laptops entering the equation?
DJ Fergie: “Yes it has got worse and I think people are starting to take more hardware with them for their sets generally but the way I look at it is, the more equipment you have, the more things that could go wrong. That’s not to say it goes wrong all the time for everyone and I’ve seen some fantastic sets from people such as Speedy J and Phil Kieran. I also agree that it’s important for DJs to embrace technology but for me I prefer to stick with what I know and feel comfortable with and right now that’s the CDJs, particularly the new Pioneer machines.”
Skrufff: Have you ever been threatened- or had things thrown at you?
DJ Fergie: “Yes I have had things thrown at me especially when I changed my style of music (from hard house to techno). When I eventually got the chance to play in a few of the more tech clubs some people weren’t happy about that either and decided to hurl things at me, but those days are long gone. They were battles which on the one hand were enjoyable yet soul destroying at the same time.”
Fergie’s debut album DYNAMITE & LASERBEAMS’ is out shortly: for more information, click here: http://www.excentric-fergie.com/
Marc Vedo
As well as managing Boy George, Marc Vedo is the brains behind global club brand Koolwaters:
Skrufff: What's the worst technical experience you've had at a gig? What happened?
Marc Vedo: “I can think of a few; the usual scenario includes CD players not working, the system cutting out, fire alarms going off and switching the sound off, monitor speakers not working or non existent. Probably the worst experience I’ve had was very recently in Thailand. It started raining at this big outdoor event I was playing at and they weren't expecting it to rain so they had to do a last minute stage cover, whilst I was playing which meant I had to DJ under plastic bin liners. I had several technical guys constantly bumping into me, whilst they were trying to erect a cover for the booth. Eventually I had a guy with an umbrella standing over me all night, plus two people holding a plastic sheet cover over the CD players and mixer, so when I wanted to mix I had to duck underneath the plastic cover to reach to the equipment. It obviously wasn’t the best circumstances when you’re trying to do your best, reading the crowd, listening to music and playing a good set.”
Skrufff: What did you do?
Marc Vedo: I felt pretty annoyed initially as I wasn’t enjoying it and I’d travelled for two days to reach the event but you have to forget all of that as you’re a professional and people have spent good money in bringing you over to their country so you have to do your best. After 45 minutes I finally got into my set and it was funny afterwards.”
Skrufff: Have you ever been sabotaged by jealous DJs or sound people?
Marc Vedo: “Yes I have, my friends used to do it all the time on purpose. When I wasn't looking, they would change the pitch control on the record just before I was about to start a mix, making it fairly testing to drop it back in time with only a few seconds to go. It was kind of funny but actually got really annoying after a while.”
Skrufff: How much has the situation with technical problems got worse with laptops entering the equation?
Marc Vedo: Laptops are going through a transitional phase with the new CDJ 2000s: they’ve setting up in a dark, busy club much easier for people using them. I always think DJs setting up laptops in a dark club have a nightmare, they have hundreds of leads, interface box, then they have to test the channels, which can get in your way when your trying to DJ so the CDJ2000 are going to make life much easier for everyone, including DJs playing before them.
Technically, things are pretty tight nowadays, you still get the odd CDJ1000 crashing or the start/stop bottom not working, or maybe the pitch counter going awol and saying the pitch is at 160bpm when it should be around 128 but generally it’s so much better. The new Mac Book Pro laptops are really solid and reliable so you don't get many crashing or overheating. Most of the big boys that use laptops always bring a second one just in case anything goes wrong too.”
Skrufff: What's been the worst audience reaction you've had? ever cleared a floor?
Marc Vedo: “Occasionally you get booked for the wrong venue but generally things are OK. I think the worst gigs are when you’re booked to play in a wrong venue that wants cheesy pop music or Top40/ R&B and you just don't have anything that would work. It’s annoying but more to the point, it can be soul destroying.”
Marc Vedo: Myspace: http://mysp.ac/c8PNyq
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