Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detroit-based producers Robert Hood and Daniel Bell. By the early 2000s the term ‘minimal’ generally described a style of techno that was popularized in Germany by labels such as Kompakt, Perlon, and Richie Hawtin’s M-nus, among others.

In 1998, the rave scene that gripped Germany after reunification was at its apex. What had started in the literal underground spaces of post-GDR Berlin after the fall of the Wall had gone mainstream, with millions of young people celebrating the colorful culture of electronic dance music all across the country.

But the techno utopia envisioned by many as the new millenium approached was already starting to come undone. The trend was swiftly co-opted – ironically, by some of the same capitalist forces that had defeated the communist system a decade earlier.

The bubble soon burst, and many of those truly dedicated to the music were forced to rebuild. The result was something that was the opposite of rave’s over-the-top excess, a movement that idealized a minimalist aesthetic in sound, visuals and fashion.

It was a lifestyle that resisted the unbridled exuberance of rave in favor of something more sustainable – and sustain it did, with tracks that filled whole sides of vinyl and parties that went on for days at a time.

Berlin became the center for this new creative community, drawing in techno practitioners and aficionados from around the world who came for the party and stayed for the ease of living made possible by cheap rents and easy access to artist visas.

“Minimal” became the buzzword around this scene, and while overindulgences were aplenty in freewheeling afterhours, the “arm, aber sexy” (poor but sexy) slogan coined by then-mayor Klaus Wowereit could not have been a more accurate appraisal of Berlin’s appeal.

The Berlin of today might not offer the €100 rents of two decades ago, but it still maintains an independently-minded music community that is the envy of cities around the world, one that manages to be both pure in sound and a primary economic force for making Berlin an international destination.

20 years down the line, we talked to some of the DJs, producers, label heads and journalists – including Richie Hawtin, Ellen Allien, Break 3000 and more – who helped shaped the decade of minimal that once defined the city

OVERCOME

In 1997, Berlin’s annual Love Parade reached a peak attendance of 1.5 million. The hangover that followed would force the infamous party capital to redefine itself, not for the first time.

The American forces abolished the curfew in 1949 to compete with the Russians, to show how liberal and open and forward-thinking they were. This is what attracted Iggy Pop and David Bowie to West Berlin in the 1970s. They could just go on and on and on.

Kraftwerk is the origin of minimal. Hysterical music filled with different sounds is too heavy for me – needless and even deranging. Kraftwerk taught my ears that less is more.

Growing up as a teenager in Berlin in the ’80s was completely uncool, at least in regards to pop culture. You just had the feeling that this was a really grey city with not much interesting happening.

The first techno labels I know from Berlin are Tresor and Basic Channel.We all know the story after the Wall came down. We had an underground techno movement and then we had the Love Parade, we had a Mayday, it became commercial.

That was ’96-’97, when I turned my back, ’cause techno was all over the place. It was on music television and in magazines, everywhere. It was a sell-out.

There was no interest in booking Berlin DJs in London, for example.Berlin had some important DJs in the early ’90s, but a lot of the music came from Frankfurt, mainly, and a little bit from Cologne and Munich. The music that came from Berlin was either early trance like Paul Van Dyk and Energy 52 – or Basic Channel. That was mostly it.

Many clubs were closed in the late ’90s. That’s why I started to take things into my own hands, creating my own events and founding my label. The crash induced me to do it by myself, or everything would die.

As Y2K approached and the global scene continued to contract, a new wave of artists arrived in Berlin and began to construct a sound that defied the euphoric conventions of rave.Ostgut opened in ’98, I think.

Predominantly gay club, very dark. You could already sense something new happening with that club.

There was a new underground developing around that time. My protagonists were people like Tobi Neumann, Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos and a few others who started some kind of new vibes in electronic music.

And at one point, somebody gave that the minimal label.Not a lot of melody, just sort of burbling groove percolating ad infinitum.

This very steady holding pattern became the signature of minimalMusically, the most crucial thing happening was Ricardo moving to Berlin. His Alcachofa album and songs like “Easy Lee” were some of the first recordings he made in Berlin. Easy Lee – Ricardo Villalobos

BREAK 3000
Dutch DJ/producer and RBMA alumni who established Dirt Crew Recordings in Berlin in 2004

You got records from Villalobos that were like ten or 20 minutes long and really very minimal, not much happening. That was completely different. It was really the sound of Berlin – I think one of the first times that Berlin really had its own sound.

IliasRo

Six months ago, lockdown measures were introduced in Great Britain to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Throughout the pandemic, we have been asking people about their opinions and behaviours, and for the first time we present people’s experiences in their own words.

Whilst in self-isolation, my life is on hold.

Lockdown measures were first introduced on 23 March. While this created huge changes for many, with schools, workplaces and all non-essential retailers being ordered to close, more than half of adults surveyed at the time said they thought life would be back to normal within six months.

By late August, “more than a year” was the most popular response, with over a third (37%) of adults saying they thought this is how long the pandemic would last.  

“How long do you think it will be before your life returns to normal?” Base population: all adults

Many people were unsure, and uncertainty remained a consistent theme:

Lack of any idea about when and how things might “return to normal”. Uncertainty ahead. No vaccine ready. Not being able to go out with the kids to do basic things such as the park, cinema, or walk around.

I miss being able to hug the people that I love and can’t be with. Skype is great, but it’s not the same.

In the first two weeks of April, half of adults said their well-being was being affected by the pandemic. By this time, many had been confined to their homes, except for essential shopping and exercise, for several weeks.

Alongside this, the number of death registrations involving COVID-19 was at its highest: the number of weekly deaths in England and Wales recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was 8,758 on the week ending 17 April. In the same week, lockdown measures were extended for a further three weeks.

“How anxious did you feel yesterday? Where 0 is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘completely’”. Base population: all adults.

“How happy did you feel yesterday? Where 0 is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘completely’”. Base population: all adults.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, happiness was lower and anxiety was higher, and many comments from respondents reflect this. 

I’m at the wrong end of life to have quality and length of life stolen. very unhappy and stressed, can’t see any end to this.

Video calling family made 100% difference to my life. Initially 45% of adults said they were worried about the future, with other common reasons being boredom, feeling stressed or anxious, or feeling lonely. 

Am unable to do any of the things which normally fill my life and keep loneliness at bay, i.e. visiting friends, shopping, visiting places of interest, seeing children.

Have no social life as can’t see my son or friends so feeling isolated and lonely.

“In the past seven days, how has your well-being being affected?”. Base population: all adults.

Respondents were able to select more than one option. There were further response options available, and the chart shows the most common responses across the weeks.

While many struggled, some people saw improvements to their well-being, and others reported an increased sense of community spirit, with 80% of adults saying they thought people were doing more to help others since the outbreak:

It’s not affecting me at all really. I enjoy my own company, gardening, reading, baking and walking my two dogs. Life’s pretty good.

The village has organised volunteers who will help if needed.

MAY 2020

The expectation from our employers is high and there is very little time to help our twins. It is very stressful, and I feel incredibly guilty.

Between 7 May and 7 June 2020, 87% of parents said a child in their household had been homeschooled because of the coronavirus. 

Only half of adults said they felt confident in their abilities to homeschool, 43% said homeschooling was negatively affecting their child’s well-being, and 36% said homeschooling was putting a strain on their relationships.

At the end of May, 39% of parents reported that their children were struggling to continue their education at home, and this rose to 60% by mid-June. The most common reasons given were a lack of motivation, and a lack of parents’ time to provide support.

My wife is struggling to teach our daughter while I’m working. It is extremely stressful, there are constant rows and awful behaviour.

Only one child was allowed to go back to school, so rather than adding additional strain to the school, we kept her home with her sisters.

My child is not motivated to self-direct her learning and her education is really suffering.

I’ve actually really enjoyed having my family home and homeschooling our kids.

I still don’t feel safe when I go outside, not everyone keeps their distance.

As lockdown measures eased across the country during May, June and July, many people were able to spend more time outdoors and socialise with loved ones.

The number of people meeting up with others and visiting pubs or restaurants rose throughout the summerProportion of people who said they’d left home in the last seven days for different reasons 

In the past seven days, for what reasons have you left your home?”. Base population: all adults.

Respondents were able to select more than one option. There were further response options available, and the chart shows the most common responses relating to socialising and travel.

At this time of changing restrictions, people were less certain, with the proportion of adults that said they had enough information about the UK’s plans for dealing with the virus at its lowest (41%) on the weekend following the first easing of lockdown measures in England in mid-May. 

While individuals’ freedoms increased, the dangers presented by the virus were still clear to see, with deaths registered in England and Wales involving COVID-19 reaching a total of 50,000 in the week up to 26June. Seeing others going out and socialising could have also intensified feelings of loneliness and anxiety for those still staying at home or self-isolating, as loneliness rose in mid-June, with one in five people reporting feeling lonely.  

My neighbour has little to no regard for the rules and frequently has large gatherings of people breaking social distancing, drinking together outside my home.

I felt nervous when going into an enclosed space such as the garden centre. I have lost a bit of self-confidence about being near other people in case they don’t respect social distancing.

For others, the problem was spending too much time with others in their household. By June, the proportion of adults reporting a strain on their personal relationships was at its highest at 15%.

I have absolutely no me time and it feels like wall to wall family time. 

Cooped up with 2 young children, not being able to have a break from them.

[I wear a face mask] while putting the bins out. Literally whenever I leave the house for any reason.

The use of face coverings was made mandatory at different times across Great Britain, and the proportion of adults reporting having worn a face covering in the last seven days increased in line with when they became a requirement. 

More people reported having worn face coverings in public places following regulations being introduced 

The proportion of people reporting having worn a face covering in public in the last seven days, by country

In the past seven days, have you used a face covering when outside your home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19)?” Base population: Adults who have left their home in the past 7 days.

It became mandatory to wear face coverings on public transport in England on 15 June, in Scotland on 22 June and in Wales on 27 July.

Face coverings were made mandatory in shops in Scotland on 10 July, in England on 24 July and in Wales on 14 September.

At the end of July, 82% of adults said they strongly support, or tend to support, the mandatory wearing of face coverings. However some people also displayed concerns:

I now have shopping delivered, because I DON’T want to wear a mask.

Missing human touch and general interaction affected by mask wearing – missing a lot of communication and connection as a result.

Diary Of Uknown Person

The decision between holidaying in either Mykonos or Ibiza is a tough one. Luckily we’ve made it a little easier with our handy guide

Gorgeous beaches, tantalising food and fabulous clubs make Mykonos and Ibiza the go-to destinations for travellers wanting some fun in the sun. How can you possibly choose between the two European destinations? That’s where we come in.

This holiday showdown pits Mykonos and Ibiza against each other, with only one winner able to take the crown. From the tunes of Pacha and Spanish seafood in Ibiza to Super Paradise Beach and the windmills of Mykonos, it’s going to be quite an adventure.

Glorious golden sands make Ibiza a top destination for all beach enthusiasts. If you plan on laying horizontal on your beach towel for the foreseeable future of your getaway, Playa d’En Boda should be your first port of call.

Oh, and as it is the longest stretch of beach paradise on the islands, our bet is you’ll be here for a while. What’s more, there are various beach bars and restaurants dotted along the promenade to keep you fed and hydrated during your tanning session.

Alternatively, pitch up a parasol at Cala Jondal. The pine trees and jagged cliffs make for dramatic scenes, and the waters are adorned with yachts and boats for a little extra luxury.

Speaking of luxury, Nikki Beach Club is perfect for all those wanting the finer things in life. Situated on S’Argamassa Beach there’s a large watersports centre, beach bar and the most comfortable sun beds to take advantage of.

It’s also famous for its signature annual White Party that sees guests don their most fabulous white attire. If you’re here on a Sunday the Nikki brunch is a must too with various cooking areas serving international cuisine such as sushi, carvery dishes and various forms of egg plates.

Similarly, Mykonos has plenty of beaches to keep every traveller satisfied. From the wild and free beaches that are Paradise and Super Paradise to the more secluded Agios Sostis, you’ll be able to find a brilliant stretch of sands to suit you. Ornos Beach is one of the busiest on the island due to its close proximity to multiple hotels.

With a shuttle service to and from the beach as well as an array of restaurants, a day of soaking up the sun is guaranteed. For a family excursion with a healthy dose of watersports, Gialos Beach is ideal. Here, snorkelling and scuba diving are highly popular so if you fancy a little exploration before dinner this place is perfect.

PARTY ‘TIL DAWN

If you’re on the hunt for a party isle, Ibiza is always top of the list… and for good reason. World-class DJ’s, legendary venues and night-long parties are its bread and butter. The island boasts three main clubbing resorts – Playa d’en Bossa, San Antonia and Ibiza Town and all have their fair share of unforgettable nights.

Pacha can be found in Ibiza Town. A real playground for the rich and famous, here you’ll find countless rooms each with varying music from chart and dance to underground and electronic.

Amnesia in San Antonia is just as iconic. With a capacity of 5,000, cannons that pump out dry ice and an upstairs VIP lounge, you’ll be having endless fun here. This club also has its own sound system that is able to submit frequencies that give you the feeling of having a sound massage.

Equally, Mykonos has its fair share of clubs. Cavo Paradiso in Paradise Beach annually invites the top EDM DJ’s to grace the decks and always delivers a heart pumping evening. This open-air club is the perfect party and is best enjoyed with table service, but be sure to book in advance… they sell out fast.

For the LGBT traveller the islands have a wealth of gay clubs and the nightly drag shows and summertime themed parties at Babylon are certain to be a hit. You’ll be throwing some shapes to the likes of house, techno, acid jazz and ambient beats.

Super Paradise Club is popular with both gay and straight holiday makers. Parties are spontaneous, often starting in the afternoon and lasting ‘til the early hours.

Ibiza has a wealth of hotels that are in the perfect location to all the clubs and attractions that bring holiday makers to its sandy shores. Ibiza Town and Play d’en Bossa are two of the most popular ares and both offer plenty of five-star resorts to choose from.

Hard Rock Hotel, Ibiza in Playa d’en Bossa is just one of these. Home to the destination’s highest roof terrace, restaurants serving global favourites and a tranquil spa to unwind in, all guests are catered for.

However, if you want to be close to the party scene then you should definitely stay at Grand Palladium Palace Ibiza Resort & Spa as both Ushuaïa and Space are less than a five-minute walk away.

Mykonos is also home to world-class luxury hotels too, however they tend to be in more secluded locations. Mykonos Grand Hotel & Resort is certain to up the glamour factor with it’s tennis courts, stunning swimming pool and lavish accommodation.

Alternatively, Mykonos Blanc Hotel is perfect for all sun worshippers as it’s just a two-minute walk to the sands of Ornos Beach. The rooms and suites are contemporary and luxe, with a striking white colour scheme and plenty of gorgeous views to take in.

Add into the mix three restaurants serving gourmet dishes, a beach bar for post-dinner drinks, a magnificent spa and a sweat-inducing gym and you’re sorted. Alternatively, if you’re planning on staying in Mykonos Town then Absolut Mykonos Suites & More is fantastic. The chance to stay in a windmill with views of the Aegean Sea? Count us in! 

TAKE A BITE

Eating in Ibiza is certain to have all foodies in paradise. Spanish seafood will have your taste buds tantalised from the moment you arrive. Signature dishes will see you enjoy a cultural taste of the isle with seafood stew and home-produced honey and herb liqueur.

If these local delicacies don’t tickle your fancy then guisat de peix might. Various grilled fish, almost always freshly caught that morning, is cooked in sofrito sauce before large chunks of potato are added. The result is an aromatic dish that will have your hunger well and truly at bay.

International cuisine is also common especially in the eateries by the beach. Whether you’re after some home comforts the morning after a party or a flavoursome meal for a date night with your other half, you don’t have to go far to please the palate. Oh, and if you don’t enjoy a sangria at least once during your getaway then it’s a wasted trip.

Let Mediterranean flavours take centre stage while dining in Mykonos. Delicacies and signature dishes are also top of the menu here, however this time with a spicy kick.

Mousakka is an absolute must, comprised of eggplant and béchamel sauce that’s been baked in the oven. Not a fan? Why not try pastitsio instead? A spicy Greek lasagne, you’re certain to be wanting seconds and thirds. For snacks on the go, or if you’re wanting to feed every member of the family, souvlaki is brilliant.

Skewered meat and vegetables are barbecued to perfection, ensuring a succulent and delicious taste with every bite. And for dessert you simply have to order a baklava. Chopped nuts held together with syrup or honey, encased in layers of filo pastry? Our mouths are watering just thinking about it.

TANS FADE BUT MEMORIES ARE FOREVER

While you may think that Ibiza is just a party destination it also has plenty of history. Above the harbour is the old quarter of Dalt Vila. Home to Catedral de Eivissa, this gothic monument stands proud in Ibiza Town and is just as hauntingly beautiful at night. You can also get back to nature at the Caves of Culleram.

Located in the north of the island, here you can venture through the chambers that make up this place of worship. Visitors still leave offerings to the fertility and fortune goddess Tanit, with more than 600 terracotta images of her found within the walls of this cultural sight.

Alternatively, leave your inhibitions behind and take a boat trip to any of the remote islands found close to the shores of Ibiza. Formentera promises travellers sandy stretches surrounded by pine trees as well as brilliant snorkelling and scuba diving opportunities.

The windmills of Mykonos are one of the most famous monuments on this Greek island. For the best views of them simply go to Mykonos village, often called Chora, and head to Alefkandra harbour.

Plus, if you want to find out more about these structures, one of the windmills has been transformed into a museum so all your questions are bound to be answered. For even more phenomenal backdrops, venture up to Armenistis lighthouse and relish the cerulean waters of the Aegean Sea.

A 20-minute drive from here will see you dive into all the action of the Aegean Maritime Museum with various exhibitions and artefacts to wander through too.

STILL STUCK? WE’VE ANSWERED YOUR MOST BURNING QUESTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO MYKONOS VERSUS IBIZA:

I’m looking to let my hair down with friends in Ibiza. What is a great hotel that is close to all the best clubs?
 
You have a few choices depending on what club you’re most interested in visiting. If you’re in Playa d’en Bossa then Grand Palladium Palace Ibiza Resort & Spa is great. Less than a five-minute walk will take you to the iconic Bora Bora beach club as well as Ushuaïa and Space.

Alternatively, Ibiza Gran Hotel in Ibiza Town is fantastic if you want to be near the likes of Pacha and Amnesia. With a casino and circus acts on-site too it looks like the party will start back at the hotel.
 
How long are the flights to Mykonos and Ibiza?
 
Flights to Ibiza take two-hours and 30-minutes while Mykonos’ flight time is four-hours. Both are direct with British Airways and EasyJet flying to Mykonos and all major airlines travelling to Ibiza.
 
I’m planning a family trip. Which would you recommend out of Mykonos and Ibiza?
 
Why not spend a few days in both? Short flights, plenty of culture programmes and gorgeous beaches ensure that every member of the party will be happy. The hotels also have brilliant family rooms or villas as well as kids’ clubs and swimming pools too.

Agios Ionnis has plenty of quieter resorts to choose from as well as glorious beaches. Plus, it’s close to Mykonos Town and Little Venice so you can explore this Greek isle ‘til your heart’s content. In terms of Ibiza you can’t go wrong with Playa d’en Bossa and San Antonio.

These two towns are the busiest areas in Ibiza and offer a wealth of nearby attractions as well as a multitude of restaurants and cafes.
 
Can you arrange VIP access to Ibiza nightclubs?
 
We can indeed! If you know what club you want to go to then we will do our best to get you on the guestlist and reserve tables where available. This concierge booking service also extends to yacht and car rentals, VIP experiences and private jets so you can really amp up the luxury.

IliasRo

What do you mean when you say “I love you?” Are you sure? You may be 100 percent sincere when you say “I love you,” but what are you trying to say? Get a pen and paper, and complete the following sentence 10 times: “When I say ‘I love you,’ I mean…” Do this now before reading on.

How did you get on? A lot of my students report some difficulty doing this exercise. During one Loveability course, a three-day program I teach which explores the psychology of love and loving relationships, a lawyer named Daniel told the group, “

I must have said ‘I love you’ to my wife at least 10,000 times, but this is the first time I’ve consciously thought about what it means.” Students often report that saying “I love you” can mean something different each time they say it.

The meaning of “I love you” has been tainted for some. For example, Claire, a nurse who attended my first Loveability program, told the group, “I find it difficult to know what ‘I love you’ means because I was raised in a family in which I never heard those words spoken.”

Other students have told me that although their parents said “I love you,” they didn’t feel loved by them. The meaning of “I love you” was distorted by parental behavior that was manipulative, possessive, critical or controlling.

These three magic words—”I love you”—can cause a lot of confusion and pain in romance, too. “My first serious boyfriend left me after I told him, ‘I love you,'” said Paula.

“My last boyfriend said ‘I love you’ only when he wanted sex,” said Julie.

“When my girlfriend says ‘I love you,’ I feel a pressure to say it back to her,” said Kevin.

“Each time my ex-husband was physically violent to me, he’d apologize and say ‘I love you’ in the sweetest way,” said Carole.

“The only girl I’ve ever said ‘I love you’ to betrayed me with my best friend,” said James.

So let’s return to the I Love You Inquiry. When you look at your list of 10 responses, what stands out? How clear were you? What was the most honest thing you said?

When my students complete this inquiry for the first time, they often discover that “I love you” is full of agendas. For example, “I love you” means “I need you” or “I want you” or “I own you” or “Agree with me” or “Now say you love me.” No wonder these three little words can cause so much trouble.

In a moment, I’d like you to do the exercise again, filling in the blank in the following sentence five times: “When I say ‘I love you,’ what I really mean is…” Getting clear on what you really mean will help you to be a truly loving presence in your relationships.

The people you love will feel even more loved by you because your intention to love is conscious and clear. This is so important, because the real meaning of “I love you” is not found in the words themselves, but in the intention behind them.

I Love You

i love youthree dangerous words abused by pop culture, teenagers and American society as a whole. often used by males to get into a woman’s pants BUT-

when a guy says these words to a girl (and truly does mean it) he is basically giving her permission to walk all over him… but he doesn’t care. when he means it, every second he spends with her, every time he hears her voice, every kiss, every laugh, every joke, every argument- is the best moment of his life.

a girl will question his reciprocation constantly for fear of being fooled. but if she truly loves him, she will believe anything and everything he tells her.
when you really mean it, you’ll never get tired of saying or hearing these words.

when your in love, you’d rather hear the other person’s voice than sleep. you care more about them than you care about yourself. you’ll never let the other say they love you more. you always want to be around them and feel happy when your around them. no matter how long you are with them, its never enough- you always want to be around the person. their happiness becomes your priority and you would do anything and everything just to see them smile.

you could go on and on trying to define your feelings for that person but you’ll never find words to accurately explain.

if you find love, you’ll know. don’t be fooled by lust. when love comes around, the hours fly by when you talk to that person.


teenagers- i know you all think your in love but PLEASE do not say it unless you are 104% positive its for real. too many people use these 3 words too lightly and they are beginning to lose their meaning.

if you find someone worth saying these words to, you are very lucky.

I Love You Too

I love youA saying. An over used statement in which society today takes for granted. The usage of the phrase varies deeply. It can range from a simple “Hey baby, I love you, now lets hook up.” to a feeling with when truly inlove, is literally indescribable.

Phycology dictates it as a simple chemical reaction triggered within the confines of your brain, but it is much, much more. It can be in the very epicenter of your soul or it can be your ultimate downfall. Love can either destroy you, or be the very reason of your existence.

Love is what love does. Love is giving someone with the power to obliterate you, but having complete faith and trust in them not to. Love is life.Guy who truly loves a girl: “I love you and I want to be with you forever.”

IliasRo

Every other person that can play music is not a DJ. There are definitely some standards and important aspects that help in deciding whether a DJ is good for a particular event or not.

If you’re blindly hiring a DJ for your upcoming event, you might regret your decision in the future. So, if you want to make the most of your decision, you must keep an eye on the elements that differentiate between a good and a bad DJ.

And there is no need to surf multiple websites as we’ve collected all the important information for you. So, let’s take a look at the important aspects that help in identifying a good and a bad DJ.

Behaviour

The DJ’s behaviour is absolutely an important aspect to decide if they are good for a particular event or not. Therefore, you must consider hiring a DJ from a club where you usually go for fun with your friends. If the DJ isn’t available on your desired dates, you can hire a DJ from reputable platforms like DJ hire Melbourne. In every case, you must always hire a DJ that can keep your guests entertained instead of being rude to them.

Does he read the crowd?

The purpose of hiring a DJ is to keep your guests entertained. Therefore, you must look for a DJ that can read the mood of the crowd. Thus, he’d play specific tracks that can keep the crowd fully active. As a result, nobody would feel bored at the party and they’ll appreciate your arrangements as well. On the contrary, a bad DJ keeps playing some tracks without noticing the response of the crowd.

As a result, the people start moving away from the dancefloor and the party becomes very boring. So, it’s better that you attend 2-3 sessions before hiring a DJ for your upcoming event

Does he love his job?

A DJ, that is not passionate about his work, will ruin your party instead of making it more fun and entertaining. But if you hire a DJ that loves his job, you’d find him fully active and energetic all the time. And he won’t let your guests feel bored at any step of the way.

Conclusion

You must consider hiring a DJ that understands his job very well and that can play several tracks according to the crowd’s behaviour. Moreover, you should hire a DJ that loves his job with all his heart.

IliasRo

‘We lost the love’: UK nightclubs using Covid crisis to reassess scene

In front of an old mechanic’s workshop in Tottenham a collection of trestle tables, a makeshift bar and a pair of palm trees are being battered by an unseasonal downpour as remnants of a tropical storm soak north London.

The wilted greenery and sodden tables are part of Costa Del Tottenham, a tongue-in-cheek temporary outdoor venue in Tottenham Hale, which Stuart Glen and his business partners have created in an empty space next to the warehouse that houses their nightclub, The Cause.

Wearing a matching Hawaiian shirt and shorts combination, a fedora and football scarf, Glen is not exactly dressed for the weather but his outfit screams optimism. He and the rest of the estimated 1.3 million workers who make a living from the nightlife sector have needed that quality in abundance after Covid-19 abruptly stopped the party in March and created the biggest crisis clubbing has ever seen.

“We built a whole area not knowing quite what was going on,” Glen said. “We adapted and took on a whole new team. We went from being a high-volume nightclub to suddenly doing table service.”

Known for its riotous club nights, such as Adonis, The Cause’s new Costa Del Tottenham setup is about relaxed, socially distanced fun with street food and calmer music. “We didn’t want to be a club with constraints.”

Glen knows he is one of the lucky ones. The Cause had outdoor space it could develop. Michael Kill, the chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), estimates that up to 70% of clubs could close by the end of September, with many not having the option of outdoor, socially distanced events.

On Thursday, the NTIA warned of a “financial armageddon” for its members, with 754,000 jobs at risk due to ongoing uncertainty about when nightclubs and venues will be able to reopen.

According to an NTIA survey of 360 businesses, three quarters expect to make at least half of their workforce redundant by September and more than half will not survive more than two months without financial assistance.

Kill said: “There are more than 1,640 nightclubs in the UK. If you take 70% of those away that’s going to be devastating.

“The heritage has been built over decades of work and effort and the government hasn’t taken the time to invest, reinvest, sustain and make sure it’s protected.”

A government spokesperson acknowledged it was a difficult time for nightclubs, but said that throughout the pandemic, nightclubs had had access to state support, including business rates relief, tax deferrals, the job retention scheme and “billions paid in loans and grants”.

But the industry says it has had to fight for that support. The NTIA started the #LetUsDance campaign to pressure the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to include clubs in its £1.57bn arts support package.

“Dance music as a whole being considered a contemporary art form was very much not part of the narrative from DCMS initially,” Kill said. “At the moment, we’ve been left out in the cold and are almost being squeezed out of the marketplace by the government.”

Clubs were eventually included, but they are one of more than 100 cultural sub genres which can apply for £500m in the form of loans and grants. Many have resorted to launching crowdfunder campaigns, while artists, including Wolfgang Tillmans, have raised funds by selling artworks and donating proceeds.

The Cause is surrounded by huge infrastructure projects that are part of a £500m redevelopment of Tottenham Hale. Eventually the warehouse that is home to The Cause will be redeveloped too. It is a typical story in London and other cities around the UK as clubs continue to come under pressure from gentrification.

According to International Music Summit’s annual industry summary, in 2018 the number of late-night venues in the UK dropped by 21%. Between 2005 and 2015 an estimated 1,400 clubs permanently shut in the UK.

But amid the gloom there is hope. Luke Cowdrey, AKA Luke Unabomber, has made a living from DJing, promoting and running venues for more than three decades. Like Glen, he is running an outdoor space, Escape to Freight Island, that has played host to Gilles Peterson, Mr Scruff and Norman Jay since lockdown restrictions were lifted and is, in his words, “more beach bar than Berghain”.

Cowdrey said he believes lockdown has given dance music a chance to reset and reassess, rather than just stare into an existential abyss. “It feels like in dance music there’s been this kind of bass tsunami of whitewashing,” he said. “I’m hoping when we return it will be about showing the roots of our music, which is primarily black, gay music from Chicago, New York and Detroit.”

The illegal rave scene, which has exploded during lockdown as clubs remain shut – there were 500 events in London in July and another 80 in Birmingham over one weekend – is another symptom of the desire from a younger generation to reshape dance music, according to Cowdrey. “There were illegal parties happening in Manchester well before Covid,” he said.

“I think there was a whole time in the 2000s where dance music turned into loads of lads on the wrong drugs, muscling out and it lost the love. I think there’s been a reaction against that.”

Covid-19 is killing Britain’s nightlife, so why isn’t the government doing more to save it?

There are few parts of the economy that have been as badly affected by Covid-19 than nightlife – or to be more accurate, the response to the coronavirus, rather than the disease itself. Nightclubs have been forced to close since March and face another six months of closure.

The ratcheting up of restrictions, and the accompanying fines, for anyone trying to organise alternative events like raves, have killed off any ingenious attempts to meet the intense demand and desire to congregate and have fun.

There are two ways that a government can kill off an industry; passivity or effort. Leaving a sector to quietly dwindle in the face of an emerging threat to its viability is the passive approach.

The problem with that is your goal of extinction can rumble on for years. Far better to put some effort into the execution, pulling all the policy levers at your disposal. Make no mistake this government is attending to the night-time economy, but not in a way that anyone involved wants.

Opportunism is the driver behind the effort to extinguish nightclubs and other outlets that provide, mainly young people, with a venue for enjoying themselves in city centres.

There are few in government who derive any benefit from this sector, personally or politically, and empathy with its fate is about as low as it is possible to measure. The effort in destroying it is sometimes subtle and at other times blatant.

The subtle is exemplified by the chancellor’s recent announcement of not wanting to support jobs that were no longer “viable”. It was initially difficult to discern what this meant until the detail of the winter economy plan was revealed.

Nothing in this plan provided tangible hope for the sector or the thousands employed in it. Many freelancers and others were already excluded from the previous support packages such as the furlough scheme. This plan makes clear that there is no support on offer going forward.

The blatant approach on the other hand is also brutal and leaves any onlooker in no doubt that this is a sector that’s been abandoned. 

Restrictions limiting numbers of customers, even if they are allowed to open, mean it wouldn’t be a commercially viable operation, leaving only those who have deep enough pockets to subsidise a nightclub opening its doors.

Then there was the introduction of a night-time curfew starting at 10pm just to make it absolutely clear what the intention is. There is no other explanation, as the justification for the curfew has no scientific support and the government has been unable to provide a single piece of evidence showing how it would contribute to the suppression of the virus

As with the mass gentrification that came before, this is an attempt to clear city centres of any noisy and unsavoury activity in the evening. Leaving these unviable businesses to be offloaded or seized due to bankruptcy and be picked up by developers and speculators for a song.

The soul of the urban centre will be turned into high end accommodation priced at a level to ensure only the “right” type of occupant is able to afford it.This is all playing out in front of our eyes, but difficult to see due to the distractions we have to navigate just to survive.

We need to think carefully about whether we want a government that has an ambition for us all simply to exist or one that aims for living a life with all its experiences and shades of enjoyment. Nightclubs and the wider night-time economy are not a “nice to have” optional extra, they are for many the only way to feel as though they are alive and not simply existing.

IliasRo

DJ’s Attitude?

Tech house today is a somewhat divisive genre, loved by many, but loathed by some too. There’s no doubting its popularity; it’s played by DJs the world over, from Argentina to Singapore to Croydon.

This is the house genre that ate all other genres, mutating, adapting, and absorbing influences. It’s traveled far from its roots in early/mid-’90s London parties Wiggle and Heart & Soul and The End nightclub.

Eventually, it became the predominant sound in the mega-clubs of Ibiza and the dance music festival circuit. While a purer techno sound has regained ground over tech house in recent years, pre-COVID, tech house was still popular with clubbers worldwide.

In telling a story as long and as global as this one, there will be names, tracks, and labels left out. This is simply because there isn’t the room. In addition, tech house is now a term so malleable that one person’s definition of the genre can be quite different from someone else’s. 

However, we can locate a starting point. In the early ’90s, “Evil” Eddie Richards, widely regarded as the Godfather of tech house, received a cassette from Mr C. On one side it said “tech” and on the other “house.” Like that, tech house was born.

Mr C picks up the story: “When the genre term started, I contacted all the other DJs and producers and said we should all call our remixes ‘tech house remixes.’ Detroit had techno, Chicago had house and I knew the media would bite.” It turns out his instincts were correct. “We all did it and the media bit immediately.”

Richards was one of three residents at the Wiggle party in London with Terry Francis and Nathan Coles. Along with Mr C, Layo and Bushwacka at The End, and the Heart & Soul, Release, and Mr C’s The Drop parties in London, these innovators were on a similar path. 

Their goal was to create a new genre from DJ selections alone. Tech house wasn’t a genre of music in the early ’90s, and there weren’t any tech house records. It was very much an attitude, an approach to DJing.

As a DJing style, tech house emerged as a reaction to two factors. First, the mutation of the early U.K. acid house/rave scene into hardcore and then jungle. Second, was the increasing popularity of handbag house and its very commercial take on house music. These two trends left clubbers who wanted the early acid house vibe looking for a home.

DJs began to play underground records that fell between the twin poles of house and techno.”

Certain DJs began to play underground records that, in the context of a DJ set, fell between the twin poles of house and techno. They pitched down techno records, sped up US garage dubs, and found certain electro and progressive house records that somehow fit.

These DJs looked sought music with that Chicago jack, tunes as emotive as the Detroit techno they loved. They used the larger context of a well-programmed DJ set to redefine certain records as part of a whole.

So tech house began as a sound that coalesced on the dance floors of a few select underground parties. This was a result of the tastes, ethos, and programming decisions of a few key DJs and the demands of their audiences. 

DJ/producer and former (record shop and crucial tech house hub) Swag Records employee Dave Mothersole shares insights about that time. “U.S. labels were popular in the early days,” he says.

“Murk, Astralwerks, Hardkiss, Organico, Bassex, Prescription Underground, [Canada’s] Stickman, lots of Detroit stuff and some of the jacking Chicago stuff on Relief. Big labels like Strictly Rhythm and Tribal got played too, and obscure US labels like Atlas and Index.”

“Two trends left clubbers who wanted the early acid house vibe looking for a home.”

Still, the U.S. wasn’t the whole picture. “Then there was some Euro stuff,” he adds. “Mainly Dutch and Belgian, on labels like Fresh Fruit and Touché and the odd U.K. thing on Soma or whatever.” Mothersole recalls a few outliers as well. “Orlando Voorn, Steve Rachmad, and some German stuff on labels like Klang came in later too.”

Tracks ranged from the funky snares of Calisto’s “Get House” from 1995 to the Detroit-style chords and crisp beats of Animus Amor’s “And On” (1994) on Mr C’s Plink Plonk label.

Janice Robinson’s “Children” (Joe T Vannelli Dub) from 1994 was an example of the kind of records being, for want of a better term, repurposed. It was dark, driving, U.S. garage dub, consisting of a funky b-line, a stab, relentless rolling beats, a few vocal snippets, and a lush pad breakdown.

Flybaby’s “You Must Admit” on Formaldehyd (1993), with its restrained chords, insistent stabs, and squelching 303 drop, was a standout. It crossed the boundaries between genres and picked up plays in the early days. Detroit was a big influence too, with lots of deck-time given to older Transmat and Metroplex classics

“Tech house was a fiercely underground scene that rejected the tropes of the crossover sound.”

Tech house was a fiercely underground scene that rejected the manipulative tropes—big piano breaks, euphoric melodies, and diva vocals—of the contemporary crossover sound of uplifting and handbag house.

Tech house DJs used a subtler palette and generated emotional content using elements more nuanced than major-chord arms-in-the-air breakdowns. From its inception, the scene defined itself as much by what it wasn’t—trance, handbag, hard techno, hard house—than what it was. Mothersole also notes that two distinct sounds emerged in the early/mid-’90s. Wiggle concentrated on raw, stripped-down rhythms while Heart & Soul went in a more Detroit and breaks direction.

A Sense of Community

In its focus on the music rather than the DJ, warehouse locations, and sense of community, the U.K. tech house scene carried the torch for the best of acid house. It did so while jettisoning that movement’s worst excesses. Tech house emerged as a stripped-down, updated version of the egalitarian rave ethic. The scene dedicated itself to the finest underground music, handpicked from across the 4/4 spectrum.

Record shops were crucial in the growth and spread of the genre too. The much-missed Liz Edwards ran the Swag Records shop in Croydon which became a vital center in the emerging London tech house scene. Producers and DJs like Francis, Jazzy M, Richard Grey, Grant Dell, and well-known names like Colin Dale and Carl Cox all served behind the counter.

“What started as an approach to DJing morphed into a genre, with rules and boundaries.”

It was only a matter of time before producers and DJs began to make music specifically defined as tech house. Swag Records became home to several tech house labels. These included Swag, Funknose, Surreal, London Housing Benefit, Pirate Radio, and Uhuru Beats.

They hosted U.K. trailblazers like Asad Rizvi, the Strangeweather crew, Gideon Jackson, Richard Grey, Spincycle, Mothersole and Bushwacka as well as the Wiggle DJs and many others. Tech house labels sprang up around the world, and more promoters began to put on tech house parties.”

Rule and Boundaries Emerge

By the late ’90s, what had started as an approach to DJing had morphed into an actual genre, with certain musical rules and boundaries. During the mid-to-late ’90s first golden age of tech house, various U.K. labels staked out their interpretation of the sound.

See, for example, the back catalog of Surreal, Reverberations, and Drop Music. Others, like the superb U.K. techno label Pacific, simply happened to be releasing music that fitted the template. By the early ’00s, the U.S. was contributing large quantities of dance-floor-ready tech house too. This came via imprints like Red Melon, Tango, Detour, DoubleDown, Movim, and others.

“At the start of the 2010s, the tech house template was set to conquer
dance floors worldwide.”

The 2000s saw the birth of dubstep, grime, electroclash, and the steady resurgence of minimal techno and progressive house. Of these, it was only minimal and progressive house that had much impact on tech house. For a decade, tech house simply absorbed the influences around it and grew ever bigger. Producers like Tiefschwarz, Booka Shade, Luciano, Rodriguez Jr., Steve Bug, and many others all developed their takes.

Many pioneered a more synth-based, European-flavored sound that proved extremely popular. M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade’s 2005 classic “Body Language” represented a codification of the sound. It was a clean, restrained, and efficient distillation of certain elements of the tech house template. Likewise, Steve Lawler’s “21st Century Ketchup” from 2008 epitomized a more minimal influenced take on the genre, ideal for big rooms.

At the start of the 2010s, the refined tech house template was set to conquer dance floors worldwide. The Hot Creations and Toolroom labels, among others, continuing the process of defining global tech house and taking it to the masses. DJs like Solomun, the Martinez Brothers, Patrick Topping, and Marco Carola embraced this streamlined take on tech house. Its effective synth riffs and simple basslines slowly took over Ibiza

“As tech house went global, it peaked.
This irony was not lost on many of the original players.”

Inevitably, as tech house went global, it peaked. Over a period of years—exactly which years depend in part on your taste in house music—the genre narrowed into a set of production tropes. While hugely successful, these eventually began to feel a little tired.

From those first trail-blazing labels and tracks back in the ’90s, certain musical ideas became hackneyed. This was the case with the “bmm-tss-bmm-tss” Chi-town drums, stripped-down tracks, polished percussion, and relentless techno bass lines.

As more producers took to creating that particular sound, imitators imitated imitators. As a result, much of the genre became homogenized. This sidelined the subtle variation and broad influences characterizing the original movement. This irony was not lost on many of the original players who had created the scene in the exact opposite spirit.

A Slow Distillation

Tech house, through its global popularity, slowly distilled down to a set of repeatable ideas and in the process, it gradually lost much of what had originally made it exciting. For many producers and DJs, it simply became a funky hat-loop, a two-note bassline, an arrangement, and little more. 

Originator Terry Francis: “It just got bland really. I was never a great lover of the term tech house anyway. The idea of tech house was never formulaic; it could be breakbeat or deep or whatever. It just had to have a certain groove to it. Now it seems to be loopy and formulaic rather than free.” By the mid-2010s, a media and popular backlash against tech house had begun.

“The true legacy of tech house is,
much like its original spirit,
something both subtle and special.”

But it wouldn’t be fair to say that there’s no good tech house around anymore. There’s quality music in every genre and there’s still plenty of great tech house around if you’re prepared to look for it. It remains the sonic weapon of choice for many parties worldwide and for many DJs, a few choice tech house tunes can work a treat in sets that encompass other flavors of 4/4.

However, there’s little doubt that tech house has, at least for the moment, creatively peaked, After twenty-five years, the vague area that lies between techno and house is thoroughly mined for ideas. Perhaps too much experimentation in that middle ground has led to a popular resurgence in a more purist house or techno approach. Maybe things will circle around again.

The true legacy of tech house is, much like its original spirit, something both subtle and special. DJs reacting to audiences defined the genre. It was born in a community of dancers, DJs, producers, record shops, and promoters, created in the ashes of acid house. 

For a few years, it demonstrated how powerful a community-led scene can be. Whatever your opinion of this week’s tech house releases, the genre remains a clear example of the power committed DJs and clubbers have to drive and shape musical development.

IliasRo

Drugs, sleeplessness, isolation: the downside of being a dance musician

Afterparties, fame, a rockstar lifestyle: Above & Beyond’s Tony McGuinness says he would trade it all for just one night of solid sleep.

“Partying with people back at your hotel for three hours compared to getting some sleep: there’s just no competition,” he says. “Jet lag and being unable to sleep when you need it, this is the single biggest danger in our job.”

Last year, the Guardian reported on the dark side of touring – insomnia, anxiety and other mental illnesses exacerbated by an unstable life on the road, the breakups and destruction of personal relationships from inorganic human connection – and the problem is just as acute, if not more so, for DJs.

“The difference [between the music cultures] is the speed at which a DJ can tour,” McGuinness says. (He’s toured as one-third of the progressive trance trio for more than a decade.) “You have this completely flexible timescale that’s not available in rock’n’roll at all, and you’re often on in the middle of the night.”

“DJs finish shows at 3am or later,” adds Curt Cameruci of trap duo Flosstradamus. “Then we have to go back to the hotel and try to get a little sleep before an 8am flight, but we’re so amped up from the show that it’s hard to come down.”

Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to a compromised immune system, increased levels of anxiety and depression, memory and cognitive impairment, and, in extreme cases, a disassociation from reality. For Cameruci, it’s “turned into straight-up confusion”.

McGuinness recently had a stark reminder of the sobering toll this can take. After several days of touring, he flew to his best friend’s wedding in Italy, where he was slated to give a speech. “I wasn’t nervous at all; I had just sung at the Hollywood Bowl,” he recalls.

“But what I hadn’t accounted for was that I was sleep deprived. I felt like I was going to fall down and faint – I found it very difficult to speak, to feel calm, to say what I wanted to say.

“The thought flashed through my head that I could sing at the Hollywood Bowl, but I couldn’t speak at my best friend’s wedding,” he continues. “Sleep is an incredibly valuable thing that you begin to obsess about.”

Getting half of the National Sleep Foundation’s recommended sleep a night – seven to nine hours for an adult – is a mainstay of life on the road. “I’ll sleep two hours at night and two hours during the day,” says Israeli dubstep producer Borgore. “My life is a constant jet lag.” He has adjusted, but “it’s not a good adjustment”.

For touring musicians, sleep is often found in buses and planes, usually the only spots that offer space for rest. “I have friends who can’t sleep on planes, but I don’t know if I could tour if I couldn’t do that because that’s where I sleep,” says electro-house producer Steve Aoki.

You have to train yourself to sleep anywhere, he adds. But even being in a hotel room with a real bed is psychologically and physically damaging in extended runs. “Being on planes and in hotel rooms all the time can be very difficult on the body and brain,” Aoki says.

According to Moby, these artificially created spaces – “unhealthy, toxic spaces”, he says – provide a slow, cumulative discomfort for the human body. “

When I’m home, I’m in a space that I have chosen. And they’re healthy spaces, they’re filled with comfortable things. But when you go on tour, you’re constantly putting yourself into a space that someone else has designed. And the last criteria is: is it comfortable?”

The platinum-selling musician and producer behind 1999’s Play, the highest-selling electronica album of all time, no longer wishes to tour. After 26 years, he’s had enough.

“I’ve never gone on a tour and not experienced anxiety, depression and insomnia,” says Moby. “In the early days, it seemed like a small price to pay. But at this point in my life, I can’t in good conscious punish myself and my body and my mental health out of obligation to go on tour.”

At first, touring was an exciting novelty for Moby. But after five years, things turned increasingly dark. “I slowly admitted to myself that I hated touring,” he recalls.

“You can only tell yourself so many times that you’re happy and grateful before the brain interrupts and says: ‘Oh by the way, we’re miserable. We’re lonely and isolated and anxious and depressed.’”

He’s aware that many people think that the rich and famous should be grateful for their good fortune and not complain. Nonetheless, wealth and success do not alter basic human needs.

“To pretend otherwise is why so many touring musicians become alcoholics and addicts and eventually die,” he says. “If you look at the mortality rates of people who tour, it is an incredibly dangerous profession – people die really young.”

According to UC Berkeley’s department of demography, a chart depicting the median age of musicians’ deaths by musical genre puts electronic/disco/funk in fifth place out of 14, with rock coming in at sixth; it is topped by punk, metal and rap, with hip-hop proving to have the highest mortality rate. What drives electronic music so high up the scale?

“Bands [usually] tour around album cycles – DJs just don’t stop touring,” says Aoki, who since 2007 has regularly played around 200 shows a year.

“We’re like a pinball, free and easy to fly around the world,” says McGuinness. “These days you’re [often] just carrying a pair of headphones and an SD card. It’s very mobile, so we can do more shows that are farther apart. A tour bus determining the pace of your travel is a restriction that’s lifted from the DJ world.”

More shows mean more stressors on the human body. “The way that the body and the brain respond to discomfort is with stress,” Moby explains. “When we are in subtly stressful environments, the stress builds up and the consequences on a more benign level are irritability and a diminished immune system, but over time it can be mental illness and physical illness.”

It also means increased isolation, one of touring’s most damaging aspects: “If you are alone [as a DJ], you are the band,” says Aoki.

Before Borgore’s tour manager, Justin, joined him five years back, he felt incredibly alone on the road. “In the beginning of my career, the first couple years, I thought maybe I should quit,” Borgore recalls. “I missed my family. It’s very easy to fall into depression in this industry and it’s important to have my family there to support me.” To combat that loneliness, he flies out family members to most of his gigs

When it’s not possible to have someone at your side, however, isolation can take over. “You’re by yourself in your hotel room, then you get in a car with your tour manager and drive to the venue, maybe do some interviews, and you see someone from the record company, and you stand on stage in front of 50,000 people a night, and you go back to your empty dressing room and empty hotel room – you can spend quite literally months without having comforting, human contact,” Moby explains.

For Borgore, this feeling creeps in on flights. “You’re sitting on a plane for eight hours with your thoughts,” he says. For McGuinness, it’s felt on sleepless nights. “Never is that more apparent than when you’re lying in a hotel room trying to sleep and you realize that the reason you can’t is because of your job,” he adds. “It gives you a lot of very dark head time.”

McGuinness says social media can give the illusion that personal relationships are healthy when in reality, they’re often faltering. “[Touring] doesn’t destroy them, but a lot of people get bored when you’re not there for their birthday party or their engagement. Your friends’ lives continue without you, and when you come back they’ve all moved on.”

He notes: “Facebook makes you feel like you’re still in touch with those people, but there’s no question that you’re not, at least not in a face-to-face way.” Like Borgore, McGuinness makes a pointed effort to arrange steady, real-life interaction with friends and family.

Research conducted by the US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health compared two forms of isolation: social disconnectedness, defined by a lack of social relationships and low levels of participation in social activities; and perceived loneliness. It concluded that the two are not mutually exclusive and each is proven to negatively affect a person’s health. In combination, the effects are overwhelmingly detrimental.

Yet there’s a third form of isolation not as apparent as the others: isolation from nature. “You can also spend months without having any contact with the natural world,” says Moby. Sunlight increases levels of serotonin, a mood-lifting chemical in the brain, and a lack of exposure can turn into or influence mental illness.

“I try to avoid dark places – I don’t mean figuratively dark, I mean literally dark. The seasonal affective disorder that comes from touring northern Europe in the wintertime can be pretty intense.”

Like seasonal affective disorder – a mood disorder related to changes in seasons – touring artists can also feel a mood imbalance from changes in timezone. “My mood is all over the place; I feel like something is affected in my circadian rhythm,” Cameruci describes. “Sometimes I’ll come home and I’ll be really happy, but there are times I’ll come home and be really sad.”

Mental health professional John C Buckner describes this phenomenon as post-performance depression, which is a struggle in adjusting to the contrast between the highs of a successful show and the anticlimactic low that often follows. “It usually takes two to three days to become human again,” says Cameruci. “But then we leave four days later [and the cycle continues].”

Isolation and circadian imbalances can impact the ability to maintain relationships. “You come home after a great tour, and the first couple of days you don’t really feel like hanging out with your friends because you just feel miserable,” McGuinness admits. “You’re missing out on an important part of human interaction, which is the ability to be a real friend to people – it has a real effect on who you’re able to be in the relationships you want to have.”

When it comes to romance, Borgore says it’s necessary to be in a relationship with someone who understands the touring industry. Aoki agrees: “With relationships, you need physical, present time to nurture them,” he adds. “Whoever you get into a relationship with has to understand the lifestyle and the pace.”

Take for instance, the Corstens: Ferry Corsten, a Dutch DJ-producer who helped pioneer trance music, works directly alongside his wife, Lia, on his career and business. “It’s easier for her to understand the nature of our work [as DJs] because she can easily adapt to the constant change and hectic life,” he says.

They’re a team, but with two small children, long stretches away from home can be hard. “A couple of years ago, [my seven-year-old daughter] Gabby was crying so bad that I flew back from the other side of the world, just to be with her for a few hours,” Corsten recalls.

“It can be tough for me as a mother to see my daughter missing Ferry,” Lia adds, “as the grief is real and at times heartbreaking

To combat distance, Corsten takes time to eat breakfast with his daughter via FaceTime, and often shows her to the crowd and vice versa during shows. She’s at an age where she’s old enough to understand her father’s career, the Corstens say, but their almost two-year-old son Seb is still too young to feel his absence.

From family to friends to personal matters, touring affects all reaches of a musician’s life. But it can be just as rewarding as it is harmful on physical and mental health. “I can’t imagine going to the same boxed office every day from nine to five,” Borgore notes. “I think I’d go mental.”

There are many ways to stay healthy on the road: Aoki meditates, which is a “great tool for resetting and finding calmness in chaos”, he says. “I try to bring all the elements [on the road] that keep me happy and healthy at home – in my rider, I have fruits and veggies and protein.”

Cameruci practices yoga: “I’ll put my feet in the grass to ground myself in the location I’m in [to adjust to the timezone].” Moby finds 90 minutes a day for exercise – no matter what. “Exercise, yoga, meditation, diet and sobriety: without those things on tour, I’d end up a complete basket case,” he says.

One can take excellent care of the brain and the body, but it’s not always enough to combat touring’s daily stressors and temptations. “There are distractions on the road and distractions are what keep you from walking in a straight line,” says Aoki. “That’s where your mental balance gets skewed.”

Moby notes the constant pressure, from drugs to upholding an illusion of happiness. Cameruci adds: “It’s the pressure of the shows itself; it’s having to be social and entertaining the people around you, having to put on a happy face.” It was easier for him and Flosstradamus partner Josh Young in their 20s, he describes, yet now that “we’re getting older, it’s taxing us”.

It’s not easy to take a break when there’s a demand for your brand and your music. “I try to talk sense to whoever is planning our schedule that touring [too much] is not good for us, but it’s hard for people to empathize with that,” admits McGuinness. “I felt very proud of Avicii for saying: ‘You know what? This has been great, but I need my life back.’”

In March, the 26-year-old EDM superstar announced his departure from touring, writing a letter to fans that said: “I have too little left for the life of a real person behind the artist.” Avicii’s decision was a very real reminder of fame’s darker side – “it was something I had to do for my health”, he told Billboard.

“It was almost quite shocking – the decision he made to stop – but understandable when you’re involved in it,” McGuinness says. “It’s an issue for us all.”

Avicii’s departure from touring was met with more criticism than compassion: Thump wrote an article mocking him, comparing his letter to “business studies students who’ve watched an episode or 10 too many of The Apprentice and have decided that they’ll retire at the age of 35 after 14 years at Goldman Sachs”.

It’s an attitude that points to a problem with acceptance of mental health not only within the DJ community, but within the entire music and touring industry. “No one should ever be criticized for taking legitimate steps for self-care,” says Moby. “I simply am not willing to sacrifice health and wellbeing because ultimately, that’s all we have.”

IliasRo