What's in a name?

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I've noticed a lot of ironic DJ names appearing on posters/flyers in recent years

DJ Seinfeld
Ross from Friends
DJ Absolutely Useless
DJ Hutton Report

(only one of these is made up)

These are names that bring attention to themselves as being totally arbitrary and meaningless. Does that suggest something about the status of the DJ, or of dance music in general? Or is it just the current vogue, as meaningless as names like Hype and EZ were?
 

john eden

male pale and stale
I quite like it. I think it reflects the realisation that DJ-ing is a lowkey fun thing that won't lead to superstardom for most.

A former Dissensan goes by DJ Set.

So on flyers you see: DJ Set (DJ Set)
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Like when rappers are called MC Philip Schofield.

Too embarrassed to do it without a comical eyebrow raised.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Otoh I see Eden's pov

There is a sort of egalitarian impulse (or pretension) in dance music now which I applaud insofar as it isn't just a bunch of scowling white blokes on the decks now
 

mvuent

Void Dweller
That's my read of it

People embarrassed to be DJs

Embarrassed to be alive in fact

exactly.

having an unflashy, dryly sarcastic dj name seems to me like a very white, middle class hipster thing to do. it's like something i would do tbh. (not saying that stereotype applies to everyone who might have a dj name along these lines of course.)
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
You're right mvuent

It's what we would do

And if it was up to ppl like us, would jungle or garage or grime exist?
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
It goes beyond just using your real name too

You could be Harry Johnson but no you've got to be DJ Sherlock Series 3
 

luka

Well-known member
Reynolds likes talking about names as an indicator of whether a scene is going to be good or not. Talking about how names in jungle were cool but techstep names were rubbish for example.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Here are some old tech step names:

Trace, Ed Rush & Optical, Nico, Fierce, Teebee, Dom & Roland, Doc Scott and Technical Itch

We note the seriousness creeping in, the portentous note being struck.

Ed rush is the best name there probably and it sounds like a relic from hardcore. (Doc Scott is second best cos its short and it rhymes.)

The names in tech step now are clear indicators of how nerdy and constipated its practitioners are:

Evol Intent, Apex, Black Sun Empire, Dreadnought, Klute, Noisia, Phace, Spor and Timecode.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
"Photek" is an archetypal tech step name.

I like it though.

It's a bit like an Aphex Twin title. Which again, is probably telling.
 
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