By popular request, we’re back with another article that shares some of the latest, most essential DJ and producer video content from around the web. As in the past, the films featured all focus on various elements of DJ culture, including performances, production interviews, spotlights on rising clubbing scenes, and more. Take the rest of your Friday off to kick back and enjoy the videos inside!
DJ Morse Code Shares His Tone Play Routines (4:11, DJ City)
Tone play, the art of mixing two tracks together by mirroring rhythm and tones, has become incredibly enhanced with controllers. Watch DJ Morse Code show off and narrate some of his cooler tone play routines in this short video from our friends over at DJ City.
Avicii In The Studio: Making of “Dancing In My Head” (1:12:46, Future Music)
Swedish producer Tim Berg has had a massive career recently touring the world as Avicii, but it’s always nice to get to see one of the larger names in the DJ world sit down in the studio and work on a track. As much as I don’t care for “Dancing In My Head”, seeing a professional dance producer show off a significant part of his workflow is a cool. It might feel like a pretty elementary workflow to some, but if you’re looking for advice on producing EDM pop tracks, this is your guy.
The Beat Junkies: For the Record (14:18, LRG)
Odds are most DJs are familiar with the World Famous Beat Junkies, a classic hip-hop DJ turntablism crew made up of J-Rocc, DJ Babu, D-Styles, DJ Rhettmatic, DJ What?!, Mr. Choc, Icy Ice, Curse, DJ Shortkut, Melo-D, Symphony and DJ Havik. This short documentary profiles the crew, “with contributions from the likes of A Trak, Q Bert and Peanut Butter Wolf – with DJ Jazzy Jeff commenting that ‘there are no DJ’s out today that haven’t been influenced by the Beat Junkies at all.'” If you’ve never really checked out the Beat Junkies before, this is a great introduction.
FaltyDL Chats at a Record Store (4:10, Pitchfork)
Pitchfork seems to consistently get interviews with up-and-coming producers in record shops, so it’s not that surprising to see them put out a video with FattyDL hanging out in TurntableLab in New York City. Watch it to hear him talk about walking that fine line between playing your own tracks and playing someone else’s when trying to rock a room.
Gaslamp Killer: Listen Deep (6:02, noMSG)
Flying Lotus has an incredible collection of artists in his Brainfeeder and Low End Theory crews (see our interview with Tokimonsta, also in the gang), and Gaslamp Killer is one of the central pillars. Hyper-passionate in his craft from production to performance, GLK shares his insights into what’s made him one of the most interesting rising stars in the LA scene.
The Warehouse Project (12:05, Pitchfork)
While many of our readers in England are likely well aware of the Warehouse Project in Manchester, for many of our other readers this documentary will be an awesome introduction to the phenomenon. The project is a yearly twelve week season of club nights that transform a massive unused space into one of the best club experiences in the UK, bringing artists from around the world to the unique venue. Hear the story of the project, as told by its team and DJs Four Tet, Nicolas Jaar, Skream, Diplo, and more.
DJ Derek (18:14, Grand Finale)
(watch the second part of “DJ Derek”) When many people think of older DJs, they often imagine a more job-oriented mobile DJ than late-night club rocker. But this documentary follows one of the best examples bucking this stereotype, Britian’s DJ Derek, a master of reggae selection. One of the best observations of Derek’s is his realization that he works at familiar hours – “a 9-to-5-er, but nine in the evening to five in the morning” – which resonates true with every night owl DJ.
H?SHTAG$ – Don’t Call It #PostDubstep (11:28, Red Bull Music Channel)
Last second addition: this series by Red Bull is focused around internet-based music genres, and this episode does a good job of trying to shed some light onto the nebulous “bass music” genre that’s cropped up all over in the last two years. The artists and industry heavyweights interviewed in this one are excellent – Mount Kimbie, Bondax, as well as Thristian bPM from Boiler Room and Andrew Ryce of Resident Advisor.
Watch More DJ/Producer Documentaries Now:
Round One | Round Two | Round Three | Round Four | Round Five | Round Six
What DJ, producer, or genre-related films have you seen in the past few months that really impressed you? Let us know in the comments below.
