Disc Jockey

19/12/2013    Cover design, Curating, Design 2D, Esc.rec., Publications

For the Disc Jockey compilation, I invited a diverse selection of artists to deliver a track about DJ’s. Not for DJ’s, not by DJ’s, not even with DJ’s… just about DJ’s. The result is a caleidoscopic impression of the world of the Disc Jockey as seen through the eyes of the featured artists.

It seems there are many approaches to producing a track about DJ’s. And there are positive, negative and neutral points of view on this phenomenon represented here. In fact, even the word Disc Jockey is open for multiple interpretations. Just consider the many differences between radio DJ’s, party DJ’s and turntablists alone…

Not to go into detail about every single track, but to illustrate the broad variety of approaches… Some artists use lyrics to get their point across, others use samples, records and sounds. Some honor known DJ’s with a tribute, others use parody to strike ‘m down without mercy. Some emphasize the physical and auditory qualities of playing records, others dive into the culture surrounding DJ’s. Some have allowed themselves to be inspired by DJ’s (or one specific DJ), others use existing songs about DJ’s as raw source material in an abstract composition. In some of the tracks the link with DJ’s is crystal clear, in others you might have to do some research first (track titles are a good place to start in most cases).

‘De DJ Is Een Mietje’ (The DJ Is A Sissy) by Bedhelm was actually the trigger to finally execute the idea for this compilation, which had been slumbering in my mind for years. That makes this one of the few tracks that wasn’t specifically created for this release.

At first I was unhappy with the fact that I didn’t succeed in making this a limited vinyl release, like I originally planned. Apparently all distributors recoil at such a variety of genres and styles on one album. I personally lacked the budget to cope with the financial risks involved. But that being said, I’m thrilled with how this compilation turned out! In contrast to the response of the approached distributors, the excellent blend of well known and more obscure names in many different genres, works extremely well for me and makes me proud. It feels more like a complete picture this way.

Besides initiating, curating and releasing this compilation about the DJ, I also designed the cover art for it. Enjoy!