The general consensus pretty much seems to be that DJs are a bunch of talentless jukeboxes who do little more than press play on other people’s music, wave their hands in the air like imbeciles, and pretend to push buttons, right?
But is that really the way it is? DJ, after all, is a term that means different things to different people. We can all agree that the turntablists competing at the DMC Championships are certainly displaying uniquely honed skills.
Most of the scorn these days is directed at popular EDM DJs we see heading the bills of monstrous music festivals around the world. But even they must be doing something to command their million-dollar “performance” fees, right?
To get to the bottom of this pertinent music industry issue, BuzzFeed decided to send their roving reporter down to a top American EDM festival to find out what this whole DJing business is really all about.
After asking some of the punters, who all pretty much agreed it has to do with “pushing buttons”, BuzzFeed‘s Ryan Bergara caught up with festival headliners Dada Life, who explained what it is DJs are actually doing underneath all those lasers.
Bergara then embarks on an intensive, week-long training camp to see if anybody can be a successful DJ with just a little practice, culminating in a performance in front of a real live crowd, who then give him feedback on just how he went.
