19/08/2022
Really interesting take from JooF - the struggle be real these days. I don’t think I’ll ever adapt to the popularity contest the industry leans towards. Just have fun and love the creativity that’s coming out - there’s wealth in that too!
Social Media struggle
Coming from the days of hidden DJ’s booths and no camera phones with no attention to the DJs created a safe space for me, especially being introvert and a person that doesn’t enjoy the limelight. As my career grew I was forced in front of cameras for artwork and press releases, something I could just about deal with as it was an occasional occurrence, I could then get back to the job in hand in dark clubs and focus on being a DJ or the comfort of being locked away in my studio.
Then came along social media that completely changed the whole music industry, no matter how good a DJ or producer you were, careers were born off the back of how many likes and plays you generated online from glossy pics and videos. This has turned into a buisness with artists touring with a professional photographers documenting their personal lifestyle along with sexy and muscle pictures that create those clicks and likes.
This is the polar opposite of what I’m about and somehow I’ve had to start adapting and giving something. I don’t feel the need to document my lifestyle, nor even think about pulling my phone out every few minutes to create social stories. I believe in focusing on your art and giving the crowd a magical performance, producing forward thinking productions and high quality DJ mixes/radio shows that give an everlasting timeless impression/memory rather than a candy shot picture that gets lost and buried in a social timeline.
I feel for the next generation trying to break through all this social media noise, but there are many DJ’s/producers like me that have found their comfortable flow that seems to resinate with people online, they come to your pages as they are also music lovers and gives an alternative view and incite to your personality.
We’re all humans and enjoy variations in content, the fun stuff, lifestyle through to more serious content makes our scrolling more interesting, if you find your comfortable flow people will keep coming back for your unique content, don’t pressure yourself to be like others, just be yourself is the main lesson that I learned after a very bumpy uncomfortable start.
To accompany this post, the best selfie you’ll get from me backstage a Boom festival.
