So about that nightmares 'headbangerz' party

[d.code]

Im sure alot of you didnt make it out to see dave the dummer and the geezer live- along with alot of Tonontos more 'ravey' and 'acid' techno DJs (including my self on the bill- but I dont want to talk about my style here- and please dont pigeon hole me as a 'unintelligent' DJ because of the events that I do spin at)

But this party- made me wonder about toronto even more.
At any given moment- there was 10 people dancing off the 500 or so that was upstairs. I was on first- so I couldnt really test out other forms of techno on large crowds. I always figured that party kids loved acid techno and that super hard relentless techno (misstress barabra is groovey and minimal compared to unabomber). But this party had some extreame sketch about it. Mind you alot of the vibe at the larger parties- dosnt really have less than half to do with the music.

Veriety maybe?


I wonder about the upcoming thomas krome show. He plays hard.. who is going to show? How will the turn out be and what will the vibe be like?

A week after the hardbangerz party I had the pleasure of closing a party in a nice little warehouse full of what would be called the same crowd. I was suposed to play from 5 to 6:30 but ended up playing intill around 8 or so because people were still left at the end of the night- going and groovin' to what ever I felt like throwing down. It was a wonderfull experince (which I cant stop thanking Brad for giving me the chance to play) and it has been some thoughts in my mind up the prioriterty list.

I wish I could compare these two partys (headbangerz + hardknocked 3) too some a small techno party and a large techno party. Unfortuneatly the latter isnt possible. Reading that 'techno in miami' thread and hearing how people are seemling unimpressed with THAT line up- I wonder what techno fans are left in this city?

New names and headliners would be great- but if you've never heard the name before- chances are your not going to go. Im not offering any suggestions or ways to fix what ever promblem we have- because Id rather test them in real life and not in theory and discussion.

Im not sure whare Im going with this- but seeing as this topic has been done to death here- Im can only offer what .02 I have, roll a joint and let what ever I said possibly sink and mull in your heads and my own.

Pleasent somethings humans!

Cheers
Tyler
-engine

 

[d.code]

P.S. Im really sick and delerious right now- so ignore the bad spelling (wich you should already know that I am prone too) and odd gramar.

 

[Adam Duke]

I WANT SOMETHING FRESH!

I love the 'tried & true's', but I think it's about time that we opened up to some of the amazing talent the world has to offer.

i think toronto peoples are ready for new stuff too....but they need to be made well aware that it's happenin' and WHY it's so fresh. People won't blindly show up to new things...they need to be coerced and informed! It'll happen, tyler - but as with everything in this world you have to work your but off to MAKE it happen.

@m.

 

[ElektroTekBabe]

DUH! You want fresh an amazing talent? I think Toronto peeps are spoiled in my opinion. AMAZING Legowelt is appearing on Saturday and you don't think there's anything new and exciting in T.? Elektro is finally making its appearance in Toronto, and you guys are looking for something new and exciting? HELLO?!?

 

[Adam Duke]

electro has been around since Kraftwerk.

And legowelt ain't all that hot shit in my opinion, but I'm glad someone is bringing it to a larger audience.

now if only they'd learn how to advertise it better.....

@m.

 

[ElektroTekBabe]

Well DUH! again...


Just because Elektro has been around for over 25 years does NOT mean that it has been popular in Toronto for that long. In fact, Elektro has only been coming around to T. recently....hence "FRESH"


***FYI...Kraftwerk are NOT the originators of Elektro. ***

 

[Destro Sanchez]

please enlighten me on how to advertise it better, @m?

put a little yellow logo on the back so I can post it in the upcoming events forum??





Destro

 

[tEkKiD]

yeah adam enlighten us....


look who's stirrin' the pot now!!! hahahha..... don't mind me , just pokin my nose in on a little altercation of views that i didn't start for once.....


anyhow, hopefully i will see you out on Saturday children.....

 

[Adam Duke]

umm...yeah, advertising through Tribe is the only way to really reach the party people in toronto....

dude - stickers, posters, set up interviews with magazines (NOW, EYE, Toronto Star, Vice, Trucker), track someone down at Much Music (hey you never know), speakers corner, EC! (kidding..kind of), radio spots, get sponsors to help in advertising (music stores, gear stores, clothing, magazines)....


...there are TONS of ways to get your product out there. BE IMAGINATIVE. Don't expect people to just flock to your party because they hear the word 'electro' and wonder what it means - throwing events expands well beyond arranging for the sound, venue and musicians to show. Promoting a party is HARD WORK, and if you really believe in your product that much, your hard work WILL eventually pay off.

THAT is what I'm getting at.

ETB, who started electo?......?
Kraftwerk are responsible for being main players in evolving to techno, but they were really the pioneers of taking this new electronic technology and breeding it with a slight pop mentality. I don't know about you, but that sure as hell sounds like electro to me......or are you talking about 'new school electro' now?

@m.

 

[Adam Duke]

If you're talking it being coined 'electro' by the media, then you'd be referring to Kraftwerk being mixed with old hip hop. But seriously, today's electro has more in common with Kraftwork than hip hop though.

@m.

 

[Destro Sanchez]

posters- 1000+ are littering queen street, bloor, college, yonge etc...but with all the competion most of them last no longer than 3 hours before someone else comes along...but we still put em up.

it's in Eye magazine (and someone told me its their pick of the weekend..dont know for sure tho)

also, it's in NOW magazine as well.

I contacted New Music and some other people I know who have much music connections. They sent me a reply saying that if they have the time and manpower they would be interested in doing something on this style of music. still no word yet. hard people to get a hold of- especially for show ideas!

lets see, some of the places I/we have advertised at:

Element for 6 weeks in a row now!! (I practically have a bed downstairs beside the speaker!) Clonk, Building Blocks, Peroxide, Touch Sundays, NASA thursdays, labrynth lounge, synthpop goes the world preparty, clean parties at the mockingbird, that sugar party you were spinnin at, bobbito, electric workers, and some even ended up at the Docks last night (thanks again girl!)

plus there is so many more that I can't even think of...

we sent posters to montreal, detroit, chicago, new york etc...
people from Detroit are phoning for tickets. someones making the trip from Edmonton...I think this party may attract more out of town people than usual for a toronto party.

I think we have done a decent job at marketing. Considering our limited budget and time.

Thanks for some of the tips (maybe I should give Ben a call up at the Star)

You are a good marketer, and it shows. Two years ago I only knew who KF was from the London days, now I see you two playing everywhere, all the time. kudos.

re: kraftwerk.

you two don't go starting a 'who invented electro' thread...its a never ending circle

peace
Destro

 

[Adam Duke]

^^^ ha ha!! I know...

As for the promotions, I guess I've been staring at my new mixer too much - I haven't seen a flyer or poster yet! I only learned about it through a few message boards...
My intention was only to help and not seem 'preachy'....I hope I didn't come off that way. i want nothing more in this city than some new vibes - we work a whack of electro into our sets too, so we definitely want that area to grow musically also. I'd like to see some acts like New York has, start up doing shows!

Vive la Revolution!

(i just downloaded Legowelt's 'Do You Really Care?', and i hate to say it, but...i like it. )


@m.

 

[beaker]

everybody here is right, in a way.

new and fresh is great for DJs and hardcore electronic music fans. but it doesn't seem to work well in a developed club and party scene like toronto. it really chaps my ass when a new promoter brings in new talent or a fresh new take on an event and it bombs. if it's new and fresh, it's pretty much guaranteed to flop unless you have the persistence (ie. patience or money) to stick youre neck out over and over again.

i think i've been seeing the promotion for these electro nights for almost a year now (those business card flyers were great!). at the time when i was dropping in, it was pretty dead. hopefully things have(will have) pick(ed) up now that electro is the next big thing around these parts, and respect to Destro and the promoters for sticking it out.

as far as what tyler was talking about, the party scene's demise has obviously been a long time coming. even the most optimistic of big promoters and DJs have all given up. it's been interesting to note that if you read the party reviews on places like torontoraves.com, no one writes about the music anymore. it's all about the social scene - "i saw this person and that person" which i think is totally cool. however when i do see reviews of DJs, it's usually just praise for the DJ that played between 2 and 5am. and i've seen some pretty shitty headliners get incredible reviews simply because the reviewer was admittedly high on drugs. i decided at some point that i can't play for a crowd who actually enjoys trainwrecks. why waste my time? we can just stick a monkey up there for 10 hours to obtain the same effect.

the best places to be are where your friends are and where everyone is having a good time. for me, that's easy enough to accomplish without having to worry about something as inconsequential as the latest musical trend or some tired notion of a subcultural movement. i honestly don't think we'll ever really see anything fresh succeed in toronto. but hey, that's what road trips are for!

 

[d.code]

I love these ideas.

Ive heard them come out of me and my partners mouthes (the two other people who I run subtransit with) and its nice to see everyone is working in the genreal same direction.

Now- is it worth trying to get a simi 'underground' feel back into it? Techno / electro works amazingly when its acompanied by variety.

 

[Nub!]

Being as I am a Londoner, I cannot make it out for nearly as many events as I would like.

My heart and soul belong to techno, but my time belong to what money can afford.

I'd love to make it out to more events, but finances do not allow that at all. I also don't know that many Toronto kids, leaving me without people to meet up with if I want to go to one of the smaller techno events around the city. I would go alone if I lived there, but not busing 2 hours to spend the night with myself. If I was more extravertive, maybe, but I'm shy, and don't meet or make connections with people easily (even with the aid of drugs).

as far as what tyler was talking about, the party scene's demise has obviously been a long time coming. even the most optimistic of big promoters and DJs have all given up. it's been interesting to note that if you read the party reviews on places like torontoraves.com, no one writes about the music anymore. it's all about the social scene - "i saw this person and that person" which i think is totally cool. however when i do see reviews of DJs, it's usually just praise for the DJ that played between 2 and 5am. and i've seen some pretty shitty headliners get incredible reviews simply because the reviewer was admittedly high on drugs. i decided at some point that i can't play for a crowd who actually enjoys trainwrecks. why waste my time? we can just stick a monkey up there for 10 hours to obtain the same effect.

That pretty much sums up what I was thinking.

-=Nub=-

 

[tEkKiD]

word up Beaker...

well said.


and i'm thinking right now, i would like to do a versus cd with you........

since that bitch Tyler won't get back to me on it.......


whatcha think J-Mat?

 

[djmikeconradi]

i think there are more than a few purveyors of the funky 4/4 sound around here. Matt, are you playing HH @ nightmare?

 

[orange richie]

Beaker, you're absolutely right. So after many months of talking with new promoters, old promoters, all sort's of DJ's and of course the party people I have to say I agreee with you about the party being an 'experience'. What promoters need to do now is appeal to the partiers not entirely through music but create a certain vibe/experience at their parties. This way they can still expose great talent and if the party is kickin' people will always remember who was spinning regardless of what genre they played. You'd be surprised at some of the stories I heard of how and why cerain parties and nights hit it big time, some of them are pretty lame but they worked.

Remember that partiers are partiers. Some know the music better than others but they all come out for the same reason, to have a good time. If the people came out that only knew the music it would be a small scene. This may sound wrong on a number of levels but with the proper hype you can sell shit to anyone, that's why there are so many crap DJ's out there who are making it because of one special ingredient (and it may not be in their music).

For the most part, as with anything, you probably won't get it right the first time, you have to keep at it and can't blame people for not showing up because you had good DJ's. Also as the years go by, stratagies that may have worked for promtors in the past may not necessarily work the next time around. You have to grow with the scene and recognize the changes.

Right now even the big shots arn't doing shit but don't kid yourself after a depression evrything starts to blossom again eventualy. This down time is perfect for new promoters to get in gear and be prepared for the next wave that is to come and believe me it will come. You will see a lot of new promoters and artists strutting their stuff in this scene.

As with life, everything has it's ups and downs, the promoters and artists that can take the rollercoaster ride through it are the ones who will prosper! And it is a rollercoaster ride emotionaly and financialy. To those down on their luck, keep you're head up cuz hard work will pay off in the long run, just keep giving that 110%. Good luck...

Rickardo Belmiro de la Cruz...

 

[tommysmalls]

its all about baby steps with event promotion - start off small, throw a few intimate parties and get people talkin about how much fun they had at ___ party....its a slow ramp up, but there just aren't enough partiers to warrant 1000 person parties in the techno/electro genre these days - actually for the past 2-3 years. dj's don't matter to the masses - i mean they do to a certain extent, but everyone remembers KLIP - the SICKEST lineup the techno community has had in years, and kool haus was 1/2 empty.

personally, i think the 1000+ person party is gone from this city....we can only sustain 1 or 2 of these a year, but usually with a lineup that deserves 5 times that.

as far as talent goes ...FUCK!!!!!!!!.....there is SOOOO much talent in this city, and especailly from here to windsor that its RIDICULOUS!!- the only problem is, its really hard to get hyped about about a party with "just locals" enough to get out more than 100-200 peoples.

i agree with orange richie, the parties have to become more of an experience - its gotta more about who's spinning...i'd like to see us evolve past "hey, you going to Krome" where the headliner is the party, then everyone goes home....shit....we need to have parties where people don't even know who's on the bill, but it'll be a surprise, like finding out which toy you get from a kinder surprise.

underground parties will always live on past their prime of 5+ years ago, the only difference will be the scale - instead of having a 5000 person barn-burner, 500 people will be considered a large scale event...and you know what...i'm happy with that

as long as the vibe is tight, the size of the event doesn't matter.

cheers,
tommy

 

[beaker]

mike - i didn't even know i was booked for nightmare but i'll be playing NRG if i'm confirmed.

tekkid - sounds like fun, let's do it up sometime next month perhaps?

 

[pr0nstar]

Am I not mistaken?
All the posts in here are from DJs?

Guys you have to understand we are the people that truly love the music, there are some party goers out there that do too. But personally I find it that the Promoters (not all) and DJs are the ones who do all the work and truly love the music and wanna see it continue.

But someone people party for the wrong reasons. And it's been said.. I've been at plenty of parties.. and I get the... "Who's spinning?" and I've asked the same thing when I wasn't sure who was up... and I've got the "Who knows? Who cares?" ...

It's kinda sad but true.

And it's about the music.. the DJs are the ones who deliver it and can make it something special

So keep up the good work all of you!

pr0nstar

 

[orange richie]

I'll give a somewhat obvious example of how 'a vibe' brought people out to this certain place no matter who was spinning.

Industry; basically it was an after hours club that opened up when a handful of Toronto's originating promoters and DJ's that have been throwing succesful parties in the city got together and formed this 'super club' (as I would call it). Whether they contributed financialy, musicaly, or just creating a hype for the night, these people already had firm roots planted and a good cult following as a result of many years of throwing parties and developing a cerain sound they were known for.

Take it from there; "oh, it's those guys who threw the warehouse parties!", "hey I remember....." and so on. People didn't care so much as to who was spinning, they just knew that those individuals threw good parties. Word spread, yada, yada and there you have it: one of North America's most recognized clubs. Dj's wanted to play there from all over the world cuz they felt the vibe.

I used to go there a lot so I know that the crew was tight. They always made sure there was a theme for the night and very slight details were finely pressed out. Relenteless work, I know, but that's what it takes to throw a party people will remember. They're resident nights rocked and people came no matter who was spinning there. There was so many times when friends or myself were stuck as what to do tonight? or if I decided to go out because I was bored @ 4am, I could go there and the party was always right and lasted till 8am and there was a solid crowd to at least 7am cuz people were enjoying themselves.

One of the problems today is promoters do everything for money and lose the 'quality' aspect of their night. (not everyone though) Tommy's right, start small and build a following, if you're doing it for money, than you shouldn't be doing it. Not to say that it wouldn't be nice to make a living from it eventually cuz that's the reward for doing something right for this scene. I've been listening to DJ mixes from up and comers around the area; a lot are bad (that's because there is so many DJ's out there now), but there is a significant amount of DJ's out there who could knock the socks off some headliners we bring in. They need time to develope their sound and get a following and yes it is hard work but then again what fine art isn't.

In conclusion I'm not implying we should model after what clubs like Industry did in the past cuz we have to look to the future, but it is a rather important example of a great thing that arose from something that started out small. We have to clear our minds a little and focus on the aspects of a night that are imortant to the party experience.

Rickardo Belmiro de la Cruz...

 

[orange richie]

Originally posted by pr0nstar

But someone people party for the wrong reasons. And it's been said.. I've been at plenty of parties.. and I get the... "Who's spinning?" and I've asked the same thing when I wasn't sure who was up... and I've got the "Who knows? Who cares?" ...

pr0nstar

I know what you mean, this used to bother me too. But then I had to accept the fact that some people just like to party. They may not know the DJ's, but they do know where they want to go to here the music they wanna here and feel a vibe they want to be a part of. To each they're own, everyone is different and whats important to one person isn't to the other. The thing that they do have in common when they meet up at parties is that they need to release some energy and dance to a style of electronic music that appeals to them. It's like going to a restaurant, you may not be eating what the guy/girl at the other table is eating but you're still there for the same reasons: to replenish your energy (by eating), enjoy the atmosphere, and savour the food whatever the reason is for you to do that. You may not know half the dishes on the menu and may never care, but yeah you can get the idea, right?

Rickardo Belmiro de la Cruz...

 

[tekno princess]

thoughts from an avid party-goer

as someone reading this thread who is not a dj or a promoter, but as someone who loves a good party, perhaps i can offer some insight as to what tempts me to go out to an event...

the music is always the first determinant. not that i would only go if i knew the headlining djs: i've been to many events where i was totally unfamiliar with the artist's body of work, but i'll always take advantage of the opportunity to see someone new spin techno. if that is the case, and i've been to parties thrown by the promoter in the past and enjoyed myself, then that will also give me the desire to go because the promoter has now earned my trust. however, the danger here is that many partiers may not operate within this philosophy, and it's unfortunate because i have been to many such events where the attendance was just pitiful. while all the proper ingredients were there, one critical element was missing: the audience. the crowd is largely responsible for creating a vibe, so without them, it's difficult to do just that. the venue is less important, but it can be crucial in producing the atmosphere that the promoter is trying to achieve. sadly however, some people only go to a party because of the name on the door and because it's the trendy place to be "seen".....but we don't really want those posers infiltrating our "scene" anyway

...just the view from where i sit anyway (or dance as the case may be)

 

[derek]

well put princess...

Cheers,

Derek aka one of the dj's she's come out to see & thankful for it