In a time where superstar DJs are no more and big parties driven by the presence of these former turntable gods are a thing of the past, some promoters thankfully are using quality as a criterion when selecting DJs to bring out, rather than just running through the tired list of crowd-pullers.
This weekend, prime Jo’burg party spot Carfax is hosting precisely such an event, with Simon Dunmore and Martin Solveig, from the United Kingdom and France respectively, coming over under the auspices of record label Defected.
Solveig was crowned as Ibiza’s number-one house DJ for summer last year, and has played alongside Todd Terry and Roger Sanchez. In 2004, he hit the charts with Rocking Music.
Dunmore, whose career in dance kicked off in London in 1982, is the heart and soul of Defected. With the help of Janet Bell, he started the independent label in January 1999 to escape being swallowed up by a major label, and since then Defected has claimed a important spot in the dance ranks.
He’s a promoter, producer, remixer, DJ and manager all rolled into one, and this week he told the Mail & Guardian Online that he divides his attention equally between all these tasks.
“Everything dovetails into each other,” he said. “Records help gigs, singles help compilations, gigs start doing well … it’s hard to focus on just one thing.”
All this is a far cry from when played soul and funk in 1980s London.
“I miss the potpourri of music,” he said about those early days of dance. “There was early house, you could play soul, hip-hop and house all at the same venue. Now clubs are more genre-specific. It’s harder to be ecletic.
“Eclectism comes out in what we do at Defected, with elements of soul, disco, even techno … our compilations and labels reflect that.”
This approach has led to Defected signing hit records by the likes of ATFC, Junior Jack, Kid Crème, Soulsearcher and Julie McKnight. It has released Ministry of Sound compilations, and brought out chart-topping hits such as Sanchez’s Another Chance and Kings of Tomorrow’s Finally.
But dance music doesn’t sell as well as it used to – these days, anthems sell a measly 10 000 copies and are considered hits, The New York Times lamented recently. How has this affected Dunmore’s label?
“There are a lot of conspiracy theories about dance not being what it used to … dance is always the whipping boy,” he said, adding that people ignore the fact that sales are bad across all genres and just focus on dance.
“We do focus on the specialist end of the market, and sales are healthy. The great thing about the internet is that if you have an active website, you can drive people … we have a strong online community of 35 000 to 45 000.
“When a release comes out, people can sample it and decide instantly whether to buy it … it has been a revelation for our business.”
At the moment, Dunmore is mixing the next Most Rated Miami album – a prediction of the big records at the upcoming Miami Music Conference, he said.
“The previous one was a bit retrospective; for this one we asked DJs what will be big.”
And will South African fans hear all the classic Defected hits?
“I like new music, but you gotta keep the dance floor happy,” Dunmore said. “l’ll try to mix it up. I will try to make my radio set a bit more exclusive, and the club set a mix of known music and new tracks.”
Solveig and Dunmore play at Carfax in Johannesburg on February 12, along with 15 top South African DJs, including Roger Goode, Manuel Oettl, Ricardo, Lady Lea, Brett Jackson and Mbuso.