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It's a
trend that falls below the local radar.
As
Manchester grows and develops, the art and theater communities are hailed,
businesses gain exposure, and everyone's talking about great new comedy,
live bands, and bars.
But there's
an undertow in the city, and the force of its current has brought waves of
people into Manchester and onto Elm Street to experience entertainment that
was once relegated to big cities and underground communities: the DJ
scene.
Embraced by
Generation X-ers and often written off by their predecessors, DJing has
turned into a multi-million dollar industry. On a global scale, DJs are
signing record deals, making tens of thousands of dollars a night in large
venues, and participating in festivals, mass concerts and international
events.
What was
once an underground scene has become the future of music and
entertainment.
The
Queen City or Beantown?
Clubs like
Charley Pepper's, Cahoots and Milly's Tavern bring in DJs several nights a
week, producing financial success and a louder buzz around town. Though
some clubs have met with the not uncommon here-today-gone-tomorrow fate of
dance clubs (most recently, the under-21 Club Liquid), the city remains a
strong destination for DJ nightlife and entertainment.
"Manchester
is a great place to be," said DJ Roberto Bolanos, whose tenure at local
clubs has garnered him a loyal following. "Really, the only dead night
here is Monday, but every other night of the week, there's someplace to go
you cant beat that."
Charley
Pepper's is an example of what Manchester's DJ scene is striving to become;
club owner Joe Trimble has updated Charley Pepper's look, offering more
dance space, a patio and two bars, and altered the clubs DJ line-up. He
brings in up to five different DJs each week, offering a mix of music
suited to a variety of tastes.
"Our model
is more of a Boston type," said Trimble. "We strive to have the kind of
DJs that they have on Lansdowne Street (in Boston)."
DJs in
control
Today's DJs
have come a long way from playing songs at weddings (though many choose to
continue to do such events on the side). If you haven't heard their sound,
its hard to understand why a DJ could create such a buzz, earning a
following and drawing a crowd. They just play music, skeptics say. But
don't say that to anyone in the business the world of playing records has
become a launch pad for creativity and musical exploration.
Today's club
DJ spends anywhere from one to five hours mixing songs of all genres to
create new sounds, beats, rhythms, and even tracks. Though he may use top
40 hip-hop tracks or electronic music samples, the DJ serves as a point of
creation for brand new music. He blends songs, loops samples, and cuts up
tracks to form a continuous stream of music.
"DJs use
records as instruments," explained Bob Gallagher, who has spent over 20
years DJing at clubs in and around Boston. "Its very technical; you need
to match beat and pitch and make sure there's a flow."
Matching
beats, pitch, rhythm, or vocals fall into the category of mixing, or beat
matching, one of the skills a club DJ must perfect. The goal is to make
two songs sound like one. The matching must be seamless.
"The whole
concept is to keep people on the dance floor," said DJ Roberto, a
32-year-old who also works as a promoter around New England. "If you play
a song and wait for it to end, there's going to be an empty spot, when
people will leave the dance floor."
The sea of dancers swaying, moving and jumping on the dance floor is a DJs
barometer. The goal is to get the crowd so into the music that the DJ
gains ultimate control, said DJ Skribble, a national success who appears
regularly on MTV. Skribble came to Charley Pepper's last year and recently
played Chantilly's.
"I can
bring the crowd up or down with the music," said Skribble. "That's what its
about."
Gallagher
echoed that sentiment and said that he looks to a crowd to determine what
kind of music hell play and what kind of atmosphere hell create.
"DJs get
overlooked; they play such an integral part in the vibe and feel of a
club," said Gallagher. "DJs aren't interchangeable."
A pinch
of psychology and a dash of electronic music
So what does the trick? How does one person
take control of hundreds or even thousands of people with music?
The answer,
said DJ Roberto, is in psychology.
"You have
to know how to read a crowd and you have to watch for a reaction," he
explained. "I look for people if they're not dancing that are bouncing
their heads or who are trying to dance in their seats, that's when I know
I'm doing something right."
Once a
crowd is coaxed onto the dance floor, a DJs primary responsibility is to
keep them there with the pulsing music indigenous to the DJ and dance club
scenes. Electronic music like techno, house, and trance play a large role
at clubs like Charley Pepper's, Cahoots, or Rucas.
By
definition, techno is driving, pounding music that runs at 130 to 140
beats per minute. There are no vocals, just the monotonous force of the
rhythm. House music is a bit slower, but still possesses a driving quality
that pounds out 125-135 beats per minute.
Progressive
house, the trademark style of New York City clubs, is instrumental dance
music, while vocal house mixes the pounding instrumental with vocals.
Other types of electronic music, like jungle and trance, are variations of
the same kind of techno-based music.
"In the music industry, DJs are as responsible for making or breaking
popular music as radio is," explained Rob Weintraub, who co-founded
Entertainment Network Solutions (an entertainment consulting group) with
Gallagher. "Major artists like Shania Twain or Madonna are having DJs
remix their slower songs into dance music and they're catching a whole
different demographic."
Turning
adult contemporary hits into vocal house music has become a given in the
music business, creating another level of respect for DJs.
Along with
electronic music, hip-hop, R & B, and rap have been baptized in the club
scene. Artists like Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, and 112 not only
receive Boston-area radio play, but also make an impression with dance
crowds.
"I play a
lot of top 40 hip-hop," said John Titus, a local known as DJ Titus. "I do
try to play deeper hip hop or some of the stuff that's not on the radio,
but its hard to get around here so its not as well liked by the masses
because they don't recognize it."
Titus said
that he started out playing techno and house music, but as that genre
became more mainstream, he shied away from it.
"You hear techno on McDonalds commercials now," he said.
Its influence, however mainstream, is undeniable.
"Vocal and
progressive house music is the disco music of our generation," said
Weintraub. "Its just like the craze in the seventies."
And like
that craze, the music emerged as a force of its own. Hip-hop and
electronic music escaped the confines of the underground rave scene,
morphing into today's thriving club scene.
"The rave
scene was formed because of a new style of music, but the more popular it
became, the more above ground it became," said Weintraub. "And club owners
realized they could make tons of money while cutting down on the
negatives."
Cutting
down the negatives
The rave
scene was infamous for its mix of music and drugs. Ecstasy, crystal meth,
and angel dust are just a few of the drugs that dominated the party
circuit.
There seems
to be an upside to the music becoming more mainstream: the desire on the
part of club owners, patrons, and the DJs for a safer atmosphere.
Fighting
and violence may serve as the other vice on the DJ scene. Clubs often make
the news after fights or stabbings are reported, and in larger cities,
guns pose a threat at dance clubs.
"You know,
when Club Liquid had that fire, you heard about some of their problems,"
said Dan Dellatto, or D-Sharp, a DJ on the Boston circuit. "But there
weren't stabbings there the kids would break up their own fights. They
wanted to have a place to go so they tried to protect it."
Club Liquid
has been closed down for months following a fire that damaged the roof and
rear of the club. Plans for reopening have not been made public and rumors
indicate that it might never return, leaving kids under 21 without many
nightlife options.
Why clubs
actually close isn't usually a matter of public knowledge, but they can
often be hit or miss, and owners and managers closely monitor what goes on
in their establishments if they want to survive.
Clubs can pull it off, said Weintraub, if they "eliminate all the
negatives of underground entertainment."
Manchester: The new face of nightlife
For the
most part, Manchester's reawakened nightlife is hitting the bulls-eye:
maintaining a balance of good DJs, popular music, and safe, welcoming
atmospheres.
"The
underground scene is just not as prevalent as it was before; there isn't a
necessity for raves because its in the nightclubs now," said Weintraub,
who does consulting for Charley Pepper's. "I think that the Manchester
club scene has always been behind the times by a few years and that's one
of the main reasons were changing our line-up."
Charley
Pepper's has revamped its DJ roster, replacing its old standbys with
Boston acts like DJ Pedro Gonzalez of Roxy and Matrix fame and DJ Rick
Naples who spins at Tantra in Saugus, Mass., and Metropolis in Providence.
"These are
top-notch DJs," said Weintraub. "You can make some comparisons to what you
see on Elm Street to what you see in the Faneuil Hall district (in
Boston)."
Manchester
may be emulating Boston, but there are still some hitches, including a
pesky little law that curbs late night dancing in the Queen City. The
ordinance halts dancing at 2 a.m. (and at 1 a.m. on Mondays), essentially
preventing raves or late night dance clubs from operating. Still, DJs
working in Manchester agree that the city has become a hotspot, attracting
swarms of people from Boston, the north shore areas in Massachusetts, and
even some from Rhode Island. That's due in large part to the DJs. Many DJs
have a following or are preceded by their reputations as solid
entertainers. Local favorites like DJ Midas and DJ Titus attract a loyal
crowd, and others like DJ Roberto, Pedro Gonzalez and Rick Naples have a
regional reputation. Their presence in Manchester means an influx of
people seeking nightlife that boosts the cities reputation, economy, and
viability as a hub of activity.
"We haven't
even hit the busy season yet," said Charley Pepper's owner Trimble. "The
summer through the start of school and the holidays represent our busy
season."
As the
season for partying and dancing hits, Manchester's nightlife will be put to
the test.
"DJs have
become entertainers they're way past the point of just throwing records
down," said Weintraub. "DJs bring people in, and they're bringing people
into Manchester."
"There are drugs at raves,
but there are drugs everywhere," said Titus. "I know a lot of college kids
who take ecstasy that don't drink and others that will drink but not do
drugs but I've never seen a fight at a rave.
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