Recently, I attended a concert featuring the Blue Man Group. Although they gave a fun and energetic performance, the show was stolen before they even started by their unique opening act: Mike Relm. Relm is part of a progressive new wave of musicians that are going to change the way that we think about live music and art in the coming years by bringing DJ'ing to the forefront of popular culture.
For over a decade now, European popular culture has largely been dominated by "Euro-Dance" DJ's such as Tiesto and Ian Van Dahl, who routinely play in front of crowds well over 200,000 people (think Simon & Garfunkel's Concerts in Central Park or The Isle of Wight Festival). These DJ's, most of whom can't play an instrument, have the celebrity status that Americans reserve for our most shining stars. But why hasn't all their power and celebrity not crossed the ocean like so many other European acts? The answer is that the American listener has never accepted "Dance" or "Trance" music into our pop culture, which has kept DJ'ing as a purely underground movement.
This is where Mike Relm and the "American DJ Movement" comes in. Instead of using hard techno beats and crazy lyrics to fuel a rave or dance party, Relm takes samples from all genres of music (from hip-hop superstar 50-Cent to surf-pop idol Jack Johnson) and remixes them using DJing techniques pioneered by Europeans to create a new brand of American music. Relm and his contemporaries are taking an art form that was once tolerated by only a select few and making it enjoyable for everyone.
By making their music enticing for the common listener, Relm and contemporary DJ's have made ground-breaking progress in the last year as dance music has really shot onto the teen and popular culture scene. Music made by DJ's is constantly aired on MTV as well as in the Billboard Top 100, where "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada and "Heaven" by DJ Sammy both spent extensive time this year. "Candle-light Remixes" of dance songs such as "Listen To Your Heart" by D.H.T.(which every American who listens to the radio has probably heard at this point) have also become extremely popular, and can be heard over and over again on your local pop or light-rock radio station.
Now I know that most people over the age of thirty believe that there is no way to replace the good old-days of rock and roll, where the sound was big and the hair even bigger; that said, I encourage you to listen to some of this new music created by DJ's as it will be a key part of our musical-culture going forward, and through their extensive use of sampling, you will probably find a tune that you recognize and can sing along to.
