Hanging out with blessed DJs

Morrissey, the great celibate poet of The Smiths, was probably in a crabby mood when he wrote, "Burn down the disco, hang the blessed DJs because the music that they constantly play/It says nothing to me about my life… Hang the DJ! Hang the DJ! Hang the DJ!"

I used to subscribe to every word the Great White Mope ever uttered, every chirpy lick from Johnny Marr, every item in the gloom service offered by The Smiths. But I’m starting to rethink that, with the advent of genre-bending electronic artists like Air and DJ Shadow. Those who contend that electronica is soulless music probably haven’t heard DJ Shadows’ Midnight in a Perfect World or Air’s "Moon Safari." Music churned out by machines isn’t necessarily empty of feelings. Heck, even samplers can rage or wax ecstatic. Even the sensitive rockers of Radiohead, who were influenced by DJ Shadow and the Aphex Twin, have flirted (and are still flirting) with electronic music. And then there are acts like Lamb and Mandalay…

So goes my conversation with aspiring DJ Ian Magbanua, the grand-prize winner in the recently concluded Philips BeDJ MixMaster Search at WhereElse? The object of the competition was simple: to create heady, groove-laden tracks by using the new Philips BeDJ 530 mobile phone. And Magbanua beat other disc jockeys through sheer creativity, thus earning him a trip to Cape Town, South Africa to compete in the regional finals this January. The winner will earn a slot in the grand finals to be held in London, England.

"I didn’t expect this to happen," says Magbanua, who is part of an org called Electronica Manila, which aims to promote electronic music via gigs all over the metropolis. (Artists that belong to the collective include Squid9, Rubber Inc, Punk Sinatra, Synthman, Makina, Morse and Moon Fear Moon, among others.)

"Most of us in Electronica Manila are software-tweakers. And basically this is what the new Philips phone has to offer – software you can tweak with. Maybe this will be a new medium for Eletronica Manila, and I guess for the whole electronic music scene."

Magbanua’s entries were a cut above the others. The first was an ambient, new age-y, Kitaro-meets-Tricky track; and the second, a trippy groovefest reminiscent of the Chemical Brothers. Both pieces he composed by meshing and splicing pre-programmed tracks in his trusty BeDJ cell phone.

"I listened to one track and picked up on the synth instrument," he explains. "But the synth was just a side element. I wanted to make it the main element. I also didn’t like the tempo (120 bpm), so I slowed it down (85 bpm)."

Magbanua – who listens to a lot of Portishead and DJ Shadow, with a smattering of New Order – debunks the myth that electronica is nothing but emotionless ghosts from machines. "I think when people listen to electronic music they get to listen to the really experimental stuff or the dance floor stuff. But even the dance floor stuff has soul. I don’t go for that; I go for hard, crunchy, funky beats."

Hard, crunchy, funky beats that can be replicated by the Philips BeDJ cell phone. Philips Consumer Electronics general manager Angelo Valenton, attests to this.

"Philips puts a lot of effort in understanding consumer lifestyles, attitude and behavior. We try to come up with technology that aims to enhance the experiences of consumers. Our particular target for this product is the youth market," says Valenton.

He adds that one thing they observed with the young ones is that they crave self-expression. "Young Filipinos as we all know are creative and technology-savvy. They want to be free in terms of communicating, the same with creating music and art. There are phones that download MP3s and ring tones, but the BeDJ allows users to create music with nine different prerecorded tracks. They can also download and record their own tracks, mix them around and play them."

The phone can mix up to nine different tracks. You can record, say, dogs barking in the streets. You can play the tracks on the phone or you could hook it up to a DJ’s equipment. Ergo, uniqueness is the key feature of the new Philips phone.

And according to Valenton, when you talk about uniqueness of individual, music and personal expression, then you have Ministry of Sound (MoS) fitting in perfectly.

"Ministry of Sound started as a club in ’91. Now we have grown into the largest worldwide clubbing brand," says Marcus Childs of MoS. "We are also the largest dance music label in the UK. We organize events all over the world – Philippines, Singapore, Russia and the US, etc. We are opening a new club in Taipei in January. We released three CDs that are three of the biggest-selling compilation CDs in the UK, and have done extremely well in the rest of the world. The major DJs of the world have played in our club at some point or another, or have played for us on a tour. In a nutshell, we are dance music."

The partnership came about because Philips and MoS share the same exploratory spirit, says Valenton.

"And we always get involved with cutting-edge technology and brands, and the Philips BeDJ phone fits in with what we’re trying to do," adds Childs.

For the MixMaster finals at Where Else, Philips and MoS – together with event organizer Big Fish – brought in world-renowned DJ Mauro Picotto to perform and spin vinyl at the party. "Mauro, one of the biggest DJs in the world, is doing the BeDJ tour for us," says Childs.

(DJ Mauro was also one of the judges of the BeDJ MixMaster Search, together with Elen Torres of Philips Consumer Electronics and Domini Primero of event organizer Big Fish.)

The sound is very impressive, according to Childs.

"You can record sounds (guitar, noise) directly or use a cable to connect the phone," seconds Valenton.

"You can also record from the radio," the man from MoS adds.

"The phone has a memory that doesn’t allocate per feature," Valenton explains. "It’s like an open hard disk, as long as there’s enough space it will keep on recording and saving files. You can practically record 300 songs."

When asked if he’s planning to use the BeDJ in his recordings, DJ Mauro answers, "Maybe I can use the phone to come up with some ideas, which I can record. But the sound quality of the phone is very good."

The disc jockey has remixed tracks from U2 to the Pet Shop Boys. His latest collaboration was with Jimmy Somerville, former singer of Bronski Beat and the Communards. DJ Mauro produced a chill-out cut for the falsetto crooner.

In his official website, DJ Mauro says, "I am not a techno DJ nor a trance DJ nor a house DJ, I’m just a DJ, I play music that I like to think can change the atmosphere in a club. I wish people would be more open-minded sometimes, after all there are only two types of music – good and bad." Yes, echoing the words of Duke Ellington who frowned upon genres and musical classifications as a straightjacket of sorts.

"In my sets, 30 to 40 percent of the music is my production," points out DJ Mauro. "Some people tell me it is techno… some people tell me it is house… but for me, it is all music. Collaborations? I listen to Norah Jones. Collaboration? I’d like to take her lovely voice and mix it up with some dark electronic grooves. I’d like to make a contrast."

By the way, the aspiring DJ who will emerge as the king of electronica hill in London will get a chance to do a DJ Mauro.

"The winning track in London will be released by MoS as a vinyl single in the UK," Valenton enthuses.

"Yes, we’ll be recording it straight from the phone," adds Childs. "And if it’s really a fantastic track we’ll include it in a Ministry of Sound compilation album."

As for Magbanua, he is setting his sights on South Africa first. "I’m going to party like hell," he quips. That is, after dishing out another one of those block rockin’ beats.