INTERVIEW: DJ DARA

In House music there's a lot of segregation. A techno fan is supposed to dislike trance. And a hardstyle lover probably hates progressive. How about DnB fans? The three of you all have your own style - you are sort of known as a jump up style DJ, AK 1200 is more like a roller and Dieselboy has a hard dark sound.

"I feel the difference in our styles makes for a more interesting set. I personally don’t like to hear one style for too long as it gets monotonous. My personal approach to DJing has always been to try and incorporate all the styles of DnB into a set in order to make each tune stand out. I tend to play the bouncier and mellower tunes in our set but there are tunes that both AK & DSL play that I would play in a solo set, and vice versa. As far as DnB fans disliking other genres goes, at the end of the day it’s their loss. Having been DJing since before DnB even existed I can appreciate everything and am still a rabid collector of house/techno etc from the 88-93 era."

How do you guys program an event like "Planet of the Drums"? Do you play after one another going from one genre to another, trying to reach a climax - or is it just one big on-going explosion? What is the role of Messinian?

"Well the format in recent years is that we tagteam the whole time, playing 3 records each on the main setup. However, we also have another mixer, turntable and cdj hooked up so one of us can be playing teases, samples or whatever over the top of whoever is playing on the main setup. The idea being that there will always be 2 of us playing at any given time in order to make things more interesting for the crowd and also for us.

"Style-wise, we play it by ear and try to keep things flowing. We are all experienced enough at this point to be able to read the crowd and play accordingly. Messinian plays a pivotal role in the set and is essentially the bridge between us & the crowd. Having been part of POTD for seven years now he can read us and the crowd pretty well. He knows when he needs to boost the crowd if they are flagging a bit. He is also very attentive to the tunes and knows what’s what sometimes quicker than I do. He is as important to the show as any one of us. There seems to be a common misconception that POTD consists of 3 people, when in fact it is 4. Without any one of us it would not be POTD."

Continued here



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