Laptop DJs Banned by LA Club
Cure And The Cause club owner and veteran DJ Kenny Summit sparked an internet firestorm this week when he announced he was imposing a laptop ban on DJs spinning in his new LA underground house/ tech club.
“The problem lies with the opening DJs (mostly), many of them show up with a laptop and controller, and that’s all they’ve ever used. That’s a problem. They don’t know what to connect with our Pioneer system; they have no clue what they’re plugging in or what plugs they’re taking out,” he told Magnetic Magazine.
“It’s gotten to the point where it’s like an epidemic with these DJs who haven’t bothered to go the full distance and LEARN how to set their shit up without interrupting the flow of the night,” he explained. (Magnetic mag)
Following up on Facebook, Kenny stressed the ban wasn’t aimed at experienced expert DJs, though was uncompromising in his message to new laptop DJs.
“Keep your controller in your crib, don’t come to work with training wheels. LEARN THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE already,” he advised.
“Pioneer isn’t going anywhere any time soon, they ARE the industry standard, so brush up on how to use the CDJs already, get Rekordbox (its FREE) and buy a good USB stick for $40 that will store THOUSANDS of hours of music on it.”
Speaking about the new laptop ban on Twitter this week, laptop icon Richie Hawtin was outraged, complaining, “most ridiculous rule ever! Stifling creativity by limiting an artist’s own personal approach is a step backwards,”
Kenny was unrepentant- sharing Hawtin’s post on Facebook later adding ‘isn’t this hilarious. The NEW YORK TIMES called me today.”
His no-laptop strategy matched that of Barcelona events company WIP, who adopted a similar ban in 2012 after announcing on Facebook that they were fed up of DJs spinning ‘Traktor sets which were ‘nothing but stale, bland and outright insulting to a paying crowd and promoter.’
“We’ve also grown tired of the endless issues with missing cables, problems with timecode (learn how to use your gear before you play out), taking up the previous Dj’s time to set up your gear (cause you didn’t want to come to the club early and set up your Traktor),” WIP added.
“How is it you play 5 times a week and still don’t know how to set it up right?” (DJTechtools )
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