N.C. Raves: Popular deejays
Behind the rave scenes : Popular deejays (6 of 10)

 

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Charles "Feelgood," a Baltimore deejay popular on the East Coast, often spins at raves in North Carolina. Larger raves usually have a mixture of local and regional deejays. MORE
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Copyright ©1998 Jim Webb. All rights reserved.


A deejay's name recognition is important to promoters -- and to many ravers. The night's deejays can make or break a rave, but this may be a function of their popularity, and not always of their skills. Deejays in the rave scene, even though they don't usually write or perform the music that they play, are considered the musicians of raving. They gain and lose popularity like traditional musicians, and they are the draws that bring in crowds of ravers.

As such, promoters are hesitant to hire deejays, even great ones, that aren't well-known locally. "If I bring in two world-class deejays, but there's not a buzz about them locally, attendance at the party will be dismal." says Ed LeBrun, who manages a Greensboro record store and organizes a monthly rave called 'First Friday.' Instead, LeBrun makes sure there's also a local favorite on the lineup. "I try to balance a regional favorite -- such as Feelgood from Baltimore -- with someone like Felix the House Cat from Chicago, that really, 90 percent of these kids have never heard of. But once they hear them, they love them."

Todd Morman, a long-time raver from Raleigh, says the idea of celebrity deejays isn't what raves are supposed to be about. "It's not about big names, it's not about stars, it's about music and people." he says. " Some of the best deejays around here are people who barely play out at all -- they're playing from the heart, buying odd new records and playing experimental stuff that's going to help move things forward, as opposed to a lot of big-name deejays that just play what the audience wants to hear."

Michael Pryal took the hometown approach when he organized a rave in Durham, hiring only local deejays. "When you bring in deejays from all over the country, it's nice, but it just costs so much money," he says. "I'd have to charge $25 at the door, and then a lot of kids would say 'sounds nice, but I just can't afford to go.'" His party, called 'Night of the Blue Man,' sold out by 3 in the morning.

LeBrun agrees that hiring well-known deejays can quickly get expensive. His parties generally cost between $15 and $18. (Most raves charge between $8 and $25.) "That has risen somewhat in the last few years," says LeBrun, who blames big-name deejays for the increase. "Many of the deejay fees have quadrupled in the last four years." TOP