The process it takes to become a top-level DJ is not for the weak. Countless hours are spent listening to songs over and over and over again, gaining inspiration from other musical artists and trying to find a unique sound to represent themselves. The competition has never been greater, which is good news for the music industry. The competition will keep pushing the artists to get better and better. There's no time for stagnation.
Jordan Bitner and Colin Alens think in two different ways. They clash from time to time with their ideas but it's always healthy. Its important to take the time to share each other's ideas. They both contribute on the producing and the DJing, but Colin specializes in producing and Jordan specializes in the DJ part. EDM music is similar to jazz music. The director writes the song on paper for the band to play, then the band gets on stage and plays to how the crowd is feeling. The soloist is playing an improvised solo and its all about how the place feels. The producer creates the track and the DJ takes that on stage and uses improvisation to connect with the crowd. Many artists use a preset playlist and press play once. Euphonic strives to continue the lost art form. I recently had the chance to meet an up-and-coming duo called Euphonic.I was able to hang out with them for a week and get to know the lifestyle of being a DJ and producer. Jordan Bitner and Colin Alens are based out of Folsom, Calif. and DJ at stages around California. The two got together two years ago due to a similar passion for music. Colin had the musical background from his trumpet-playing days, and Jordan had the computer technical background. Each day consists of hours upon hours of listening to music. Colin said, “You cant be a good musician without listening to others' music,” when asked whether they mainly work on original music or remixes. They started off with a goal to be a great progressive house group. Originally it was a lot of remixes to get people to listen to them. “The hardest part is getting the first 500 people to listen to your stuff. Then you have to rely on those people to share it with family and friends.” Even if you have great music being produced, you can’t be successful until you create some sort of fan base. Make the effort to get your music out there for people to be heard. SoundCloud is the main way Euphonic is able to share their music.
Music is a way to connect with peoples emotions. It's a way to understand each other in a way no language can. Euphonic become the name of the group because they want everyone who listens to the music to be in a constant state of euphoria. “You know that feeling when you have the aux cord and someone asks what song you're playing? I want 60,000 people to feel that way.” Somehow this quote struck a nerve and immediately drew me into exactly how they feel. A song can make you feel joyful, accepted, and fulfilled without a single word spoken.
Music has been around forever and nowadays it's about adding onto others' ideas and mixing them together. “You have to understand that you can’t recreate the egg. You can make different food with the egg but you can’t recreate the egg. We try to go out and make a tasty omelet with that egg instead of sitting back and trying to have a chicken produce something new.” Everyone has their own response to a song and the goal is to make everyone feel how you want them to feel. If the DJ can successfully take care of that, they will be a famous artist.
The music industry is tough to survive in because money is hard to come by. They can make $100 to $200 dollars a night on the weekends but they have to be at least 21. Most of the money the famous DJs get comes from touring. It's all about politics and who you know. If you want to make it big, you have to know people. I asked if anything surprised them when they started making music and Colin responded with, “People are unbelievably fake and only in it for themselves. It's a selfish ballgame.” People will do anything to make money or be famous. In the music industry you can’t trust people because they will use you to better themselves. Not only do they have to work countless hours on music production and to develop a fan base, they also have to spend time talking with the right people who will get them where they want to be.
Being a musician requires dedication, motivation, and a serious love of music. With groups like Euphonic, they are putting themselves out there with amazing new music and have to hope something catches. There are two ways to become famous. Be the first one to do something, or be better than all the other firsts. The DJs are living lives just like us and are going out and loving what they do with music. They want people to feel music in the way music has impacted their own life. I encourage you to go on SoundCloud and take a look at the music being put out by Euphonic and if you like it, then share it!
