jota januzzi
Brazil
We’ve come from a year of restructuring events...
and of understanding the post-pandemic audience, which has been significantly renewed. We are restarting a mentoring work for these new audiences that has been done many times over the years. The scene is organic, and in every new cycle, people leave, and new people arrive. This creates the need for a work that goes beyond simple delivery—a work of musical education, showcasing the different genres that are part of the broad spectrum that makes up electronic music, beyond what is generically referred to as ‘techno’.
It is very important that this mentoring work be done with great care and competence so that these people become daily consumers of electronic music—not just during parties. You build audience loyalty when you can ignite their passion for something, helping them understand the entire production chain that forms our scene and provides vital support for it to continue existing in a solid way.
I believe there are several ways to break the paradigm that electronic music is only listened to when people are high. One of them is by showing that enjoying electronic music is much broader than just the dance floor music at parties, which serves the sole purpose of making people dance. At all other times, there are ranges of other genres and sub-genres, of all styles, that are more palatable for consumption outside of the party, and this is one way to capture some of that: that attention, that awakening. That’s why online mixes are important, as they allow for the exploration of the listener's perception of various music styles, showing that there is electronic music for every moment.
I think I'm a better DJ and researcher than producer. I tend to direct my creative energy toward the narrative of my sets, which allows me to build stronger, more cohesive, and more artistic narratives. In a way, this is a form of production, but it's applied through selecting songs and performing sets.
Electronic music is a lifestyle. For those who work with it, who know what it’s like to produce events, who understand the sociocultural significance of this activity, it’s a lifestyle. It goes beyond being just music or just a job. The responsibility is immense because it’s work done for people. So, the way you impact those people is extremely important—how you impact them and spark passions and interests, whether to become a qualified audience, a consumer, or a professional in the scene. Nearly 100% of DJs come from the dance floor; they are people who used to be party-goers and became so interested that they crossed that threshold, and the need for electronic music in their daily lives becomes so essential that it goes beyond just being on the dance floor. That’s when you start to understand the power of this environment.
Musical taste is a very personal matter. Everyone comes to the scene with their own musical background, shaped by how sensitized they are to the experiences they’ve had. I don’t think everyone has to like electronic music or any other genre. There are billions of people in the world, and sensitivity is something individual, tied to each person's experiences and cultural background.
The cultural diffusion of our scene in Brazil could be as great as in Europe, but it faces several issues, including the absence of public policies that exist there but not here. Additionally, the public sector in many European countries encourages and understands this movement as a cultural expression. We face a significant challenge due to the lack of understanding by public entities in Brazil that electronic music is a cultural manifestation—unlike with other genres, such as Brazilian popular music. Consequently, there are no public policies or facilitating agents, which makes everything more difficult.
There is also the fact that we are a young country compared to others, especially those in Europe, which have thousands of years more history and, therefore, much greater cultural maturity. I believe we are still young, and as a result, greater recognition may come, but later. I don't know if I'll get to see it, but this maturation will eventually happen for everyone: for those who attend events, for those who work in the industry, and for society at large. Only after we reach this 'macro' stage will we begin to see a broader expansion and stop being perceived as a ghetto or underground movement.
In the last five years we have seen a bigger movement of Brazilian DJs playing abroad. There was the intrusion of the pandemic, but I tend to believe that this will all be resumed. We already have many talented people taking Brazil abroad and showing a very competent country in terms of electronic music, not only as DJs, but as producers as well, Zopelar being an example. As we are a very large country, it is necessary to look at the proportion of our events. We have huge events here, which makes it impossible to ignore our scene or its potential. Everything here reaches a bigger audience than in most countries in Europe, which are those countries with a much greater cultural development, as I said, but much smaller in terms of territory or population and therefore tend to have smaller events. In our country, you have many parties with 2, 3, 5 or even 10 thousand people. I think that speaks for itself. It demonstrates the power that this activity has around here. It has a very large potential audience to be explored.
For many decades, there was a local perception that the international electronic music scene was superior. Of course, these are different contexts, not a matter of comparison. However, many of these preconceptions are outdated. Today, Brazil boasts parties and festivals of exceptional musical and organizational quality. I believe Brazil is inherently suited to electronic music. Rave culture emerged here in the 90s, just like everywhere else. Now, we’re exporting a distinctive Brazilian sound that’s making a global impact.
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alia
BELGIUM
I think people being conscious of their personal space and for instance, apologising when bumping into others is key to keeping a good vibe.