Holland is a really small country, but with a very strong club and festival scene. Dance music has been huge in Holland since the late eighties. So there were a lot of opportunities for producers and DJs to release records and play live.
Afrojack
The DJ still has the relationship with the people, I believe. I don't know to call the DJ 'the ambassadors' or what, but we still are connecting the dots, getting the good stuff and passing it on to the people. DJs still have relevance, even with the technology that elevates the DJ beyond being a selector.
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
I just think a lot of people don't give credit to EDM producers or DJs. People think they're just button pushers and just get on stage and don't really perform.
Ansel Elgort
I go out pretty much every night, and when you spend time in those clubs, watching how the DJs make their mash-ups to heat up the room, you want to create that sound yourself.
apl.de.ap
When I was growing up, radio DJs were celebrities, not just the people singing the songs.
Ashley McBryde
Philly DJs sort of always won battles and always won awards and stuff like that and were always super sharp.
Black Thought
Instead of the wacky morning show that sounds canned, my team is sitting over there, waiting for me to say something or ask something. And sometimes the reaction is awesome, and sometimes it's terrible. But they're reacting as humans instead of as DJs.
Bobby Bones
A lot of people felt I was getting work because I was Boy George. My response at the time was that there's a lot of DJs making records, they're not all making good records, but they have the right to do that.
Boy George
I started seeing a lot of girl DJs spinning at the fashion events I always attend, and I thought it looked super fun, so one day I just decided to learn!
Brandi Cyrus
From the age of 14 to about 20, I bombarded record companies and DJs with my demos. I was desperate to get it out there. Most of the time, I got nothing back.
Calvin Harris
He was an original, an innovator, and his influence will forever live on in our culture. Whether they know it or not, all DJs have been influenced by him. Thank you, DJ AM.
Clinton Sparks
For me, I have the highest amount of respect for DJs. There's a real skill set and ability to hold a crowd's attention for four to five hours, especially with an R&B/hip-hop and open-format music.
Craig David
Music is how I unwind. I love going to see bands or DJs at a festival or a dive bar. My taste is pretty diverse.
Daniel Ricciardo
Upload Radio is a new venture offering content creators and bedroom DJs the chance to get their own programmes on the air by buying time.
David Hepworth
People like me, DJs and producers, have a bigger say and a bigger voice than we've ever had before.
Diplo
Dance music is so interchangeable. There's not a lot of face to it. It's a bunch of Dutch DJs with the same haircut.
A lot of DJs don't realize they're here today and gone tomorrow. They're literally taking jets to every show. It's crazy how much money they're spending.
Basically, I'm one of the greatest producers ever. And I'm also one of the greatest DJs ever. And I'm also one of the best executives ever.
DJ Khaled
You never know: the next DJ Snake, the next Skrillex, the next big DJs might wait outside of the club. You gotta give back and listen to the next generation and show some love.
DJ Snake
There is a scene in the movie with DJ Cutkiller, one of the biggest European DJs from France, and he was scratching like crazy. When I saw that, I was 14, and I was like, 'Yo that's what I want to do. That's crazy.'
I really like Caravan Palace's electro swing stuff. They incorporate the electronic, but when you see them live, they're all on stage playing live music. They're all playing their instruments. They drop these beats with the DJs that are so incredible.
I've watched and learnt from DJs and remixers and paid way more attention to how I want my voice to sound. Before, as long as it was loud and in tune it was fine. I've discovered the difference made by various microphones and effects, so each track has a different vocal sound, my voice is woven into everything and it's above everything.
I was sort of a loner as a kid, so radio was where I turned for companionship. I loved the music and how the DJs talked about the artists and used words to paint pictures to evoke emotion.
I had a little radio, and I listened to music in my bedroom when I was supposed to be sleeping. I was probably 6 or 7 years old, and I loved the DJs who would come on and talk about the artists and the songs they were singing, and they gave away prizes. I was like, 'This is a cool job!'
The DJs with a lot of hype are not necessarily the best DJs at creating a vibe.
There's a lot of creativity in the industry, but I don't necessarily think that the most creative DJs or producers are always the biggest ones. I think it would be nice to see more of an open culture to different music. I think that's happening. With Spotify, I think people are discovering a lot of artists they might not discover otherwise.
There's a lot of creativity in the industry, but I don't necessarily think that the most creative DJs or producers are always the biggest ones.
I've made my records and I've done all the interviews. I've done lots of long tours. I've made stupid videos. I've done all that stuff and learned all the lingo and gone to radio stations and shmoozed with DJs on the air and met retail people.
Now, the DJ becomes a star in itself because of the way he programs the songs with lows and then highs and then slowing it down. The big DJs, like Tiesto and Deadmau5 and all those guys, they are very, very creative.
I wouldn't call myself 'into the DJ scene.' I have friends who are DJs, like James Murphy. I was really into the DJ scene at his wedding. But generally, I'm not at the clubs. I've never been to a rave.
I had a few DJs in my neighbourhood that would play music in the streets. There was no hip-hop yet; there were just DJs that were playing disco, funk, and pop music, and we would gather round, go to the parks, and dance and enjoy ourselves.
It's so cool to hear these DJs and younger artists that are coming around be like, 'Wow, we love your music.'
I've been DJing mostly, and most DJs end up producing. That's just me.
I was really ambitious, so I was innovative. I was one of the first DJs to do live calls, 'cause I found this phone device that would pick up other people's voices.
And I know how many DJ pools have grown and I know how DJing has grown in the overall, but that was the technical side of it to me. DJs were rolling around, looking for stuff to buy and looking to see what was in the store when they get there.
People don't realize enough how important and influentical John Carpenter has been in electronic music. He did his soundtracks by himself, using mostly electronic and analog synthesizers. He's a cult figure with DJs these days for good reasons.
I go to clubs and if I notice the DJs are playing the records faster, then I'll push the beats a little on the next record I make. A lot of people don't know how to watch out for things like that.
I don't see anyone avoiding the Stones because DJs make jokes about them being a part of the Geritol set. All it does is make the DJs look stupid.
You ever see a bar with 200 beautiful women go broke? But I've seen a lot of bars with great DJs go broke.
DJs are the new rock stars.
We've now got a whole generation of jazz musicians who have been brought up with hip-hop. We've grown up alongside rappers and DJs; we've heard this music all our life. We are as fluent in J Dilla and Dr Dre as we are in Mingus and Coltrane.
New Banger' is a statement, but it is more about giving the DJs something for the clubs. I think it should have a lot of club longevity as a tune.
The producers and writers of dance music are becoming the stars, not so much the DJs.
Some of these DJs have screens, 3D blocks, flames, gas and even a trapeze. It's like looking at a really stupid customised car.
I did a music festival in France. I'm not going to name names, but there were bigger bands and DJs on before me, and throughout their set, all I could hear them chanting was 'Hodor!' And I was, like, 'Oh, please stop! It's so disrespectful to the other acts!' In a way, obviously, I loved it, but it was kind of embarrassing at the same time.
It's always shocking to people, because sometimes when I go on the road and I DJ, they think I'm just gonna perform, so to see me really DJing and playing their favorite song and really rockin', it's a shock to people, and definitely to DJs.
I started DJ-ing in the '90s. DJ-ing is in every record I do. When I make records I make them for DJs.
I used to do this one club called New York Sound Factory where I played house, hip-hop, and dancehall. I was one of the first DJs in the South to play everything.
The modern stuff, I can take it or leave it. I like its danceability, but the DJs talk a lot of nonsense.
Dance music has evolved very much. From DJs playing at the Olympics, to playing at the Super Bowl, working with Cirque Du Soleil and even getting recognized at the Grammys with awards, dance music is growing in a big way.
