Austinist Interviews Ian Orth of Learning Secrets

That is why I rather spin at PLUSH instead of whisky bar/beauty bar because people are there to dance, know the music and are not hipsters. I rather play to a smaller crowd of people that care than 100 that don't.

Cowboy, I've been listening to DJs for a long, long time. Not sure about the "accepting mediocrity" thing. I'll just mark it up to frustration, and not an actual slight against the collective ability of the rest of us to judge decent DJ skill.

Greg, people will come out to see Sweeney because he's not a gamble like some 22 year-old Joe Needlekid from Abilene who doesn't promote or explain himself but expects everyone in the entire world to shut the fuck up while he plays the best music in the whole wide universe.

Sweeney's done his time, so there's a reasonable expectation of quality. Needlekid needs to do his time too. Whether it pains him or not, he has to prove that he knows what he's doing. Just like any other venture in life. Preferably without crying incessantly about it.

To any other rising DJ stars, as far as regular gigs at normal ol' Austin bars go, it's like this: if bar owners could get MORE kids drinking that kamikazee mix-shit by having drugged pumas sleep-wrestle on stage, they'd do that instead of dealing with sound issues and snarky DJ egos. It's NEVER about who is "better". It's about who gets more money through the door. Period.

Don't be too quick to make the mistake of blaming whoever is on the decks for the fact that others (you) aren't in their place. If there are better DJs out there, then they need to get out of their mom's basement and prove it. Talk to the DJs you loathe. Perhaps find a way to get in with them. Join forces. Maybe start a competing night right next door to them. If they suck so bad, how hard could it be to totally destroy them, right?

Be wary of slighting those who do, just because you're too afraid to try. That self-defeating tune is tired and old.

Whether you like Ian's work or not, he's DOing something. If others can do better, then they should do so.

Yeah By Dj's do you mean people that can beat match cause its rare when i go to Whisky that the guys up there actually have that ability. Austin has some amazing DJ's with some very unorthodox sounds. It's funny that the people that go to hear tim sweeney could hear several other jocks in town that play a similar sound. But because of the politix or hype they dont get the exposure. Dig deep people and youl find some amazing talent.

you repeat my theme, though express it in different words. austin has good djs -- unfortunatelly, they rarely play. i agree on how this comes to be, but it's no excuse for accepting mediocrity and a continued misrepresentation of being a dj. no worries about a nightly, i'm kind of past that, though i will continue to slam lame-o djs when i hear their spread of misinformation...

Whoa there, cowboy. You’ll land your nightly eventually. No need to go bitterly shanking about the local DJ population.

There are really talented DJs here in Austin. Not all of them are, but there is some definite talent here, trying to help you enjoy yourself. I could go into the specifics, but it isn’t necessary. I’ll just list the points and let you fill in the details.

- Live bands will play for free anytime, anywhere in Austin, just for “exposure”*

- College students don’t have cash for small-bar door covers (they have credit cards).

- “Live Music Capital Of The Word” doesn’t include anything pre-recorded.

- DJs, especially the good ones, don’t like “selling” themselves because it “cheapens” things.

- Promoters, unless their last name rhymes with Battal, can’t make a living in Austin.



- Transient, fickle Austin population.



- The vast majority of show-goers are just well-meaning scenesters who only require some kind of palatable soundtrack for their alcoholic exploits, and are just as disinterested or inept at judging “true talent” as that old Lebanese dude who (I think, still) owns half of the godawful** shot bars on sixth. They’re just looking to enjoy their twenties, not help find/support the next Rolling Arctic Whoop! Wolf Unclelab. They'll be accountants or prison farmers someday, and don't really care about all that "art" in the meantime. No harm, no foul.

*which actually amounts to little more than “scene” inclusion and maybe free beer or blowjobs (dependent upon a willingness to accept substandard varieties for both)

**Read: AWESOME

"In Austin, though, nobody blows me away more than [DJ] Mel and Prince Klassen...watching those guys behind the decks just makes me get all anxious inside. They are so underrated; people in Austin really need to wake up when it comes to DJs here, [because] there is some amazing stuff going on right now that is being ignored or frowned upon. I just got back from NYC, and things really aren't any different up there; they just have the hype machine working for them. If kids could unite here, Austin could blow up huge."

hahaha. yeah, ok. there are definitely talented, knowledgeable djs in austin, but they must not be playing out, cause i hear trainwrecks, terrible programming, and a lack of creativity (ie. playing the same set over + over + over + ...).

for reasons unknown, austin's always had trouble with djs. the rest of texas has produced and actually showcased plenty of talented producers/djs related to electronic, yet austin consistently puts on schoozers who call themselves djs.

am i bitter? in a sense, but mostly cause it drives djs crazy to go out and hear someone playing crap. i guess my main beef in no particular order is 1) learn how to mix, 2) learn how to program your records, 3) don't be mr. complacency in the back of the whiskey bar for the past 3 years.

on a final note, you either agree with me or your one of them.

that is all...