Written
March 8, 2023

Bring out those turntables, those monitors, and, most importantly, those dancing shoes! 

DJing is making a comeback, haven’t you heard? 

I’ve had a lot of time to think about DJing. What does DJ culture mean to us? How powerful is the person behind the board? How important is the audience to the overall experience?

We’re living in an age when everything we want is in-reach through the internet. Anyone can be a celebrity, singer, chef, dancer, comedian, model, or… a DJ. A perfect soundtrack allows the individual to create their own world. That world could have a population of one million, or as few as three people. Though we may not always relate on a basic level, that’s just human nature, music can bring us together. Everyone has their own criteria for what makes a song cling to their soul, a song they can’t get enough of. Some people can dance to anything, including silence, while others would never set foot on a dance floor. 

Right before my official debut as a music curator, I embarked on the perilous journey of discovering the identity of modern DJing. What gets people moving? What draws them to the door? Is it really possible to find love on the dance floor? What really makes a party, a party?  One that people love in the moment and one that people are still talking about three weeks later. While I have yet to figure out the formula for “the perfect party” (and have no plans to do so…yet), I do think that music is the driving force. So, put on some house music, turn it all the way up, and follow me down into this loophole I call “The Return of the Indie DJ.” 

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My first step was to conduct an interview with an active DJ in the scene, one who has been vying for a spot to soundtrack the latest parties. So, I wrote down too many questions and headed to a friend’s house. We talked for over an hour, got completely off topic, and discussed some matters that may be best kept private. His point of view was very different from what I expected, but, before I go any further…I’ll let him speak for himself. 

—

Ayala: Tell me how you want to be introduced.

Lucius: Okay, My name is Lucius Farha. I’m a DJ… but not really. I’m a DJ without a DJ Board.

I’m a member of Four (the three man DJ group), we’re taking over LA as we speak. 

A: Do you believe that DJing is making a comeback? Did it ever die?

L: Yes and yes. I think yes, It’s making a comeback, like, obviously – just given how many people are wanting to be DJs. I think it’s also important to remember that, not only is DJing making a comeback, but we are coming into an age of DJing as teenagers. Club culture is only going to become more prominent as people turn 21, or buy fake IDs. It is important to note that it sort of died because of COVID… but now it’s kind of back in full force. 

A: What kind of culture do you associate with DJing in the modern age?

L: I don’t know. I think I have a weird take on this because I don’t DJ clubs. My audience is teenagers. 

A: This can be personal, it doesn’t have to be every DJ ever. What do you associate with your DJ endeavors? 

L: I sort of coined this “20 year rule” for DJing. I believe that things that were cool 20 years ago, no matter how cool (cheesy cool or chart toppers), if they were of that age, playing them now usually fits the culture. James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem, has a good take about this in “Losing My Edge.” He was playing the things that were cool a while back, which makes them cool now. I also think DJ culture has a lot of different influences, which mixes different musical aspects with the process of DJing. 

A: How important is it to play off nostalgia? How important is it to bring new sounds to the board?

L: I think Four, well, more like me personally,… I love a banger. I think teenagers are already so reluctant to dance. After all, it’s a really shameful thing, especially when you think of moshing – people are very excited about that. 

But dancing is; vulnerable and strange and weird… maybe it’s the overarching themes of love and romance that we’re all a little unsettled by. 

When you have a song that you know – that everyone knows, for the most part – it’s comforting. 

Comforting makes you want to dance. 

A: I think it’s very important to have a good mix of songs, this comes into play in regards to your last show. You mentioned to me that you’ll be playing “crowd favorites.” 

L: (Laughs)

A: My question is; What do you think is the good mix between hits and “deep cuts”?

L: In all honesty, I think “deep cuts” are to preserve our credibility as Four. We’re all really proud of our music taste. But we also understand that people want to hear the things they like, which is fine. The overall balance…there’s no ratio to it. But you wanna use those bangers. At least, I like to put them in the beginning of a set to get people hooked easily, and can carry them throughout it. If you’re talking about the “job” of a DJ, I think one of the best parts is to show the audience a song they’ve never heard before. 

A: I was just about to ask that. Is it a DJ’s job to “put people on?”

L: I think anyone can DJ. At least physically. I mean, it’s like playing guitar. It’s not that hard.

But, in your personal life, I think that you should always listen to music that you can “put people onto.” You’re trying to create something. How can you be distinct from others if all you play is popular songs?

(We continue to talk about their formerly-upcoming show on February 18th… which is well in the past now. These articles don’t write themselves.)

L: Why do we have to be so shameful about it? Why don’t we explicitly put out that Four is about love, meeting people, the dance floor – and making all of that so explicit that it’s unbearable. I think that’s perfect for Valentine’s day, that’s what Valentine’s day is. 

A: As Four, you’ve placed yourselves in a lineup of indie bands and live music shows instead of the usual clubs. Is there a reason for that?

L: Access. In a dream scenario we would play shows that are more consistent with the energy that we’re going for. But at the same time there’s a beautiful imperfection to the fact that people go from moshing to a dance party.  

A: I’ve been running with the idea of “The Return of the Indie DJ” – what does that mean to you? 

L: I think the “Indie DJ” is probably best defined as being a DJ that can hold their own amongst other genres. The DJ that allows no shame in listening to what we’re playing. The worst DJs are the ones that think they’re the center of attention. At the end of the day, it’s not our music. It’s your dancing. The more I get into DJing I find myself getting less interested in what’s going on behind the board, and more on what’s happening on the dance floor. Being a “such and such” and a DJ is a tale as old as time. Because DJing is so… easy. If it’s good, people like it. 

A: You were just talking about how you’re more focused on what’s going on in front of you while DJing. What is your perfect DJ environment?

L: If I was behind the board looking out into the crowd, the things I would want to see are: people dancing together, people smiling and laughing, people being loud, and people finding love on the dance floor. More people than should be possible, the more the merrier.

A: How do you think someone can stand out as a DJ? If “everyone is a DJ these days.”

L: I take issue with this. I think it would be really cool if everyone was a DJ, but I don’t know how much of that is true. I think everyone wants to call themself a DJ. After my experience at Return to Penmar, (a previous show in Venice Beach) lugging around gear from house to house, I realized that if you aren’t willing to do that, you can’t call yourself a DJ. Once I see everyone putting on a set, then I can confidently say that “everyone is a DJ.” 

A: That’s very true, it’s very idealistic. Being a DJ is such a great, ideal thing to be. Because you’re controlling… everything. You get to control the room. 

L: I hate to say it, but there’s a “playing god” appeal at times. Which I’m sure happens a little bit at shows. For me I try not to confuse that with wanting to be the center of attention, it’s more like, I wanna create something. Out of songs that aren’t my own… ironically. How to stand out as a DJ? You leave people remembering you and wanting more. If you’re just a DJ and people forget you… you failed. (Laughs) You want people to come back. 

(We go on a tangent about the reason DJs cannot take suggestions. To summarize: Unless you have a downloaded version of the song you want ready to send to the DJ in real time. Your song will not be played. All DJs are different, however, in mine and Lucius’s case, we do not take suggestions live. If you have a song you desperately need played at a show, contact the DJ beforehand!)

A: If anyone can be their own 24/7 DJ by making playlists, what makes it worth it to go to a live DJ show? 

L: You want to have designated spaces to act certain ways. To have a place where you can take your hands off the wheel. It’s the idea that you’re not the one playing the music. There’s a guy, or three guys, up there that will play you what they want to play. You’re just gonna sit back and ride that wave. It’s shameless! There’s no stigma around “wanting to get down,” like, just go for it. Other people are doing it too! It’s a great feeling and I don’t think it’s one that can be achieved by just listening to music by yourself. Sometimes you just want to listen and move.. and not think about what’s coming next. 

A: Is there a scene based around seeing a specific DJ, or a DJ show? Or is it all dependent on the general party scene? It’s very clear that the two go together easily. 

L: I think that Four is attempting to make DJing a focal part of the show. But at the same time, I am totally okay with being off to the side at a party where people are socializing. I think that if you’re a good DJ, people like what you’re playing. It works itself out. I think you just need to know your place a little bit. Know what you want. 

I don’t know the difference between a party and a show anymore. 

A: Music and parties go hand in hand. 

L: DJing will die out when people stop wanting to party.

A: That’s never gonna happen.

L: Probably, probably not. Unless something really bad happens. For the record, I wanna see more DJs. I hope more people pick up DJing because, at this point, I’m envious of going to DJ shows since I’m always the one DJing.

A: Can you elaborate on that?

L: Yeah, I’m lucky enough to feel that Four has caught on. That’s the craziest feeling! I helped people have a good time! But it makes me envious, I’d love to have a good time too.cImagine if there was only one band in LA. You want to hear different types of music. I want to hear a DJ who will play me a song that I didn’t know before. A DJ who will put me onto a genre and do something new. I’d love to witness that. With all the hype that DJing is getting, I feel like I’m not seeing that. And I’m not sure why. DJing is so easy!.

A: It’s SO easy!

L: Why don’t we get on this? It’s so communal – I want people to start experiencing that.

I know people who have boards and their parents have massive vinyl collections. And they still aren’t DJing, like, they already made the music for you! Yeah…I just wanna see more DJs. I wanna see people who I know get an insight into how someone else thinks about music. Not to say that what I play is my exact music taste, but the approach becomes very personal. I also think people who are in bands have a great dance music taste without even realizing it. If you listen to a lot of music, you’ll find songs you wanna dance to, and, most likely, other people will too. 

A: I agree, personally. When a friend plays you a song you’ve never heard before and you just can’t help but smile… there’s no feeling like it. You just know this is going to be your favorite song. 

A: There’s this term,“the return of indie sleaze.” How do you feel about that? It’s been interlaced with the current DJ culture. Personally, I think you can acknowledge your inspiration without saying it’s this thing that’s happened before, coming back again.

L: I don’t know… I don’t think we’re trying to recreate something. It just happens to be that a lot of good dance songs came from that era, and we wanna play that. The “sleaze” part, I think, has a place. After a lot of time when people were pent up (during covid), there’s a willingness and yearning to be… messy. I don’t know if that’s the reincarnation of “indie sleaze”, or, like, the era right before we were born, but I think it’s natural that after a certain amount of time of being bound, people want to get down.

A: During covid, some of my favorite albums were released because all rules were off and people felt they could create whatever they wanted. Do you think we’re getting our own version of that now?

L: When COVID started lightening up I found myself thinking a lot about The Roaring Twenties. I think it’s a very human thing to respond to chaos with more chaos. At the end of the day, do your own thing. But it’s still possible to draw inspiration from other time periods. If it worked once, why can’t we try to make it work again?

A: Well, the same content can have different meanings at different times. 

L: That’s where the edge comes from. When we play all those commercial songs like “I Love It” by Icona Pop or “Hello” by Martin Solveig and Dragonette, something about their place in the history of music gives them something they weren’t before. And when we play it extremely loud, and everyone knows all the words. It’s not cheesy anymore. You say fuck it. And you dance. And that’s what you want. 

A: I agree. Okay, this is my last question: If you were the last DJ on earth, what song would you play? 

L: Um.. When you sent me these questions I saw that one immediately. And I thought “I can’t pick, there’s no way.” But now I can choose, it’s the easiest choice in the world: “One More Time” by Daft Punk. The lyrics are all about dancing and needing to celebrate.Who knows why we’re doing it? It just feels good. That song is catchy. Daft Punk might be my favorite band of all time. 

…It’s the perfect send off.

–

My discussion with Lucius really brought forward the importance of the audience. He talked about being focused on what sound waves bring people together. Four wants their shows to be a synergistic hub, an exchange of bodies through love, romance, and, most importantly, music. Overall, I think Lucius and I agree that we’ve created a fictitious emphasis on who is “qualified” to be a DJ. Qualifications are completely unnecessary. It makes no difference if your mix sucks and no one knows the lyrics, It’s all about having fun and being present. The set’s pure inhibited flow should be enough to cause some shuffling feet.

As for indie sleaze – an inescapable word when discussing modern party culture – though it refers to a time in our not-so-distant past, the controversy surrounding the term has never felt more relevant. Madison Bulnes from Document claims that ‘indie sleaze’ is less of a cultural phenomenon than it is a side effect of our “social instinct to label everything.” In a more frank way of saying it, Vice’s Arielle Richards argues that indie sleaze is “little more than a caricature of an era” created by overworked millennials “in a bid to provide the winning take on something that isn’t really happening.” While I don’t completely agree with every aspect of both those quotes, I think they highlight an important perspective: We’re not giving ourselves enough credit for what we’re creating now. Why do we crave categorizing everything in the present with ancient terms? Many believe that the study of history is solely to prevent the past from repeating itself. We can appreciate a certain fashion, music, culture, or media without completely reviving it. To abstract our current environment with what was previously popular can strip the modern time of its meaning. What is the purpose of creating if it’s all been done before?

Thank you for sticking with me through this journey, and to Lucius Farha, whose perspective is highly appreciated. This subject has been on my mind for months, and I hope it will follow you for the rest of your life…

(Should you want to see my DJ-debut, I’ll be playing as a part of The Renaissance at Junior High LA on March 18th!)

[cover shot by Ayala Avtan]

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