Getting inspiration from mentors
Lesson time: (3min 29sec)
DJ Deep talks about the mentors who shaped his career and how learning from them helped him grow as a DJ in house and techno.
Free lesson
This lesson is part of the course Find Your Own Path in House & Techno with DJ Deep
Watch this lesson for free below.
Lesson transcript:
The Journey of Understanding House and Techno
As I said, it's been a cycle for house and techno for about 30 years. This movement really grabbed me when it started here in Paris. At the time, I didn't have the keys to fully understand the roots of it all or how it worked.
My Early Experiences
I clearly remember going to the first club here in Paris when I was 16 years old. The music I would hear was a mix of:
- Hip hop
- House
A good example of this is the group Jungle Brothers with the amazing Al Hausew, which was produced by Todd Terry. I love this record so much because it shows exactly where I was musically at that time.
The Blending of Genres
I couldn't really make the difference between De La Soul or Marshall Jefferson, for instance. For me, it was the same music. I remember people in Paris sometimes calling it "black music" with a sense of distance.
Of course, in 2021, it's easy to classify and name genres and styles of music. But at that time, for me, it was a big discovery, everything at once.
Understanding for the Younger Generation
The reason I'm saying this is that I understand for the younger generation today, particularly kids in their 20s, it's hard to approach house and techno. You have a wall of music, and the question is: where do you start?
As anyone, I started with one thing that attracted me, and then I got to learn more.
The Irony of Resources
The irony of the times we live in is that we have all the resources at our fingertips, but it is sometimes difficult to navigate through them.
The Value of Mentorship
One of the subjects I love to approach is how much I cherished the idea of mentorship. I didn't necessarily ask my mentors to be teachers, but I looked up to them and studied their work very carefully with a lot of passion.
I also learned through my career that it was fantastic to have many mentors, to be able to learn from different sources and then form my own opinions and tastes.
Virtual Mentorship
This is the thing I would love to share with you today. By "mentor," I actually mean a virtual mentor. I didn't ask those people to be my teachers. I was lucky enough to meet some of them, and they were so kind to show me the way.
You can decide to use a person for yourself as a virtual mentor, like personal training. This was a very big help for me. It really guided me.
My First Teacher
As I say this, I realize that my first teacher was Lamont Garnier. He was so good technically and, in general, an amazing DJ.
However, it was actually hard to learn from someone so accomplished. When learning with a buddy or a friend, you're almost at the same level, one might have more qualities than the other, or one might be more technical while the other is more musically knowledgeable, etc.
But when your mentor is a superhero DJ, it can sometimes be harder to learn the basic steps necessary to progress.
About the instructor
DJ Deep is a French house and techno producer and DJ, and the man behind the Deeply Rooted label (formerly Deeply Rooted House). Across more than 20 years he has been one of dance music's great curators - and that ear for what makes a record really work is exactly what makes him a guide worth learning from. 'I see my job as being a big filter,' he says, rather underplaying the role the Frenchman has had in the development of house music. 'As a vinyl junkie, I am in the record stores chasing jams almost every day. Sharing what I think are the greatest records of the moment or the most timeless personal classics is something that has motivated me throughout the years.' Cyril Etienne emerged from the Paris scene to make a real impact on the world stage. He started out playing for Laurent Garnier at parties such as Oz and Zoo at club Palace, then became a regular at the Rex Club and established his unique sense of taste with his 'A Deep Groove' shows on pirate station Radio FG and later Radio Nova. He quickly graduated to playing worldwide, always taking with him a sense of history informed by a love of Chicago, New York and Detroit. Blurring the lines between house and techno, he also joins the dots between classic and contemporary cuts with his own sense of storytelling - not only as a DJ and producer, but also a label boss and party curator. Since 2003 he has headed up his own forward-looking Deeply Rooted label, synonymous with classy, true-to-its-roots house and techno from new and established greats like Kerri Chandler, Ben Klock, Francois X, Ben Sims and Roman Poncet, as well as rising French star and Concrete Paris regular Marina Trench. His own Raw Cuts series bridges the heartfelt emotion of house and the direct impact of techno. Beyond his own label he has released on Rekids, Kaoz Theory and Tresor, and as a remixer has reworked the likes of Carl Craig, St Germain, DJ Honesty, Scan 7, Borderland (Juan Atkins) and Point G, always bringing his uniquely warm atmospheres to whatever he turns out. He also makes music under various other aliases: Rebeval, with rawer-sounding material on L.I.E.S.; Sergie Rezza, a collaborative project and label of the same name alongside Roman Poncet that explores more experimental, ambient-laced house and techno in both EP and LP format; Fang, for contemporary house; and Adventice, for driving, classically-rooted techno, with outings on Tresor and live shows at the likes of Berlin Atonal. His more eclectic side comes out in his Open Library radio shows on Worldwide FM - two-hour windows of jazz, soul, dub, funk and ambient that make for very special, immersive soundtracks. Whatever he is playing or producing, DJ Deep always has something worth hearing. In Find Your Own Path in House & Techno, he shares how he selects, arranges and shapes tracks so that, instead of chasing trends, you can build a sound and a taste that are unmistakably your own. read more