Dj Hell en Dave Clarke: “Monster dj’s gaan te ver”

Jaloers of niet, Dj Hell en Dave Clarke hebben zich onlangs sufgeklaagd over zogenaamde superstar dj's die gebruik maken van exorbitante vip-behandelingen.

Zo is er een selecte groep die überluxe vliegt, genaamd de ‘Hon Circle'. It's way more than frequent flyer. It's super high class," wist Hell One Week To Live afgelopen week te vertellen. "You get a black card and that's the door to the magic. You can choose a Porsche or a Mercedes to pick you up", legt de baas van Gigolo Records verder uit. "You don't have to check in with regular people. Richie (Hawtin), Sven (Väth), they're in this circle. The new thing in Ibiza is private jets."

Hell kan ook weinig begrip opbrengen voor het verdere diva-gedrag van dj's die zich laten omringen door allerlei personeel. Volgens de labelbaas zijn ze geen van allen echt gelukkig.

"I call them monster DJs," gaat Hell verder, "They come with the manager, the bodyguard, the PR . . . you shouldn't be surrounded by your own security and private jet"

Judge Jules, vaste klant op de feesten van Ibiza, zegt nog nooit van de Hon Circle gehoord te hebben."I think it's a German thing done by Lufthansa; I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist in the UK."

Ook Pacha baas Danny Whittle gaat mee in die gedachte. "To be honest, I know nothing about it. And the only Pacha DJ that really uses a private jet is Erick Morillo. However Erick gets a budget for flights for the summer from us and then for all the other gigs he plays during the summer. As you can imagine, that's quite a lot, he then adds it all together which allows him to lease a private jet for the summer."

"I would imagine this is what Sven does as well," denkt  Whittle. Volgens hem zou het ook niet rendabel zijn om geld uit te geven voor privé jets gelet op het gage dat een dj alleen al ontvangt tegenwoordig.
Hell's maatje Dave Clarke wist Skrufff te vertellen dat in de late jaren 90 een met de Hon Circle vergelijkbare manier van vliegen bestond. "I never used them, my head is not firmly up my arse. I will fly whatever the easiest way is to get there, indeed if possible I'll take a train," zegt Clarke nobel, "Though occasionally the promoter wants you so badly that they'll arrange a plane to accommodate your schedule, for example if you're doing three dates in three countries in one day."

De oude rot voelt daar zelf weinig voor. "But …it's difficult to give yourself 100% to each gig so now I won't do that. Some DJ's are jealous about these VIP possibilities because they never come their way even though they shout and scream for them. I've lived that life in some ways, but even though I have an artistic ego, it's not out of control or fuelled by copious amounts of cocaine or hangers-on. I have seen whole troupes of hangers-on surrounding some DJs, all flattering their ego, and getting out of limos together, and then seen the DJ perform a marginally average sets (and I'm being exceptionally polite here). To me, Ibiza has been out of control with ego over the past eight years, with demands for private jets, briefcases of undeclared cash allegedly coming into small regional airports etc and who pays for that? The clubber," weet Clarke.
Toch wil ook Clarky-boy zijn stoel in de business class niet opgeven. "Can I look at a clubber in the eye and feel comfortable by flying business class? Absolutely yes: would I be able to do that with what Hell is commenting on, absolutely not, where is the integrity? Most of those guys don't even sell many records, they are certainly not U2." 

En zo is het maar net! Nu afwachten wie zich allemaal aangesproken voelen.

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