DJ Druid - Profile 1997

“For the last two to three years the scene has been flooded with trashy music… it has become very easy to get tunes out there”.

At present, Hardcore seems to be going through a period of change. The music is adopting new forms and likewise the DJs are changing what they play. With the futuristic strand of hardcore increasing in popularity, the DJs are realising that the same old thing just won’t do. This is the first time for a few years that DJs are actually paying attention to what the punter really wants, which is of course to their own benefit as it keeps them popular. There are of course still a handful of DJs that are getting away with the same old thing, but that is because they are in a position where they don’t need to play any-one else’s game because they are guaranteed bookings on their names alone, justified or otherwise.

This is all well and good but it can mislead people as to who are actually the top jocks. Musically it is often wiser to look below the top layer, sure these DJs have talent as they obviously rock the crowd. In terms of music though it seems to be the DJs on the next level that are doing in. This includes of course, Druid. It has been an upward struggle for this Portsmouth based DJ. Having never really associated himself with any of these cliquey groups has meant that he has got where he is through his own merit. It is therefore disappointing that the slots given to him are rarely peak time. This is most definitely not because he is in any way less talented, it is because he doesn’t attract the media attention that others do. But as those of you that have heard him know, he certainly knows what he is doing.

It seems to me that Druid is one of those DJs that has that little something that separates him from the rest of the circuit. He has cracked that golden secret that is developing your own style. Sure you could play differently by slapping on some Dire Straits, but obviously that won’t go down very well. No, Druid has done it and in my opinion done it very well. It is kind of difficult to describe how he plays without quoting some over-used clichés but something like a ‘musical journey’ is going to be as close as you’ll get, you know what I mean. This all said, where does he see himself fitting into the scene these days? The first thing he comments on is how quiet the scene is at the moment. Naturally there will always be a quiet spell straight after summer, but that is only short-lived, this one seems set to continue for a little while longer. Druid, doesn’t see this as indicative of the scene’s collapse but more of a change in direction.

“My DJing is pretty quiet at the moment, well the whole scene is pretty quiet. I think it is going back underground, which may not necessarily be a bad thing”. I would think that a lot of the big names will agree on this matter, as Druid informed me that record sales are dramatically down at the moment, with people only shifting 2000 units where previously 3-4000 would not have been unreasonable. “The market is really competitive at the moment, people are really making an effort to get their tracks noticed. Everyone is using really striking artwork and the designs are getter better”. This is true as previously a simple black sleeve would have done, but now people are obviously desperate for their product to stick out from the rest, especially with the rise in popularity of compilation CDs.

Druid’s own label, ‘Bonkers’ is it’s self starting to use such marketing tactics. Co-running the label with the infamous Sharkey is proving to be fairly successful. Already on their sixth release things are looking good and with the next seven already pencilled in it is only a matter of time before they are considered one of the most promising labels this year. The problem at the moment is that the market is being saturated, something that Druid has certainly noticed. “For the last two to three years the scene has been flooded with trashy music. The thing is that it has become very easy to get tunes out there. I mean you can get studio time for a couple of hundred quid and it’s not that expensive to press up say five hundred units. You can easily get a tune into the shops for about fourteen-hundred pounds”.

There is, of course, a plus side to this. If you remember it wasn’t that long ago that as an all-night hardcore event a lot of the DJ sets were sounding the same, due to lack of worthwhile material. At least now that there is a lot, albeit half decent music, the sets are definitely sounding different. Now people are trying something different, I always try and play a mixed bag of tunes. If you play anthem after anthem it is OK, but I always strive to be different as that means that people might notice me”. Druid will certainly have the chance to check out other flavours as he is soon setting off around the world as he has bookings in Australia and Canada. I’m sure he will be dearly missed, but when he returns be sure to check him out as he is certainly a name to watch and don’t forget that this guy still has his 9-5 job!!!