Documentary
Watch the ‘Beyond the Music Retreat’ Documentary
In March, DJcity and DJ/producer Vice joined forces to host the inaugural Beyond the Music Retreat in Black Hawk, Colorado.
The conference, which took place over two days, featured some of the brightest minds in the industry. The panelists included Chuckie, A-Trak, Z-Trip, Justin Credible, Miles Medina, and DJ Spider.
The retreat made an impact on its attendees, including A-Trak, who took to Twitter to reflect on the experience.
Those who didn’t attend can now watch a mini-documentary that includes interviews with panelists and attendees.
Watch below.
Related: Watch DJ Vice’s ‘MikiDz Show’ Set
Jamal Edwards Explores Mental Health in the Music Industry
Jamal Edwards MBE, MBA, and founder of SBTV has released an important documentary on depression, which has become a world wide issue that people are afraid to talk about.
Jamal meets UK artists such as Dave, Sasha Keable, Mz Bratt, and more, plus health professionals to talk about the influence of social media, the pressure of being in the public eye and why musicians are three times more likely to suffer from depression than the general public.
Watch the documentary above.
Follow Jamal Edwards on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Related: Logic Interview With DJ Dubl
The Art of DJing, According to Dance Pioneers

Roger Sanchez (photo source: Facebook)
A new documentary from UK label Toolroom Records has put a spotlight on the art and evolution of DJing from the perspective of dance music pioneers.
The video features commentary from legends Andy C, Roger Sanchez, Danny Tenaglia, and Toolroom founder, Mark Knight. It also includes DJ Mag’s editor, Carl Loben.
The documentary opens with Roger Sanchez discussing what it means to be a DJ.
“DJing isn’t just about, you know, ‘I wanna see hands up in the air all night.’ It’s about creating a journey; it’s about telling a story, it’s about musically moving people from one vibe to another.”
Mark Knight adds, “Some of the guys that really influenced me back in the day were guys like CJ Mackintosh, Masters at Work, Tony Humphries. They really had the ability to go into a room, evaluate the mood and the vibe of the room, engage with people, and really manipulate the energy and the steer of the night and that really resonated and stuck with me.”
The DJs also discuss how the art has changed over the years.
“A lot of the new DJs are producers,” Andy C says. “They make tunes and so they have to go out and play them [sic] tunes. I come from an era where I went out to buy records and would camp out in the record store every day.”
Sanchez points out that the dance scene, like hip-hop, had an open-format beginning.
“There was so many different types of music that would just fall under what you’d play in a club. It’d be everything from soul, funk, disco, jazz, as long as it worked on the floor, we used to put it in the mix.”
The transition from “marathon sets” to shorter headline performances was another significant change in the scene, according to the DJs. It’s a recurring topic throughout the documentary.
“…you’re obligated when you’re booked as a headline act [nowadays] to go in and give people what they want,” Knight says. “But I really feel that the art of DJing, in its purest form, is much more than that, is much more than being a jukebox. It’s an expression of what you’re about musically, especially if you make music and you’re a producer. It’s the opportunity to go into a room and say to people, ‘This is what I’m about, from here to here.’ And that is very hard to do in within two hours…”
Watch the full documentary below.
Related: Grandmaster Flash: Technology Is a Gift and a Curse
Popular
-
July 6, 2019
First Look: Pioneer DJ Rekordbox 5.6.1 Public Beta
Pioneer DJ has released the latest upgrade to their flagship DJ software, the public beta of rekordbox 5.6.1. In addition to the standard performance enhan...
-
July 30, 2020
Serato Announces Serato DJ Pro 2.3.7 With Support for Pioneer DJ DJM-V10 Mixer
(Source: Serato) The latest update to Serato DJ Pro has arrived and includes support for the Pioneer DJ DJM-V10 mixer. With Serato DJ Pro 2.3.7 and a Serat...
-
September 15, 2017
Pioneer DJ Announces XDJ-RX2 Controller
Two days after teasing it in their rekordbox 5.0 introduction video, Pioneer DJ has revealed the details of their long-rumored, all-in-one DJ system, the X...
-
September 7, 2017
Pioneer DJ Announces DJM-S3 Mixer and DDJ-SR2 Controller
Pioneer DJ has announced two new products: a two-channel battle mixer called the DJM-S3 and an upgrade to their portable DDJ-SR1 Serato DJ controller. DJM-...
-
December 21, 2016
Pioneer DJ Introduces DDJ-SZ2 Controller
Pioneer DJ has introduced the DDJ-SZ2, a new four-channel controller that adds dedicated controls for Serato DJ's latest features. DJcity's Mojaxx says, "W...
-
September 30, 2021
First Look: Serato DJ Pro 2.5.7 Update With Pioneer DJ CDJ-3000 Support
Pioneer DJ's latest flagship multi-player is now an official Serato accessory via the newest upgrade to Serato DJ Pro, Serato DJ Pro's 2.5.7. Building on t...
-
October 30, 2016
PattyClover Performs Old School Hip-Hop Routine
PattyClover, a turntablist from Los Angeles, has delivered an old school hip-hop routine for DJcityTV's new Studio Sessions series. The series, which is f...
-
November 17, 2020
First Look: Pioneer DDJ-FLX6 4-Channel DJ Controller for rekordbox and Serato DJ Pro
Pioneer DDJ-FLX6. (Source: Pioneer DJ) Pioneer DJ has announced the DDJ-FLX6, a brand new four-channel controller supported in both rekordbox and Serato DJ...
-
December 5, 2018
Spotify Reveals Most-Streamed Artists, Songs, and Albums of 2018
Drake (Source: Instagram) Spotify has revealed its list of the most-streamed artists, songs, and albums of 2018 on the platform. With over 8.2 billion stre...
-
October 12, 2018
Listen to DJ Aldivas’ DJcity Podcast Mix
Aldivas is a DJ from Italy. In addition to rocking some of the biggest clubs in her country, she has also performed at HÏ and Privilege in Ibiza and the Pr...


