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Funding Self Expression: Celebrity DJ To Producer

DJ Berrie

THE STARVING ARTIST is iconic, existing across cultures and throughout history, where they are sometimes scorned as wasteful, other times revered as martyrs to their cause. ‘Suffering for one’s art’ is a close relative of the oft repeated phrase, ‘Money doesn’t buy happiness’. Some art is funded, but more commonly, artists are not paid for their creations. Nonetheless, they are driven to create. The development of art is thus influenced by both those who can pay for its creation, (consequently fostering its development), and those who create without pay, despite the personal financial hardship it causes. Dedication to one’s art has various indicators, and each artist their own motivators, but I find the philosophies of both wealthy and starving artists converge in at least one way. Both sides of the spectrum yearn for freedom of expression, and find creating art they personally invest and believe in, is the most satisfying way to profit from the highest degree of self actualizing benefits.

Religious institutions, and royal courts have been prime examples of history’s most powerful ‘taste makers’. In the middle ages, the church was the only institution in a position to commission art, and thus artists who hoped to be paid, had to find fulfillment creating in an arena they didn’t necessarily believe in. In the days of the royal courts, a king or queen could say ‘off with the head’ of anyone who didn’t create to their liking. Artistic styles blossomed under the boundaries imposed by royal order and commissions, and I’m sure the threat of death kept many revolutionary artistic ideas under cover. Court jesters, while possibly naturally funny people, were hired by the royal court to amuse, with material very much geared to please and flatter the rich, as they sublimated any sarcastic, or ironic humor deemed offensive to the powers that be.

NOWADAYS, the rich and famous are hugely influential taste makers. Their conspicuous and ostentatious show of wealth is role modeled by all media saturated sub sectors of society. Right now, taste makers are encouraging society to worship DJ’s and DJ/producer’s in an unprecedented way. Oft referred to as the new rock stars, famous DJ’s stand godlike at their decks and preach their music to the masses. The DJ’s most known amongst the mainstream media are Celebrity DJ’s, (e.g., Samantha Ronson, DJ AM, and others who play at celebrity parties). DJ’s who take the celebrity DJ route, (some highly skilled on the decks, and some not), play the parties that land them as tabloid fodder, on lists of who’s who on the scene. DJ/producers who have crossed into mainstream are also often connected to the Hollywood crowd, and seem to be marketable ‘personalities’ as much as they are serious musicians, (e.g., David Guetta and his collaborations with Akon and Kelly Rowland). Consider that Armin van Buuren is voted the world’s #1 DJ, but DJ AM, even posthumously, is much more likely to appear in the mainstream tabloids than is Armin. When Armin is hired to play the likes of Madonna’s party, we will see him elevated by the media to mainstream pop culture, with the paparazzi on his trail.

DJ Berrie in People

DJ DAVID BERRIE is a celebrity DJ, who has graced the pages of US weekly, and Vanity Fair, and spun the parties of P. Diddy, Kanye West, and Victoria Secret. As a teen, he was already playing top clubs in NYC and Miami, and early on was living his dream of being a breakthrough DJ. But Berrie seems to be carving time away from that life and towards a potentially risky career move of dual DJ and producer. He wants to put his own mark on the music, and thus far has been received well by the industry. He’s spending days at a time in his home studio, where he can literally roll out of bed, and start producing. He is in self proclaimed,”…artist creative mode”, as he works on original productions for Ultra Records, and remixes the likes of Kaskade.

Berrie’s choice to step back from the decks to carve out time to create his own productions is worth examining. Not every DJ who goes into production will be successful with the venture, as working one’s way from neophyte to expert is always a chancy move. What is driving Berrie to shift gears, and redefine his goals?
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FROM WATCHING celebrities publicly self destruct through their endless partying and self parading, I have to assume that there is something unfulfilling about a lifestyle of full time partying. I assume the DJ’s who are regularly hired by the Hollywood crowd are doing time, but possibly not artistically fulfilled. I assume they allow celebrities who are famous for being famous, along with bottle service crowds, to dictate what can be played at a public club. The rich and famous demand certain music as the only music that gets pay for play status at their private parties, and they hold sway over DJ’s at public events as well. I am of the mind to disagree that Paris Hilton and her like should be considered taste makers of good music, and I was among the group that cheered when Steve Angello refused to be her DJ puppet at WMC in 2009. Berrie confirmed my suspicion that he may be one celebrity DJ who feels that Hollywood crowds of the rich and famous appreciate music much differently than the crowds at the underground clubs he has also played at:

It’s totally different. I have this argument with my friends all the time, and with people in general. It’s such a difference in energy, and state of mind, and everything. I think [Celebrity DJ's] realize what’s going on there. It’s not like they actually think that’s the best there is. It’s just everyone feels comfortable with a certain format these days at clubs, and a lot of people don’t like to take risks. Especially with the competition with the clubs, it’s so important to them to keep their customers. If you all of a sudden start experimenting, going to techy minimal or trancey, it’s cool, but it’s not what’s going to pay the bills for them.

Berrie expressed his frustration that the DJ’s who play these parties have limited creative freedom on the decks:

For me deejaying [celebrity parties and bottle service clubs] was such a constraint for me, because they have such expectations. It was so much less creative for me. Even DJ’ing for Puffy’s crowd, which you would think would be very music savvy. It was way less about the music for me. It’s like a charade that I almost had to play just to keep the career, and the turning point really for me was buying the production stuff, and telling myself that I didn’t want to stay doing that for my entire life, and [I want] to really be able to put out [my own] stuff. I mean, I love everything I used to do before, but there’s different mindsets for people walking in….buying tickets, versus buying tables.

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BERRIE IS NOT THE ONLY ‘DJ to the stars’ walking away because he feels that producing will be more fulfilling. I fully support the evolution of an Artist as they find new ways to genuinely express themselves. That being said, in a culture that praises conspicuous displays of wealth, while starving artists oft go unrecognized, it’s hard to feel badly for a DJ who is well paid, working regularly, and can land high paying gigs by being associated with Hollywood’s taste makers. I don’t pity their personal artistic frustration in quite the same way as I pity Van Gogh when I read about the recognition of his genius coming only after a lifetime of tortured artistry and eventual insanity. Van Gogh never saw money for his art, but never gave it up, and he died alone.

It seems to be no secret from reading Berrie’s bio and press clippings that he comes from a privileged background, thus I don’t get the sense that he runs the risk of starving for his Art. Some may cast negative light on Berrie’s transition from DJ to Production, saying he can afford to take the risk, probably never ending up in poverty due to sacrificing a paycheck to pursue his passion. Berrie is already doing high profile production work, despite having only started producing 2-3 years ago. Berrie has important industry connections already in place, and possibly due to his name recognition as a DJ, he can have his production work immediately heard by Ultra’s A&R. Some may question if he has paid his dues as a producer, and wonder if he is subject to the same degree of rejection as no name artists who submit demos. Will his work be critiqued fairly or will his natural born connections buy him hit producer status?

IT MAY NOT BE FAIR to resent the DJ’s who find a way to make money off those famous for being famous. Would I compromise my artistic integrity for the paid opportunity to perform requests at a Hollywood party? Yes. At least once or twice. I can’t pretend I’m holier than thou, and would turn down a fat paycheck and high profile connections from time to time if it meant performing music that wasn’t my personal favorite. In the end, that artistic sacrifice would potentially afford me greater creative freedom, because I wouldn’t have to worry about where my next rent check was coming from. The reality is that I have not had that opportunity, yet I still create my art. Is financial stability affording Berrie an easy choice to indulge his personal interests without severe economic consequence? Or would Berrie make that choice even if he wasn’t financially secure?

There’s not really any conclusive answer to the question. Although it helps that Berrie was surprisingly candid and open about the pitfalls of being a celebrity DJ, and his need for less creative restrictions strikes me as genuine. I picked up an even better sense of Berrie’s motives when I asked him about his creative process, and what he brings to his productions that represent who he is. He may start with a sample, but he goes with the flow, working to keep his creations unbound by the narrow definitions of genre:

You take something, a starting point, whether it’s a sample you really like, or a track that’s contemporary, or old school…and use that as a starting point, and you get inspired in so many different ways. It’ll start [one way], but it always ends up going somewhere else. What I really appreciate are records that are crossing over, that bring in a lot of people that wouldn’t really be into dance music, and start liking it again.

IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY for an Artist to bridge the divide between creating for profit, and creating for oneself. I don’t think many artists are lucky enough to find that balance, reconciliation, and inner peace. It seems the starving artist is fueled by the knowledge that being paid for one’s work is not always conducive to creativity and self fulfillment; a lesson even a high paying DJ act like Berrie is learning for himself. Over time, Berrie’s path and body of work will speak more clearly for itself. His work will be scrutinized by those who feel he had an easy way in, and if he truly understands that money doesn’t buy artistic fulfillment, he may need to listen to his poor, starving artist critics. They may be too cynical about major labels to properly credit Berrie’s talent and hard work, but because they don’t have much to lose financially or reputation wise, they may be the only critics who give him honest assessments of his work.

Right now, Berrie seems genuinely focused on creating true expressions of himself, for himself, even if they involve a financial risk. He feels that high paying gigs are not most conducive to his creative development, and possibly joins many in the belief that the starving artist may be economically poor, but soulfully rich:

I think the rise of different club owners and competition has really gone against the creativity of anything, not just music. I’m friends with a lot of people who have clubs, and I see what’s going on with dealing with them, the sort of luggage that comes with it. It’s nice to have your own place, and your own format, and your own rules, which I hope to do someday, but that’s a long road from now for me. I don’t wanna have to deal with all the promoters….Right now I’m just in artist creative mode

BERRIE SEEMS TO RECOGNIZE that the celebrity deejay lifestyle is not the end of the road for him, though he doesn’t have a precursor in his background portending that if times become financially tough, he will forge ahead as a starving artist. I don’t definitively know how important financial struggle is for artistic growth, but time and again, I find that both starving and well to do artists tend to come to the same conclusion; the art that is most personally gratifying, is the art that arises from deep within the artist’s soul. Berrie seems to have the best of many worlds; inherent talent, money to fund his art, and the desire to find his own voice, even if it means profit loss.

NO ONE chooses their background, but they can determine how to walk into their future. I respect Berrie for the bridges he is forging between his background and new life as a producer. I look forward to his original productions, and growing impact on the scene.

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