Hot off the release of his debut full-length album Calamari Tuesday (check out my review HERE just in case you missed it), Feed Me has been making the rounds to various EDM blogs and news outlets to promote the album just as you’d expect, but his interview with inthemix proved to be quite revealing:
You mentioned earlier this year that you want to stop DJing and focus on producing. What about DJ culture makes you want to take a step back?
DJ culture doesn’t interest me at all. The goalposts on what that means have moved now, and what it encapsulates is largely a waster’s paradise in my eyes. There are people out there making an art form of it still, but very few. I got sucked into music and forced to DJ initially. I grew to enjoy it, but it was never my intention. The glitz and plastic celebrity package that surrounds the DJ image now is not how I want to be defined.
I’ve stood side-of-stage a lot of times this year and watched largely talentless people batter a gigantic audience with an endless slew of unrewarding build-ups, poorly-engineered electro and mind-numbing chord progressions, all with next to no dynamics or pause for consideration. If this is DJ culture they can keep it.
Ultimately I built myself through my original writing and artwork, and while it’s easy to endlessly tour until the tank runs out, I wanted to cut off for a while and immerse myself back in only that. So far it’s been fantastic, and all the time I’m away I’m looking more and more forward to the idea of touring again in the future.
DJing just isn’t Feed Me‘s preferred medium of self-expression, he has always been a producer first and foremost; DJing was just a means for him to be able to support himself financially while doing what he loved most. However, now that the Feed Me brand is a force to be reckoned with, he’s free to focus his time and energy on what matters to him most and can you really blame him for wanting to do just that? His live set (especially with Teeth) is by far one of my favorites, but I want him to do what makes him happy because that’s when he’s at his best. So for those of you were upset or mad when Feed Me announced he was going to take a hiatus from DJing, I hope this provides you with some keen insight into what was going through his head when he made the decision to focus his efforts on what truly matters to him like producing what may very well be the best album of the year or even building an animatronic version of Feed Me.
P.S. For those of you who missed it, Feed Me hosted an exclusive Google Hangout where a few lucky fans got the chance to ask him all sorts of interesting questions:
Finally someone who shares the same idea as I do. Better be known for the composure of a song that can change lives than someone who knows how to mix songs well together. Thank you Feed Me. So much goes into the production aspect that few can truly understand.
Feed Me’s got his head on straight
Feed Me’s got his head on straight
Feed me is no doubt a very intelligent individual and whatever it is hes deciding to do, its not without a logical cause for the wellness of his music and his fans.
It’s interesting that Jon decides to quit because of awful DJ’s, when he himself is actually quite a good DJ. Stay in the scene, dude, be a positive influence!
Damn. lay it down man. true
“unrewarding build-ups” <- so true