Collaborators

Barbie - The Bips
Barbie is bassplayer in The Bips from the Netherlands. She's a new breed of punk who's writes as well as she plays. I only picked 4 of her columns as she has more on her bands site so check em out, the music is just as potent.

Dance is business (LATEST)
For more than 10 years now you can't avoid it and is it being pushed through your throat. They're considered societies' new heroes, kids want to be it when they grow up��.I'm talking here about dance music and the dj's who play it.
A few years ago it was relatively simple to find a nice band in your favourite cafe on a saturday or friday night. That is almost impossible now. Bands have been banned to weekdays so the weekend is free for danceparties. Why? I wonder. Rock'n'roll lovers have an equal right to go out and enjoy bands on their days off instead of going to their jobs or schools the next day with another terrible hangover.
What I want to make clear is that I don't have any problems at all with people who like this music to dance on or to have a nice party, but let's be honest: It's nothing more than a dance party! Seventies parties are considered `kitsch', but dj's who play at danceparties are being worshipped like gods.
The most annoying thing about it is that most of the dj's don't make their own music to play. There are a few of them who do that with computers or samples etc., but all their records are bought around the world by wannabe-dj's who wanna earn a lot of money or people that want to have a goal in life.
I really don't get it why a dance -dj so quickly deserves a status of a hero while the only thing he or she does is mixing records of someone else. If I play records before and during a band concert, they consider me as a "okay we're waiting for the band and enjoy some other music in the meantime"-dj, not as a god. Why is it than that most of the dance-dj's are seen as people who are serious into music, as people which I have to give respect cause they make such a great contribution to music history.
Music is created by yourself! I don't care if you do that by computer or music-instruments, but the most important thing is that you create it yourself and don't steal it from others to score, or worse, to make big bucks. Okay, coverbands do the same thing but the difference with this kind of bands and dj's is that coverbands aren't being worshipped. Everybody knows they make their money by playing other people's music, and they don't hesitate to admit that either, so I can accept that.
But with dj's it's different, you have to respect them. Yeah, ofcourse I respect people who get their flight-ticket paid, who get paid thousands of dollars for playing one or two hours of other people's music and, last but NOT least!, have to carry a very heavy record-case.
Dance-lovers can do what they like to convince me of the opposite but that is nog going to work for me. Dance is nothing more than the word says: `music to dance on', and if you like that�do that please. I won't stop you and I definitely won't get bothered by it. But don't bother ME with your stories about the profound cultural meaning of dance. There's no cultural meaning on playing other people's records, that's illustrated by the fact that starting dj's can play somewhere very easily: on the records they use are a few tracks and if you can mix them well together.. there you got your show! And don't forget the labels behind the names of the dj's. I am told that especially the labels are important. Those attract the public. I think that's a little bit laughable. It's just a way to make things look like more interesting than they are, let's give it a name and more than enough people will buy it.
Don't make such a fuss about it, amuse yourself, have a good party and don't bother about futilities as names, labels or other side-issues. And please don't stand there looking at a guy who is only putting some records on a record-player: there's nothing exciting about that.
Funny is what I saw on tv a while ago: a dj who admitted he was a unsuccesful musician and therefore became a dj to do at least something with music.
Well, that's why it's clear enough for me, dance is nothing more than easy entertainment on a saturday night and not something to do so exaggerated about.
Gimme a break, I'm getting sick and tired of it and besides me all the non-dance lovers are the victim, cause after 10 years now, this terror hasn't come to an end for just a little bit. But why am I complaining? Promotion of a dance night requires not many strenghts, the public isn't stopped by high admission so there you got your easy earned money. And we all know if there's money involved: people get crazy.
My only hope is that more people will understand that dance isn't what some others want to make it look like and that I will be able to see a band on a friday or saturday night again within a little while.
Barbie L.L. (c) 2002