When I walk into a club, I expect to be welcomed by the heart-thumping bassline of Steve Angello’s latest club banger or Skrillex’s pure filthy wobbles. Instead I am eternally disappointed every time I enter Harris as my ears are assaulted by Ke$ha’s pop single ‘Tik-Tok’ for the millionth time. However, Ke$ha is the least of my worries. Every now and then, I am urged to ‘Whip My Hair’ or am serenaded by what sounds like a 13-year old girl’s voice with ‘Baby’. I have to be honest, I only come to Harris for the people, never the music. Every time I hear Ke$ha blaring through the speakers, I silently walk to the corner of the room and slam my head against the wall for approximately fifteen seconds. Don’t get me wrong, everybody loves the occasional Backstreet Boys and Rihanna. I do too, but only when I’m playing uno with my girlfriend (that was simply an example. Ladies, I’m still single). When it comes to partying, however, electronic music is just better.
Techno, House, Electro House, Trance, Dubstep. These are the staple and music is my food. You may point out that being a DJ may make me seem biased. In fact, being a DJ makes me in a better position to comment on these matters. I’ve heard ‘em all and there’s nothing better to loosing your body to the thick bass of Electronica. You’ve already warmed up to ‘Like a G6’, all you need to do is give the rest a chance. It surprises me that the electronic music scene at Grinnell isn’t huge, seeing that most Grinnellians enter every weekend with the primary goal of ‘getting f***ed up’. When you have overwhelmingly cheesy Bruno Mars playing in the background, ‘getting f***ed up’ isn’t fun at all. What you need is crazy synths, phat basses and banging beats that almost do half the job for you. What Grinnell needs is to give electronic music a fighting chance. Next time you’re throwing a party, ask your DJ to play some Techno or House. Every DJ is itching to drop some club bangers during the party, they’re just scared the average Grinnellian will boo them during the party, just ask Will Jackson. I guarantee you that you will see the difference, so much so that you might even ask the DJ for his playlist.
This article is sure to irritate many. You may even go as far as calling me an idiot, a silly fool who knows not better. That is what the Italians called Galileo when he thought the Earth revolved around the Sun. But I am no scientific genius. What I am, however, is a DJ, a music enthusiast and a milder version of a party animal. So believe me when I tell you that electronic music trumps pop or hip-hop any day when it comes to Harris parties or any parties that involve drunk adolescents dancing. Go ahead and work out to Taio Cruz’s latest single or do your homework to ‘DJ got us falling in love’. When you enter a club, however, leave all your commercial pop behind and get ready to have your mind blasted by Electronica.
-Sid Dhananjay ’14
