Man Power
@Man_Power_Music
Followers
6K
Following
21K
Media
1K
Statuses
15K
Music Producer | DJ | Composer | Artist | Gobshite Bookings: [email protected]
Joined April 2013
The reason why mid and small clubs are closing is that 2 years of COVID closure broke the pipeline for young people finding club culture and increased the influence of corporate entertainment via streams. When the clubs reopened the newest generation mainly 1/9.
38
466
4K
NGL those of us in our 40s who kept partying look way younger and healthier than all of the people I see who I went to school with that dropped off for the square life.
53
46
833
Will people STILL takes Grimes' psuedo intellectual existential futurist techno babble seriously now that she's showed she can't event figure out Rekordbox or CDJ 3000s (which pretty much DJ for you at this stage, lets be honest)?.
8
48
818
only had a connection with brands instead of a sub culture. This meant that the headline economics of Rock Concerts / EDM / Business techno took over and squeezed out a model that was based on people connecting to venues and promoters and discovering music that way 2/9.
1
22
685
Don't complain about unknown DJs streaming. Stop handing control of the scene to big name DJs and media gatekeepers who want to monetise and control how we enjoy things. We can finally get the underground back underground. Start listening to music and DJs you've not already heard.
27
112
622
It must be about the 2 year anniversary of loads of DJs moving their kitchen table, decks and all their plants into the poshest looking room in their house and filming it.
10
26
558
We now have a situation where newcomers to dance music will only come to a club for a big name they recognise. This means that big venues control who becomes a big name, where previously that often came from someone breaking out of the underground. 4/9.
3
31
521
We’ve only gone and bought a building!!!.Me & some friends have set up a social enterprise to turn a beautiful derelict building in North Shields into affordable workspace for creatives. You want you rent some of it to do cool shit then please hit my DMs!.NE types please share
31
115
455
If you claim to be into club culture and you’re not willing to drop your fee to preserve it in a moment of crisis then I’m sorry but you’re a liar. 9/9.
20
33
484
The role of the underground as feeder to mainstream culture is being eradicated along with its capability to attract new participants, so clubs are closing and the mainstream leans further into mono culture based on sales metrics. 5/9.
1
43
478
The corporate mentality behind these giant sized acts and venues is to maximise the income and minimise the amount of people sharing it. The closer they come to being the only game in town the more they raise their fees which has tightened the noose for small parties. 3/9.
1
14
438
Drug usage is a complex topic, and I always think people showing off about it online look foolish, but I have to say that I see current rave footage and think how much better it could be if people were on E, & think about the ways it benefited my generation and opened some minds.
36
9
415
If a person connects to a club they’re a clubber. If they just connect to a megastar they’re something else. Clubbing is about clubs (the clue is in the title) and clubbing is under threat, so clubs and promoters need to be pushed into the foreground again. 7/9.
1
25
372
So for underground club culture to see a resurgence big names need to play small venues for fees that let them make enough money to keep going. They also need to do it without making it all about themselves and to help platform the club or promoter. 6/9.
3
22
372
Unfinished Sympathy just came on and it’s one of those records that overwhelms me whenever I hear it. Part of it is obviously nostalgia, but most of it is just in there held within the music itself.
39
12
321
Yeah, I'm losing my edge. I'm losing my edge. The kids are coming up from behind. I'm losing my edge. Im losing my edge to the kids from Tblisi and from Johannesbug. But I was there. I was there in 2008 I was there at the first Sophie show in Berlin.
9
26
335
Big gigs, big DJs and big brands are all fine, but they’re not clubbing & they’re not under any threat larger than making mildly less obscene amounts of money. Clubs and grassroots promoters ARE under threat & big acts don’t do their part to help them survive and bounce back 8/9.
3
23
324
Remember four years ago when it looked like venues were gonna be capped at 500 and loads of giant DJ “stars” were climbing over each other to push smaller acts out the way and say their hearts belonged to small clubs? .90% wouldn’t cross the street to spit on a reduced fee now.
3
10
317
Remember almost 2 years ago when loads of huge DJs pretended they gave a shit about grass roots club culture because they suspected Covid would mean that they would have to take lower paid gigs at smaller underground clubs?.Didn’t take them long to get back to the co2 cannons lol.
2
19
294
I have to say, while I have broad tastes etc, I think If I was to be honest I'd have to say that Detroit Techno is the most soul shaking (and hands down coolest) music out there for me really.
24
13
281
This tech-house thing where there’s a section of a really famous old pop song and then it drops back in to an uninspired house beat (usually in a completely different key). That’s music for people who actively don’t like music: (obviously it’s popular as fuck too hahahaha).
14
25
287
If you do a small party somewhere in the U.K. with good sound / nice people, and you think that booking me will help you fill it, then DM and I’ll come down and play for you based on whatever fair share will make it work for everyone (no minimum fee). Im bored of greedy DJs now.
15
26
273
I used to say “the good thing about EDM is that some of the crowd will eventually move to Techno”. Now we have have DJs playing huge “Techno” festivals in novelty plastic masks, and we have “business techno” and “brand activation” and I just want to say sorry, I was wrong.
6
18
265
Continually seeing DJs I’ve admired for decades suddenly playing tracks I’ve thought were the worst kind of trash for just as long and I can’t help but feel it’s because all of this video content stuff has them them terrified and lost as to what they’re now supposed to be and do.
24
11
265
So many videos of huge crowds in front of DJs at mega venues. and they’re not dancing unless it’s reacting to a big “drop” (ew). I’m not judging them, I just think they’re all missing out on what it is to go somewhere that makes you literally dance your socks off all night long.
21
17
250
Seeing as unsolicited advice for DJs from self appointed experts is a bit of a trend these days, let me throw my hat into the arena. DJs, stop thinking in terms of BPM and think in terms of energy instead. Slow can be hard. Fast can be delicate. Tempo is really quite meaningless.
11
24
240
Sorry. I’m going to offend people here, but this is my truth. I hated trance the first time round. I hate it more the second time round. I wish it would fuck off.
48
7
233
Dance Music is hard. I limp from one crisis of confidence to the next and spend most days debating quitting for a secure job. Parties like last night, people saying kind things about my playing, people I admire playing my music… these things all keep me going. I doubt I’m alone.
20
8
230
DJing used to feel evangelical. You wanted to spread the word to the whole world. But in the last decade everyone got access to everything and the need to spread the word seems to have been replaced with a need for fame. Now the thought of getting deeper with fewer feels better.
12
33
207
Played this on New Year for the first time in probably over a decade. Place went nuts. One good thing about being older is waiting out things to be cool again.
26
4
201
This Saturday Paul Woolford aka Special Request ( @PaulWoolford ) comes to play b2b with me in a traditional social club in the working class town of North Shields. Here are a few things we need you to know in advance of the party 🎉.
8
8
205
If you're in to music and DJing, but you feel like you don't fit in, or that your tastes don't quite match with everybody else, then please give a listen to this 33 year old interview with Andy Weatherall.
4
23
196
We did it. Jeff Mills is our guest for the Me Me Me 6th birthday. I'd probably buy a ticket were I you, as its an intimate 350 cap room ;).I can't believe it either.
19
11
194
Stop putting some DJs names in giant letters and others in a teeny tiny font. I promise that If people have fans they won’t be put off by smaller writing. Build people up who need it, not who have it.
5
21
208
My father died last night. It came as a surprise to us all and I’m going to miss him a lot. I’m mainly posting this for practical reasons to let as many people know at once that I’m going to be off the grid for a while. He was really brilliant and I loved him very much.
70
0
196
I see so many DJs who in truth barely know each other but behave like they’re best friends for Social Media. They do it as a kind of “brand merger”. It all feels very disingenuous and is frankly a bit of a bummer. Celeb culture makes everything quite murky after a while.
24
8
189
Quite depressing watching DJs slag other DJs off (behind their back obviously) for being “uncool”, right until the person being slagged off reaches the point where they can further the others career. At which point they mystically become more legit. Being cool is fucking BORING.
14
10
187
Can we demystify a few things?.Making music = easy. Making music that people are guaranteed to like = Impossible. Caring if other people like your music = pointless. Enjoying what you make yourself = essential. Just go out and make some noises until you make some you really like.
5
33
188
Quite a big announcement here. We're sick of hearing about clubs closing so we're opening our own full time venue. Info below:
19
17
163
Clubs are gonna sound mad with loads of us rusty DJs playing sloppily and making really weird decisions due to the strangeness of being back out there. ITS GOING TO BE FUCKING GLORIOUS!.Bring on the odd!.
11
13
173
Nothing says challenging cultural exchange quite as much as trying to explain the 2001 Brass Eye Paedogeddon Special to your Mexican Wife.
7
4
162
Here’s our flyer for our new party Thats starts weekly on the 24th. It’s to put some people off as much as to attract others
15
12
175
Now we’re close to returning to clubs am I allowed to say that I’d quite happily never watch another film of a DJ dancing in exaggerated excitement while playing to nobody, ever again?.
13
8
158
Here’s another vid from our party last Friday with Jeff Mills, because why wouldn’t I keep showing off about this?
7
2
162
Newcastle currently has 3 of the biggest DJs in the UK + a huge list of underground / breakthru acts. It’s 20th in terms of size yet rivals the top 5 for acts appearing for (amazing) parties. Why not visit and talk about our scene guys? @boilerroomtv @Mixmag @residentadvisor.
11
45
163
How to build back local scenes (where possible):.Weekly parties / Amazing residents / "Guests" instead of "headliners" / Affordable Entry & Drinks. Think in terms of building a community rather than of servicing a market, otherwise its not a scene, its an industry.
8
13
149
2006 me & my friends were obsessed with @erolalkan and would travel the country to see him when he wasn’t playing at Wax:On Newcastle. Tonight he plays B2B with me in the small town where I was literally born. You can’t predict where life will take you so just do what you enjoy!.
13
3
150
You can all breathe a sigh of relief as I can stop going on about wanting to do this. (You just need to out up with me going on about actually having done it for a while). @BBCR1 Essential Mix this Saturday…
13
10
152
If you were partying a decade ago you would have heard this absolutely everywhere everytime you went out for a year. so much so I don't think anyone has played it since then.
20
3
155
This month is 10 years of me starting this Man Power project. Feels like I should mark it somehow, so I've stuck 10gs worth of my own music in this folder. Take it / share it / ignore it as you see fit. (some of it is currently still uploading FYI).
11
16
155
Im guessing Im not the only person who couldn’t give a single shit about doing something for New Years Eve.
9
3
138
This is the kind of shit I ruminate about so here’s a diagram about how I approach DJing as both an artist and someone paid to provide a service
15
18
144
I tell you what… I can’t wait till Indie dominates the mainstream again and clubs belong to the “weirdos” once more.
4
5
139
When did the techno uniform change from being untrendy as fuck in too-baggy jeans, trainers and label tees, and change to looking like a bad guy from Blade 2?.
14
13
142
It’s the first night of the club party that in many ways I’ve been planning my whole adult life. The metros aren’t running, blue line aren’t answering, Uber is taking too long and being extortionate and the bus comes too late. Long story short, my mams dropping me off at my gig.
11
1
125
The winner of Best DJ at the DJMag awards last night was from North East England. If you’re also from the NE and you’re not celebrating this because they don’t match your tastes then you’re missing the point. This proves you can stay in our region and go as far as anyone anywhere.
5
5
136
Eeeh lads, leave her alone. There’s way more cringey DJ moments out there from Middle Aged blokes than a video of a young girl lip synching to her own mega hit. If it’s only noteworthy when it’s a young attractive female then there’s a name for that (several names in fact).
11
4
127
I’m gonna do a weekly party in Newcastle. gonna bring friends and also platform local people who deserve it + try to push things that drive fairness and representation, and counteract the awful entertainment industry shit that’s spoiling this culture for me. More news this week.
9
5
130
So many DJ friend in the US I know that survived on almost 0 support and now they have to watch a migration of Superstars based in Europe come over to eat up all the gigs. This system is as predictable as it is morally bankrupt. Let’s make a new one.
2
8
124
The sheer fuckoffness of being able to release whatever you want on your own label whenever you want to without having to rely on the opinions ANYBODY else is the A1 top of the heap reason to start one!.Especially if its your own stuff.
8
15
126
I'm taking my wife and daughter to The Chemical Brothers at Castle Howard on Sunday and i have a feeling that a lot of my records are about become a hell of a lot more interesting to a certain 12 year old after experiencing dance music in that way for the first time.
8
0
125
Weekly parties NOT rent a crowd from a superstar booking. Minimum Wage for locals / residents. Wage cap on headliners. Supporting local DJ Culture and new talent. Supporting inclusion and levelling privilege as a party and an institution. This year needs to have meant something.
2
28
122
43 today. It feels great. My family is perfect and I love my work & the things I make. A birthday is a good reminder that you mustn’t live with expectations based on what and who you were, & that you always need to keep pushing and fighting to make things happen here and now xxx.
31
1
125
I have to say that on average I now much prefer more of what I hear random DJs play & there seems to be a lot more people playing cool & obscure Balearic / Disco / Rare Groove / Soul / New Wave stuff than 15 years ago when it felt like I’d usually just hear landfill house.
14
2
127
I'm going to stop using this platform. I actually like it 90% of the time but it's now apparent that it's owned by a very dangerous man who is using it to spread a hollow rhetoric and violence creating mistruths purely to increase his own influence. Elon Musk is a very bad person.
14
4
111
RA says "Moodymann teams up with New Era for Detroit-inspired clothing collection" . Would all those hating on Peggy Gou for the Nike stuff please let me know your thoughts now?. (NB If they're as hideously misogynistic as I suspect then don't @ me. I can live without knowing).
6
6
124
I was raised by a man who wasn’t my father and I’m raising a daughter who isn’t my own child and you know what, biggest respect for everyone out there showing young people that love is thicker than blood. No time for imposter syndrome when it involves a child’s wellbeing ❤️.
6
3
112
Holy fucking shit! This is literally me hearing about this right now!.Proper honoured by the nod!!!.
DJ Mag Best Of British 2022, Underground Hero nominees . @DUBZLO & @mantra_dj .@jeremysylvester .@Lo_Shea .@Man_Power_Music.@sarahmcbriar . Vote:
25
1
115
Potentially “Basic” opinion but I prefer Pioneer mixers to Xones. I also think that if you need a 4 band EQ for dance music then you must be doing some kind of mixing voodoo for people with hearing like Dogs and Bats.
27
5
112
Just handed the decks over to Robert Hood. Think I’ll need to write a new bucket list soon as this one is all but completed. Gotta say it was a rare buzz seeing him bobbing his head and into what I was playing. If you don’t have heroes then this must be a dull obsession.
1
0
105
Somewhere out there somewhere someone reading this has never heard this record and I reckon I stand a good chance of changing their lives for an immeasurable amount of better. Deffo my most played set closer ever.
14
9
95
Jeff Mills just played ESG Moody at my labels birthday party this second. What’s your anecdote?.
2
1
108
Sorry to say this, but Techno always felt like a something for outsiders so watching videos of tens of thousands of people dressed the same and doing the exact same body movements as each other looks almost fascist at times.
11
5
102
People say digital distribution and cheap music software means there’s more bad music now than previously. After spending an afternoon going through my record collection I can assure everyone that there’s plenty dreadful records from the last 40 yrs (most of which I seem to own).
13
3
100
DJs, here’s a good question….What do you think is the oldest recorded piece of music you play regularly (like to other people, not just at home)?.
78
5
102
While I’m being all off-puttingly negative can I sneak in the fact that I think these multi camera DJ streams with film budgets that are shot in dystopian industrial backlots just look fucking daft at this stage and have about as much to do with club culture as Paris Hilton did.
14
4
98
Advice for DJs who've been around the block:.Doing this longer doesn't automatically mean you're owed respect. Young people are meant to reject what came before them, you don't have to like new things but that doesn't make them bad. You stop going out, you lose your connection.
5
12
103
The self important psuedo intellectual write ups that accompany some techno releases are just priceless. The artists tend to seem a little less visionary once you encounter them hugging a sub in a k-hole with pissed pants.
4
14
98
Nightclubs play a crucial role in allowing young people to de-program, un-plug and re-think / re-learn their values. This is why it’s so egregious to see a bottom up corporatisation of the culture by the types of commercial institutions it was supposed to be the alternative to.
1
16
91
I had way more respect for “Donk” when it belonged to radge kids from poor towns, especially as the people who pioneered it would be the least welcome at the parties who’ve adopted it in recent years.
9
5
103
If you tell me you saw this coming I’ll tell you you’re a liar. North Shields 2023
13
4
92
Dance Music Industy Instagram frequently just feels like a collection of rich young people at lavish foreign weddings.
5
5
87
Lots of DJs saying they warmed up when what they actually mean is just that they played first. It’s deffo the craft part of all this and I reckon not everyone gets that.
11
7
81
How is this not sounding mad to some people? The party that literally just tanked the economy with their last leadership decision might be able to re install the disgraced PM whose resignation prompted that situation, all without actually having to put it to the people of the Uk.
9
6
80
I reckon 99% of the people who follow me will know this, but again the thought of introducing such a canonical piece of music to the even one person for the first time is one of the real privileges of being a DJ.
14
4
85
It’s legit funny that despite booking everyone from Jeff Mills, to DJ Harvey, to William Basinski Live + so many more this year + our community work, + the fact I’ve made a symphony, @residentadvisor still wont cover out North East stuff (unless we sell tickets with them).
12
2
75
In my personal experience I’ve found the UK Club scene gives way more of a shit about peoples age than anywhere else I’ve been and , while I realise there are parties for catering to specific age groups, on average dancefloors are less diverse age wise than everywhere else I play.
12
3
85
Loads of people In my general age group who I know from their partying days, and who were fully wild, seem to have rejected all the radical thinking they once had. I understand pragmatism when you have a family, but some folk really embrace the hierarchies they used to despise.
13
5
80
Yes we’re planning parties too. Just taking our time so they they reflect these lockdown lessons. Need to focus on building a community, celebrating quality, platforming talent and having more purpose than just making DJ Influencers richer. This time has to have meant something.
4
3
82
The amount of men who rally around figures like Andrew Tate or Elon Musk due to their perceived success shows that many still carry some pack animal instinct. Their obsession with being an Alpha Male means the irony that they need one to follow is sadly lost on them.
9
3
80
Things that will make parties good again post Covid. Regular crowds / a real community. No mass appeal advertising - Word of mouth and flyering only. Proper residents. Growing talent not buying it. Memberships.Weeklys. Ignoring trends. No more talk of “brands” / “careers”.
6
15
78
Laughing at how all the massive DJs who were sniffing around talking about underground roots when small capacities looked like they were all that would be possible last year are posting confetti cannon vids like “SURPRISE BITCHES IM A MEGASTAR” now that the big stuff is allowed.
0
4
73
Going through tracks for tonight. The least obscure track i could possibly post. but just listen to it again even though you've heard it a million times. It's just so so so so good man.
12
4
74
I know some DJs who make a living but are terminally bummed out that people they think they’re as good as are doing much better than them. I’d suggest it’s worth looking in the other direction and acknowledging there’s people as good as (or better than) you doing a lot worse.
4
4
77