After five months of running Amateur’s House, I like to think that I have some idea of what I'm doing. There have been a couple of hiccups in that time, but I remain of the opinion this has been a sharp learning curve yet also one of the better ones in my life. However, a good idea is a good idea. And one of my readers threw this suggestion in…
Back on Monday of last week, you might remember this blog published an article about a flyer from 1988 from the notorious Shoom nightclub which was on sale at eBay. Proceeds for the item were going to the Dance For Stevie fund - the full backstory for that can be found here. Bidding has now finished for the item, and I can report the flyer sold for £361. Not bad…
Nearly one year ago to the day, DJ Rebekah launched a campaign called #ForTheMusic. The idea was simple. It was to fight against sexual harassment and assault in the world of dance music. And she was going to be the figurehead helping bring about real change to a scene that desperately needs it. But nothing much happened with this campaign. Rebekah mentioned it a few times and then appears to…
So, back we go to the divisive topic of vaccine passports once more. Scotland was due to introduce them on October 1st - tomorrow. But like everything else with this policy, it's been rushed through without a thought for the consequences. Firstly, they were announced just three weeks ago and voted through by Sturgeon's SNP stooges shortly afterwards. And then with just two days to go, the Scottish First Minister…
Yesterday morning, this blog reported on comments made by Optimo (Escapio) about what they perceived to be the shambles of Glasgow’s Playground Festival. And I wasn’t the only one. A number of Scottish media outlets covered the story, including The Scottish Sun and STV News - although curiously, none of the dance music outlets have covered this one... I was under the impression that Playground Festival were just ignoring me…
I frequently deride the dance music press on this blog. I believe they steer clear of certain subjects because it clashes with their commercial interests. I believe they're terrible at holding people to account when they've done wrong, and I believe they don't do their jobs properly. And I know there are journalists out there who agree with me. I can see them signed up to my email subscription list…
Which up and coming female DJ recently put another, older male DJ in his place recently? The woman in question has slowly but steadily making inroads into house music over the past few years and is starting to get noticed by the big venues. The story goes that she recently went to do a set at a venue in London. The show went well, and she was backstage afterwards packing…
Supply and demand is a concept which is probably as old as time itself. It’s quite simple - low supply and high demand equals high prices. Chances are that even the cavemen understood this principle thousands of years ago and it still applies just as much today, if even more so. Humans really haven’t advanced that much, you know... Now the world appears to be starting to emerge from the…
I haven't written anything about Daniel "Mr Burns" Ek and his cash cow Spotify for a while now, have I? So I thought I'd put that right and have a good look to see what the minted Swede has been getting up to recently. The answer appears to involve spending very little time on social media. Perhaps he's been busy rummaging around the backs of sofas at Spotify's offices in…
The problem with being a petulant arse who thinks they can behave in whatever way they please is that you'll eventually try it on the wrong person. You can be lucky for many years, because many people don't speak out about various kinds of crap behaviour. But at some point, you're going to land flat on your face courtesy of someone who gives you what you deserve. And by the…
