This blog believes people should choose their friends very carefully. Quite simply, if something seems off about a person, that’s because it usually is. And now, we’re starting to see the consequences for people who have chosen to stick by Derrick May amidst his current difficulties.
For example, I wrote recently about how one of the problems now with booking Derrick May is you can’t promote it without running the risk of a huge backlash. Literally the only option you have is to announce his appearance as late as possible in the day and just hope the ticket sales more than compensate – and not just financially – for the inevitable furore.
Asking him to do interviews to promote the event is clearly out of the question. Any journalist worth their salt will enquire about the allegations surrounding him – assuming they agree to speak to him in the first place. And any who didn’t ask him would inevitably get crucified by the likes of me.
What I didn’t realise at the time was it also affects people who are tied to his mast. Last week, DJ Mag editor Carl Loben interviewed Juan Atkins at the Most Wanted: Music conference in Berlin. But had Loben not mentioned it on social media, I wouldn’t have even been aware it was happening.
The Most Wanted: Music social media platforms made no reference to the interview in advance and nothing has appeared in the days afterwards. A source who was present at the conference last week offered me an explanation for the silence – after all, Rebekah Teasdale’s appearance to get her beleaguered #ForTheMusic movement going again was mentioned.
He told me “The Loben/Atkins event wasn’t exactly a best seller on the day. Atkins preferred to answer his own questions than the ones put to him – but the questions put to him were the same crap he’s been asked for years. It was a pretty boring interview. And yeah, your blog was right when you said Loben wouldn’t ask him any tough questions.”.
Juan Atkins might well feel loyalty towards his old friend – but the price of that loyalty is starting to get paid…
