The more time Ears To The House spends doing what we do, the more convinced we are that most of those in the dance music world secretly hate each other. They usually use the word “competitive” as a euphemism to conceal how bad this really is – the world of the higher echelon DJs is largely a venomous place.
Be in absolutely no doubt – at that level, most of those DJs see their so-called friends as rivals. This is especially true amongst the newer names, who are often represented by the same agencies and are all jostling for positions at the same old lucrative festivals – hardly surprising when there’s no end of DJs trying to get famous.
The only ones who seem a little more immune to this are the legacy DJs – and part of that might simply be their naturally decreasing testosterone levels as they get older. Hence, why this photo of Todd Terry, Louie Vega, and Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez having dinner together might actually be genuine and not simply staged for the camera.
From what we know at Ears To The House, Terry has always had a pretty strong relationship with Vega and Gonzalez – after all, their Masters At Work name was given to them by him in the late 1980s. As for Vega and Gonzalez themselves, we understand they’ve had the odd argument over the years – but nothing which hasn’t been overcome.
What a striking contrast the photo above is to one taken in Detroit a few months ago. Yes, that would be the five “distinguished men of techno” pictured in a steakhouse with no food on the table, Juan Atkins looking ridiculously tiny in the background, and Derrick May doing the face he does when he pretends he’s not reading this site.
We just hope Detroit isn’t too jealous when they see Todd Terry, Louie Vega, and Kenny Dope actually had some food to eat…
