Here’s a view that you’ll never find expressed in the dance music press – we think a lot of the higher echelon DJs care only for themselves and their bank balances. Hence why they spend most of their time talking about nothing but themselves – and they tend to look very foolish when they dare deviate from that strategy.

Two years ago, Ears To The House started asking questions about the environmental impact that DJs were having on the world – a discussion that pretty much all of the most gas-guzzling DJs in the world have done their best to ignore.

Clean Scene’s study in 2021 found that the most environmentally damaging DJs in house music were Louie Vega and Derrick Carter – and quite what they make of that particular honour is a mystery. But where did questions about the effect of DJs on our planet come from?

The answer goes back to at least 2009. That year, a press release by Britain’s Danny Rampling ended up being mentioned in The Guardian newspaper – at the time, he had dipped a toe back into DJing after a few years away from the industry. And he made a very curious vow indeed…

“When I brought the house music scene to the UK two decades ago, I was at the forefront of a movement that united millions of people in a very positive way. I see parallels of this in today’s world where global challenges such as climate change are catalysing the same sense of, ‘we are all in this together’. I realise the planet’s in trouble, and I care deeply about our future. I have now chosen to become a Carbon Neutral DJ, and I believe deeply in the new low carbon economy and the opportunities and jobs that it will provide both here and overseas.”

Rampling’s intermittent touring schedule – whilst not ranting about digital currency, 15-minute cities and Covid vaccines – certainly helps him to keep to that promise, certainly. But we suspect other DJs weren’t exactly thankful when he came out with it – knowing that the focus could one day be on them…