A common theme this blog frequently comes back to is the fact many of the bigger DJs live on another planet. Whilst there are honourable exceptions who remain humble and untainted by fame, it goes to the heads of an all-too large number of them. Which is handy for me, because it gives me endless content to work with.
Jeff Mills has just given an interview to the twice yearly Kaleidoscope magazine, and in many ways, it’s no different to your average interview of this type. Qualities such as modesty, wit and brevity are all naturally absent, with the interviewer seemingly droning on for so long that it becomes a particularly dull monologue at times.
Indeed, the interviewer seems to forget they should allow the person they’re conversing with to do most of the talking. We receive little insight into Mills here, and what tiny nuggets we do get only showcase a certain degree of arrogance.
Towards the end of the interview, he whinges about music fans apparent refusal to speak out about developments or events in music. As an example, he cites “when Apple sold music for 99 cents to sell computers” – apparently unaware that as a musician with a large platform and media connections, he has the perfect outlet to discuss such matters.
Curiously however, the discussion doesn’t venture onto subjects which people might actually want to know his opinion on – such as the many allegations of sexual abuse surrounding his fellow Detroit DJ Derrick May. Or perhaps readers might want to know whether stories of him being angry after a Melbourne appearance with the aforementioned May in 2016 are true.
The interview fails to mention subjects such as plague raves, his views on the pandemic, his take on who he rates these days, his political views – or indeed anything remotely interesting. Both Mills and interviewer have forgotten the central component of a great interview – namely making it a must-see for the reader.
That said, it does do a good job of exposing the rank hypocrisy of Jeff Mills. He says it’s important to speak out about issues which you feel strongly about. Could this be the same Jeff Mills who recently denied his own fans their freedom of speech when he closed comments on his own Facebook page recently after making a twice-botched defence of his appearance at the Saudi government sponsored MDL Beast Soundstorm festival?
In the world of Jeff Mills, freedom of speech only appears to apply when he agrees with you. Then again, such inconsistency even appears in his choice of clothing for the photoshoot with the magazine, wearing a number of garments from Bottega Veneta.
This clothing line did a runway show in Detroit which this blog covered back in October. Carl Craig designed a light and sound installation for a cocktail party after the main event whilst Moodymann “scored” the show – a fancy term for writing and arranging the music. But would Mills ever wear clothes like this when the camera is turned off?
According to two sources in Detroit who know him personally, he would not. One was especially blunt in his assessment, saying “Jeff wouldn’t be seen dead in s*** like that!”…
