Today is the 59th birthday of disgraced techno DJ Derrick May. He’s a name you’ll no doubt know about if you’ve read this site in the past – this has been one of very few outlets online who have been keeping an eye on him. But things have gone silent lately, and I’ve had quite a few people wondering what’s been going on.

So I thought today was a particularly good day to explain a few things. I can confirm that Amateur’s House is most definitely on the way back – full details will be announced soon, but there’s plenty that I can already reveal today.

The first change you might have noticed is that the decorators have been in. We’ve moved hosts and revamped the website into something a little more, shall we say, engaging than what went before, A few bits of paint are drying off right now, with one or two finishing touches still being applied – but things are almost finished.

I’ve also used my time away to evaluate what has happened before. On the whole, I look back at the archive of Amateur’s House – dating back to April 2021 in its current form – with pride. Without intending to boast – well, not much, anyway – I have written about many an issue which simply weren’t covered by the mainstream dance music press.

This site remains at the front of the pack for breaking the latest news about Derrick May and his attempts to reincarnate his career. Elsewhere, I almost single-handedly wrote about DJs parading themselves in Saudi Arabia for blood money. This was the site which covered DJ Rebekah Teasdale’s failing #ForTheMusic campaign – a movement which thoroughly deserves to succeed, yet remains on the starting blocks.

Yet I must accept that mistakes have been made along the way. And whilst this site has never hesitated to point out bad things going on in the scene, I have sometimes been less inclined than I should be to point out the good. Which, be in little doubt, there is to be found.

So going forward into the future, this site will cover more positive developments as well as calling out the negative. And whilst this site will never hesitate to say exactly what we think, we will do so with a sense of fairness and in some cases, more objectively than in the past. There will be no fear or favour here.

As I mentioned earlier, full details on how the site will look in the future are still being carved out – but I can announce a few things which definitely won’t be changing. The “Here’s One They Made Earlier” column on Mondays, looking back at past glories in the dance music scene, is staying – although its focus will now increase to cover a wider section of this broad genre.

Chatter and rumours circulating in the scene will continue to be reported in the mid-week Wednesday Whisper column. Saturdays will continue to have the weekly recap, with previous statistics confirming it to be one of the more popular sections of the website. Reviews of the latest releases also look set to continue – although some changes are forthcoming, which I hope to detail in the near future.

I hope I’ve given you a glimpse here of what the future holds. More details will be announced soon, but the essence of what the site is about remains fundamentally unchanged. If you’re doing it right, we will praise you for it. And if you’re doing something you shouldn’t, don’t feign surprise when you find us writing about you…