International charity organisation Oxfam are about to launch a UK wide appeal in an attempt to save the nation’s forgotten progressive house DJs.
Progressive house DJs were once at the forefront of the electronic music industry but in recent years, as the scene has evolved, they have slipped into obscurity and it is now feared that one in every five progressive house DJs are living in poverty.
Peter Chamberlain, Director of Global Underground Communication for Oxfam, spoke about the up coming appeal, “The demise of progressive house over the last few years has left a lot of DJs in very difficult situations.”
“There have been a number of factors in the genre’s fall from grace, most notably the digital revolution and the rise in popularity of deep house and tech house,” explained Mr. Chamberlain, “there’s also the highjacking of the name ‘progressive house’ by commercial EDM producers who are now releasing the musical equivalent of a bad dose of diarrhea under that guise,” he added.
“While many of the leading DJs and producers from progressive house’s heyday, the likes of Nick Warren and Dave Seaman, have managed to move with the times and keep their sound fresh, many others have not been so lucky” he continued, “and they’ve had to resort to desperate measures like starving to death or playing EDM.”
“Here at Oxfam we’re hoping to counteract these scenarios through education,” claimed Mr. Chamberlain. “It’s like the old saying goes; give a progressive house DJ a bag of records and a set of Technics and he’ll play for one night but give him a laptop, a midi controller, Traktor, some cool remix sets and a cracked version of Ableton Live and he’ll play for life.”
Oxfam have confirmed that they will be collecting donations, of money or drugs, outside the nations nightclubs throughout the summer.
