CW (amazingly) assembled six DJs in a room to explain Shanghai's DJ scene
DJs make the scene in our fair city, but there's become a rift in the scene with clubbers falling out, literally, along party lines. It's a clash of "overground" music vs. underground sound, Bund lovers vs. the Puxi faithful, and mainstream DJ fans vs. those who say they're "keeping it real" at LOgO or The Shelter. Tired of the name calling and name dropping, CW gathered six of Shanghai's hottest DJs from both sides of the tracks for a chat over some drinks and pool at Racks to figure out, once and for all, what the people behind the music really think about money, Shanghai and, well, each other.

See the video made producing this story by DJVIBE.com

Moderated by DJ Marcus Aurelius

DJ Marcus Aurelius: When did you start getting into music and how did that change once money got involved?
Thomas Paninaro: I started playing at school parties. I would spend four or five hours a day listening to the radio and taping all the songs I liked. In 1989 and 1990, it was Milli Vanilli, then Snap became big as well as MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. I didn't get paid till 1995, but once money gets involved, you automatically start asking yourself, "What does this person who's paying me want?"
Siesta: I started promoting drum and bass back in 1999 in Hong Kong. It was purely driven by the love of music. That didn't get me very far. Now, the financial part of the business plays a really big part of my career. It's all about finding the perfect balance.
Damien: At Bar Rouge ... the crowd is very diverse. Sometimes we have business pressure though, and we know the point is to make money. This crowd expects something. We know that we have to play [things] that people will like. If they're having fun, then tables will stay and the crowd will get crazy and spend money.
V-Nutz: If you like music, then becoming a DJ is the next level. You want to be involved and give the audience something-your own style. Once money is involved, it becomes about how far you can sell your soul to money. Some people just believe that money is money. What do you want? I'll just give it to you. They just grab the cash and they are happy. But some people just can't do that. It's very personal.

DJ Marcus Aurelius: Trix, how much have you sold your soul for?
Trix: I've sold it all man. But for music, I've been in the position where I should sell myself out completely, but I've found that it's part of the challenge. I've always thought about DJing as playing what people want to hear and what they didn't know they wanted to hear.
Nat: I've been lucky. I've managed to avoid any of these quandaries by playing what I want and always having something on the sideline that's been making my money. I've never had to compromise the music I play and I don't think I'd want to.

DJ Marcus Aurelius: Lucky man! So what's the Shanghai scene missing? Thomas: A healthy history. Everything you see in Shanghai is artificial. Two years ago, if you opened a copy of City Weekend, every weekend you had four or five Top 100 DJs, but people didn't even know who they were. Nothing really grew up naturally here.
Nat: The world these days is very different. China has developed a lot in the last 10 years. In that time, access to media and to different forms of music has become readily available. How do you know what you like when you're being bombarded with so much at once?
Damien: Part of the scene is also that, in China, a good DJ is a DJ with a good marketing team, not just good skills.

DJ Marcus Aurelius: Fair enough. In the Shanghai scene though, people have been talking about the segregation of DJs and a rivalry between "overground" and "underground." How do you feel about that?
V-Nutz: There's nothing wrong with mainstream and commercial music. A healthy music scene is supposed to have everything ... pop music, mainstream, underground and people just pick whatever they like.
Trix: Yeah. Musically, I play big clubs. I've sold myself around this country in mainstream ways with the music I play ... I only make minor changes in what I play when I move from club to club and that's okay here.
Thomas: One other thing is that although there are a lot of people who hang out in LOgO and drink REEB, if they could afford to go to Bar Rouge every night they probably would be at Bar Rouge. They're not at LOgO because it's more "underground" but because it's their budget.
Siesta: I just think most people want to go to places they can relate to and feel comfortable in. I would imagine a Chinese person would feel out of place at Attica, Bar Rouge or LOgO.
Nat: Yeah, I'm not sure it's appropriate for us, as visitors to a country, to sit and judge what people do. If people want to go to M2 and hear Tiesto play to a tiny dancefloor and shake dice then that's up to them.
Siesta: Right, it's all about having options.
Damien: Look at me. I play at Bar Rouge and on some Sundays I like to go to LOgO and hear what the DJ is playing. I'm happy the beer there is ￥20. Also, sometimes the DJs from LOgO come over to Bar Rouge and they tell me they like what they hear. This makes me feel pretty good.
V-Nutz: I think for a DJ, it's more about how much you know yourself. No matter what kind of music you play, as long as you are comfortable with it then people will be comfortable with you. The confusing thing is if you don't know yourself that well.
Trix: I know what you mean. I went through a period of questioning. I went from playing whatever I wanted to trying to play mainstream music, but I didn't want to play mainstream stuff. I just didn't really know what the masses wanted. It just wasn't me.
V-Nutz: You just have to be true to yourself.

Play on Players

Although there can never be a definitive list of the best DJs in Shanghai, here's a roster of some of the well-known hands from across the scene. All these guys are names you should know, but before you roll to their next show, check out their stats.

Trix

Explanation: A trix is a sexual act, I can do many.
Nationality: Canadian
Crew: Shaolinpunk
Bund or Underground? Underbund
DJ Career: 9-10 years as an adult, two as a toddler
First Show in Shangha? dkd
Catch Me at: Bon Bon
Off-work Hangout: The Shelter–it's close to my house
Your Upcoming Show: Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow, nevermind some time in the future.
Favorite Shanghai-based DJ: Gary (V-Nutz) because he has the power to give me free drinks once in a while, and my partner Slackerton. He puts 200 percent effort into his sets. He takes it really seriously and he's inspired me and made me a better DJ.

Damien Kay

Explanation: My regular first name Mitteau is not commercially nice. My second name Karin, I cut it down to Kay.
Nationality: French
Bund or Underground? Bund
DJ Career: Eight years
First Show in Shanghai? Bar Rouge
Catch Me at: Bar Rouge
Off-work Hangout: Home in my studio–producing takes a lot of time
Best Upcoming Event: March 27, Bar Rouge re-opening; April 19, "F*ck me I'm Famous Party" with David Guetta at Bar Rouge
Favorite Shanghai-based DJ: I have different points of view because I like different styles of music. When I first arrived in Shanghai, I saw V-Nutz at Pegasus. It was great to see the crowd, the original songs. I also have a lot of respect for Phillip Ortega. He is very experienced with techno music and he shared a lot of his knowledge with me.

Nat Alexander

Explanation: I've always found made up names a bit silly (no offence to others!). My friends nicknamed me DJ Oil + Water in my early days.
Nationality: English
Crew: Void
Bund or Underground? Underground?!
DJ Career: 10 years with varying success
First Show in Shanghai? Rojam, 2004
Catch Me at: LOgO, The Shelter
Best Upcoming Event: June 7, Robert Hood, Detroit grandfather of minimal techno at The Shelter
Your Upcoming Show: Void at LOgO (first / third Thursdays of the month)
Favorite Shanghai-based DJ: Can I have more than one answer? The Bananas guys for rocking a party. Shanghai Ultra from a music perspective. Also Santo Chino because musically speaking, he's aligned with me from techno right through to disco.

Thomas Paninaro

Explanation: Used to do plenty of 80s nights, my opening track usually was Paninaro by The Pet Shop Boys.
Nationality: German
Crew: D Event Entertainment
Bund or Underground? Bund DJ Career: On and off since 1991
First Show in Shanghai? Rojam, 1999
Catch Me at: Volar
Off-work Hangout: Home, there's everything I need in life right there from German beer to satellite TV
Best Upcoming Event: April 12, Tomcraft at Volar
Your Upcoming Show: April 5, Concordia School Shanghai Charity Ball–Oh yes, I do corporate events these days. Favorite Shanghai-based DJ: DJ Rick/ DJ Doggie. He's an amazing electro, minimal house guy and he has so much musical knowledge.

Siesta

Explanation: Originally I played the "sleeper sets," e.g. opening and closing. And the sets I played were pretty bossa / Latin / Brazilian influenced, kinda lazy afternoon, kinda lazy vibe.
Nationality: Hong Kong
Crew: Phreaktion
Bund or Underground? Neither and both
DJ Career: Five years
First Show in Shanghai? Madam Zhang
Catch Me at: Bon Bon or The Shelter
Off-work Hangout: At my pad, at my friends' pads, Thai House, anywhere that's got something cool going on
Best Upcoming Event: April 18, Metalheadz DJ Storm, the first lady of dub will be at Bon Bon
Favorite Shanghai-based DJ: Can I say myself? I have to represent the girl power. It's impossible for me to pick a favorite because everyone is different.

V-Nutz

Explanation: Vinyl Nutz–I'm crazy about vinyl.
Nationality: Chinese
Crew: The Lab
Bund or Underground? Not sure
DJ Career: Nine years
First Show in Shanghai? dkd
Catch Me at: Used to be Pegusus, now The Shelter and Mural
Off-work Hangout: The Lab, that's my studio
Best Upcoming Event: March 28, The Lab's Second Anniversary Party with DJ Kentaro (Ninja Tune) at The Shelter
Your Upcoming Show: The Shelter and Mural
Favorite Shanghai-based DJ: I don't really go out that much. But I'd have to say elnomo from Bananas. We have the same kind of taste in music. I think he's a really dope DJ and I give him a lot of respect.

DJ Devotees

The DJs are entitled to their opinions on who has the best hands in town, but we asked some of Shanghai's well-known night owls where they go when they want to listen to skill behind the decks.

David Ghani
Managing Director | Solid Vodka
Pete Tong at Attica and Bob Sinclair at Bar Rouge were two of the biggest parties of last year. You can always count on Bon Bon though to deliver the headliners week in and week out. My favorite Shanghai nights have got to be Goldie and Jazzy Jeff at Bon Bon.

Graham Robinson
Executive Producer | Studio X Networks
When I'm looking for a good DJ to film for DJVIBE.com TV, I always seem to end up at some of Shanghai's more underground spots since this city has some great DJs. I can usually be found at places like The Shelter, The Lab and Phreaktion DnB parties.

Brad Ferguson
Manager | Windows Tembo
I'll admit that I definitely prefer live music to DJs and I'd rather listen to my iPod than watch some English teacher play other people's records. That being said, the DJs at The Shelter do a decently good job of playing other people's records creatively. If I had to go somewhere to listen to a DJ, it'd be there.