This is a blog post about Dj Hams recent album idea. You can read the details here if you are not familiar with it or the controversy that has ensued:
Dj Ham’s Album
I like to think things through before coming to any conclusion, and certainly before I make a post such as this, so I waited a few days before writing. I also discussed the subject a little with the KFA artists, some of whom thought it was a good idea, some who found it offensive (for want of a better word), and some who were torn either way. I imagine thats a good representative of everyone in the hardcore scene right now lol.
To be honest and fair, let me start by saying I love Dj Ham. Not in a “tickle each other’s secret places” way, but as a long time friend and artist. I have known him since the earliest days of Kniteforce, so over 20 years, and feel that it should be made clear right from the start that I am a little biased. But only a little. Ham is his own man, and he doesn’t need me defending him, and would take any criticism I level at him in his stride. So, with that being said, here are 4 reasons you are wrong about his album idea:
1. It Is Worth The Money
Here is a picture of a Powell & Peralta first edition Per Welinder freestyle board. It has all plastic Tracker freestyle trucks and copers, Bones hardware and bearings, and original Powell & Peralta Freestyle wheels (not seconds of defects).
To most people, its just a plank of wood and some wheels. But to me, it’s a part of my history, it represents the best memories of my childhood, it is the skateboard ridden by Per Welinder, my favourite skater for a very long time, has some of the best artwork by legendary artist VCJ. And, to me at least, it is a beautiful object in and of itself. It reminds me of my youth and of freedom and of the skateboarders ethics and attitude, which I still use to build both my record label and my life.
Original Powell & Peralta boards from the 1980’s are rare, and these ones are rarer still. The nature of a skateboard is that it gets destroyed in use so very few survived. And one such as this, from the late 70’s / early 80’s? And from a niche part of skateboard culture, even back then? Trust me when I tell you there are very few left in the world. Even in shitty condition, this would be valuable. In brand new condition? I have never seen one. I don’t even know if one exists. So how much is it worth?
At least $1500.
To me. And to other collectors.
To you? Fuck all most likely lol.
And thats fine. That is the nature of value. My point here is that Dj Ham is selling his album for £100. And I have seen numerous posts saying something along the lines of “What the fuck? That’s ridiculous, its not worth it”. And those that think that? You are right. It is absolutely not worth it. To you. But it is to me. Which is one of many reasons why I have added my name to the list. Look, I wouldn’t pay £100 for a Styles album. Not because it won’t be good – he is a fantastic artist and Dj – but because I personally don’t dig it, so to me, it is not worth the money. I wouldn’t pay for rims on my car, or tickets to see Justin Beiber, or a catwalk outfit by Calvin Klein that makes me look like a heroin addict in a trash bag. But others would, and good for them. I would pay £1000 for a brand new Hyper On Experience album lol. What I am saying is value is an individual concept, and therefore Ham’s album is priced as it should be. If people don’t buy it, well, then, Dj Ham had overestimated what his work is worth to others. Thats all. But it looks like he is going to met his mark…So is it worth £100? Yes.
2. The Album Price Is Right, The Problem Is Everything Else
Another key argument I have seen repeatedly is “I would release an album for free” or “Cheeky bastard, Gammer gives away free music why does Ham think he can charge so much?” But, and I hate to say it, this is a dumb argument.
Look, I would play football for Manchester United for free. I would Dj at the worlds biggest festival for free. The trouble is, no one wants me to do that because I am not Carl Cox or…shit, I don’t know any footballers. Kicky McGoaler. There, that will do. I am not Kicky McGoaler, and I am not wanted on the team. So hearing that you, personally, would give your music way for free is no argument at all. Because you are not Dj Ham. And frankly, your music isn’t as valuable to most people. Maybe to some – see above – but this distinction matters.
Now, if Gammer chooses to give away his music, big ups to Gammer. And if I want to do so, thats great as well. But that is the individual artists decision to make. And maybe its the wrong decision, actually. I would say that what Ham is doing is a good idea because it forces us to value music, and it has been badly undervalued precisely because artists are now almost forced to give music away for free. But we shouldn’t be doing that. Creating art is a difficult, time consuming, emotionally strenuous process, whether you are Dj Ham, Gammer, Luna-C or you just finished your first track. The whole hardcore scene would be much better off if all of the people producing stopped giving the music away for free. We have devalued it, and made it throwaway. I am as responsible for this as others. But if you want talented people making good music, well, you have to pay for it. Thats all there is to it.
3. Your Anger Is Misplaced
I think one of the reasons some people got so upset was because they did the math. I know I did, straight away. 100 x £100 is 10 grand and FUCKING HELL 10 GRAND? And I understand that reaction. I really do. Because that was my first thought, followed by “shit, why didn’t I think of this idea?” lol. I could sure as hell use 10 grand. And as a first reaction, its a reasonable one. But look, Dj Ham, like myself and many others, come from an era when you would put out a vinyl record with 3 tracks on it, sell 3000 and make a low 4 figure paycheck.
Then you would licence those same tunes to various compilation all over the world. They would have longevity, and make you a good amount of money, enough to justify the work put into it.
None of that happens any more. MP3 sales are wank, there’s no Bonkers or Dancemania anymore.
I know, I know, the music industry is no longer that way. And compared to some in the industry, I was fairly quick to accept it and change my methods. At one point I put my entire catalogue up for free, trying the donation route (great for the first month, then dead as fuck forever lol) and I quickly understood that the money would be in live performance rather than music sales. But what about those of us, like myself and Dj Ham, that do not really enjoy the public performance part because we are producers first and foremost? Also, what I and many others did not see was just how drastic the changes would be. I have seen ignorant comments such as “Just put it out on vinyl” – thats at least £1000 per E.P, just to press 200 copies. It is prohibitive although possible and the profit is tiny, almost nothing, even if you sell 200 which you might not. Or “I am sure you would sell 1000’s as MP3s” No, he won’t. He might sell 100. Maybe 200. And make maybe $150 in total. For a 10 track album? How do I know this? Because I just did an album and sold about that many, and the only reason I will make a little bit more than Ham would is because of my very loyal KF supporters and the fact I sell directly to the public as well as using iTunes etc. But I still won’t make a four figure sum. $700 if I am lucky. And that album took over 6 months and required every bit of skill I acquired over my 25 years or so of being in the industry. Of course you could ask “If Luna-C can do it, why can’t Dj Ham?” – But thats the wrong question. The right question is “why the fuck would Dj Luna-C spend 6 months making an album to earn $700?” Because thats a shitty pay cheque for a lot of work. It just is, whatever way you slice it.
At this point, you get the usual calls about “you should make music for the love if it” and of couse I do, and so does Ham – frankly, so does anyone who even bothers to make hardcore in 2016. But this is a very unfair argument. Apply it to any other form of work and it shows how absurd it is – “You should work shifts in McDonalds for the love of it” or “You should be an accountant for the love of it” Fuck no. You MAY love your work, and if you do, thats fantastic. But most people do what they have to do to earn a penny or two. You know why I can do an album for fuck all? Because I have a partner who has a steady well paid job, I live in bumblefuck USA where the house prices and living costs are next to nothing, and I have legacy money. By that I mean, I get paid from every Kniteforce, Remix, Malice, Knitebreed, Influential, Sub label and KFA release every 3 months. Do you know how much money that is? Enough to pay half the mortgage every 3 months. So again, fuck all really. Thats how valueless music has become, and how little MP3s make. I account to my artists and its embarrassing.
“Well get another job then – the music industry doesn’t owe you a living” – I agree. But that does not invalidate the point I am trying to make. I would rather work in this industry, so I make the sacrifices I have to. I am lucky enough that I have the choice. So does Ham. If people do not pay for this album, he won’t make it and will spend his time doing another job. But let me ask you this – do you wish hardcore was a bigger, better, more vibrant scene? It would be, if we hadn’t lost so many artists, which in turn meant less variation in the music which in turn meant less people listening to it. Why have we lost so many artists? Because they could no longer afford to be in the scene – they didn’t earn enough to survive, and had to go elsewhere. So yeah, bitch about Ham trying to make some money if you wish, but understand that in order for the scene to survive, it has to pay those who work in it, regardless of how much they love the scene. Promoters can’t pay for an event on love. Djs can’t buy music and equipment or travel to play on love. And producers can’t make music on love. None of these things happen in a big way without their being money to pay for it. Of course, if you want everyone to do music for free as a second job, thats fine. But then you will have…well…pretty much the scene we have now. A few dedicated nutters like myself who are lucky enough to be able to work really cheap – and I have trouble surviving month to month, let me tell you. That skateboard at the start of the article? One bad month away from ebay. A few bigger names who manage to make a living from it – literally less than 20 worldwide that I can think of…and a whole lot of unprofessional people who love the music but are simply unequipped to help the scene grow or move forward – they would, but they have to go do their real job.
4. Ham Is Just Greedy / Ham Sold Out
Look at that picture of Ham. Some of you reading this weren’t born when it was taken. Think about that. He was making hardcore for more years than you have been breathing lol. This criticism is the one I found most offensive on both a professional and personal level. I saw numerous people say such things and wanted to slap them, to be honest. But I didn’t, not even verbally, because I understand why they would think it. So instead, let me set the record straight. Ham made hardcore for a very long time. He worked with me on Kniteforce and Remix, he ran Next Generation and Blatant Beats with Brisk, and was there through the good times and the bad. Eventually Brisk and Ham went separate ways, and Ham moved on to D’n’B. There is no selling out, and no fault in any of this. I know Ham well enough to know he would have stuck with hardcore had it been possible – but also well enough to know that hardcore would always be too restrictive for a talent such as him. He is a genius with a breakbeat. Yes, he made some excellent 4×4 hardcore, but in my opinion, his heart has always been in both hardcore and breakbeats, which makes him a perfect fit for both scenes. And fair play to him. Despite the loss to our scene, I was well pleased to see him not only move to d’n’b, but to do so well at it and get signed by fucking Ram Records. A lot of hardcore artists have tried to move into Drum and Bass. Let’s list all the hardcore artists who have been successful doing that:
Dj Ham
So bollocks to anyone who says he has sold out or is in it just for the money. He wants to earn a living from his music, the same as all of us, because thats the dream right? And Ham, like myself, is a producer first, then a Dj. We are both competent Djs, but personality wise, we are not really Dj material, either of us. We both prefer the studio lights to the stage lights. And neither of us command the fees other’s in the scene can, because we have not dedicated out lives to Djing – we have dedicated our lives to producing. We neither expect, ask for, or deserve top tier Dj fees. And neither of us are mad about it. It’s what it is. But god damn, if we get half a chance to earn a decent living from making music we love, why shouldn’t we? It’s not like Ham went from hardcore to pop music. Or started ghost writing shitty EDM. You remember when Ham jumped on the Dubstep bandwagon? Oh, he didn’t? Right. There is no selling out here. There may very well be exhaustion – I left hardcore and did D’n’B for a while, 1998 – 2001. I was not very good at it lol, but I can totally understand Ham saying “you know what? I am bored of making hardcore, and its not making me any money, and I am interested in d’n’b, always have been…why not give it a go?”. I don’t know if thats what happened, but I would bet money on it. Just as I can understand him wanting to make hardcore again – its in his blood just like its in mine. But can he justify it? Can he justify the time and expense? Thats the question. And so the album idea is his answer to it.
One last thing to add. Ham is a great guy once you get to know him, but he has a very very dry sense of humour, and like most producers, is kind of quiet a lot of the time. This can lead to accusations of arrogance and confusion to those who don’t know him…And there is a thin line between arrogance and confidence, especially when the character of the person is quiet. Throw in a dry sense of humour and I am not surprised people sometimes get the wrong impression. But I assure you, Ham is not arrogant. He’s just a bit weird. Different weird to me, different weird to all of us that stuck with this idiotic music, but weird all the same. We all are. Thats why we are here and not somewhere else.
All of the above is not to say the album idea is perfect. Its not perfect, but its something different, a new approach. Do I think the album roll out and system could be handled better? Yes. Do I think the price too high? Yes. I think it is worth the money, but still, it is way too expensive. My main concern really is that the price excludes anyone who can’t afford it. And that is a shame. But again, thats the same, always, in everything. BMW exclude those who can’t afford them. Even concert tickets are often too expensive for many of the fans. I don’t know how to fix that, or even if it can be fixed. And I don’t know if Hams album idea will work. I don’t know if it is a viable way to do music. But I will support it. I will support it because we need as many good, genuine artists in the scene as we can get, and Ham is both of those things. I will support it because I do not resent a talented artist making good money from his work. And I will support it because he is my friend. You do not have to support it at all – you can read all of this and still think “fuck that, its too much money, its not worth it, I don’t like Hams music anyway” and I understand totally. That is a valid position to take. But I hate seeing so much negativity about one of the longest serving hardcore artists in the scene trying to do things a different way. And i won’t support resentment based on a supposed greed.
And thats all I have to say about that!
Chris / Luna-C