Commodore Remix

Well, the question basically says it all...

Slaygon knows how much I'd love a show, and now that I live alone I can be as mad as I wanna be!!! (in other words, I wouldnt need to WHISPER!!!)

I think it's a good idea as regulars can eventually get stale (no offense guys! ). I imagine though it might not be that easy to do as the prospective DJ's would have to have a good collection of remixes and have a knowledge of what is commercial (i.e speak over the tracks) or what is in the Public Domain.

If Slaygon can trust other 'newbies' then I think it's a Great idea!

Note: These are my personal views and might not reflect the official position of all, or any, of the other SLAY Radio staffers…

The issue of “renewal” within the regular DJ:s is more than just a question of “letting someone else do it”, because “doing it” might not be as easy as it seems, and there are more than just the “doing it” involved.

The current staff and DJ:s of SLAY Radio are so because we’re a bunch of devoted friends, not just DJ:s on the same station. This might sound corny, but there’s a special bond between the everyone who’s involved with SLAY Radio. It has, in a lot of ways, become more than just a “pass-time” for many of us. It’s an integrated part of our everyday lives.

I don’t want to elevate myself in any way or form, but being a good DJ requires more than just being able to present the tracks and press play. It’s a lot about “crowd pleasing”. The reason SLAY Radio has been so good at pleasing most of our live show listeners is because the guys airing the shows “are the listeners”, by which I mean we do what we would want to hear ourselves. We’ve got an excellent bunch of people, who’ve got both the knowledge and the talent to pull it off.

Then there’s the issue of trust, that Phantom brought up. As I said, the staff on SLAY Radio are all friends. It’s “our station”, and letting someone else on the air would require a great deal of trust. Trust that the person is capable of pulling it off in an interesting way. Trust that the person wont abuse the situation. Even if SLAY Radio has a very unprofessional image, I can assure you there’s a lot going on behind the scenes in preparations, maintenance, and planning. That’s why it feels like a knee to the groin when people start taking the station and what we do for granted, and pull seven kinds of shit out of their arses to throw at us. It really puts you off something horrid. However, most of the time we just get positive reactions, and a lot of patience when things go wrong (anyone who’s listened to any of my live shows know that things going wrong is pretty much the norm ).

That said I want to point out that we don’t “just want the praise”, we want the criticism as well. If people don’t tell us what we’re doing wrong and what we could do better, chances are we wont evolve. And we’re constantly looking for ways to renew and improve ourselves. (Our latest DJ recruit, Thalamus, turned out to be a huge success, and I was VERY impressed with his show.) The thing is that most negative criticism we get is in the form of things like “shut up!”, “play something good!” or “you suck!”. Personally I don’t listen to that kind of criticism, because it makes me nothing but angry and I don’t gain any knowledge from it. If anything, that kind of talk will get me to do the exact opposite thing just to piss people off (a bit juvenile maybe, but that’s how I work).

Suggestions, ideas, criticism, and naked women are most welcome! But think about how you word your criticism, because we are a bunch of creative people, and creative people have a tendency to be a bit emotional about what they do. Simply slagging us off won’t get you anywhere, and by God it won’t make you the next SLAY Radio DJ either…

Makke my friend: all those points were very good - I cant say anything against a single one!!!

Makke wrote:Note: These are my personal views and might not reflect the official position of all, or any, of the other SLAY Radio staffers…

Most excellent points there, Makke. This text will be tweaked a bit to be included as a "agreement" of sorts for the new feature coming up called Suggestion box where people can post their suggestions to improve the radio.

Makke wrote:Suggestions, ideas, criticism, and naked women are most welcome! But think about how you word your criticism, because we are a bunch of creative people, and creative people have a tendency to be a bit emotional about what they do. Simply slagging us off won’t get you anywhere, and by God it won’t make you the next SLAY Radio DJ either…

Oh so true!
Especially the part about naked women.

Makke wrote:The issue of “renewal” within the regular DJ:s is more than just a question of “letting someone else do it”, because “doing it” might not be as easy as it seems, and there are more than just the “doing it” involved.

I don't think renewal by exchanging people on their shows would make sense. I'll happily admit that (for me at least) some elements on some broadcasts have by now grown beyond stale, but putting other DJs in these slots wouldn't work either.

That said I want to point out that we don’t “just want the praise”, we want the criticism as well. If people don’t tell us what we’re doing wrong and what we could do better, chances are we wont evolve.

Well, I believe I've made my opinion on various things surrounding that topic clear in the very recent past anyway, but... getting the answer of "if you don't like it, don't listen to it" isn't the very best way to get the above point across to people (even less so if it's accompanied by various other noises and stuff, ahem).

The thing is that most negative criticism we get is in the form of things like “shut up!”, “play something good!” or “you suck!”. Personally I don’t listen to that kind of criticism, because it makes me nothing but angry and I don’t gain any knowledge from it. If anything, that kind of talk will get me to do the exact opposite thing just to piss people off (a bit juvenile maybe, but that’s how I work).

I get that, it's pretty much the normal way to react. Though, feel lucky if that's indeed the usual noise level of what you get on the negative end: In Real Life (tm) I'm working on staff at a videogaming magazine, and indeed, that's where you get to have lots of shit thrown at you by rabid fanboys.

Suggestions, ideas, criticism, and naked women are most welcome! But think about how you word your criticism, because we are a bunch of creative people, and creative people have a tendency to be a bit emotional about what they do. Simply slagging us off won’t get you anywhere, and by God it won’t make you the next SLAY Radio DJ either…

Hm.. seems like I maybe deleted the wrong things above, but anyway: If I didn't think that there's the possibility that I could offer something positive, I wouldn't even go through all the trouble so far, and with much more to come if plans will go ahead. And I think there's trust needed on both sides, since anyone new to all the live stuff most likely won't hit the ball out of the park on the first try (exceptions to the rule obviously exist).

weblaus wrote:getting the answer of "if you don't like it, don't listen to it" isn't the very best way to get the above point across to people (even less so if it's accompanied by various other noises and stuff, ahem).

I dont know exactly what triggered the debate the past few days, and I'm staying clear of it as well. All I can do is repeat myself in saying: Think about how you word your criticism. Comments that are felt to be in the "get off the air" region of the criticism-scale won't get any other reaction than a blunt "consume excrements, and stop breathing". Once again, this is not a comment on the current/recent situation.

Though, feel lucky if that's indeed the usual noise level of what you get on the negative end:

Maybe, but being subject to idiocy rarely makes me feel lucky.

Anyway, basic message: Don't feel you can't give us constructive criticism, but never ever resort to insults, or the "shut up"-technique, because personally I'll do nothing than rip right back at you if you do.

Also, every show can't please everyone, and if there's a particular DJ or show concept you don't like...FFS don't listen! It really can be as easy as that.

[ Insert standard "these are my personal views and might not reflect the official position of all, or any, of the other SLAY Radio staffers" disclaimer here.]

Allow me to be an old stick in the mud and argue against turning SLAYRadio into an open radio station.

The way I see it this is another case of history repeating. A while back some people started moaning about a subset of submissions not winding up on RKO rather than have everything available. Experience has shown us that given access to freely available content over the net some people will start expecting their work to be part of that particular flow of information, and consequently get severely annoyed if they're told otherwise.

Clearly the concept of doing a live show is giving people ants in their pants, and I'm all for that. But not if its seen as a way to make your voice louder than the people in the IRC channel. Instead I'd like to see people creating prerecorded shows for another media (is live365 still around?) and then SLAYRadio can choose to rerun it on the regular stream as "third-party" broadcasts. Plus, it allows the staffers to check out the material beforehand.

Not because we don't trust people, but because at the end of the day it's our distributionchannel and thus we should get to have final word in what it's playing.

Jan Lund Thomsen wrote:Clearly the concept of doing a live show is giving people ants in their pants, and I'm all for that. But not if its seen as a way to make your voice louder than the people in the IRC channel. Instead I'd like to see people creating prerecorded shows for another media (is live365 still around?) and then SLAYRadio can choose to rerun it on the regular stream as "third-party" broadcasts. Plus, it allows the staffers to check out the material beforehand.

I don't know about Live365, but last I ever noticed it I believe they were converting to some sort of pay-service or something.

That said, I wouldn't mind that much starting out with pre-recorded material as I could complete such a show probably reasonable easy with the tech I have at hand right now, while going live would still need a lot of work.

But over the last few months since live shows really become regular events, I've got the impression that pre-recorded shows isn't really what the audience wants: I believe the whole live thing with requests and other interaction between DJs and listeners is what makes it popular, i.e. stuff that neccessarily can't be done with pre-recorded material.

And that also basically what I'd want to end up doing in the long run, as that's quite a bit of what's interesting me as well, and prerecording shows can't offer that to me. And I guess this may sound a bit sappy, I'd also like to work with the people at the station in some way and not just deliver ready-made parcels like a postman.

Not because we don't trust people, but because at the end of the day it's our distributionchannel and thus we should get to have final word in what it's playing.

I understand that, and that why I've asked before if the idea of a live show done by somebody not directly involved with the "inner circle" is okay with said inner circle. I'm neither that desperate nor have I that much free time on my hands to work on a project that doesn't have a decent chance to actually work out, so I'd like to have at least a bit of assurance that it would be worth it, ideally for all involved.

Yes, live365 is expensive at least if you wish to play anything over 56k which lets face isn't the greatest of qualities.

After 56k the costs are simply too high to warrent doing anything with it, unless you've got money to burn.

In light of Makke's excellent post, and the recurring theme of "Can I Have a Show Now?", I thought I'd add my 2 pennies to the pot.

Rewind was inspired by a 10-minute chunk of SID tunes which Boz and Kenz played on one of the Z Shows. I liked it so much, I suggested to Slaygon that a SID-based show might be a good idea.

As it turns out, Slaygon thought I was pitching the whole thing, not just the idea, and he asked me to produce a demo. My thinking was, if I didn't DJ the show - who would? The current crop of DJs were already overworked; if I didn't step in, nobody would, and the idea would sink.

After two days work, I'd created my demo, and my initial thoughts were, "This is MUCH harder than I thought."

I wasn't that pleased with the demo - after all, you're not delivering to a live audience and therefore the pace and tone are a lot different - but Slaygon was confident in my ability to listen to feedback and try to improve myself.

When the time came to prep for the first Rewind show, I spent a long time working out the playlist, recording SIDs and beds, and working on a basic script. Indeed, I actually rehearsed a lot of the first show, just talking bollocks and messing with the software. We're talking 3 DAYS of prep for a one hour show.

And that doesn't include the 4 hours I spent with Slaygon getting used to the streaming, testing equipment, plus the hour-long session prior to the first show.

SLAY Radio might seem like a good laugh when you're listening, but that's down to the skill and professionalism of the Staff; the behind-the-scenes effort is phenomenal.

And it's this point that needs to be made - it's not about flicking Winamp on at 6:55 and playing a few remixes (just recording & editing SIDs for the next Rewind show, for example, is an entire afternoon).

And then there's the concept - how would you create a show that fits nicely within the current SLAY Radio schedule but doesn't tread on the toes of the other shows?

"We could play the top 10 worst tunes!"

No you couldn't. Who would honestly listen to 2 hours of crap remixes? Like I said, any show requires a stupendous amount of commitment, preparation, and dedication. Even the best ideas have already been done.

You don't just have to push the envelope - you have to relocate the entire f'cking post office.

I'm still in awe at how Boz and Kenz flick on the mics and instantly deliver. If I ever thought "That's easy, I could do the Z Show" I'd be woefully mistaken.

Personally, I think the SLAY Radio schedule has almost enough variety; the weekend shows are fantastic (and the friendly rivalry between those shows is a joy), SLAY Rated is a really nice addition, and Makke's (far too) infrequent shows are genius in a cup.

I can only hope that one day Rewind fits nicely into a regular slot - but for now I'm happy to keep things on a trial basis, work to improve the behind-the-scenes mayhem, and hopefully deliver a show that is entertaining to listeners, educational for remixers, and continues to push the successes of SLAY Radio.

SLAY isn't public access radio, it's a station that is fuelled by sweat and tears.

Fundamentally, you have to respect that.

Wow! There's not much I can add to the awesome words from Andy and Makke ...

The shows ARE great fun to do but aren't something you can just 'do!' ... There's a lot of tech involved in the show (both Skitz and Boz have awesome setups) and it's not actually all that easy to do a show each week and keep it fresh and interesting. Me and Boz have a great knack of bouncing gags off each other as we're really on the same wavelength which is kinda why the Z-Show works ... Plus we DO listen to feedback and take what we do seriously (even though it just sounds like we're arseing around). We honestly love the music we play and put a lot of time and effort into broadcasting something that people (hopefully) enjoy.

I'll put in my 462.698 MZM:

I pretty much agree with what the people above have said: It's a much bigger machine than you might think. A hefty amount of work and money has gone into this project over the years, and it's really.. a love child of the staff, I guess..

This is why I love SLAY Radio:

I started out helping with SLAY Radio when it had maybe 10-15 listeners, back in 2000. Back then, it was really Slaygon using his Winamp at work to broadcast to a server on c64.org, to which people who knew him connected and listened.

We worked at the same place and shared a room, and I had brought an amplifier and Slaygon some speakers, ending up with a pretty good sound system. We each had one input on the amp, and had to fight over who could play music at any given time. Unfortunately, Slaygon won most of the time.. so I had to listen to remixes all day long, most every day. For 1½ years. Now remember, this was 2000-2001, when the remixing scene was still in it's infancy. Needless to say, some remixes were good, and some weren't.

When I quit that job, I was so tired of remixes that I didn't even tune into SLAY Radio until sometime in the spring of 2004. I did some work on c64.org and related things in the years between '01-04, but felt that I'd had enough of remixes.

But - early 2004 was when the first live shows were being broadcasted. Suddenly, it was a whole different thing. Now there wasn't just an endless row of remixes ranging from the great to the abysmal, now there were people talking in between!

During this time I've been a temporary host of SLAY Radio (when Slaygon changed ISPs and had no Internet connection for like, four months), a behind-the-scenes tinkerer, a DJ (though admittedly not very good at it), co-conspirator in miscellaneous shows, proud starter of rumours about sexual orientation and generally gotten pretty involved in the life that is SLAY Radio.

The staff are a bunch of great people. Most listeners seem to really enjoy what we do. The artists and remixers are fantastic. The Manypeopleshows and the BIT Live event are some of the most enjoyable days I've spent in I don't know how long. The "job" of being a staff member is way more fun than any other job I've ever done.

That.. is why I love what we do.

Of course, there's criticism at times. I welcome it, as I believe all of the staff does. Noone is perfect. If it's constructive criticism and we can act upon it, it'll only make the station better. Can't wish for anything else.

But, like any parent, sibling or close relative, when someone says something negative and unconstructive about someone or something you love, you pretty automatically rush to it's defense. And when it's something that's been repeated over and over again, you finally give up trying to debate it.

Which, I guess, is how this entire thing started. In hindsight, maybe I should have asked for clarification instead of giving the canned response to something I saw as only repetitions of earlier rants that I knew led nowhere. Maybe I shouldn't be as touchy. Maybe I should have worded my reply differently. But I didn't, and we ended up with this big brouhaha. Not all bad, but I think I could have lived without it, even so.

Anyway - I'm ranting and babbling way too much here. Oops. Sorry.

In closing, I just want to say that I welcome anything that makes the station better, be it new shows, new DJs, changes in current shows (yay new-style Z show!) or anything else you can think of. But please, don't take it the wrong way if we say "I don't think that's going to work" or "Yes, that's been proposed before". After all, we've been doing this for a while.

Phew. There. You can go back to ignoring me now.

this was 2000-2001, when the remixing scene was still in it's infancy

Technically the scene was in its teenage years then, having just begun to get a bit adult I think one ordinary year = 5 remix years, like dog years

I agree with everything else you said though Well done those men!!

Chris